Scalpel a tool of the medicus
The instruments of a Roman physician were already very comprehensive 2000 years ago. The Roman scalpels show astonishing similarities with the surgical instruments used today. This fact is easy to explain. The instruments must lie perfectly in the hand and be able to be guided accurately. It must be possible to continue the sensitivity of the movements in the tip of the Roman scalpel.
Scalpellum - the doctors' lancet
Successful surgical procedures have been known until the early history of mankind. These even include skull trepanations, which have been proven to have survived. In the further development of mankind, surgery gained medical importance, above all due to injuries in acts of war. In Rome in the 1st or 2nd century after Christ, the development of medicine was already well advanced. Interesting physicians and scientists, such as Galenus of Pergamum, contributed significantly to the functional and material design of the Roman scalpels.
- Length: approx. 10cm
- Brass bronze/silver polished
Perfection lies in the details
The Roman scalpel has always had a special significance. Because the success or failure of an operation always depended on the perfectly set incision. Whether a simple bloodletting of an aristocrat or the treatment of complicated wounds after gladiator fights, without a perfect Roman scalpel it was impossible.
Like other instruments, Roman scalpels were decorated with particularly beautiful ornaments. Usually each Medicus had its own pattern. Only the finest materials were used. As here with this valuable replica of a Roman scalpel, masters of metalworking were responsible for its manufacture. The iron blade, which was only semi-sharply ground and polished, was cold forged. It can be brought to the correct sharpness with a fine grindstone. The production of the handle was also based on an original find and consists of polished brass bronze.
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