Further information: Babylonian medicine
The Mesopotamians seem to have had little interest in the natural world as such, preferring to study how the gods had ordered the universe. Animal physiology was studied for divination, including especially the anatomy of the liver, seen as an important organ in haruspicy. Animal behavior too was studied for divinatory purposes. Most information about the training and domestication of animals was probably transmitted orally, but one text dealing with the training of horses has survived.[4]
The ancient Mesopotamians had no distinction between “rational science” and magic.[5][6][7] When a person became ill, doctors prescribed both magical formulas to be recited and medicinal treatments.[5][6][7] The earliest medical prescriptions appear in Sumerian during the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2112 – c. 2004 BCE).[8] The most extensive Babylonian medical text, however, is the Diagnostic Handbook written by the ummânū, or chief scholar, Esagil-kin-apli of Borsippa,[9] during the reign of the Babylonian king Adad-apla-iddina (1069 – 1046 BCE).[10] In East Semitic cultures, the main medicinal authority was an exorcist-healer known as an āšipu.[5][6][7] The profession was passed down from father to son and was held in high regard.[5] Of less frequent recourse was the asu, a healer who treated physical symptoms using remedies composed of herbs, animal products, and minerals, as well as potions, enemas, and ointments or poultices. These physicians, who could be either male or female, also dressed wounds, set limbs, and performed simple surgeries. The ancient Mesopotamians also practiced prophylaxis and took measures to prevent the spread of disease.[4]