(ARME) Autopsies in History Lesson

Autopsies in History

Autopsy is a postmortem assessment or examination of a body to determine the cause of death. An autopsy is performed by a physician trained in pathology. The word autopsy comes from the Greek word autopsia which means "to see oneself". In autopsy, the pathologist is searching the body for clues in what caused the death of the person; essentially the pathologist must "see" what may not be entirely obvious to others. This ability comes from experience and knowledge accumulated by many physicians and practitioners in history.

Ancient history holds fascinating stories of how primitive autopsies, mysteries and societal influence helped shape the face of modern autopsy. For example, around 3,000 BC ancient Egyptians became one of the first civilizations in the world to remove and examine the internal organs. It was part of the mummification process, as well as a religious practice. It was basically a primitive form of autopsy, however! The organs were removed through small incisions in the body rather than a single long incision because the ancient Egyptians considered it to be disrespectful to the deceased to cut or alter a dead body. They also believed that it might prevent the dead from passing on to the afterlife. Their belief was that if large cuts were made in the body, the soul might escape before passing over. Despite their concerns with cutting bodies, their practices of removing the organs still constituted as a form of primitive autopsy! Later in the 3rd century BC, autopsies where the body was opened to determine the cause of death were sometimes performed. The stigma of disfiguring a dead body or preventing passage to the afterlife remained and thus it was often considered taboo by many societies.

A Timeline of Events: Autopsy

Review the events below to learn more about the evolution of the autopsy and the events that defined what we know as an Autopsy today.

Interactivity: Carnival of Cadavers

[CC BY 4.0] UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED | IMAGES: LICENSED AND USED ACCORDING TO TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION