Caduceus

Illustration

by The Trustees of the British Museum
published on 31 October 2016

Caduceus — Sard gem engraved with a winged caduceus combined with a club.
Heka, the patron god of magic and medicine in Egypt was said to have killed two serpents and entwined them on a staff as a symbol of his power; this symbol of the medical arts passed to the Greeks and on to the present day. One sees the symbol of Heka in modified form, now known as the caduceus, regularly in doctor's offices as the symbol of Hippocrates, father of medicine.

License & Copyright

© Trustees of the British Museum. Republished under the British Museum Standard Terms of Use for non-profit educational purposes. Original image by The Trustees of the British Museum. Uploaded by Ibolya Horváth, published on 31 October 2016. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Copyright. You cannot use, copy, distribute, or modify this item without explicit permission from the author. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.

Related Images

Image

Cite This Work

APA Style

Museum, T. T. o. t. B. (2016, October 31). Caduceus. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/image/5987/caduceus/

Chicago Style

Museum, The Trustees of the British. "Caduceus." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified October 31, 2016. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/5987/caduceus/.

MLA Style

Museum, The Trustees of the British. "Caduceus." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 31 Oct 2016. Web. 20 Feb 2025.

Caduceus

Illustration

License & Copyright

Related Images

Heka

Armenian Medical Texts

Gynaecological Instrument

Esna Temple

Temple of Esna

Pheneos Silver Stater

Cite This Work

APA Style

Chicago Style

MLA Style