Section Private Life: “Occupational Activities” (Showcase 6)

Bronze medical instruments
Several medical instruments have been found in Abdera, most of which in houses of the post-Christian period.
Probes are a large category of tools which facilitated the work of a doctor during surgery or patient examination.
They consist of a stem, one end of which was shaped according to its intended use, into a spoon, spatula, disc, hook or scraper. With these, the doctor measured the depth of the wounds, cauterised, pressed the tongue, cleaned wounds, removed foreign bodies from the ears and nose, and prepared medicines and ointments to be applied on the afflicted limb.
The forceps were used to hold the flesh, separate the eyelids while treating trichiasis, etc.
Surgical needles are a little different from ordinary needles. The thin ones were used to sew internal organs, and the thick ones were used to make external incisions.
Many of these tools were also used to manufacture cosmetics and for body grooming. Their discovery in houses is probably related to this additional use.