History of Pharmacy

The pharmacy profession has existed in a rudimentary form since pre-history, where plants were used internally and externally to help cure disease and treat wounds. Ancient Egyptian pharmacological knowledge was recorded in various papyri such as the Ebers Papyrus of 1550 BC, and the Edwin Smith Papyrus of the 16th century BC. Many Sumerian (late 6th century BC - early 2nd century BC) cuneiform clay tablets have been found that show a record of prescriptions for medicine.

In ancient Rome and Greece, there was a distinction in the healing profession between the physician and the herbalist, who supplied the physician with the raw materials from which to make medicines. In the 1st century AD, the Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides wrote a 5 volume book (Concerning Medical Substances) that was later translated into Latin (De Materia Medica) and used a basis for many medieval texts.

During the 8th century, the first pharmacies were established in Baghdad under the Abbasid Caliphate. By the 9th century, these pharmacies were state-regulated, and the profession of pharmacy started acquiring shapeAl-Biruni (973-1050) wrote one of the most valuable Islamic works on pharmacology entitled Kitab al-Saydalah (The Book of Drugs), where he gave detailed knowledge of the properties of drugs and outlined the role of pharmacy and the functions and duties of the pharmacist.

The Arabian influence spread to Europe, where pharmacy-like shops began to appear during the 12th century. In 1240 emperor Frederic II issued a decree by which the physician's and the apothecary's professions were separated. The trend toward specialisation was later reinforced in 1683 by a law enacted by the city council of Bruges, forbidding physicians to prepare medications for their patients.

By the end of the Second World War, the demand for the manipulative skills previously used by the pharmacist to prepare pills, plasters and potions was much diminished. However, the pharmacist continues to fulfil the physician's intentions by formulating, storing, and providing correct dosage of medications; by providing information and advice; and by ensuring the quality and efficacy of the supplied or dispensed medicinal product.