Edwin Smith Papyrus
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The Edwin Smith Papyrus is the world's earliest known medical document, written in hieratic around the 17th century BCE, but thought to be based on material from a thousand years earlier. It is an ancient textbook on trauma surgery, and describes anatomical observations and the examination, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of numerous injuries in exquisite detail. The papyrus contains the first descriptions of the cranial sutures, the meninges, the external surface of the brain, the cerebrospinal fluid, and the intracranial pulsations.Wilkins, op.cit., p.1 The surgical procedures in the Egyptian Edwin Smith Papyrus were quite rational given the time period.Rutkow, op.cit., p.3 As well as having magical incantations against pestilence The New York Academy of Medicine website: Academy Papyrus to be Exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art it also contains a prescription for a wrinkle remover using urea, which is still used in face creams today. The Edwin Smith Papyrus shows that the heart, vessels, liver, spleen, kidneys, ureters and bladder were recognized, and that the blood-vessels were known to be connected to the heart. Other vessels are described, some carrying air, some mucus, while two to the right ear are said to carry the breath of life, and two to the left ear the breath of death. The physiological functions of organs and vessels remained a complete mystery to the ancient Egyptians.Hakim & Papalois, op.cit., p.5The Edwin Smith Papyrus lists 48 traumatic injury cases, each with a description of the examination, the diagnosis and treatment. It starts with injuries to the head, continues with treatments for injuries to neck, arms and torso, where the surviving copy of the text breaks off. The treatments are quite rational, and magic is resorted to in only one case (Case 9). Among the treatments are closing wounds with sutures, preventing and curing infection with honey and mouldy bread, and stopping bleeding with raw meat. Immobilisation was often advised for head and spinal chord injuries, when there was little else anybody could do.
Authorship
Imhotep, credited with being the founder of Egyptian medicine, was also thought to be the original author of the text,Peltier, op.cit., p.16 but internal evidence suggests it was written and edited by at least three different authors. History
Edwin Smith bought the ancient manuscript in 1862 in Luxor, Egypt. Although he recognized the importance of the manuscript and attempted to translate it, he never published it. He died in 1906, leaving the papyrus to his daughter who gave it to the New-York Historical Society.Rutkow, op.cit., p.3 In 1920, the Society asked James Breasted to translate it, a task he completed by 1930.Rutkow, op.cit., p.4 It changed our understanding of the history of medicine, demonstrating that Egyptian medical care of battlefield injuries was based on observable anatomy and experience, in stark contrast with the often magical modes of healing described in other Egyptian medical sources, such as the Ebers papyrus.In 1938 the Smith Papyrus was sent to the Brooklyn Museum, and in 1948 transferred to The New York Academy of Medicine where it remains.David, op.cit., p.41The Papyrus was exhibited for the first time since 1948 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from September 13, 2005, to January 15, 2006. Coinciding with the exhibition James P. Allen, curator at Met, prepared a completely new translation of the papyrus, which is included in the catalog for the exhibition.
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