Edwin Smith papyrus

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Plates vi & vii of the Edwin Smith Papyrus at the Rare Book Room, New York Academy of Medicine

The Edwin Smith papyrus is the world's earliest known medical document, written around the 17th century BCE, but thought to be based on material from as early as 3000 BCE. 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. The surgical procedures in the Egyptian Edwin Smith papyrus were quite rational given the time period. As well as having magical incantations against pestilence [1] 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 come from 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.

Imhotep is credited as the founder of Egyptian medicine and the original author of the papyrus, although internal evidence suggests it was written and edited by at least three different authors, the last of which stopped mid-word. It is a compilation of 48 battlefield injury cases and the treatments that the victims had received. The treatments are rational, and magic is resorted to in only one case.

[edit] History

Edwin Smith was born in 1822, the year that Egyptian hieroglyphs were first deciphered. Being an Egyptologist, he bought parts of the ancient manuscript in 1862 in Luxor, Egypt. Although he recognized the importance of the manuscript and attempted to translate it, he never published about it. He died in 1906, leaving the papyrus to his daughter who gave it to the New York Historical Society.

In 1920, the Society asked James Breasted to translate it, a task he completed by 1930. 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.

The Papyrus was exhibited for the first time since 1948 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from Sept. 13, 2005, to Jan. 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.