26th century BCE – 24th century BCE
Egypt
The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus is a medical treatise preserving a copy of an original composed under the Old Kingdom. It examines forty-eight cases, chiefly involving wounds and injuries of the bones and joints, through a structured sequence of clinical observation, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. Its descriptions include wound dressing, suturing, fracture setting, and cases judged untreatable.
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The Story
The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus preserves a copy of an original composed under the Old Kingdom between 2600 and 2400 BCE. Its subject is chiefly bone surgery and external pathology, and its forty-eight cases are arranged according to a recurring clinical method. Each case begins with instructions, proceeds to observed symptoms, and ends with a diagnosis and an assessment of whether treatment is possible.
The descriptions are precise and practical. When a wound could be treated, the papyrus specified procedures such as applying a dressing, bringing the lips of a wound together with cloth strips, stitching injuries, or supporting a fracture with wooden or pasteboard splints. In other cases, the surgeon recommended that nature take its course, and two cases simply instructed the patient to maintain a regular diet.
The injuries include lacerations of the skull and face, spinal and cervical contusions, dislocations, perforations of the skull or sternum, and fractures of the nose, jaw, collar-bone, humerus, ribs, skull, and vertebrae. The papyrus therefore offers an unusually detailed view of ancient Egyptian surgical reasoning and practice.
26th century BCE – 24th century BCE
Egypt
The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus is a medical treatise preserving a copy of an original composed under the Old Kingdom. It examines forty-eight cases, chiefly involving wounds and injuries of the bones and joints, through a structured sequence of clinical observation, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. Its descriptions include wound dressing, suturing, fracture setting, and cases judged untreatable.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus preserves a copy of an original composed under the Old Kingdom between 2600 and 2400 BCE. Its subject is chiefly bone surgery and external pathology, and its forty-eight cases are arranged according to a recurring clinical method. Each case begins with instructions, proceeds to observed symptoms, and ends with a diagnosis and an assessment of whether treatment is possible.
The descriptions are precise and practical. When a wound could be treated, the papyrus specified procedures such as applying a dressing, bringing the lips of a wound together with cloth strips, stitching injuries, or supporting a fracture with wooden or pasteboard splints. In other cases, the surgeon recommended that nature take its course, and two cases simply instructed the patient to maintain a regular diet.
The injuries include lacerations of the skull and face, spinal and cervical contusions, dislocations, perforations of the skull or sternum, and fractures of the nose, jaw, collar-bone, humerus, ribs, skull, and vertebrae. The papyrus therefore offers an unusually detailed view of ancient Egyptian surgical reasoning and practice.
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