Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus 1600 BC – The Oldest Surgical Document

The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus is the world's oldest surgical document and is part of an ancient Egyptian textbook. This papyrus is estimated to have been written in Egyptian hieratic script around 1,600 BC. The text discusses closing wounds with stitches and the use of honey to prevent infections. The text also contains descriptions of the cranial sutures (bands of fibrous tissue connecting the bones of the skull), the surface of the brain and cerebrospinal fluid that are the first known accounts.

Possibly Imhotep, the first doctor known by name in history, is often credited as the author of the papyrus's contents, but the papyrus was probably written and edited by more than one person. Edwin Smith, an American collector of antiquities, bought the manuscript from a dealer in Egypt in 1862. However, the papyrus was not fully translated until 1930. The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus contrasts with the more magic-laden Ebers Papyrus (approximately 1550 BC), another famous Egyptian document bought in 1873 by the German Egyptologist Georg Ebers. The Ebers Papyrus is full of superstitions, including spells intended to drive out demons that cause disease.

As an example of treatment from the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, consider Case 25: “If you examine a person with a dislocation of the mandible [jawbone], you will find the mouth open and unable to close. You should place your thumbs on the ends of the two rami [vertical portions] of the mandible inside the mouth and your fingers under the chin, and cause them to fall back so that they return to their places." A similar treatment is still used today to treat a dislocated jaw.

Of the 48 cases described in the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, 27 concern head trauma (such as deep scalp wounds and fractures) and six concern spinal trauma. The papyrus frequently repeats the phrase "A condition that is not treated". This indicates that the prognosis (course of the illness) for the patient is hopeless.

The earliest written records of cancer, the Edwin Smith Papyrus, also contained information about breast cancer (see the history of breast cancer). This papyrus contains original descriptions of breast cancer surgery. When "The breast cannot be touched, is swollen and cancer has spread throughout the breast", the disease was described as incurable.

Description of the article image: A section of the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus written in the hieratic alphabet, a form of ancient Egyptian handwriting. This particular section discusses facial trauma.

Historical figures mentioned in the article: Imhotep (2650 B.C.–2600 B.C.), Edwin Smith (1822–1906), Georg Moritz Ebers (1837–1898)

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