![]() ![]() In many of the cases, explanations of trauma are included to provide further clarity.Īmong the treatments are closing wounds with sutures (for wounds of the lip, throat, and shoulder), bandaging, splints, poultices, preventing and curing infection with honey, and stopping bleeding with raw meat. Following the examination are the diagnosis and prognosis, where the physician judges the patient’s chances of survival and makes one of three diagnoses: “An ailment which I will treat,” “An ailment with which I will contend,” or “An ailment not to be treated”. The objective examination process included visual and olfactory clues, palpation and taking of the pulse. The title of each case details the nature of trauma, such as “Practices for a gaping wound in his head, which has penetrated to the bone and split the skull”. ![]() The papyrus begins by addressing injuries to the head, and continues with treatments for injuries to neck, arms and torso, detailing injuries in descending anatomical order like a modern anatomical exposition. Presented cases are typical, not individual. ![]() The rational and practical nature of the papyrus is illustrated in 48 case histories, which are listed according to each organ. The text is attributed by some to Imhotep, an architect, high priest, and physician of the Old Kingdom, 3000–2500 BCE. It is believed that the papyrus is an incomplete copy of an older reference manuscript from the Old Kingdom, evidenced by archaic grammar, terminology, form and commentary. The papyrus ends abruptly in the middle of a line, without any inclusion of an author. The majority of the papyrus was written by one scribe, with only small sections copied by a second scribe. Generic spells and incantations may have been used as a last resort in terminal cases.Īuthorship of the Edwin Smith Papyrus is debated. The spells of the verso side and two incidents in Case 8 and Case 9 are the exceptions to the practical nature of this medical text. The verso side consists of eight magic spells and five prescriptions. Each case details the type of the injury, examination of the patient, diagnosis and prognosis, and treatment. On the recto side, there are 48 cases of injury. The vast majority of the papyrus is concerned with trauma and surgery, with short sections on gynaecology and cosmetics on the verso. It is written right-to-left in hieratic, the Egyptian cursive form of hieroglyphs, in black ink with explanatory glosses in red ink. Aside from the fragmentary outer column of the scroll, the remainder of the papyrus is intact, although it was cut into one-column pages some time in the 20th century. The recto (front side) has 377 lines in 17 columns, while the verso (backside) has 92 lines in five columns. The Edwin Smith papyrus is a scroll 4.68 meters or 15.3 feet in length. ![]()
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