![]() Breasted's attention, and finally under his close scrutiny has revealed itself as the oldest known scientific treatise surviving from the ancient world, is described in the Introduction to one of the most illuminating glimpses we have ever had into the astonishingly developed medical knowledge of ancient Egypt.īoth to the medical profession and to the lay reader the Surgical Papyrus will be of intense interest. How it came into the possession of the New York Historical Society, lay many years virtually unnoticed, was at length "rediscovered" and brought to Dr. Edwin Smith, a man of great intellectual gifts, purchased what is now known as the Edwin Smith Surgical papyrus. Early in 1862, during his residence in Thebes, Mr. ![]() Other ancient medical texts had been recovered from Egypt, but they contain a glorious mixture of spells and natural remedies for various illnesses and ailments – reason and enigma existing side-by-side.Behind the scientifically accurate study and publication of The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, the most important document in the history of science surviving from the pre-Greek age of mankind (seventeenth century b.c.), lies a story as remarkable as the papyrus itself. When Edwin Smith bought it, he probably did not know that this remarkable document represented the first record of a largely scientific approach to medicine. Rumour and conjecture surround the transaction, with reports that this was a work written by the legendary Imhotep himself, taken from the tomb of a physician in Thebes. Whatever the truth might have been, Smith can be credited with rescuing an invaluable medical papyrus from likely obscurity.ĭuring his time in Luxor in 1862, an Egyptian merchant by the name of Mustafa Agha offered for sale a mysterious fifteen-foot-long scroll. Smith was alternately described as a money lender and forger of antiquities, or as an adventurer with a unique and impressive knowledge of Egyptian hieratic. It is a map of the journey a soul must take after death, providing the newly deceased with spells and guidance to make it to their ultimate destination.īorn in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1822, the American businessman found his way to Egypt during the American Civil War, where he lived for over twenty years. Vibrantly illustrated are infamous scenes of Anubis weighing the dead’s heart against the feather of Truth, with the monster Ammit lying in wait with flashing eyes and snapping jaws to devour anyone found wanting. ![]() ![]() The most famous of Egypt’s ancient funerary texts is the Book of the Dead: a hellish guide to navigating the underworld. When the mysterious Edwin Smith Papyrus was finally translated, less than a hundred years ago, it was found to describe the first recorded nasal reconstruction, how to deal with facial fractures and gaping facial wounds, as well as basic techniques in trauma and trauma surgery.Įgypt has always been associated with magic and mystery. You could argue that the story of plastic surgery starts in the ancient Egypt. I’ve always had a love of ancient history and Egypt holds a special place in my heart, which is why I find the story of the Edwin Smith Papyrus so fascinating. The history of aesthetic medicine is firmly ensconced in the history of plastic surgery, and the story plastic surgery itself is endlessly fascinating - beginning in the ancient world and blossoming in the wake of two bloody and horrific world wars.
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