Papyrus Edwin Smith

Ancient Egyptian medical papyrus produced around 1600 BC. It was named after US Egyptologist Edwin Smith who purchased it in 1862. The papyrus contains 48 case histories with instructions for surgery and treatments, including the drugs to be given. Procedures listed cover the entire body, and range from treatment of a fractured skull to an inflamed flesh wound. The papyrus, along with other medical papyrii such as the Papyrus Ebers, demonstrates that ancient Egyptian medicine included extensive knowledge of the human body and a wide range of rational treatments for injuries.

The Papyrus Edwin Smith has been owned by the Museum of Brooklyn, USA, since 1949. It has 22 pages and 469 lines of text. In its present form the papyrus has a missing section at the top and stops during the 48th case study. The text is believed to be a copy of an earlier medical papyrus from around 2900 BC.

In all cases, rational treatments are given. For a fractured skull (Case 3), raw meat is to be used to cover the fracture. The patient is to be given a normal diet until the wound starts to heal, then honey and grease (fat) can be used to treat the wound. For a broken nose (Case 12), the nostrils should be cleaned with linen plugs. Two more linen plugs covered in grease (fat) are then to be placed up the nose to keep the wound clean, and the nose should be held in place on the face using bindings. For a broken collar bone (Case 35), the treatment is to lie the patient down and use splints between the shoulder blades and under the arms to force the shoulders apart and allow the collar bone to fall back into place ready to heal. Treatment for an inflamed flesh wound (Case 41) is to cool the wound with leaves from trees. The wound should then be dried up with linen and herbs. Once dry the wound could be sealed with heat.