Edwin Smith Papyrus
Ancient Egyptian surgical treatise on papyrus.
Last updated
via Wikipedia: Papyrus · see source
It presents a rational and scientific approach to medicine, avoiding magic, and dates to Dynasties 16–17 of the Second Intermediate Period, around 1600 BCE.[1][2]
What happened
The papyrus is a scroll 4.68 meters long, written right-to-left in hieratic with black ink and red explanatory glosses.[2] Treatments included closing wounds with sutures, bandaging, splints, poultices, honey for infection, and raw meat for bleeding.[3] Edwin Smith purchased the papyrus in Luxor, Egypt in 1862 from a dealer named Mustafa Agha.[4] After Smith's death, his daughter donated it to the New York Historical Society.[5]
What the cited sources add
Breasted's translation took ten years and brought him recognition, though Ransom Williams's involvement was only briefly acknowledged.[6] James P. Allen published a new translation coincident with that exhibition, the first complete English translation since Breasted's.[2] According to Sheppard's account, in November 1920 Caroline Ransom Williams contacted Breasted regarding "the medical papyrus of the Smith collection" and gave up her own claim to it so that publication could happen more quickly.[6] Between 1938 and 1948, the Brooklyn Museum held the papyrus.[2]
The papyrus was displayed at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art from 2005 through 2006.[2]
References
- Wikipedia, "Edwin Smith Papyrus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lewkonia, "The Oxford Companion to Medicine", Oxford Reference, 2006; Ghalioungui, "Magic and Medical Science in Ancient Egypt", Barnes & Noble, 1965; Ritner, "Archived copy", Oxford Reference, 2005 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Edwin Smith Papyrus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Allen, "The Art of Medicine in Ancient Egypt", The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Yale University Press, 2005 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Edwin Smith Papyrus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sullivan, "The Identity and Work of the Ancient Egyptian Surgeon", Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, August 1996, p. 467–73; Ritner, "Archived copy", Oxford Reference, 2005; Allen, "The Art of Medicine in Ancient Egypt", The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Yale University Press, 2005 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Edwin Smith Papyrus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Allen, "The Art of Medicine in Ancient Egypt", The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Yale University Press, 2005; Nunn, "Ancient Egyptian Medicine", Transactions of the Medical Society of London, University of Oklahoma Press, 1996, p. 57–68 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Edwin Smith Papyrus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sheppard, "The Contributions of Caroline Ransom Williams (1872-1952) to Archaeology", Brewminate, December 16, 2016; Randolph, "College Women and Research", Journal of the American Association of University Women, 1921, p. 51; Nunn, "Ancient Egyptian Medicine", Transactions of the Medical Society of London, University of Oklahoma Press, 1996, p. 57–68 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Sheppard, "The Contributions of Caroline Ransom Williams (1872-1952) to Archaeology", Brewminate, December 16, 2016. facts only, no text reused. brewminate.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Edwin Smith Papyrus (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Edwin Smith Papyrus (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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