Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, earliest known treatise on trauma
- Date
- c. 1600 BCE
- Category
- Science, technology & invention
- Region
- Egypt (Nile Valley)
- Era
- Ancient Civilizations
- Significance
The Edwin Smith Papyrus, a copy dating to roughly 1600 BCE, is the oldest known surgical treatise on trauma and a milestone in the history of medicine.
It describes 48 cases of injuries, fractures, dislocations, wounds, and tumours, organised systematically by examination, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. Unique among surviving Egyptian medical texts for its largely rational, empirical approach with minimal reliance on magic, it includes the earliest known descriptions of the brain, the cranial sutures, the meninges, and the cerebrospinal fluid, and records observations on how injuries to the head and spine affect the body. Likely a manual reflecting the practical knowledge of physicians and possibly military surgeons, it is thought to copy an original that may reach back to the Old Kingdom. Together with texts such as the Ebers Papyrus, it documents the sophistication of ancient Egyptian medical thought and its influence on the later development of clinical observation.
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Empires active in c. 1600 BCE
- Old Babylonian Empire1894 BCE – 1595 BCE
- Hittite Empire1650 BCE – 1178 BCE
- Elamite Kingdom2700 BCE – 539 BCE
- Xia Dynasty2070 BCE – 1600 BCE
Related science, technology & invention events
- Rhind Mathematical Papyrus copied by the scribe Ahmesc. 1650 BCE
- Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions: the first alphabetic writingc. 1850 BCE
- Old Babylonian mathematics: base-60 and Plimpton 322c. 1800–1600 BCE
- Development of the Linear A Script in Minoan Cretec. 1800 BCE
- The Taung Child and the naming of Australopithecus africanus1924–1925 CE (fossil c. 2.8 million years old)
- The Bronze-to-Iron transition and the early Iron Agec. 1200 BCE
Further reading
The wider story
A Little History of Science
Warm, jargon-free tour of discovery from Babylonian stargazers to the genome.
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