- Edwin smith papyrus on oligodynamic action how to#
- Edwin smith papyrus on oligodynamic action series#
This is the very first case presented on the papyrus. It's not clear to me why the scribe chose to include this information for what in essence sounds like a relatively minor scalp laceration, but I can speculate.
Edwin smith papyrus on oligodynamic action how to#
What's interesting about this passage is that it is one of the very earliest writings describing the cardiovascular system and apparently describing how to monitor the pulse as a means of monitoring the patient. his heart in order to learn the knowledge that comes from it, for reveals its measurement to one who ould learn what has happened there.Īs for "who suffers from his wound," it is to say his would is small without gaping from one side to the other.Īs for "which has reached gaping," it is to say there has been gaping by the flishe, while that which on the bone of his skull has no aping and is small, not wide. For it is the case that its vessles are in the back of the head and in the pulse, and it is the case that it speaks to every vessel and every limb, revealing the measurement of his -on the vessels of the head, of the back of his head, of his legs. As for that on which any lay-priest of Seihment and physician puts his hands or fingers- head, on the hands, on the pulse, on the legs-he measures the heart. As for the heart, there are vessels from it to limb. As for measuring things with a grain measure, suffering is taking account of in the same way. TREATMENT: You have to bandage him with fresh meat the first day and treat him afterward with oil and honey dressing every day until he gets well.ĮXPLANATIONS: As for "you treat a man," it is taking acount of someone like taking account of things with a grain measure, treating one takes account of whatever things with a grain measure or takes account of something with the fingers in order to them. TITLE: Practices for a man who suffers from a wound in his head, which has reached to the bone of his skull without gaping.ĮXAMINATION AND PROGNOSIS: If you treat a man with a wound in his head whose wound's lips are closed and not gaping, and, and then you say about him: "One who has a wound in his head: an ailment I will handle." So, here is the first case on the Edwin Smith papyrus, a rather straightforward scalp laceration (note that this part of the papyrus is fragmentary, leaving gaps):
Bear with me, and I think you'll see why. For the moment, I'd like to revisit the head injuries. I'll get to different injuries and illnesses in the next installment. So, hopefully it won't perturb anyone if I revisit the ancient Egyptian method of treating head injuries. I had been planning on moving on to a different type of injury for the second part of my series, but then I looked at the very first case again and noticed something that perhaps I should have talked about last week. I also rather like the way that the Egyptian physicians divided diseases and wounds into "an ailment I will handle" (a problem for which there was a treatment), "an ailment I will fight with" (a problem for which the treatment was less certain), or "an ailment for which nothing is done." What I discussed last time was mostly the management of head wounds, and I picked a couple of cases from the papyrus to illustrate that the practical management of these head wounds is not all that different today in some ways.
Edwin smith papyrus on oligodynamic action series#
This papyrus, as you may recall, is one of the earliest surviving medical texts, and what is remarkable about it is that the knowledge is presented as a series of case reports not all that much unlike the way we sometimes present cases today. Last week, I wrote about my visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibit The Art of Medicine in Ancient Egypt, where I enjoyed examining the Edwin Smith Papyrus.
0 kommentar(er)
