Edwin Smith papyrus scroll is the oldest known surgical
treatise on trauma. It dated to 1600 BC, It describes head injuries which
affect people’s ability to speak, walk or how to track objects with eyes. The influence of brain injuries on parts of
the body is recognized. The relationship between the location of a cranial
injury and the side of the body affected is also recorded. While crushing
injuries of vertebrae were noted to impair motor and sensory functions. The
physicians felt something therein throbbing and fluttering under his fingers
when he touched the brain, indicating that he could feel his patient’s pulse.
Ebers Papyrus scroll 1550 BC contains a treatise on the
heart, it is the center of the blood supply with vessels attached to every
member of the body. They saw blood vessels as channels that carry air, water
and blood to the body by analogies with the Nile River , if it became blocked ,
crops became unhealthy , they applied this principle to the body. If a person
was unwell, they would use laxatives to unblock the channels. They seem to have
known little about the kidneys. It also contains texts revealing awareness of
tumors along with instructions on tumor removal.
Blood was correctly guessed to be a transpiration medium for
vitality and waste that is similar to its actual role in carrying oxygen &
removing carbon dioxide.
The oldest bronze and copper surgical tools in the world
were discovered in the tomb of Qar a 100 m from the great pyramid of Cheops and
dated to 2320bc.
A wood & leather prosthetic toe was used by an amputee
to facilitate walking. The toe is almost 3,000 years old and
was found in a woman's burial site near the city of Luxor. Their teeth
were in a poor state as their
diet included abrasive sand from grinding the corn. The wealthy people whose
food was more refined and contained sugar seem to have suffered more from
caries than the poor. Holes were drilled in the jawbone in order to drain
abscess.
Surgery , mummification & autopsy gave them a good
knowledge of understanding organs function which was correctly presumed . They
were highly regarded by other cultures.
https://lovingegypt.com/
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