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(More customer reviews)This is a publication from 1930, the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, where ancient Egyptian subjects are studied. In 1862 an American living in Luxor, Egypt, purchased a papyrus scroll that looked fascinating. Edwin Smith was the purchaser and he was an early scholar of Egyptian studies and Egyptian writings. Ultimately the scroll was given to the New York Medical Society where it resides today. James Breasted, an Egyptologist, undertook a scholarly, formal translation in the 1920's and this work is the result. He received assistance from a physician who helped with commentaries regarding the actual medical issues under discussion. In essence, this is a papyrus originally written by a physician skilled in surgery who discusses typical cases and how he would handle them. In all, about 48 different medical/surgical cases are discussed with the physician's diagnosis and treatment plan (The Recto). The book also includes The Verso, or the incantations and recipes which were part of the treatments offered. It is important to note that Breasted suggested this document dated from about the 12th Dynasty in the Middle Kingdom, around 2,000 B.C. Perhaps modern scholarship has altered that date somewhat. It is interesting to think that it dates from as long before Queen Cleopatra, as Cleopatra dates from before our present time. Yet, it shows remarkably good understanding and judgment by the physician who authored it, even according to surgeons today. This is a Kessinger Publishing reprint of Breasted's work. It is well-constructed, has easy-to-read print, and is a solid book. Breasted includes many, many hieroglyphs (and a scholarly discussion about them) for those who are interested in that sort of detail. This ought to be interesting to anyone working in the medical field and to the interested lay public as well. (I first heard of this papyrus while attending a neuroscience conference about ten years ago where a neurosurgeon discussed some of these cases and expressed admiration for the ancient doctor's wise diagnosis and treatment.)
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This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.
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