Further, the papyrus describes realistic anatomical, physiological and pathological observations.
However, the Edwin Smith Papyrus is also remarkable for something else of relevance to this particular conference: it is the first time that the word ‘brain’ appears in any language. It is also interesting to note that in this earliest catalogue of interventions, the recommendations also include the cases where it is recommended not to intervene The study and understanding of both trauma and disease and the designation of treatment by surgery or herbs – the science part – was added to the skill of talking with the patient, the agility in handling the broken limbs and the dexterity of suturing – the art part. It was under his tutelage that the exquisite combination of art and science that medicine represents was born. Thus, Imhotep should deservedly be considered the father of Medicine for having established that humans can study and understand both trauma and disease and can intervene to deal with it by surgery and herbs. That document is remarkable for containing anatomical observations, diagnoses of ailments, and recommendations for cures, all of which are based on empirical observation and devoid of magical interpretations.
Imhotep who flourished almost 5000 years ago, is considered to be the author of a medical treatise which was handed down through the generations, and survives in a copy– the so-called Edwin Smith papyrus – which is between 35 years old. I would invite all who believe in the virtue of a merit based system to reflect on the time scale and on the significance of that advancement based on merit. So it was in that land, as old as time itself, that something miraculous happened: Imhotep was the first recorded case of advancement based on intellectual merit rather than by birth or conquest. But Imhotep was also a medical doctor of great ability, and he was also deified by the ancients as the Egyptian God of Medicine. So from the mists of time, there emerges the majestic figure of the ancient Egyptian Polymath Imhotep, known for having been the architect/engineer of the stepped Pyramid of Saqqara, precursor to all the great Egyptian pyramids that were to follow. When Alexander the great came to Egypt, there was more distance in time between Alexander and the pyramid builders than there is between Alexander and us today! The vastness of that time scale is worthy of reflection. Imhotep came a century or two after King Narmer whose stela – dating from over 5000 years ago – recorded the unification of northern and southern Egypt, thereby creating the longest continuous human society with a central government within boundaries that have been recognized as “the land of Egypt” ever since. Here in Egypt, we have a different time scale. A land as old as time itself, but more pertinently for this audience, the land where medicine originated and in particular where the brain was first discovered, named and studied. The World Federation for Mental Health 20th World Congress, Cairo, Egypt Seeking Balance: Mental Health in a Changing World
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