The Edwin Smith Papyrus: Case Twelve

TITLE: Instructions concerning a break in the chamber of his nose.

EXAMINATION: If thou examinest a man having a break in the chamber of his nose, (and) thou findest nose bent, while his face is disfigured, (and) the swelling which is over it is protruding.

DIAGNOSIS: Thou shouldst say concerning him: "One having a break in the chamber of his nose. An ailment which I will treat ."

TREATMENT: Thou shouldst force it to fall in, so that it is lying in its place, (and) clean out for him the interior of both his nostrils with two swabs of linen until every worm of blood which coagulates in the inside of his two nostrils comes forth. Now afterward thou shouldst place two plugs of linen saturated with greases and put into his two nostrils. Thou shouldst place for him two stiff rolls of linen, bound on. Thou shouldst treat him afterward with grease, honey, (and) hint every day until he recovers.

NOTE A: As for: "A break in the chamber of his nose," it means the middle of his nose as far as the back, extending to the region between his two eyebrows

NOTE B: As for: "His nose bent, while his face is disfigured," it means his nose is crooked and greatly swollen throughout; his two cheeks likewise, so that his face is disfigured by it. not being in its customary form, because all the depressions are clothed with swelling, so that his face looks disfigured by it.

NOTE C: As for: "Every worm of blood which coagulates in the inside of his two nostrils," it means the clotting of blood in the inside of his two nostrils, likened to the----------worm, which subsists in the water.

case eleven
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