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Ancient Surgeons: A Characterization Of Mesopotamian Surgical Practices, Alison J. White, Jason Herbeck, Joann Scurlock, John Mayberry

World Languages Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: The Ancient Mesopotamian civilization, the earliest known, emerged in the fourth millennium BCE. While the advent of medicine is established, there is little understanding of surgery's origins. We sought to describe the characteristics and medical acumen of the surgeons of the first civilization.

Methods: Source documents and commentary on Mesopotamian medicine were systematically analyzed for evidence of surgery and physician descriptions.

Results: Early tablets reveal evidence of the incisional drainage of a scalp abscess and empyema, advanced wound care, fracture alignment, and possible caesarians without evidence of wound suturing, emergency procedures, trephination, or circumcision. While the asû and āšipu …