Ancient Egypt: a cradle of cardiovascular surgery

Abstract Background The origins of cardiovascular knowledge are deeply rooted in ancient Egyptian civilization, where the heart occupied an unparalleled position in medicine, theology, and cultural identity. Main Drawing primarily from the Ebers Papyrus (ca. 1550 BCE) and the Edwin Smith Papyrus (ca. 1600 BCE), this review examines how ancient Egyptian physicians developed remarkably sophisticated concepts of cardiovascular anatomy, pathology, and even rudimentary surgical intervention, a millennium before the Hippocratic tradition. The Ebers Papyrus contains what is plausibly the first treatise on cardiology in human history, describing the heart as the center of a distributive vascular system composed of 22 vessels (mtw), recognizing the relationship between the peripheral pulse and cardiac function, and cataloguing a range of cardiac pathologies including what may represent early descriptions of heart failure and angina. The Edwin Smith Papyrus, distinguished by its rational and empirical approach, provides the earliest known surgical case reports, including descriptions of thoracic injuries and their cardiovascular consequences. Notably, the Ebers Papyrus also documents what is among the oldest surviving descriptions of an arterial aneurysm and its surgical treatment by cautery. Furthermore, modern paleopathological investigations using computed tomography have revealed widespread atherosclerotic disease in Egyptian mummies, confirming that cardiovascular pathology is not exclusively a disease of modernity. Conclusion Ancient Egypt represents an important cradle of circulation knowledge and a main intellectual birthplace of cardiovascular surgery.