Edwin Smith (Egyptologist)

Edwin Smith
Portrait of Edwin Smith painted 1847 by Francesco Anelli, in the collection of the New-York Historical Society.
Born	1822 Bridgeport, Connecticut
Died	April 27, 1906(1906-04-27) (aged 83–84)
Nationality	American
Occupation(s)	dealer and collector of antiquities
Known for	Edwin Smith Papyrus

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Edwin Smith (1822 – April 27, 1906) was an American dealer and collector of antiquities who gave his name to an

Smith was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut,^[1][2] and lived in Egypt during the latter half of the 19th century. In 1862 he came temporarily into possession of a medical papyrus which was sold by its Egyptian owner to Georg Ebers in 1873 and published by Ebers in 1875.^[3] It was thus best known as the Ebers Papyrus.

In 1862 he also purchased the papyrus which came to bear his name, from a dealer called Mustapha Aga at Luxor.^[4] Smith's knowledge of hieratic was not sufficient to enable him to translate the papyrus, a task which was undertaken by James Henry Breasted, aided by Arno B. Luckhardt, a professor of physiology, and led to the publication of the translation in 1930.

Edwin Smith died in 1906.

See also

• List of Egyptologists

Notes

References

• ISBN 9780871692146
  .
• James Henry Breasted (editor), The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus: Hieroglyphic Transliteration, Translation and Commentary, 1922, New-York Historical Society. Republished in three volumes in 1930 by University of Chicago Press: Volume I; Volume II; and Volume III.