The earliest known depiction of a tracheotomy is found on two Egyptian tablets dating back to circa 3600 BC.[1] The 110-page Ebers Papyrus, an Egyptian medical papyrus that dates to around 1550 BC, also refers to the tracheotomy.[1][2] Tracheotomy was described in an ancient Indian scripture, the Rigveda: the text mentions "the bountiful one who, without a ligature, can cause the windpipe to re-unite when the cervical cartilages are cut across, provided they are not entirely severed."[2][3][4] The Sushruta Samhita (circa 400 BC) is another text from the Indian subcontinent on ayurvedic medicine and surgery that mentions tracheotomy.[5]