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A pharmacopoeia is an information resource that gathers together descriptions of how many different pharmaceuticals can be identified. The entity publishing this information is usually either a professional organization devoted to medical care, or a state or national government seeking to compile drug data for the safety of those living in the region. The word itself is Greek in origin and can be translated roughly as "the making of drugs." There are examples of pharmacopoeia dating as far back as the time of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. One of these was written by the Greek scholar Pedanius Dioscorides, and is called De Materia Medica (50 CE). De Materia Medica has proven to be an incredibly long-lived work and was regularly in use as a reference as recently as the seventeenth century. Other well-known works include the Edwin Smith Papyrus from Egypt and a pharmacopoeia written by Pliny of Rome. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uses the standards of the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP).