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Practical Materia Medica of the Medieval Eastern Mediterranean According to the Cairo Genizah Practical Materia Medica of the Medieval Eastern Mediterranean According to the Cairo Genizah LEV-AMAR_i-iv.indd i 9/3/2007 3:45:12 PM Sir Henry Wellcome Asian Series Edited by Dominik Wujastyk Paul U. Unschuld Charles Burnett Editorial Board Donald J. Harper Ch. Z. Minkowski Guy Attewell VOLUME 7 LEV-AMAR_i-iv.indd ii 9/3/2007 3:45:13 PM Practical Materia Medica of the Medieval Eastern Mediterranean According to the Cairo Genizah By Efraim Lev and Zohar Amar LEIDEN • BOSTON 2008 LEV-AMAR_i-iv.indd iii 9/3/2007 3:45:13 PM This book is printed on acid-free paper. The Sir Henry Wellcome name is used under licence from the Wellcome Trust. The volumes in this series are published with financial support from the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL. The peacock logo of the series was drawn by the artist Phyllida Legg. The authors would like to thank the Syndicate of Cambridge University Library for the permission to publish the Cairo Genizah fragments presented in this book and on its cover. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lev, Efraim. Practical materia medica of the medieval eastern Mediterranean according to the Cairo / by Efraim Lev and Zohar Amar. p. ; cm. — (Sir Henry Wellcome Asian series, ISSN 1570-1484 ; v. 7) Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 978-90-04-16120-7 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Materia medica—Middle East — History. 2. Medicine, Medieval—Middle East—History. 3. Jews—Medicine—Middle East—History. 4. Cairo Genizah. I. Amar, Zohar. II. Title. III. Series: Sir Henry Wellcome Asian series (Brill Academic Publishers) ; v. 7. [DNLM: 1. Materia Medica—history—Middle East. 2. History, Medieval—Middle East. 3. Jews—history—Middle East. QV 11 JA2 L655p 2008] RS64.L48 2008 615'.10956—dc22 2007031992 ISSN: 1570-1484 ISBN: 978 90 04 16120 7 Copyright 2008 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishers, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS LEV-AMAR_i-iv.indd iv 9/3/2007 3:45:14 PM CONTENTS List of Figures ...................................................................................... vii Preface ................................................................................................... ix PART A INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................... 3 Chapter 2 Practical Materia Medica and Its Sources ................... 20 PART B DISCUSSION Chapter 3 The identification of Materia Medica in the Genizah and method of presenting the data ............................................... 29 Chapter 4 Prescriptions, lists, letters and their analysis .............. 42 Chapter 5 Inventory of practical Materia Medica of the Genizah people, its analysis, and comparisons with the theoretical inventory ...................................................................... 55 PART C DESCRIPTIONS AND USES OF THE PRACTICAL MATERIA MEDICA Chapter 6 Materia Medica: detailed items .................................... 89 Chapter 7 Materia Medica: concise items ..................................... 325 Chapter 8 Epilogue .......................................................................... 509 LEV-AMAR_F1_v-x.indd v 9/11/2007 1:04:23 PM vi contents PART D APPENDIXES, BIBLIOGRAPHY AND INDEXES Appendixes Appendix 1 Practical Materia Medica ........................................... 515 Appendix 2 Theoretical Materia Medica ....................................... 550 Appendix 3 Compound Medicines and Drugs ............................ 559 Appendix 4 Foodstuffs .................................................................... 570 Appendix 5 Prescriptions, lists of Materia Medica and notebooks ......................................................................................... 573 Bibliography ......................................................................................... 581 Figures Indexes Index of Scientific Names ................................................................... 599 Index of Arabic Names ....................................................................... 605 Index of English Names ...................................................................... 612 LEV-AMAR_F1_v-x.indd vi 9/11/2007 1:04:25 PM LIST OF FIGURES The Figures can be found after the Bibliography Figure 1 A page from al-Kūhīn al-BAtt& ār’s& Minhāj al-dukkān wa-dustūr al-AaByān fī AaBmāl wa-tarākīb al-Aadwiya al-nāfiBa lil-Ainsān on syrups, found in the Genizah (T-S Ar.40.91). Figure 2 A fragment of a notebook on dentistry (T-S Or. 1080.7.17). Figure 3 A letter from Maimonides to his disciple Tobias with a recipe for his headache (T-S Ar.30.286). Figure 4 Prescription for a recipe written in Judaeo-Arabic, opening and closing with benedictions in Arabic (T-S Ar.30.305). Figure 5 Prescription consisting of two similar recipes, the lower in Judaeo-Arabic and the upper in Arabic (T-S AS 155.365). Figure 6 Prescription for the treatment of haemorrhoids (T-S Ar.44.181). Figure 7 Family prescription listing 12 patients, some related (T-S NS 223.82-83). Figure 8 Fragment identified as a part of Ibn al-Bayān’s al-Dustūr al-bīmāristānī (T-S Ar.43.270). Figure 9 Prescription for the treatment of ancient ulcer, chancre, and some eye ailments (T-S AS 161.23). Figure 10 List of simples and their quantities, written in Judaeo-Arabic, including weights or prices in Coptic numerals (T-S Ar.30.274). Figure 11 List of simples and their quantities, written in Arabic (T-S Ar.39.487). Figure 12 One of a few prescriptions that mentions myrobalan (T-S Ar.43.338). Figure 13 Dry decoction of Aloe, Aloe sp. (Liliaceae) Figure 14 Crystals of alum, Stypteria Figure 15 Resin of bdellium, Commiphora mukul (Burseraceae) Figure 16 Seeds of bottle gourd, Lagenaria vulgaris (Cucurbitaceae) Figure 17 Dried flowers of borage, Anchusa italica (Boraginacea) Figure 18 Leaves and oil of camphor, Cinnamomum camphora (Lauraceae) Figure 19 Fruits of cardamom, Elettaria cardamomum (Zingiberaceae) Figure 20 Seeds and root of carrot, Daucus carota (Apiaceae) Figure 21 Leaves of cassia, Cassia acutifolia (Fabaceae) Figure 22 Hard cheese; cattle product, Bos taurus (Bovidae) LEV-AMAR_F1_v-x.indd vii 9/11/2007 1:04:25 PM viii list of figures Figure 23 Seeds of chate melon, Cucumis melo var. chate (Cucur- bitaceae) Figure 24 Samples of white clay [earth, bole] Figure 25 Bark of cinnamon, Cinnamomum cassia, (Lauraceae) Figure 26 Red coral, Tubipora musica (Coelenterata System) Figure 27 Seeds of coriander, Coriandrum sativum (Apiaceae) Figure 28 Resin of frankincense [olibanum], Boswellia carteri (Bur- seraceae) Figure 29 Gum Arabic; resin of Acacia nilotica (Mimosaceae) Figure 30 Leaves, fruits and powder of henna, Lawsonia inermis, alba (Lythraceae) Figure 31 Fruits of jujube, Ziziphus vulgaris (Rhamnaceae) Figure 32 Crystals and powder of galena, Plumbum sulphidum (PbS) Figure 33 Resin of lentisk, Pistacia lentiscus (Anacardiaceae) Figure 34 Roots of liquorice, Glycyrrhiza glabra (Fabaceae) Figure 35 Fruits of long pepper, Piper longum (Piperaceae) Figure 36 Mollusc [Operculum of marine gastropods] Figure 37 Fruits of yellow myrobalan (cherry plum), Terminalia citrina (Combrotaceae) Figure 38 Resin of myrrh, Commiphora myrrha (Burseraceae) Figure 39 Oak gall, Quercus sp. (Fagaceae) Figure 40 Fruits of peony, Paeonia sp. (Paeoniaceae) Figure 41 Fruits of pepper (black pepper), Piper nigrum (Piperaceae) Figure 42 Fruits of perfumed cherry, Prunus mahaleb (Rosaceae) Figure 43 Roots of rhubarb, Rheum sp. (Polygonaceae) Figure 44 Flowers of rose (dog rose), Rosa canina (Rosaceae) Figure 45 Common Rue, Ruta graveolens (Rutaceae) Figure 46 Stigmas of saffron, Crocus sativus (Iridaceae) [on left side] and imitations sold in markets today [right side] Figure 47 Sarcocolla [resin], Astragalus sarcocolla (Fabaceae) Figure 48 Fruits of sebesten, Cordia myxia (Boraginaceae) Figure 49 Roots of spikenard [nard, nardus root, musk root, Indian spikenard], Nardostachys jatamansi (Valerianaceae) Figure 50 Crystals of cane sugar, Saccharum officinarum(Poacea) Figure 51 Cylinders of natural Sulphur (S) Figure 52 Leaves and seeds of sweet violet, Viola odorata (Violaceae) LEV-AMAR_F1_v-x.indd viii 9/11/2007 1:04:25 PM PREFACE There is much information on Eastern medieval medical practices and the use of medicinal substances, which is based mainly upon the wide literature written in this field. This body of literature deals with a wide variety of subjects, from general works on medical doctrines and theories, codes of maintaining health, treating different diseases to the preparation of medication and more. The vast majority of these books was written by learned and usually well trained, educated and known physicians in concrete and well organized forms, and were meant to be practical and theoretical teaching tools as well as reference books for practitioners. In these works, the optimal medicinal substances were mentioned, out of an enormous
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