Astrological prognostications regarding the winds and waves of health, possible diseases and the availability of food in particular combinations of stars and planets.Condition: Torn, tiny holesLayout: 15 lines
F. 2v: legal document through which Ḥasan, known as Abū ʿAlī b. Ḵalaf, the Jew of Tyre, renounces to all his monetary claims towards Isḥaq b. Sahl b. Bišr b. Nāḥūm and Abū Naṣr. Dated 6th century AH (= 12th century CE). F. 1r: Arabic document of lease. F. 1v-2r and marginalia: medical text dealing with parts of the human body.Condition: Torn, holes, faded, rubbedLayout: 10-22 lines + marginalia
Bifolium f. 1: beginning of the ophthalmological treatise Taḏkirat al-kaḥḥalīn by ʿAlī b. ʿĪsā with table of contents on f. 1r. F. 1v: colophon. Separate leaf: record of an ordinance dated Ṣafar 537 AH (= September 1142 CE) from Al-Ẓāfir to instruct Al-Hāfiẓ’s book warehouse to issue ‘the epistle of the elder ʿAlī b. ʿĪsā’ (i.e. the ophthalmological treatise Taḏkirat al-kaḥḥalīn) to the amir Faḵr al-Dīn Abū Manṣūr ʿIzz al-ʿArab b. Muḥammad.Condition: Torn, holesLayout: 9-14 lines (f. 2v is blank)
Astrological-medical work, discussing the effects of the signs of the zodiac on the human body.Condition: torn, holes, stained, stained, rubbed, fadedLayout: 16 lines
Short letter to Abū l-Riḍāʾ in which the writer explains his health problems and asks for medical advice.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 15 lines (recto); 8 lines (verso)
Recto: piyyuṭ in Hebrew and Aramaic. Verso: medical prescription in Arabic referring to goat’s spleen.Condition: torn, holes, rubbed, stainedLayout: 14 lines (recto); 8 lines (verso)
Recto: Targum Jonathan of Habakkuk 3:1. Verso: medical recipe for a potion.Condition: torn, holes, rubbed, faded, stainedLayout: 7 lines (recto); 14 lines (verso)
Recto: probably drafts of letters, one is a letter to Abū l-ʿAzz (?). Verso: medical recipe in Arabic for the treatment of fever.Condition: torn, holes, rubbed, fadedLayout: 16-17 lines in 2 columns + marginalia (recto); 8 lines (verso)
Astrological prognostications concerning illnesses, health and happy events.Condition: Torn, holes, badly rubbed and fadedLayout: 4-9 lines in 2 columns
Recipe instructions, mentioning stones and metals such as beryl, borax and diamond, and three pounds of mercury.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 14 lines (recto); 3 lines (verso)
Letter, mentioning illnesses of the eye, the Qadi and the overseers of the doctors.Condition: torn, holes, rubbed, stainedLayout: 5 lines (recto); 3 lines (verso)
Note from a patient to his doctor Abū l-Ḥasan, asking for more medication to be sent with the boy. Signed by Solomon.Condition: tornLayout: 3 lines (recto); 1 line (verso)
Petition from the Jewish community of Egypt to a Mamluk Sultan, requesting the removal from office of the head of the Jewish community whose administration and leadership the Jews deemed oppressive and even threatening to their security as a minority.Condition: slightly torn, holes, rubbed, stainedLayout: 34 lines + marginalia (recto); 21 lines + marginalia (verso)
Letter of Abū l-Maḥāsin b. ʿAlī the trader, introduced by citations from Proverbs 3:4, Psalms 37:11 and 119:165. Mentions consingments of medical commodities such as betel palm (fawfal), amomum (qāqulla) and quince (safarjal), a doctor’s visit and names such as Naḥūm the perfumer and Abū Manṣūr Ibn al-Ṣāʾiḡ (goldsmith), cousin of the writer.Condition: torn, holes, rubbed, stainedLayout: 53 lines + marginalia (recto); 6 lines (verso)
Contents:(1) Anonymous treatise on ophthalmology (ff. 1r-59v);(2) Ṣubunrī (صبنري),
Kitāb al-raḥmah fī al-ṭibb wa-al-ḥikmah(كتاب الرحمة في الطب والحكمة, ff. 60v-74v);(3) Manual of therapeutics (ff. 75v-308r).The colophon at the end of the third text, claims that the manuscript from which the text was copied was completed on Tuesday 21 Ṣafar 1114/18 July 1702 (f. 307v, lines 2-9). The present manuscript must therefore have been copied after this date.Codex; ff. i+308+iMaterial: Eastern laid paperDimensions: 220 x 125 mm leaf [135 x 75 mm written]Foliation: Eastern Arabic foliation in black ink visible on some folios (not on ff. 56r-76r; begins again from 1 at f. 76v; errors in foliation and corrections from f. 104r to end of volume), British Museum foliation in pencilRuling:
Misṭarah; 15 lines per page; vertical spacing 11 lines per 10 cmScript:
NaskhInk: Black ink, with rubricated headings and overlinings in redDecoration: NoneBinding: British Museum bindingCondition: Defective at beginning, ff. 1-2 mutilated and repaired with no loss of text, tidemarks at head especially towards front of volumeMarginalia: Few by more than one hand overall, but see especially ff. 57r-59vSeals: F. 1r
Recto: letter from Meʾir Ibn al-Hamdānī to Maimonides, asking him to accept his son as his assistant for the study of medicine. He stresses that he dared to apply to him only because he had heard that Maimonides’ nephew, who had worked under him thus far, now practiced elsewhere. He promises to pay Maimonides a higher honorarium than the former apprentice. Verso: recipe to treat hallucination.Condition: Torn, holesLayout: 43 lines (recto); 8 lines (verso)
Psalms 149:1-150:4 with Hebrew writing-exercises, jottings in Judaeo-Arabic, and two lines of a medical recipe in Arabic.Condition: slightly torn, holes, stainedLayout: 10 lines (recto); 8 lines (verso)
Recto: fragment of a legal document mentioning (...) ha-Kohen ha-Zaqen and excommunication, in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Manasseh. Verso: medical text with recipes to improve vision and treat sciatica and painful joints, act as a purgative and protect against the cold, humidity and spleen pain. Mentions musk, orange, colocynth, Galen’s seed and different quantities of weights.Condition: torn, holes, slightly rubbedLayout: 12 lines (recto); 18 lines (verso)
'Contents: Sefer ha-memiyut ṿeha-aṿirim (translation from the Arabic of Hippocrates\'s treatise "Peri aerōnhydatōntopōn"="De aereaquislocis" with Galen\'s commentary) (ff. 1-18). Sefer roʿa mezeg mitḥalef (translation from the Latin of Galen\'s treatise "Peri anomalous dyskrasias"="De inaequali intemperie") (ff. 19-35). Ha-seder ha-ḳaṭan (Hebrew translation of a work by Avicenna) (ff. 36-48). Hebrew translation from the Latin of a medical treatise by Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā Rāzī (Rhazes) (ff. 49r-81r). Hanhagat ha-na Rāzīarim ha-ḳaṭanim (ff. 81v-90r). Solomon ben Joseph Ibn Ayyub\'s Sefer haṭeḥorim (ff. 90v-116). The manuscript also contains two Judaeo-Italian texts: a medical work by Gentilis Fulginas (da Foligno) (f. 28v); a poem (f. 32).'
Recto: a letter mentioning Abū Surūr and Abū Jacob. Verso: list of medical simples, including saffron, sugar, aloe, camphor, honey, and alum.Condition: Torn, tiny holesLayout: 16 lines (recto); 2 lines (verso)
Medical recipes (including one attributed to אלאורינץ הרופא), and magical recipes to know if a woman has sinned, against sleeplessness, against a flow of blood, to cause sleeplessness and to catch thieves.Condition: holesLayout: 17-19 lines
Recto: letter of congratulations for the New Year and Day of Atonement to Elʿazar ha-Sar. Verso: medical prescription for the treatment of a cough, mentioning substances such as gum tragacanth, gum arabic, corn starch and cucumber seeds.Condition: holes, rubbedLayout: 14 lines (recto); 13 lines (verso)
Recto: collection of verses from piyyuṭim with acrostics of the names Judah, Isaac and Abraham. Verso: Arabic medical prescription mentioning figs, vinegar, sal ammoniac, and oxymel; on the margin of verso, lines of a Hebrew liturgical poemCondition: Torn, holes, slightly rubbedLayout: 15 lines
Recto: genealogical list with family names, such as the house of the Kohen b. Ḡazaliyya (?), whose father was called Natan and had two sons Šemarya and Samuel, who in their turn had two sons, respectively called Aaron and Natan ha-Kohen etc. Verso: portion of a medical treatise that mention surgical instruments and includes the beginning of a chapter three.Condition: A few tiny holes, stainedLayout: 9 lines (recto); 12 lines (verso)
End of a medical treatise regarding different kinds of food and drinks, their tastes and their influences on the body depending on the time and the amount. Studying this book is said to free one from the long-windedness of ‘quacksalvers’. According to the colophon (P2 f. 1v), the copy was prepared in Alexandria and the scribe wrote it for himself. The name of the scribe is deleted and the name of a new owner, Abraham b. Saʿadya, is added below the colophon.Condition: Holes, rubbedLayout: 8–15 lines
Leaf from an astrological treatise describing the different reciprocal positions of the Sun, Moon, planets and constellations, and their effects on bodies and their health.Condition: Slightly rubbedLayout: 25-27 lines
Letter, requesting various drugstore items to be sent, mentioning people including Abū l-Faḍāʾil and places such as Qalyūb. The drugstore items are all written in Arabic script.Condition: holesLayout: 20 lines + marginalia (recto); 12 lines (verso)
Recto: letter concerning various business matters, and mentioning al-Maḥalla, Jacob, Rašīd b. Mufaḍḍal, a tax farmer of Šarbīn, the shop of Mufaḍḍal Ibn al-Našīlī, ʿ[...] descendant of Yeḥiʾel and Surūr b. Ibrahim. Verso: recipes (?) in Arabic script.Condition: holesLayout: 31 lines + marginalia (recto); 22 lines + marginalia (verso)
Damaged bifolium from a work on pharmacopoeia, describing the preparation of medicated creams and compounds. Ingredients include sandalwood, Armenian tin, agaric, cotton, chicory, salt, wormwood, clove, ginger, and onion.Condition: badly tornLayout: 17 lines
Pen trials. The top two lines are biblical quotations including Psalms 19:8 and Numbers 21:27. Below is the beginning of a statement on a person afflicted by grief and sorrow, surrounded by the words ‘Hippocrates said’ repeated a number of times.Condition: Holes, rubbed, slightly stainedLayout: 8 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Recto: letter from a man sent to Minyat Zifta, Egypt, describing an epidemic taking place there, there which had caused twelve or thirteen deaths in the Jewish community. Mentions Šabbetay b. Abraham. Verso: address in Arabic and a damaged line of Hebrew text.Condition: Torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 31 lines + marginalia (recto); 3 lines (verso)
Recto: poems by Judah ha-Levi, copied by the India trader Abraham Ibn Yijū. Verso: medical list in Arabic script.Condition: Torn, badly fadedLayout: 26 lines (recto); 34 lines (verso)
Letter from Ibn Hanzar (?) to the trader Abū l-Muḥsin, including a request for medicinal substances.Condition: Torn, holes, slightly rubbedLayout: 4 lines + marginalia (recto); 3 lines + marginalia (verso)
Letter from Iraq sent by Jacob the doctor to his family back in Juma Mazidat (גומה מזידת), reporting on an epidemic disease in Šamṭūniyya, where the writer and his son have travelled. The letter mentions the return from the Hajj of the Sheikh Abū al-Riḍā, the merchant from Baghdad. The writer describes the illness as an epidemic (‘no house was spared’), causing long-lasting fevers (17 days in his case). The son of the writer, called Abū Barakāt, fell ill as well, with strong fevers and shaking. A visit to the house of the sheikh Abū Sa‘d ibn Khalaf is mentioned.Condition: Holes, slightly rubbedLayout: 24 lines (recto); 7 lines (verso)
Recto: letter from Muḵtār b. Jacob to Saʿīd b. Najā’, c. 1100 CE. Verso: jottings in Arabic script.Condition: holes, rubbedLayout: 18 lines + marginalia (recto); 6 lines + jottings (verso)
Letter from Jacob b. Isaac to his son Isaac. The father describes a skin condition called dā’ al-quwab, that is affecting him.Condition: Torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 25 lines + marginalia (recto); 9 lines (verso)
Letter from Samuel b. Ibrahim to his father Abū Isḥāq Ibrahim b. Sunbāṭ (known as Šabbetay), who had travelled from Egypt to Palermo. Samuel writes about his sister, who had developed an abscess in her stomach.Condition: Torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 19 lines + marginalia (recto); 6 lines (verso)
Leaf 1: commentary on Hosea. Leaf 2: medical text dealing with physiology, particularly the humours and the temperaments of the body.Condition: Torn, stainedLayout: 35-48 lines
Small part of a document in which one of the people mentioned is a physician (al-mutaṭabbib).Condition: Badly torn, slightly rubbed, slightly stainedLayout: 4 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Composite manuscript comprising two codicological units.Contents:(1) al-Qalānisī (القلانسي), Qarābādīn (aqrābādhīn) (قرابادين [أقراباذين]; ff. 1v-110v);(2) Ibn Hubal (ابن هبل), al-Mukhtār fī al-ṭibb (المختار في الطب; ff. 111r-282r).Codex; ff. iv+282+ivPhysical characteristics:Material: Eastern laid paperDimensions: 235 x 170 mm leafFoliation: British Museum foliation in pencilScript:
NaskhBinding: British Museum half-leather bindingCondition: Minor water damageMarginalia: Marginalia by multiple handsSeals: Ff. 110v, 111v and 282r
The manuscript was produced in Egypt as confirmed by the use in the colophon (f. 184v, lines 7-8, transcribed below) of the Coptic date alongside the
hijrīyear. The copy was completed on 28 Hatūr 1393 (of the Coptic era)/28 Ramaḍān 1087/4 December 1676. A small note below the colophon gives the subsequent (collation?) date 18 Ṭūbah [1394] (of the Coptic era)/[29] Dhū al-Qa‘dah 1088/23 January 1678.The manuscript was probably collected by the Scottish surgeon and naturalist Patrick Russell (1726-1805) during his service as physician to the Levant Company factory in Aleppo (1753-71). While in Aleppo, Russell studied the outbreaks of plague in 1760-62, so may have been interested in the recipe (f. 1r) for pills (حبوب), five of which were to be taken in the morning, before breakfast, during plague season (في أيام الوباء). This recipe is said to have been received from Ibn al-Ḥākhām ('son of the Rabbi') Mūsá on 7 Rajab 1138/11 March 1726 (see Custodial History).Contents:(1) al-‘Aynzarbī (العينزربي),
al-Kāfī fī ṣinā‘at al-ṭibb(الكافي في صناعة الطب; ff. 2r-172v);(2) al-Qawṣūnī (القوصوني),
Zād al-masīr fī ʿilāj al-bawāsīr(زاد المسير في علاج البواسير; ff. 173r-185r).Codex; ff. iii+185+ivMaterial: Western laid paper, with
Tre lunewatermarkDimensions: 209 x 150 mm leaf [140 x 95 mm written]Foliation: Eastern Arabic foliation in black ink, British Museum foliation in pencilRuling:
Misṭarah; 23 lines per page; vertical spacing 16 lines per 10 cmScript:
NaskhInk: Black ink, with rubricated headings and overlinings in redBinding: Red leather binding, with stamped medallion, pendants corner and edge pieces; marbled doublures and recto-side of first front and end flyleavesCondition: Minor water damage to lower, outer corner towards front and end of volumeMarginalia: Few; most (all?) by hand of scribeSeals: None
Recipe or preparation instructions, probably halakhic or medical, mentioning sieving, kneading, heat and a period of 10 days.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 7 lines (recto); 6 lines (verso)
Unidentified. Contains the word sūmāq, possibly referring to the spice, and mentions honey and raisins, suggesting a medical recipe of some kind.Condition: Badly torn, holes, badly rubbed, stainedLayout: 19 lines (recto); 17 lines (verso)
Recto: Elʿazar b. Tamīm (known as Ibn Raṣṣāṣī) releases Elʿazar b. Benjamin. Dated Nisan 4918 of the Era of Creation (= 1158 CE), with an addendum. Below are marginalia in the hand from verso dealing with medical issues. Verso: draft of a chapter from a medical book or a medical notebook, mentioning for example drinks made from poppies and violets.Condition: torn, holes, rubbed, fadedLayout: 15 lines + marginalia (recto); 21 lines (verso)
Recto: Elʿazar b. Tamīm (known as Ibn Raṣṣāṣī) releases Elʿazar b. Benjamin. Dated Nisan 4918 of the Era of Creation (= 1158 CE), with an addendum. Verso: draft of a chapter from a medical book or a medical notebook, dealing with neoplasms.Condition: holes, rubbed, fadedLayout: 16 lines + marginalia (recto); 20 lines (verso)
Part of a legal document in Arabic mentioning people involved in the medical profession: […] al-Yahūdī al-ʿAṭṭār (the perfumer/the druggist); […] al-Isrāʾīlī al-Ṣaydalānī (the pharmacist).Condition: Badly torn, holes, rubbed, stainedLayout: 9 lines (recto); 11 lines (verso)
Recto: Judaeo-Arabic 11th century commercial letter, mentioning Abū Saʿīd and Abū Yaʿqūb Joseph b. Faraḥ Qābisī, and referring to the trade in coral and silk. Verso: medical prescription in Arabic script.Condition: Torn, stained, slightly rubbedLayout: 15 lines + marginalia (recto), 7 lines (verso)
Ruling board (masṭara), made from layers of paper stuck together, incorporating what is probably a medical work in Arabic. There is Hebrew, probably originally a colophon, on verso.Condition: damagedLayout: various lines
Letter describing two meetings with physicians. The first was a visit to Maimonides, who discussed medical topics with the writer, the second was with another physician who visited the writer, checked his pulse and examined a flask of his urine. Mention is made of a trip to Alexandria. The fragment mentions others and their wealth: Abū Manṣūr, Abū l-Muḥāsin, Rīḍā al-Dawla, Ibn Ḥillel.Condition: Torn, tiny holes, slightly rubbed, slightly stainedLayout: 35 lines (recto); 37 lines (verso) + marginalia
Recto: dowry deed (שטר פרנא) for Ḥaẓiyya bint Nathan (bride) and Manṣūr (groom). Dated c. 1020 CE, in Tyre. The bride agrees to reside with her parents in Tyre for the first year of her marriage, after which she will move with her husband, Manṣūr, to Acre, to reside in a house given to them by her father Nathan. Nathan reserves the right to reside in that same house, should he return to Acre. Witnessed by Joseph ha-Levi b. Manasseh, Mevoraḵ b. Menaḥem, and Samuel b. Moses he-Ḥaver, who also wrote the document. Verso: an unrelated twelve-line text, a medical prescription in Arabic script.Condition: torn, holes, fadedLayout: 30 lines (recto); 12 lines (verso)
Part of an astrological work making connections between the stars, their position in the sky and the incidence of diseases and natural disasters.Condition: Torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 6 lines
Recto: a piyyuṭ with the title Qidduše Yarḥayyā (apparently by Pinḥas). Preserved are the piyyuṭim for Nisan and Iyyar. Verso, top: a medical recipe in Judaeo-Arabic for chest and rib pain. Verso, bottom: an ownership note with the name Šabbetay b. Joseph ha-Mumḥe b. Elʿazar b. ʿAmram the judge, written by this person’s son.Condition: Torn, holes, rubbed, slightly stainedLayout: 25 lines (recto); 13 lines (verso)
Page from an astrological work describing the influence of the different months (here called by their Syriac names) on the incidence of diseases, deaths and natural disasters.Condition: Torn, holes, slightly rubbedLayout: 18 lines (recto); 19 lines (verso)
Leaf from an astrological work, dealing with the connection between the position of the stars in the sky and the development of epidemic and epizootic diseases, the rise of the Nile, the consequent floods and the successful growth of the crops.Condition: Torn, goles, rubbedLayout: 20 lines
Astrological predictions connected with the different houses of the moon, listing the possible diseases caused by astral conditions and favourable moments for beginning new activities and procreating. Storax is recommended as a remedy against cough.Condition: Torn, tiny holes, slightly rubbedLayout: 17 lines (recto); 19 lines (verso)
Letter sent to a court official reporting on a particular course of treatment for eye problems that included inflammations, dimness of vision, expanded pupils. The illness was treated with lamellae, eye drops and with the prescription of a potion to be taken after breakfast. Simples mentioned include anise, rose, lavender, oregano, mastic, liquorice, myrobalan, and aloe. The writer mentions his recent move to the town of Qalyūb.Condition: Torn, tiny holes, slightly rubbed, slightly stainedLayout: 23 lines (recto); 9 lines (verso)
On f. 170v a hand other than that of the main scribe, ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib al-Ḥalabī, probably that of one of the manuscript’s owners, has copied out three prescriptions: (1) a tested remedy for haemorrhoids taken from Ibn al-Ḥadhdhā; (2) ‘hospital dried fruit (al-nuqū‘ al-māristānī)’; and (3) an aphrodisiac paste with three uses.Begins (170v, lines 1-3):للبواسير مجرب عن ابن الحذاءثلثا درهم أفيون ونصف درهم زرنيخ أحمر ونصف درهم زرنيخ أصفر ودرهم هالك يدق ناعمًا وتؤخذ ثلثة درهمحرقة قطن وتحرق ولا يترك يخرج لها دخان...Ends (f. 170v, lines 18-23):معجون السليحة وله ثلثة فوائد الأولى لا تحبل المرأةالثانية يجب الرجل إليها الثالثة لا يضعف البدن بكثرة الجماعخشخاش أبيض إسقنقور كل واحد درحمان نصف مرارة شبوط وبزر سذاب ولؤلؤ وصامرٮو (؟) ما يتسوم وتٮا (؟) الحمار كلواحد درهمان سليحة ومن كل واحد نصف درهم بزر خيار وقثار نعنع وبزر بطيخ كل واحد نصف درهم صعتر فارسي وكافوركل واحد سدس درهم يجمع ويسحق وينحلّ ويعجن بعسل منزوع الرغوة ويرفع ويستعمله ليلًا إن كان الجماع نهارًا أو نهارًا إنكان الجماع ليلًاf. 170vMaterial: PaperDimensions: 200 x 146 mm leaf [141 x 91 mm written]Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencilRuling: Misṭarah; 11 lines per page; vertical spacing 8 lines per 10 cmScript: Very clear, well pointed and vocalised naskh; the scribe was ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib ibn ‘Alī ibn ‘Alī ibn ‘Alī ibn al-Husayn al-ḤalabīInk: Black ink, with rubricated headingsDecoration: Title page (f. 2a), title and author information in cloud bands in box with gold borders, on background of blue with foliate arabesque design partially shaded in red; below and to the left of this is a similar, but less ornate, box containing information relating to the scribeBinding: Ottoman (?) binding in red leather with blind-tolled borders, medallion and pendants; no envelope flapCondition: light waterstains, some foxing, and a notable amount bleed-through of black inkMarginalia: Frequent marginalia by more than one handSeals: See ff. 1r, 2r, 3r, 170r
A query sent to Ḥananʾel, about the legality of a divorce deed given by a man with a mental illness.Condition: Torn, slightly rubbedLayout: 12 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Small fragment, with phrases such as ‘you will die and perish in very short time’, ‘material powers’ and ‘bodily enemies’; possibly philosophical, medical or magical.Condition: torn, holes, stainedLayout: 3 lines
(1) Sākhīyūs al-Qass (ساخيوس القس),
Tafsīr kitāb al-ʿilal(تفسير كتاب العلل; ff. 2v-170r);(2) Qusṭā ibn Lūqā (قسطا بن لوقا),
Risālah fī tadbīr safar al-ḥajj(رسالة في تدبير سفر الحج; ff. 171v-185v);(3) Qusṭā ibn Lūqā (قسطا بن لوقا),
Kitāb fī ʿilal al-shaʿr(كتاب في علل الشعر; ff. 186v-194r).There is a gap on the foliation so that f. 100 is followed by f. 110, and there is an unfoliated leaf between ff. 138 and 139.Codex; ff. i+194+iMaterial: Eastern laid paperDimensions: 180 x 90 mm leaf [120 x 45 mm written]Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencilRuling: No ruling visible; 19 lines per page; vertical spacing 16 lines per 10 cmScript:
Naskh; the scribe is Ibn Muḥammad Ja‘far ibn Muḥammad Shafī‘ al-Kirmānī (ابن محمد جعفر بن محمد شفيع الكرماني, see f. 170r, lines 20-23)Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings and overlinings in redDecoration: Edges dyed yellowBinding: British Museum half-leather bindingCondition: Ff. 1-73 and 188-94 mutilated in upper edge corner and repaired (worse towards beginning of volume)Marginalia: Very fewSeals: ff. 170r and 194r
A composite volume, consisting of three manuscripts apparently from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The first two are medical texts, and the last is a tale also found in the
Thousand Nights and a Night(ألف ليلة وليلة).Contents:(1)
Kitāb fīhī ajzā’ min Minhāj al-ṭibb(كتاب فيه أجزاء من منهاج الطب; ff. 1r-38v);(2) Ibn Jumayʿ(ابن جميع),
al-Irshād li-maṣāliḥ al-anfus wa-al-ajsād(الإرشاد لمصالح الأنفس والأجساد; ff. 39r-78v);(3)
Ḥikāyat Zayn al-Mawāṣif wa-mā jarā lahā ma‘a Masrūr al-ʿaṭṭār(حكاية زين المواصف وما جرا لها مع مسرور العطار; ff. 79r-88v).Codex; ff. i+88+iiInformation pertains to all three codicological units unless folio range is specified.Material: PaperDimensions: 167 x 115 mm leaf [135 x 97 mm written] (ff. 1r-38v); 170 x 120 mm leaf [140 x 83 mm written] (ff. 39r-78v); 159 x 117 mm leaf [113 x 75 mm written] (ff. 79r-88v)Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil; quire marks on ff. 11r and 21r indicate quinions (ff. 1r-38v);Ruling: None visible; 14 lines per page; vertical spacing 10 lines per 10 cm (ff. 1r-38v); Misṭarah; 14 lines per page; vertical spacing 10 lines per 10 cm (ff. 39r-78v);
misṭarah; 11 lines per page; vertical spacing 10 lines per 10 cm (ff. 79r-88v)Script:
NaskhInk: Black ink, with rubricated heading (ff. 1r-38v and 39r-78v); black ink (ff. 79r-88v)Binding: British Museum binding in morocco red leatherCondition: Waterstains; wormholes, some repaired (especially on ff. 79-88)Marginalia: Very few, but see Hebrew notes on f. 25v and 26r (ff. 1r-38v); some (ff. 39r-78v); none (ff. 79r-88v)
The fragment is a palimpsest. The upper text consists, on the right-hand side of the leaf, of a children’s writing exercise of the alphabet with the various different Tiberian vowels signs. The left-hand side holds a list of substances in Judaeo-Arabic, including gum, sugar and other commodities, with some irregular spellings. It is possibly a portion of a medical prescription. Verso contains some pen trials in Hebrew. The under text on recto, written transversely in relation to the upper text, is in Bohairic Coptic, and is probably a liturgical text.Condition: Torn, holes, rubbed, stainedLayout: upper text: 10 lines (recto); 3 lines (verso); under text: 26 lines (recto)
Leaf from a medical book here dealing with different kinds of fevers, their causes, symptoms and treatment.Condition: Torn, holes, slightly stainedLayout: 37 lines
Recto contains a collection of recipes mentioning Galen and Andromachus, the Roman physician who perfected the recipe for Mithridates’ electuary. Verso preserves only two line in Arabic script, with a mention of yellow bileLayout: 25 lines (recto); 2 lines (verso)
From a book on pharmacopoeia; recipes for treating jaundice in conjunction with high fever and for palpitations. Simples include anise, castor, opium, mint, camphor, chalk, red rose, poppy, nard, liquorice, lettuce seeds, beans, purslane, kekengi, and fleawort.Condition: Rubbed, stainedLayout: 13 lines (recto); 12 lines (verso)
This collection begins (ff. 129v-163v) with prescriptions similar in style and format to those of the
Aqrābādhīnof Ibn al-Tilmīdh, and at least one is said to have been chosen by Ibn al-Tilmīdh (اختاره أمين الدولة; f. 151v, line 3). Next is a ‘selection from Galen’s
Substitutions[مختار من أبدال جالينوس; f. 164r-165v]’, i.e. from the pseudo-Galenic treatise on substitute drugs known as
De succedaneis liber(see Fichtner,
Corpus Galenicum, p. 79, Item 133). This selection from pseudo-Galen is said to have been ‘copied from the great Amīn al-Dawlah’s [i.e. Ibn al-Tilmīdh’s] own handwriting [منقول من خطّ الأجلّ أمين الدولة; f. 164, line3]’. The collection ends with a discussion of substitute drugs by Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā’ al-Rāzī (ff. 165v-170r).Begins (f. 129v, lines 2-6):دهن القسطيسقى فينفع من برد (؟) الأعضاء وخصوصًاالكبد والمعدة ويفتح السدد ويشدالعصب ويقويه ويحسن اللون ويحفظالشعرEnds (f. 170r, lines 5-8):... بدل عصارةطراثيث عصارة القرظ. بدل الشيبار مصطكا وصبر أو يقتع (؟) الصبربدل أقرصة الورد ماء الرازبانج والكرفس مع عسل مادي. بدلجلنجين عسل مادي مع رازبانجColophon (f. 170r, lines 9-11):تم الكتاب بحمد الله وعونه وتوفيقهوصلى الله على سيدنا محمد النبي وصحبه وأله وعترتهالطاهرين وسلم تسليمًاff. 129v-170rMaterial: PaperDimensions: 200 x 146 mm leaf [141 x 91 mm written]Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencilRuling: Misṭarah; 11 lines per page; vertical spacing 8 lines per 10 cmScript: Very clear, well pointed and vocalised naskh; the scribe was ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib ibn ‘Alī ibn ‘Alī ibn ‘Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn al-ḤalabīInk: Black ink, with rubricated headingsDecoration: Title page (f. 2a), title and author information in cloud bands in box with gold borders, on background of blue with foliate arabesque design partially shaded in red; below and to the left of this is a similar, but less ornate, box containing information relating to the scribeBinding: Ottoman (?) binding in red leather with blind-tolled borders, medallion and pendants; no envelope flapCondition: light waterstains, some foxing, and a notable amount bleed-through of black inkMarginalia: Frequent marginalia by more than one handSeals: See ff. 1r, 2r, 3r, 170r
Astrological predictions concerning periods of crisis, including illnesses, rain, famine, war and political turmoil.Condition: Torn, holesLayout: 9 lines
The three short poems on f. 62r are not about medicine.The seven medical extracts are as follows:1. Recipe for the medicine
bakhtajūsh(بختجوش) made from grape juice (f. 62v)2. Discussion of two bezoars (بادزهر), the
ḥajar al-thīrān(حجر الثيران) and the
ḥajar al-tays(حجر التيس) and their medical uses taken from the
Ṣaydanahof Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī (ff. 62v-64r)3. Discussion of the 'narcissus fly' (ذباب النرجس) and its bite (f. 64r)4. Recipe for the clay of wisdom (طين الحكمة), a highly heat resistant clay used for protecting laboratory glassware (f. 64r)5. Recipe for an Indian animal-based medicine that was available in Basra at the same price as musk (ff. 64r-v)6. Aphrodisiac recipe presented by Jibrā’il ibn Bakhtīshū‘ to the Caliph al-Ma’mūn (f. 64v)7. Discussion of the medicinal uses of a number of trees (f. 64v)ff. 62r-64v