The Integration of Greek Pharmacology into Arabic World

Authors

  • Alain Touwaide Central University of Barcelona, E

Keywords:

Byzantium , Arabic World, Pharmacology , Dioscorides , Galen

Abstract

The paper is a first study of the assimilation of ancient Greek pharmacology in the Arabic World. In a first part, it inventories the Greek works in the field, with their relative importance (tables I & 2). The second part is a study of the translations of these treatises, with, first, an inventory of their various Syriac and Arabic versions and, second, a reconstruction of the dynamic of this entreprise (table 3). The third part studies more specifically the integration of the most important work in that field, the De materia medica of Dioscorides. From the methodological point of view, the study is conducted on the Arabic sector, as well on the Greek one, with a special attention to the various aspects of the phenomenon, pharmacological, textual, artistic and others. The conclusion is that the integration of Greek pharmacology in the Arabic World reproduced the general tendencies of the Byzantine World, with an association of both Dioscorides' and Galen's works in the field.   

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Published

1995-03-01

Issue

Section

Articles