MEDICINE IN ARABO-LANGUAGE HALIPHATES VII-X centuries. Arabic culture and medicine

 

History of medicine

Middle Ages

MEDICINE OF PERIODS OF EARLY (V — X CENTURIES) AND DEVELOPED (XI-XV CENTURIES) MEDIEVAL AGES

MEDICINE OF PEOPLES OF THE MEDIEVAL EAST (VII-XVII centuries)

MEDICINE IN ARABO-LANGUAGE HALIPHATES (VII-X centuries). Arabic culture and medicine

 

Story

 

The most ancient area of ​​settlement of the Arab tribes was the peninsula of Arabia. In its southern part (the territory of modern Yemen), due to significant water resources in the I millennium BC. e. a developed agricultural culture developed, on the basis of which the first Arab city-states emerged. The development of the southern regions was promoted by: the creation of irrigation farming, gold mining, the production of incense, the development of handicrafts and intermediary trade between the Mediterranean and eastern countries - India and Ethiopia.

In the VI. Southwest Arabia became the object of the Byzantine and Iranian conquest policies, which fought for the caravan routes that took place there between the East and the West. As a result, the once prosperous states of southwestern Arabia lost their independence, first under the rule of Ethiopia (since 525), and then - Sassanian Iran (572-628).

In VI — VII centuries. most of the Arab tribes were in transition from tribal relations to the early feudal society. The desire to overcome tribal disunity, to resist external conquerors and create a single Arab state was expressed in the preaching of monotheism and led to the emergence of Islam (translated from Arabic. - Humility). - religion, which basically took shape by 622. Its founder, Muhammad (c. 570 - 632) from Mecca, created the first Muslim community in Western Arabia (ummah), which initiated the first Islamic state. As a result of subsequent Arab conquests outside the Arabian Peninsula, this state has become a vast feudal Muslim state - the Caliphate.

In the history of the Caliphate, there are three "periods.

The first period (632-750) of the history of the Caliphate is associated with the rule of the first four caliphs ("governors" of the prophet) —Abu-Bekr. (632–634), Omar (634–644), Osman (644–656) and Ali (656–661) and the Umayyad dynasty (661–750).

As a result of the initial stage of conquest in VII. the Caliphate included extensive Byzantine (Syria, Palestine, Cyprus, Egypt) and Persian (Sassanian Iran) possessions, as well as significant territories of Armenia and Georgia.

During the Umayyad dynasty, as a result of the second stage of the conquests, North Africa (Maghreb), Spain, was conquered, a large part. Central Asia and the Caucasus. The borders of the Caliphate spread from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indus, from Central Asia to North Africa. By the size of its territory, the Caliphate surpassed the Empire of Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire during its heyday (Fig. 70). In the VII — VIII centuries. the capital of the Caliphate was located in Damascus.

In the conquered countries, the Arabic language and Islam spread, which in many respects determined the further development of philosophy and other sciences in this region. By conquering the city, the Arabs did not seek to break or redo the order of governance, which was well-established by the Byzantines and Persians (they were not ready for this). Even in the religious sphere (most important according to the customs of that time), during the times of the Umayyad rule, Muslim-Arabs showed considerable tolerance for the Gentiles (Christians, Jews, Moro-Astrians): by paying the land (haradock) and the capitation (dokizya), they could keep their own the old faith and took a wide part in the economic and scientific life of the Caliphate, served at the court and participated in the management. This was largely due to the fact that the peoples conquered by the Arabs were at a higher stage of social and cultural development than their conquerors. Some scholars of the gentile accepted Islam, which also had its consequences: being educated people, they largely determined the development of Muslim culture.

The second period of the history of the Caliphate (750 - mid IX century) - the time of the rule of the Abbasid dynasty - was the period of the heyday of the multifaceted Arabic-speaking culture - the great medieval culture of world importance. Usually it is called "Arab" or "Arab-Islamic". However, this approach does not reflect the entire depth and essence of the processes taking place. The concept of "Arab culture" would be true to refer to the culture of the Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula. After VII c. The Caliphate included numerous nations (Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Egyptians, Syrians, Aramaeans, Iranians, Spaniards, Armenians, Indians and others), among whom Arabs were a minority. For several centuries, the Arabic language became for them the language of politics and religion, science and culture, which absorbed, multiplied and developed the centuries-old traditions of numerous nations united by one language - Arabic, which defined the name of this culture (Arabic-speaking).

As a state, the Caliphate was fragile.

The third period of its history (IX — XIII cc.) Is the time of disintegration into a number of smaller caliphates (Baghdad, Egyptian, Cordovo) and nation states (for example, the state of Samanids in Central Asia). The once powerful Caliphate gradually turned into a small Baghdad Caliphate. The final blow was struck by the conquests of the Mongols and the Seljuk Turks: in 1258, with the fall of the Abbasid dynasty, the Baghdad Caliphate ceased to exist. In a number of countries once conquered by the Arabs (Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Eastern Sudan), the indigenous population partially or fully embraced the Muslim religion and the Arabic language. In other countries (Iberian Peninsula - in the West; in Transcaucasia, Central Asia,; Persia — in the East), the conquered peoples managed to preserve not only political independence, but also the national language and culture.

 

Arabic culture and medicine

 

In the VII century; when the Arabs seized Iran, Syria and Egypt, Greek science and Greek philosophy developed in the scientific centers of these countries. The most famous at that time were the Alexandrian school in Egypt and the Christian Nestorian school in Gundishapur (Jundi-Shapur). in the south of Iran. The court doctor of the Caliph al-Mansur (754-776) Giurgius Ibn Bakhtish (see p. 161) came out of this school and founded the dynasty of the court Christian doctors, who for two and a half centuries served impeccably at the court of the Baghdad caliphs. Aware of the importance of ancient science, the Caliphs and other Muslim leaders contributed to the translation into Arabic of the most important Greek writings (which by that time were preserved in the region mainly in Syriac, the language of instruction in Gundishapura and other centers). This activity began at the end of the 8th century, but the main work of translators unfolded during the reign of Caliph al-Mamoun (813–833), who organized the “House of Wisdom” {Arab, bait al-hikma) specifically for this purpose. During the IX and X centuries. almost all available literature of interest to the Arabs was translated into Arabic.

Over time, Arabic translations began to be made directly from Greek. Most researchers associate this transition with the activities of the most famous translator of the Caliphate era, the non-Storian Christian Hunayn ibn Ishaq (Ni-nain ibn Ishag, 809–873) from Hira. He had deep knowledge of medicine, was a court physician of the Caliph al-Mutawakkil (847-861), and taught medicine in Baghdad. Hunayn ibi Iskhak perfectly mastered Arabic, Syriac, Greek and Latin languages, in search of manuscripts of scientific and philosophical works he traveled around the Byzantine Empire, after which he gathered around him a group of translators, which included his son Ishaq.

Among the translations attributed to Plato and Aristotle, Soran and Oribas, Ruf from Ephesus and Paul from Fr. Aegina. At that time, there were no original texts on the themes of the works translated by him in Arabic, and Hunayn ibn Ishaq mastered medical terminology, introduced it into Arabic and laid the precious lexical foundation of medical texts in Arabic.

Many texts were also translated from Persian. Through the Persians, the Arabs became acquainted with the achievements of Indian civilization, especially in the field of astronomy, medicine, and mathematics. From the Indians, they borrowed and figures, which Europeans called the "Arab".

Arabic translation has played an invaluable role in preserving the heritage preceding them. civilizations - many ancient works reached medieval Europe - only in Arabic translations. However, to our days, scientists believe, reached no more than 1% of medieval Arabic manuscripts.

Acquaintance with the secret of making Chinese paper, which turned out to be much cheaper than the Egyptian papyrus, greatly contributed to the development of books. Its importance was appreciated immediately: around 800, the vizier Harun ar-Rashi-da - Yahya Barmakid built the first paper mill in Baghdad. Through Syria and North Africa, paper production came to the West - to Spain, and later to other European countries. The first paper mills in Italy and Germany appeared in the XIV century.

The highest flowering of the medieval Arabic-speaking culture falls on the VIII — XI centuries. During this period, classical medieval Arabic was formed on the basis of Old Arabic poetry, as well as the "Koran". In the X — XV centuries. a famous collection of fairy tales “Thousand and One Nights” was formed, which included mythological plots processed and transferred to Arab culture and tales of numerous peoples who inhabited at that time vast territories of the Caliphate or traded with it (Persian, Indian, Greek and many others).

By the 10th century, a type of secondary and higher Muslim school, Madrasa (madrasah), was formed.

Education in the Caliphate was largely influenced by Islam. In the medieval Muslim world, all knowledge was divided into two areas: "Arab" (or traditional, fundamentally associated with Islam) and "foreign" (or ancient, common to all nations and all religions).

"Arab" humanities (grammar, lexicography, etc.) were formed in connection with the study of Hadith (legends about the statements and deeds of Muhammad) and the Koran, the knowledge of which is extremely important for Muslims (almost all Muslims know at least part of the Koran ).

The study of "foreign" sciences was dictated by the needs of a developing society and reflected its interests: geography was necessary for an accurate description of the subject lands; history served as the basis for the study of the life of the Prophet; astronomy and mathematics refined the sacred calendar. Interest has also increased in medicine, which eventually became defined as a profession worthy of psalm praise and blessed by Allah: according to Islamic tradition, Allah will allow her to become ill until she creates a means of treating her; The task of the doctor is to find this remedy.

Accordingly, the division of science into Arabic and foreign, their study also had two spheres: 1) let's say: study Revelation “2) let's say: study the world around us. The poet; Along with theology, the student of healing in Islam necessarily studied “foreign sciences,” including logic, which allowed him to methodically anglicize the causes of diseases, diagnose, determine the prognosis, and apply sound treatment. In this: the sense of medicine of the medieval Arabic-speaking East was closely connected with the outside world and the sciences that study it.

As the main scientific manuscripts were translated into Arabic, the Christians' lost their monopoly on medicine, and the centers of science and higher education gradually moved to Baghdad, Basra, Cairo, Damascus, Cordoba, Toledo, Bukhara, Samarkand. Libraries with reading rooms and rooms for scientific and religious discussions, premises for translators and copyists of books were created in each big city. Over time, they grew into major centers of science and education, such as the “House of Wisdom” in Baghdad, founded during the reign of al-Ma'mun, or the “Palace of Wisdom” (Arabic Daf al-hikma), established in Cairo by the Caliph al-Hakim in 1005 The scientists who worked in these research centers were united in the Society of the Enlightened (Arabic: Maglis al-cula-ma '), a type of scientific societies and academies of science that arose in Europe in the XVII — XVIII centuries.

The library of the city of Cordoba numbered over 250 thousand volumes. Large libraries were in Baghdad, Bukhara, Damascus, Cairo. Some rulers and rich people had their own libraries. Thus, in the library, the heads of Damascus doctors Ibn al-Mutran (Ibn al-Mutran, XIII century), who treated Caliph Salah al-Din, had about 10 thousand books. The head of the Baghdad _ doctors Ibn al-Talmid (Ibn al-Talmld, XII century) - the author of the best pharmacopoeia of his time - collected more than 20 thousand volumes, many of which were rewritten by him personally. In the 12th century, when there were only two universities in Western Europe (in Salerno and Bologna), 70 Muslim libraries and 17 high schools were functioning in Muslim Spain alone (Cordoba: Caliphate), in which medicine was taught among other disciplines.

For eight centuries, Arabic-language medicine has been the leader in the Mediterranean region. She retained, supplemented and returned to Europe in an improved form all the most important knowledge accumulated in the region by the period of the early Middle Ages.

In the field of disease theory, the Arabs adopted the ancient Greek teachings about the four elements (Arab, aq-kari) and four bodily juices (Arab. Ahlat), set forth in the Hippocratic Collection and the works of Aristotle, and then commented in the works of Galen. According to the ideas of the Arabs, each of the elements and liquids participates (in different proportions) in the creation of four qualities: heat, cold, dryness and humidity, which determine the mizaj (Arab, mizag - temperament) of each person. It can be normal, if all components are balanced, or “unbalanced” (various degrees of complexity). When the balance is disturbed, the task of the doctor is to restore the original state. Mizaj Is not something permanent and changes with age, I am influenced by the surrounding nature.

In the treatment of internal diseases, the primary attention was paid to the establishment of the correct regimen, and only then were used drugs, simple and complex, in the preparation of which the Arabs achieved high perfection.

This is largely due to the development of alchemy. Having borrowed from the Syrians the idea of ​​using alchemy in the field of medicine, the Arabs played an important role in the formation and development of pharmacy and the creation of the pharmacopoeia. Drugstores began to open in cities for preparation and sale.

The alchemists of the medieval Arabic-speaking East invented a water bath and a still cube, used filtering, obtained nitric and hydrochloric acids, bleach and alcohol (which was given the name Alco-Chol). Having conquered the Iberian Peninsula, they brought this knowledge to Western Europe.

Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya Al-Razi (Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakarlya al-RazT, Latin Rhazes, 850-923) was an outstanding philosopher, physician and chemist of the early Middle Ages. He was born in Rey, near Tehran. He began to study medicine relatively late - when he was about 30 years old. He spent most of his life in Baghdad, where he founded and headed a hospital, which was always crowded with students. The works of Ar-Razi that have come down to us testify to the versatility of his talent. Being an excellent chemist, he studied the effect of mercury salts on the monkey organism. The invention of a tool for the extraction of foreign bodies from the larynx and the use of cotton in medicine is associated with the name Ar-Razi.

Ar-Razi compiled the first encyclopedic work in medicine on medicine "A comprehensive book on medicine" ("Kitab al-Hawi") in 25 volumes. Describing each disease, he analyzed it from the standpoint of Greek, Syrian, Indian, Persian and Arab authors, after which he set forth his observations and conclusions. In the thirteenth century "Kitab al-Hawi" was translated into Latin, and then into many European languages, constantly reprinted in medieval Europe and together with the "Canon of Medicine" Ibn Sina (see p. 164) for several centuries was one of the main sources of medical knowledge.

Another encyclopedic work of Ar-Razi "Medical Book" in 10 volumes ("Al-Kitab al-Mansuri"), dedicated to the ruler of Khorasan Abu Sa-likh Mansur ibn Ishaq, generalized the knowledge of that time in the field of medicine, pathology, medicinal medicine, dietetics , hygiene and cosmetics, surgery, toxicology and infectious diseases. In the XII century. It was translated into Latin, and in 1497 it was published in Venice.

Among the numerous writings of Ar-Razi, the small treatise “On smallpox and measles” (“Al-" gudar! Wa-1-hasba ") is of particular value, which is recognized by many authors as the most original work of medieval Arabic-language medical literature. Essentially, this is the first detailed presentation of the clinic and treatment of two dangerous infectious diseases that took many lives at that time. Even today it could be an excellent study tool for students. In it, Ar-Razi clearly formulated the idea of ​​the infectiousness of these diseases and described them differential diagnosis (assuming smallpox and measles are different forms of one disease), treatment, nutrition of the patient, measures of protection against infection, skin care for the sick. The first printed edition of this brilliant work appeared in Venice in 1498, after which it was repeatedly published in Europe on Latin, Greek, French, English. Its London edition of 1766 “De variolis et morbilis or Liber de pestilentia” is widely known .

It is known that Islamic traditions do not allow the opening of the human body. Nevertheless, Muslim doctors have made a significant contribution to the development of certain areas of anatomy and surgery. This is most clearly manifested in ophthalmology. Investigating the structure of the eye of animals, the famous Egyptian astronomer and doctor Ibn al-Haytham (Ibn al-Haitam, 965-1039, known in Europe as Alhazen) was the first to explain the refraction of rays in the medium of the eye. And named its parts (cornea, lens, vitreous body). etc.). Having made models of the lens of crystal and glass, he put forward the idea of ​​correcting vision using biconvex lenses and suggested using them when reading in old age. The capital work of Ibn al-Haisam "Treatise on Optics" ("Kitab al-Manazir") glorified his name in the countries of the East and Western Europe. Unfortunately, the Arabic original of this book has not been preserved. She came to our days in the Latin translation - "Opticae thesaurus Alhazeni arabis" ("Treasures of the optics of the Arab Alhazen").

Ammar ibn Ali al-Mausili (Ammar ihn c Ali al-Mausili, 10th century), one of the most famous eye doctors of Cairo, belongs to the pleiad of remarkable Arab oculists. He developed a cataract removal operation by sucking off the lens using a hollow needle invented by him and was a great success and was called “Ammar's operation”.

Ali Ibn Isa (CA1I ibn cIsa), who lived in Baghdad in the first half of the XI century, made a major contribution to the development of the theory of eye diseases. In the preface to his famous book “Memorandum for Ophthalmologists” (“Tadkirat al-Kahhalin”), Isa noted that he had been greatly influenced by Galen and Hunai-na. The first part of the memorandum is devoted to the description of the eye and its structure, the second to eye diseases that are sensed by the senses, and the third part to eye diseases that are invisible to the patient. Translated into Latin, this book was for centuries the main instructional manual for students and up to the 17th century. remained the main work on ophthalmology in Western Europe.

The treatment of eye diseases was the area of ​​medicine in which the influence of the Arab school was felt in Western Europe until the 17th century.

The outstanding achievements of the Arabs in the field of anatomy include the description of the pulmonary circulation, which was done in the 13th century. Syrian doctor from Damascus Ibn an Nafis (Ibn an Nafis), that is, three centuries before Miguel Servet (see p. 185). Ibn an-Nafis was revered as a great scientist of his time, famous for commenting on the section of anatomy in the "Canon" of Ibn Sina.

Surgery in the medieval Ara-Bozychnaya world was more a craft than a science (as was the case in the ancient world). It was explained by the Muslim tradition, which prohibited both autopsies and vivisection. It is clear that in the caliphates, surgery developed to a lesser extent than medicinal healing.

The most prominent surgeon of the medieval Arab-speaking world is Abu-l-Qasim Khalaf ibn 'Ab-bass az-Zahravi (Abu 1-Qasim Halaf ibn cAbbas az - ZahrawI , lat. Abulcasis; OK. 936-1013). He was born near Cordoba in Muslim Spain (Cordovian Emirate) and thus belongs to the Arab-Spanish culture.

Al-Zahravi lived in the “golden period” of its development (second half of the 10th century), when Arab-Spanish culture was the most advanced in Western Europe, and along with Byzantine culture - in the whole of Europe as a whole. The main scientific centers of Muslim Spain were universities in Cordoba, Seville, Grenada, Malaga.

In the chain of historical development of surgery, az-Zahravi became a link between ancient medicine and medicine of the European Renaissance (when the works of az-Zahravi were translated into Latin and recognized in Western Europe). Al-Zahravi brilliantly operated. -The knowledge of anatomy, he considered absolutely necessary for the surgeon and recommended to study it according to the works of Galen. The criterion of truth for him was his own observations and his own surgical practice. This partly explains the fact that his writings contain few references to other people's works.

Compared with the surgery of antiquity, az-Zahravi made a big step forward. Its priorities include: the use of catgut in abdominal surgery and for subcutaneous sutures, a suture with a cast and two needles, the first use of the recumbency in operations on the pelvis (which then became classical); he described what is today called the tuberculous lesion "ostei and introduced into the eye surgery of the West a cataract removal operation (the term az-Zahravi); He was the author of new surgical instruments (over 150) and the only author of antiquity and the early Middle Ages, who described and presented them in drawings. Al-Zahravi developed a method of local cauterization (cauterization) in surgical operations and made it more often with kauter-rum (Fig. 74), less often with cauterizing agents (silver nitrate, etc.). Often he was accused of replacing the knife with red-hot iron. However, one should not forget that at that time they did not know the nature of the inflammation and the infectious process and did not know how to fight them. Al-Zahravi highly appreciated the cautery method (recall the centuries-old experience of traditional Chinese medicine) and successfully used it to treat local skin lesions and other diseases.

Az-Zahravi encyclopedic work “A book on the presentation of medical knowledge to those who fail to compile them” (“Ki-tab at-Tasrlf li-man cagiza can at-ta'lTf”), commonly known as “Kitab at-tasrif ", Contains 30 volumes, which summarize the experience of his life. Of these, the thirtieth treatise on surgery and surgical instruments has always attracted the special interest of scientists. The first translation of this grandiose essay into Latin was made in the second half of the 12th century, it immediately became a reference book for surgeons of medieval Europe, rewritten and published many times and for five centuries was one of the main textbooks on surgery.

Abu l-Qasim az-Zahravi gained fame as the greatest surgeon of the medieval Muslim world - no one in that era surpassed him in the art of surgery and innovation in it.

The organization of the hospital de-la received considerable development in the caliphates. Initially, the establishment of hospitals was a secular affair. The hospital name is bimaristan (bimaris-tan) - Persian; This once again confirms that the hospital case in the caliphates was greatly influenced by Iranian and Byzantine traditions.

According to the historian al-Makrizi (al-MaarTzT, 1364-1442), the first known hospital in the Muslim world was built during the time of the Umayyad during the Caliph al-Walid (705-715). A hospital in the modern sense of the word appeared in Baghdad around 800. At the initiative of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, it was organized by an Armenian Christian doctor from Gundishapur, Gibrail ibn Bahtisu0, third in the famous Bakhtishu dynasty. His grandfather Giurgius ibn Jibrail ibn 7-596

Bakhtishu (Girgis ibn Bahtisu0) - the founder of the dynasty and the head of the doctors of the medical school V \ Gundishapura - in 765 cured the seriously ill Caliph al-Mansur, whom no one could cure. And despite the fact that Giurgius ibn Bakhtishu was a Christian and did not accept Islam, the Caliph appointed him head of the doctors of the capital of the Caliphate, Baghdad. For six generations, he and all his descendants successfully served as the court physicians of the caliphs, were known in the Muslim world, and were highly esteemed by the rulers before the beginning of the 11th century.

Muslim-based hospitals were of three kinds.

Hospitals founded by caliphs or famous Muslim leaders and intended for the general population were the first type. They were financed by the state, they had a staff of doctors and non-German staff. When hospitals created libraries and medical schools. The training was theoretical and practical: the students accompanied the teacher during his detour in the hospital and visited patients with him at home.

In Egypt, the first large hospital was founded in 873 by the ruler Ahmad Ibn Tulun. It was intended exclusively for the poor (neither the soldiers nor the courtier had the right to receive treatment there). The governor released 60 thousand dinars a year for her needs and visited the hospital every Friday. In addition, at his palace mosque, Ahmad Ibn Tulun established a pharmacy, where every Friday the doctor treated incoming patients free of charge. According to tradition, the hospital “chalked male and female halves, male and female baths; the patients were divided into departments according to their diseases.

In Baghdad in 916 there were five such hospitals. In 918, two more opened: the caliph allocated 2 thousand dinars a month for the maintenance of the first, and 600 dinars for the maintenance of the second hospital (established by his mother). In 978, Adud al-Daul completed the construction of another large medical institution on the west bank of the r. Tiger, where in its time stood the palace of Harun ar-Rashn-da; it was served by doctors, medical attendants (arab. mucaliguna), servants (arab, huz-zan), gatekeepers (arab, bawwabu-pa), rulers (arab, wukala), and guards (arab. paiggyp). By 1160, there were more than 60 hospitals in Baghdad.

One of the largest was the Al-Mansuri Hospital in Cairo. Opened in 1284 in the premises of the former palace, according to historians, it was designed for 8,000 patients who were accommodated in accordance with their diseases in the men's and women's wards. Her doctors of both sexes specialized in various fields of medical knowledge.

The hospitals of the second type were financed by well-known doctors and religious figures and were small.

The third type of hospitals were military hospitals. They moved with the army and housed in tents, castles, and citadels. During the military campaigns, along with the male doctors, the warriors were accompanied by female doctors who took care of the wounded. Some Muslim women who practice medicine have earned widespread recognition. So, under the Omoyyadah, the female oculist Zainab from the Awd tribe became famous. Sister Al-Hafida ibn Zuhr and her daughter (we do not know their names) possessed high knowledge in the treatment of women's diseases; they were the only doctors allowed to be treated in the harem of the Caliph al-Mansur.

The high level of organization of medical affairs in the medieval East is closely connected with the development of hygiene and prevention of diseases. The ban on autopsy, on the one hand, limited research on the structure of the body and its functions, and on the other, it directed doctors' efforts to find other ways: to preserve health and led to the development of rational hygienic measures. Many of them are enshrined in the Koran (five-time ablutions and keeping the body clean, a ban on drinking wine and eating pork, standards of behavior in society, family, etc.). According to legend, the Prophet Mohammed received his medical knowledge from the physician al-Harith ibn Kaladah (al-Harit ibri Kalada), who was born in Mecca in the middle of the 6th century, and studied medicine at the Gundishapur medical school. (If this fact took place, the hygienic recommendations of the Koran go back to the traditions of Gundi Shapur, which absorbed the traditions of ancient Greek and Indian medicine.)

 

MEDICINE IN THE STATES OF MIDDLE ASIA (10th — 12th centuries)

 

In the IX — XI centuries. Central Asia has become one of the most important centers of scientific thought in the East. After the collapse of the Caliphate at the end of the ninth century. the governor of Maveran-nahra (territory in Central Asia) and Khorasan (territory in Iran), Ismail Samanid, who ruled in 892--907, united these lands into a single state, which reached its heyday in the 10th century. The spoken language in the state of Anis Himself remained the Dari language (Farsi), while Arabic was the language of religion and science. The capital of the Samanid state was Bukhara, one of the richest cities in the East.

In 980, not far from Bukhara, in the village of Afshan (now Uzbekistan), the future Al-Sheikh ar-Rais was born (Arab, as-saih ar-ra'Is - Head of Scientists) - the so-called great scientist in the East was Ibn S-inu -encyclopaedists of the medieval East, who succeeded in 12 sciences, as evidenced by 12 stelae over his mausoleum in Ha-Madan (Iranian territory, Fig. 75).

Abu Ali al-Hussein ibn Abdullah ibn al-Hassan ibn Ali ibn Sina (Abu AN al-Husayn ibn_Abdallah ibn al-Ha-san ibn Ali ibn Sina, lat. Avicenna, 980-1037) lived in the fruitful period of the history of the Middle East, the seed of the survival of the Middle East, the seed of the survival of the Middle East. such scientists and thinkers as the doctor Abu Bakr al-Razi, the astronomers Abu Mahmud Khojendi and Ulugbek, the encyclopaedists al-Farabi and al-Biruy, the poets Rudaki and Firdousi.

By the age of 16, Ibn Sina became a recognized doctor. Here is how Ibn Sina himself writes about this in his Life-Story: “Medicine is not from difficult sciences, and therefore in a short time I mastered it so much that even the most excellent medicine men began to learn the science of medicine from me. I began to visit patients, thanks to the experience gained, indescribable gates of healing opened before me ... At that time I was a youth of sixteen years. ”

During the illness of the governor of Bukhara, Nuh ibn Mansur, whom none of the doctors could cure, Ibn Sina was invited to the palace. “Since my name is,” he writes, “was known in their midst because of my reading, they mentioned him to me and asked him to call me. I came and took part in their treatment with them, and distinguished myself. Once I asked Nouh Ibn Mansur for permission to go to his library in order to study the medical books available there. He allowed me, and I entered the building where there were many rooms. In each room there were chests with books, put one on another ... I saw there books, the names of which many people had never heard, and I myself did not see them either before or after. I read those books, learned all the useful things that were in them ... When I reached the age of eighteen, I completed the study of all sciences. ”

After the death of his father in 1002, that is, at the age of 22, Ibn Sina left Bukhara, the city where he became an encyclopedic scholar, a city that during the time of the Samanids was the "meeting place of eminent people of the era" literary, scientific and theological life.

During his short life, Ibn Sina visited many cities of Central Asia and Iran. For a number of years he lived in prosperous Khorezm and entered the “Academy of Mamun” (“House of Wisdom” in Khorezm), along with such eminent scientists as the encyclopedist Abu Reyhan al-Biruni, mathematician, astronomer and doctor Abu Sahl al-Masih, who had a great influence on the formation of the philosophical and natural-scientific views of Ibn Sina.

In Khorezm, Ibn Sina began work on the Canon of Medicine (Al-Qanun fi t-tibb) and wrote it for about 20 years.

The “Canon of Medicine” was an encyclopedia of medical knowledge of the time. It consists of five books. Each book, in turn, is divided into parts (fan), departments (Joomla), articles (poppy) and paragraphs (fas).

The first book is devoted to the general principles of medicine and hygienic views of Ibn Sina. One of its parts— “On the Preservation of Health” is the largest hygienic compendium of antiquity. "Who mastered the first volume of the canon," wrote Nizami al-Aruzi Samarkandi a hundred years after the death of Ibn Sina, "for that nothing remains hidden from the general and basic principles of medicine."

The second and fifth books are devoted to pharmacology. In the second, simple medicines are described, “in which there is no artificially made composition,” in the fifth, “complex” medicines, poisons and antidotes. In general, the "Canon" describes 811 medicinal products of plant (526), ​​animal (125) and mineral (85) origin, indicating their actions, methods of use, rules for collection and storage. Many of them are unfairly forgotten, and only about 150 are used in modern medicine.

The third book describes the individual diseases (head, ears, nose, eyes, larynx, and further along the organs - from head to toe) and their. diagnosis and treatment.

The fourth book is devoted to surgery (treatment of dislocations, fractures, tumors, purulent inflammations, etc.) and general diseases of the body (fevers, infectious diseases, skin diseases, cosmetics, the study of poisons).

In the XII century. "Canon" was translated into Latin. After the invention of printing in the number of publications, he competed with the "Bible" and, according to some researchers, was the most studied work in the history of mankind. In the XV century. it was published 16 times, in the 16th century —20 (fig., 76), not counting the editions of its individual parts. Scientists of various epochs associated with it are explained by the fact that its author summarized the entire experience of antiquity and the early Middle Ages and, using its numerous observations, gave “a scribbling presentation of the medical theory and practice that was original for its time. The influence of Ibn Sina was reflected in all Islamic lands and through Muslim Spain reached Europe, where it was felt for many centuries.

In the field of medicine, the peoples of the medieval Arabic-speaking East first of all preserved, edited, supplemented and returned back to Europe in an improved form all the most important knowledge of the era. This alone is enough to give them glory, even if they had not done anything else. But they own their own merits: the formation and development of pharmacy and pharmacopoeia; the establishment of highly organized hospitals; the spread of medical care to all segments of the population; high level of organization of medical affairs and control over the work of doctors and pharmacists; the allocation of surgery as an independent and honorable field of medicine; moreover, they tried to separate science from religion and significantly accelerated the development of science in Western Europe.

For centuries, medieval Arabic culture has been at the head of civilization. It had a significant impact on the countries of Asia, Africa and Europe and filled a huge distance between the ancient schools and the science of the late Middle Ages - “strike Arabs out of history, and the revival of sciences in Europe would be removed for several centuries,” wrote SG Kovner .

 

MEDICINE IN THE STATES OF THE TRANSCAUCASUS (10th — 17th centuries)

 

Armenia was one of the oldest centers of world civilization. After the overthrow of the power of the Caliphate (9th century), the Armenian people regained their statehood. In the XI — XIII centuries. In a number of cities in Armenia: Ani, Haghpat, Sanahine, Gladzor, and others — schools of the highest type emerged in which anatomy was studied (anatomical autopsies were performed in Armenia at that time), internal medicine, pharmacology, and surgery.

The largest representative of medicine in medieval Armenia was the philosopher, physician and astronomer Mkhitar Hera-qi (Fig. 77). In 1184, he composed his main work, Consolation with Fever, in which he described the causes, development and treatment of acute infectious diseases, and also, five centuries earlier, Beriardino Ramazzini (see p. 310) talked about the connection between diseases and professions - blacksmiths, glassblowers, etc.

A major contribution to the development of Armenian medicine was made by Amirdovlat Am-Siatsi (XV century) —the author of the treatises “The Benefits of Medicine”, “Unnecessary for the ignorant” and “Pharmacology”.

In the Middle Ages, centers of national Armenian culture existed outside of Armenia. Three of them are best known: in the city of Kes-Sariy (Byzantine Empire), where already in the 4th c. the hospital was famous (Basi-lea), founded in 370 by Bishop of Caesarea, Basil the Great (see p. 143); medical school in Gundi-Shapur (southern Iran, the territory of the Caliphate), where in the VIII — IX centuries. worked the famous dynasty of Armenian doctors Bakhtishua (see p. 161), and the healing center in the city of Sebastia (near Caesarea), where prominent Armenian doctors Avasap (16th century) lived and worked; author of the Excellent Clinic of Biological Radiation, Buniat (XVI — XVII centuries), compiled the “Book on Medicine” (her manuscript is kept in the Matenadaran after Mashtots, Yerevan), and Asar (XVII century) - the author of the famous “Book on the medical art”.

In Georgia, after liberation from Arabian rule (10th century), the main focus of medical culture was the Gelati Academy, founded by King David IV in the 12th century. at the monastery near Kutaisi. Along with the church-monastic there were professional and traditional medicine.

The most prominent representatives of medicine in feudal Georgia were: K.a-naneli (XI cent.) - the author of the medical work "The Incomparable Karabadin"; the head of the Gelati Academy philosopher Ioanna Petrice (XI — XII centuries); Khoja Kopili (13th century), who wrote The Book of Medicine; Zaza Panaskerteli-Tsitsishvili (XV cent.), Who compiled the Healing Book, and David Batonish-vili (XVI cent.) - author of the Book of King David.

The Mongol-Tatar invasion, and then the invasion of the Persians and Turks, significantly delayed the development of medicine in feudal Georgia.

 

MEDICINE IN THE STATES OF EAST AND SOUTHEAST ASIA (IV-XVII centuries)

 

The traditions of this region largely retained stability over the centuries.

In China, the feudal system began to establish itself in the III — IV centuries. and persisted until the beginning of the XX century. Traditional methods of diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases, originated in ancient (slave) China, in the Middle Ages reached its highest peak.

The first state imperial medical school in the history of China was founded during the time of the Sui dynasty (681-618) (before this, the traditional method of the chen-chiu was passed from teacher to student). The school had 20 students; Teaching zhen-jiu led: one teacher, his assistant and 10 instructors. At school, 20 craftsmen worked on making needles.

In order to facilitate the teaching and practice of acupuncture in medieval China, they began to create color tables depicting channels and points on the surface of the human body in three projections. The first illustrated treatise in China, “Qian Jin Yao Fang” (“Thousand Golden Recipes”) was compiled by the famous doctor of the Tang era — Sun Cimiao (581-682). The first bronze figures for teaching the chen jiu method were also cast in the Middle Ages. Their author, doctor Van Veyi (XI century), carefully studied the experience of his predecessors, supplemented it with his observations and in the 26th made a treatise, which was later called “Illustrated Guidelines on Acupuncture Points and Cauterization on the Bronze Figure”. Working on the text, Van Veyi organized the production of two bronze human-sized figures, which were ready in 1027. 354 points and their names were marked on the surface of the figures; each point corresponded to a deep canal for needle insertion. Outside, the figure was covered with wax, and from the inside it was filled with water — if the pupil inserted the needle correctly, water appeared on the surface of the figure. Two hundred years later, bronze figures were transported to the new capital of the Yuan dynasty - the city of Dadu (now Beijing). I was installed in the temple of the Three Emperors, which was located on the territory of the Imperial School. Copying the figures began in the XIII century. (fig. 78).

The Chinese empirical method zhen-jeou has spread to various Asian countries (Japan, Korea, and Vietnam). In the 13th — 17th centuries, it penetrated into Europe (France, Germany, England). In 1828, the Russian professor P. A. Charukovskiy wrote about him.

Over time, the teaching of medicine improved. In the state of Jin (1115–1234), the Main Medical Chamber (Taiyuan) was responsible for the training of doctors. In the medical school, which was part of the university (goji jian), they taught general medicine, surgery and chen-jeou. There was also a narrower specialization: childhood diseases, obstetrics and women's diseases, eye diseases, diseases of the mouth, teeth and throat, fractures and injuries, tumors and ulcers, suggestions and spells. Training was conducted with the demonstration of patients. The best graduates were taken to the public service, the rest were allowed private practice.

Thus, in the XII century. elements of state medicine in China were quite developed.

The strength of medicine in medieval China was pharmacology. Two capital works are devoted to him: the already-mentioned 30-volume treatise of Sun Shimyao “A Thousand Golden Formulas” (which has not been preserved to this day) and the well-known monumental work of Li Shichzhen (1518–1593) in 52 volumes “Bian-tsao gan mu ”(“ The Great Herbalist ”). Work on it lasted for more than 26 years, and the writing was checked for another 10 years. This book was an invaluable contribution to the study and classification of plants in China and to this day has not lost its scientific value. It contains a description of 1892 medicines (including the correct names, methods of preparation, distinctive features and effects on the body), 13,096 different formulations and more than a thousand drawings.

The Great Herbalist is partially translated into Latin (1659), French (1735), Japanese (1783), Russian (1857), and English (1928–1941).

From the traditional Chinese medicine, many drugs have entered the world practice: from plants — jensheng, lemongrass, camphor, tea, rhubarb, tar; animal origin - pant deer, liver, gelatin; from mineral substances - iron, mercury, sulfur, etc.

In India, the feudal system began to be established in the IV. K VII century. on its territory there were about 70 small independent states.

Throughout the Middle Ages, their territories were invaded by invaders who plundered the country, which seriously affected the development of culture. In the XVI century. in the territory of India the Mughal Empire was created. However, traditional medicine has preserved the heritage of ancient Indian civilizations, combined it with the introduced Islamic and other cultures.

One of the first Europeans to visit India was the Russian kupen Afanasy Nikitin. His notes “Ho-fiance for three seas” - Caspian. The Persian Gulf and Black (1466-1472) contain information about DENSITY! population, caste differences and religions of India, sanitary life of the Indian people, nutrition and trade in medicinal products with neighboring countries, obstetric aid, the funeral "ritual of burning the dead." And who will die in them, writes Afanasy Nikitin, - those burn, and ashes pour into the water. And when the wife gives birth to a child, the husband accepts, the father gives the name to the son, and the mother gives the daughter. ”The notes of the Tver merchant are full of respect for the ancient culture of the Indian people.

In the Middle Ages, the experience of Indian traditional medicine was borrowed by Tibetan healers.

Tibetan medicine developed on the basis of the ancient Indian traditional system, and therefore it is often called the Indo-Tibetan. “What we call“ Tibetan medicine, ”wrote the well-known orientalist EE. Both of them, is basically not an original creation of Tibetan soil. And here, as in all other areas of Tibetan culture, India is the original homeland. The spread of Buddhism in Tibet (beginning from the 7th century AD) in Tibet was accompanied by the penetration into Tibet ... and Indian medicine. ” So, already in the VII century. The legendary Indian physician Bharadwaja (Tibet, Zhasa Gondzhoy) served as the court of the founder of the Tibetan empire, Sronjang Tampo (617-698). Together with the Chinese doctor Juan Khan (Tibet. Kento Lonhan) and the Persian Galenos (Tibet. Danzig La Noi), invited to the court, he translated several Indian medical writings into Tibetan.

The founding canon of Tibetan medicine - “Zhud-shi” (“The secret eight-term teaching of Tibetan medicine”) in its original form (7th century) is also a translation into Tibetan from the Sanskrit ancient Anzdian Ayurvedic composition, in many respects similar to the eight-term Charaka’s treatise ( see p. 72). However, according to the legend, the famous Indian physician Jivaka (Tibet. Tso-ched Sean-nu), a contemporary of the Buddha, who lived in the 6th century, is considered to be the author of the original text of “Zhud-shi” in Sanskrit. BC e. (see p. 77). The translation of this text into Tibetan was made during the reign of Tisron-Devzzan (790-845) by Indian doctor Chandrananda and translator Vairochana.

Zhudshi is written in verse form, according to the literary traditions of India and Tibet of that time, and is intended for memorizing. It consists of four parts (156 chapters). The first - Za-chzhud (Tibet. - initial basis) reveals the essence of Tibetan medicine, its theoretical and practical foundations. The second - “Shad-chzhud” (Tibet. - explanatory basis) contains theoretical ideas about the body’s vital activity, its structure and development, the formation of diseases and approaches to their treatment, as well as the doctor’s ethics. The most extensive third volume, “Manag-chzhud” (Tibet — the basis of the instructions), is a practical guide to the treatment of internal diseases; Its 92 chapters describe 404 groups of diseases, distinguished by their origin, development, location, sex and age of the patient, signs of diseases and their treatment. The fourth part of “Chimei-chzhud” (Tibet - an additional basis) is devoted to the diagnosis by pulse, urine examination, methods of preparation of medicinal raw materials, as well as the direction that today we call reflexotherapy.

The complexity of the treatise "Zhud-shi" led to the emergence of numerous comments on its individual sections. The most complete and popular among them is the essay "Vaidurya-onbo" ("Blue Laz-Rick"), compiled in 1688-1689. and which has become the main textbook in medical schools at Buddhist monasteries. Its author Desrid Sanzhay-Jamtso (1653-1705) —the flow of Tibetan kings — was a doctor and statesman at the court of Dalai Lama V, Agwan-Lobsan-Jamtso. According to its structure, Wai-Durya-Onbo completely repeats the Zhud-shi treatise, but its volume exceeds it almost three and a half times, since it contains detailed interpretations of special terms and concepts, ideas and principles of the treatise Zhud- shi ”, additions to its text, as well as the views of the authors of more ancient medical writings.

Treatise "Vaidurya-onbo" supplemented with a unique "Atlas of Tibetan medicine", commissioned by the author (Desrid Sanzhay-Jamtso) in the Buddhist monastery Sertog-manbo in j Eastern Tibet. Full compl. Atlas (now it is stored in the Republican Museum of Regional Studies of Ulan-Ude) consists of 77 sheets, on which more than 10 thousand color illustrations depicting Tibetan medicines and methods of their use are presented (Fig. 79).

For several centuries, Tibetan medicine developed only in Tibet. In the thirteenth century together with Buddhism, it penetrated into Mongolia, by the 17th century, into Tuva, Kalmykia, and Transbaikalia. Moreover, in each of these regions, it developed on the basis of its local medicinal raw materials: for example, Tibetan llamas-healers found substitutes for Indian imported raw materials in the flora of Tibet, and in Mongolia, the works of Tibetan authors were subjected to similar processing. In Europe, the first information about Tibetan medicine appeared at the end of the XVIII century. (after the expedition of the English Embassy to the court of Te-sho-Lama). In Russia, the first translation of the treatise "Zhud-shi" was made in 1908 by A. M. Pozdneyev.

Thus, the medicine of the peoples of the East during the period of the classical Middle Ages, on the one hand, contributed to the mutual enrichment of the cultures of the region, and on the other, influenced the development of medicine and education in Europe and Asia.

 

 

The history of medicine