Three Medical Treatises by Galen (جالينوس)

Content

A copy of three medical treatises by the extremely influential Graeco-Roman physician Galen (Claudius Galenus of Pergamon, 129-c 200). The Greek texts were translated by Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq al-‘Ibādī, and the texts preserved here are probably his Arabic versions (see colophon Section at the end of a manuscript text. of Item 2, f. 142v, line 8).

The manuscript was completed in Damascus on 9 Rabī‘ I 580 (20 June 1184) by Ibrāhīm ibn Naṣr ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Munīr al-Kīlānī (?), who made the copy for his own use (see colophon Section at the end of a manuscript text. to Item 3, f. 191v, lines 9-12).

Folio 1r contains a table of contents in Arabic; f. 1v contains two lines of pious poetry and a short piece of text linking illnesses with the letters of the alphabet; f. 2r contains six owners’ inscriptions (two deleted), a deleted seal and a prescription for a bandage for headache; f. 143r is blank.

Contents:

• (1) Kitāb Jālīnūs fī al-Buḥrān (كتاب جالينوس في البحران; De crisibus libri III ; ff. 2v-82r);
• (2) Kitāb Jālīnūs fī ayyām al-Buḥrān (كتاب جالينوس في أيام البحران; De diebus decretoriis libri III ; ff. 82v-142v);
• (3) Kitāb Jālīnūs fī aṣnāf al-ḥummayyāt (كتاب جالينوس في أصناف الحميّات; De differentiis febrium libri II ; ff. 143v-191v).

Extent and format

Codex A collection of pages, usually gathered into quires, and bound between covers. ; ff. ii+191+ii

It is grouped into

Kitāb Jālīnūs fī al-Buḥrānكتاب جالينوس في البحران Galen (Jālīnūs) جالينوس

160 images

Ref: Or 6670, ff 2v-82r

Kitāb Jālīnūs fī ayyām al-Buḥrānكتاب جالينوس في أيام البحران Galen (Jālīnūs) جالينوس

121 images

Ref: Or 6670, ff 82v-142v

Kitāb Jālīnūs fī aṣnāf al-ḥummayyāt كتاب جالينوس في أصناف الحميّات Galen (Jālīnūs) جالينوس

97 images

Ref: Or 6670, ff 143v-191v

Physical characteristics

Material: Paper

Dimensions: 239 x 162 mm leaf [187 x 113 mm written]

Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil; Arabic foliation in pencil

Ruling: No signs of ruling; 17 lines per page; vertical spacing 9 lines per 10 cm

Script: Naskh; fully dotted and heavily vocalised

Ink: Black

Binding: British Museum binding

Condition: Some waterstains worse towards beginning and end (affects legibility most on ff. 49v-50r), minor wormholes, and light foxing; the lower corners towards the fore edge of ff.187-191have been torn off and repaired, but some text has been lost

Marginalia: Some longer marginal notes especially in Item 1 (ff. 2v-82r); very few after that

Seals: f. 2r

Written in

Arabic in Arabic script

Type

Manuscript

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: Oriental Manuscripts

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Or 6670

History of this record

Date(s)

580 (AH, Hijri qamari)

Context of creation

Damascus

Provenance

F. 2r contains six owners' inscriptions (two deleted) and one deleted seal. From top down and from right to left, the legible elements are:

• مسلم الشامي الصفوري (؟) (Muslim al-Shāmī al-Ṣufūrī [?]), his inscription, no date;
• في شهر ذي القعدة سنة 1058 ('In the month of Dhū al-Qa‘dah, in the year 1058' = November-December 1648), no name;
• Pious inscription, no name, no date;
• السيد مصطفى مسعود ... الطبيب (al-Sayyid Muṣṭafá Mas‘ūd ... the physician), his inscription, no date.

Related material

Subjects

Medicine, Greek and RomanMedicine, MedievalMedicine, Arab

People & organisations

GalenḤunayn ibn Isḥāq al-'Ibādī

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Three Medical Treatises by Galen (جالينوس), British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Or 6670, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000005112.0x000001> [accessed 10 March 2025]

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