Publication Date
3rd century AH / 9th AD
Publication Place
-
Museum of Islamic Art
Subject
Cast brass.
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
الطول: 12.50 سم
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID
25329
Record ID
object;ISL;eg;Mus01;46;ar
Library Location
Museum of Islamic Art
Date
3rd century AH / 9th AD
Notes
The piece is an implement that resembles a spoon but ends in a flattened oval shape. The piece was most likely used by doctors during examination of the mouth and throat and during tonsil surgery. Excavations that took place in the city of Fustat - the first capital of Islamic Egypt, which was founded by Amr ibn Al-Aas in 21 AH / 641 AD - revealed many surgical instruments that are considered the oldest of their kind known. Tools similar to those found in Fustat were included among the tools described by the Andalusian surgeon Abu al-Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas al-Zahrawi (329-404 AH / 940-1013 AD) in his surgical encyclopedia “Al-Tasrif for those who are unable to compose,” which is considered the richest and largest scientific source on surgery in that era and remained an important reference in medicine and surgery for centuries that followed. The encyclopedia contains more than one hundred and fifty drawings of surgical instruments with detailed descriptions of them and how to use them in various surgical operations.
Sample Text
Al-Sayyed Muhammad Khalifa Hammad “Spoon” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;eg;Mus01;46;ar
