Publication Date
1200
Publication Place
Iran -
Aga Khan Museum
Subject
Opaque watercolor, ink, paper
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
Yes
Physical Dimensions
24 × 16.8 سم
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID
AKM1
Record ID
object;EPM;ca;Mus21;11;ar
Library Location
Aga Khan Museum
Date
1200
Notes
One of the first scientific manuscripts to be translated from Greek to Arabic was Dioscorides' Book of Materia Medica/Medications, as it was called in Latin. Pedianius Dioscorides, a Greek physician, wrote his treatise on medicinal plants in the first century BC. The manuscript was initially translated into Syriac and then into Arabic in Baghdad in the ninth century (Guisdon and Nouri 2001, p. 118). It became the basis for Islamic pharmacology and was copied in a form The current page is from a rare Arabic copy circulated in the thirteenth century, in which many medicinal plants, herbs and roots are depicted with an accuracy characteristic of Arabic scientific texts produced during that period. The drawings closely follow the Greek model. The paintings do not lack an artistic sense, and for the sake of accuracy, each specimen is drawn completely from the top to the root on satin paper. The opposite side of this page depicts a large red bramble plant with five thorny branches arranged symmetrically, showing the group of green branches of the plant, which are surmounted by red flowers and clusters at the base of the stems that have a red root. The text identifies the plant as rasiyun (“the thorny plant that grows in the mountains”) and the part The left side of the page shows a single-stemmed plant with red thorny flowers. The text says that this medicinal plant treats skin disorders that include pimples, itching, and ulcers.
Sample Text
“A spiny plant that grows in the mountains, a page of the properties of trees” within Discover the collections of Islamic art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;ca;Mus21;11;ar
Bu sayfanın künyesi
MWNF Working Number: CA1 11
Seçili bibliyografya
Guesdon, Marie-Geneviève and Vernay-Nouri, Annie,L’Art du livre arabe: Du manuscript au livre d’artiste, Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 2001.