Falsafa

Comma for either/or — dharma, courage. Spelling forgiving — corage finds courage.

    pharmacology · 1st century · 2 crossings

    De Materia Medica

    Περὶ ὕλης ἰατρικῆςPeri hylēs iatrikēs

    Dioscorides, in Greek

    The Greek catalogue of drugs and the plants, minerals and animals they come from, in continuous medical use longer than almost any book ever written. Its Arabic career needed two cities and a diplomatic incident.

    The chain

    c. 50–70 Greek original

    written by Dioscorides

    1. c. 847–861 Greek Arabic translation attested

      translated by Istifan ibn Basil revised by Hunayn ibn Ishaq in Baghdad

      Made during al-Mutawakkil's reign and corrected by Hunayn. Where Istifan could not identify a plant, he left its Greek name standing in Arabic letters rather than guess.

      1. c. 951–962 Arabic Arabic revision attested

        revised by Nicholas the monk with Hasdai ibn Shaprut and Ibn Juljul for Abd al-Rahman III in Cordoba

        An illustrated Greek codex arrived from Constantinople around 948 as a state gift; the monk Nicholas followed around 951, after the caliph asked for someone who could read it. The circle did not retranslate: it identified the transliterated Greek drug names against the pictures and the pharmacies of al-Andalus.