THE ARAB MEDICINE

During the period of the Byzantine Empire, the works of Greek and Roman doctors were collected together. Some appeared in the languages used at the fringes of the empire, such as Persian and Syrian.

Meanwhile the Arab Empire was growing in power and influence. It conquered Persia and Syria. At first, the Arabs favoured their own traditional treatments were lost. Doctors began to turn to ancient Greek ideas and ranslated Greek texts into Arabic. This mean that ancient Greek learning spread throughout the Arab Empire, into Europe and around the Mediterranean.

Important centres of learning sprang up in Baghdad, Cairo and Damascus in the Middle East, and in Toledo, Cordoba and Seville in what is now Spain. Arab scientists and doctors published copies of the early medical works. Some of these were later translated into Latin and used in European medical schools from the 1200s.

Arab medicine did not contribute much new knowledge, but Arab writers made detailed descriptions of diseases and their diagnoses. Surgery suffered in early years, because dissection was banned, so little was known about anatomy. However, an Arab surgeon in Cordoba wrote a text on surgical techniques for surgery on the eye and the internal organs.

The Arabs were interested in alchemy (trying to transform cheap metals into gold, and searching for a source of eternal life). Their alchemical experiments led them to find many drugs by accident. Alchemists also developed techniques for purifying chemicals that are still used today. Arab pharmacists complied long lists of these herbal remedies, gathered from the places they conquered.

Some describe more than 3,000 different drugs. Some of these drugs were very unusual. The real value of Arab writings, however, was how carefully they recorded information. These great works were painstakingly copied and circulated throughout the Arab empire.