Zohar Amar

Ethnopharmacological survey of traditional drugs sold in the Kingdom of Jordan

The results of a survey of present-day traditional medicinal materials conducted in 1998-1999 in the Kingdom of Jordan are reported. The study covered selected markets of medicinal substances of ethnic communities throughout the kingdom, and also included questioning of the sellers about the healing characteristics of the various materials. The survey yielded information on many and varied medicinal substances, of which 304 are identified according to the following classifications: 236 species of plants (77.6%); 30 species of animals (9.8%); 29 kinds of inorganic substances (9.6%); and 9 materials of other or mixed origin (3%). Analysis of the data showed that some substances were of local origin (41.8%), but the majority of the substances (45.4%) were imported from other countries. 12.8% of the substances were both local and imported. These data demonstrate that there is still a flourishing and well-developed trade in these materials--a trade that is the remnant of a rich and ancient medical culture, which is disappearing from the modern world.

Ethnopharmacological survey of traditional drugs sold in Israel at the end of the 20th century.

This report deals with the results of a study of present day uses of traditional medicinal materials in Israel. The survey covered selected markets in medicinal materials, belonging to various religious and ethnic communities, and also included questioning of the sellers and buyers about the healing characteristics of the various materials. The survey yielded information on many and varied medicinal materials, of which 310 are identified according to the following classifications, 264 species of plants (85.1%); 20 species of animals (6.5%); 19 kinds of minerals (6.5%); and seven materials of other or mixed origin (2.3%). Analysis of the data showed that a significant proportion of the materials were of local origin (51.5%) and some were imported from other countries. These data demonstrate that there is still a flourishing and well developed trade in these materials - a trade which is the remnant of a rich and ancient medical culture, which is disappearing from the modern world.

“Fossils” of practical medical knowledge from medieval Cairo

AIM OF THE STUDY To asses the scientific value of the practical medical fragments found in the Cairo Genizah (10th century), as a useful source for ethnopharmacological purposes (in exposing rare and usually inaccessible original medieval practical knowledge of medicinal substances to present-day researchers), and to reconstruct the practical drugs and their uses. MATERIALS AND METHODS A methodology distinguishing between theoretical (about 1500 fragments) and practical medical knowledge (about 230 fragments) was created and used. The information regarding the practical medicinal substances was extracted from prescriptions (140), lists of drugs (70) and few letters of physicians. RESULTS The reconstructed lists of practical (278) and theoretical (414) drugs allow us to recognize and quantify the gap between them in medieval times (136). CONCLUSIONS We propose that the data obtained from ancient prescriptions is comparable to ethnopharmacological surveys. The finding of plants such as myrobalan, saffron, licorice, spikenard and lentisk, all of which have scientifically proven anti-microbial/bacterial and anti-fungal activity, sheds a helpful light on the medical decision-making of the medieval practitioners in respect of the plants they applied as drugs. With the wealth of information meticulously assembled from these time capsules we expect to make a significant contribution to contemporary efforts at locating modern drugs in ancient roots and gauging their feasibility.

Practice versus Theory: Medieval Materia Medica according to the Cairo Genizah

Much information on medicine and the use of materia medica in the medieval period exists, but it is mainly based on the vast medical literature of that period both in the East and the West. Such books composed in the Arab world cover various subjects: medical theories and doctrines, the maintenance of good health (regimen sanitatis)1 or preventive medicine, different diseases and ailments, and qualities of medicinal substances,2 pharmacopoeias listing remedies and how to make them,3 and materia medica—medicinal substances, their different names and medical uses.4 Most of these books were written by qualified and learned physicians and pharmacists, are well organized, and were meant for teaching as well as references for theory and practice.5 Each author presents the optimal materia medica that should be used (to the best of his extensive knowledge) out of a very large inventory of medicinal substances from all over the Old World. Little in-depth research seems to have been conducted with the aim of exploring what may have taken place in medieval medical practice in the East.6 However, an exception lies in the recent studies of both Graeco-Roman and original Islamic records of medical case histories, namely those written by al-Rāzī (d. 930) in his Kitāb al-Ḥāwī.7 Each physician used the medical knowledge he acquired from his teachers and the medical literature of his time; however, many of the books had been written centuries earlier, often in other parts of the world, and were later translated and copied many times in different geographical locations.8 Other books were written by court physicians, commissioned by the local ruler, especially in the Ayyubid period.9 Authors of such theoretical books were never limited in choosing the materia medica: for example, Maimonides counselled the sultan al-Afḍal (d. 1225) to supply the court pharmacy with the best substances possible.10 In contrast, practitioners who had to treat people from the lower socio-economic strata had to prescribe formulas based on the substances they knew and could rely on, and which were available in the vicinity and were stocked by pharmacists. Even then, the availability of the substances was not guaranteed, and sometimes practitioners had to prescribe a substitute formula based on the less expensive and tried and trusted substances at hand.11 In reality, the practical inventory of materia medica was thus smaller than the theoretical inventory, which was based upon the books that physicians had in their possession. It was only logical that some medicines and medicinal substances were used more often than others, according to price, availability, practitioners’ choices, and even local medical trends. The main goal of this study was to learn about the practical medicinal uses of various substances by the members of the Jewish community of Cairo as a reflection of the Mediterranean Arab world as a whole. We were able to do this thanks to the Cairo Jewish community’s unique habit, based on religious law, of gathering all written documents and keeping them in the attic of their synagogue. These are the Genizah collections, whose survival is also linked to the dry climate of Old Cairo, which contributed much to the preservation of the fragments for more than a thousand years. The Genizah collections, especially the Taylor-Schechter Collection at Cambridge University Library, which include, inter alia, various medical documents, provide a golden opportunity to assess the quantities of both the practical and theoretical inventories of the Genizah people, and to display the gap between the two. Moreover, we would like to probe the commercial cycle of physicians, patients, herbalists, pharmacists, merchants, local markets, and international trade in the areas under Islamic rule and cultural/scientific influence. This being our objective, what can we learn about the practical uses of materia medica? How can we discover the main diseases that afflicted people in the communities under study? And finally, what were the most frequently prescribed medicines and medicinal substances in eastern medieval society?

Identifying the Ancient Shibuta Fish

SynopsisThe Talmud, a massive Jewish work completed in Persia approximately 1500 years ago, contains references to a fish named the shibuta. Various previous attempts to identify it over the last several centuries took place in lands other than Iraq and consequently the true identity seems to have escaped those Jewish scholars. In this paper we summarize the previous work and present evidence to support the identification of the talmudic shibuta with Barbus grypus.

The Scarlet Dye of the Holy Land

Abstract We present evidence based on chemical analysis that identifies the scarlet dye produced by the scale insect Kermes echinatus as the shani (“red” in Hebrew) used toward the end of the second Holy Temple (AD 70). We know that this dye is produced by a coccoid species of scale. However, it is not yet known which of the coccoid species was used in the Holy Land in ancient times. Our results confirm the presence of the red pigment kermesic acid in K. echinatus extracts. The fact that K. echinatus is found in Israel suggests that the origin of the shani color mentioned in the Bible could have been local and that this dye was not an import from abroad, as most scholars have assumed. Our hypothesis, backed by our long-term observations, is supported by the color quality of kermesic acid, by the relative concentration of the pigment, and by the prevalence of K. echinatus in Israel.

Medieval History of the Duda’im Melon (Cucumis melo, Cucurbitaceae)

Medieval History of the Duda’im Melon (Cucumis melo, Cucurbitaceae). Melons, Cucumis melo, are a highly polymorphic species for fruit characteristics. The melons that are the most valued are the ones that turn sweet when ripe, including the muskmelons, cantaloupes, and casabas. Others, including the elongate adzhur, conomon, and snake melons, are consumed when immature, like cucumbers. The duda’im melons, Cucumis melo Duda’im Group, are special, as their small, spherical, thin-fleshed, insipid but beautifully maroon, dark-orange, or brown-and-yellow striped ripe fruits are valued for ornament and especially for their lush fragrance. The distinctive properties of duda’im melons are matched with special names given to them in several languages and geographical areas, which have made possible tracing of the history of these melons to mid-9th century Persia. From that region, duda’im melons diffused westward, likely facilitated by Islamic conquests, reaching North Africa and Andalusia in the 10th century.

CAPTIVE GAZELLES IN IRAQI JEWRY IN MODERN TIMES IN RELATION TO CULTURAL PRACTICES AND VERNACULAR HOUSING

As late as in the first half of the twentieth century, there were some Jews in Iraq who kept gazelles for meat, even in urban homes. This was made possible by the features of vernacular housing this article explains. Far more prominent, however, was the use made in Iraq of gazelle hides in the manufacturing of Torah scrolls, which were ubiquitous in Iraq, and many were exported from there at various times. The prevailing custom of dedicating Torah scrolls (typically, in memory of ones deceased relatives) made it necessary for gazelles to be raised in captivity as hunting alone would not have been sustainable for generating a supply that would meet the demand.

Early evidence (late 2nd millennium BCE) of plant-based dyeing of textiles from Timna, Israel

Abstract In this article, we focus on the analysis of dyed textile fragments uncovered at an early Iron Age (11th-10th centuries BCE) copper smelting site during new excavations in the Timna Valley conducted by the Central Timna Valley (CTV) Project, as well as those found by the Arabah Expedition at the Hathor Temple (Site 200), dated to the Late Bronze/early Iron Ages (13th-11th centuries BCE). Analysis by HPLC-DAD identified two organic dyestuffs, Rubia tinctorum L. and indigotin, from a plant source (probably Isatis tinctoria L.). They are among the earliest plants known in the dyeing craft and cultivated primarily for this purpose. This study provides the earliest evidence of textiles dyed utilizing a chemical dyeing process based on an industrial dyeing plant from the Levant. Moreover, our results shed new light on the society operating the copper mines at the time, suggesting the existence of an elite that was interested in these high quality textiles and invested efforts in procuring them by long-distance trade.

Wall Pellitory as a Glass Cleaning Material in the Land of Israel in the Middle Ages

Wall Pellitory as a Glass Cleaning Material in the Land of Israel in the Middle AgesThis article describes the unique uses of the plant wall pellitory (Parietaria judaica L.), as based on Arabic sources from the Middle Ages. These sources reveal that this plant was used in Israel for producing alkaline substances, in general, and material to clean glass, in particular. Examination of the plant’s composition demonstrates that it contains sodium and potassium in high concentrations, even in comparison with salt flat vegetation (desert and coastal), such as prickly saltworts (Salsola kali L.), which were known in the ancient world as a source of cleaning materials. Thus, corroboration was found for the information obtained from the historical sources.