Arabic into Hebrew, A Case Study: Isaac Israeli’s Book on Fevers

Abstract

MedievalJewish, Christian and Muslim Culture Encounters in Confluence and Dialogue Medieval Encounters 21 (2015) 50-80 © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2�15 | AbstractTranslations in the Middle Ages were the clearest route for the transmission of knowledge between countries and cultures. Furthermore, translation led to the creation a body of scientific terminology for languages that lacked their own, as in the case of Medieval Hebrew. This paper examines one of these translations: Isaac Israeli's Book on Fevers. Two paragraphs from the Hebrew translation of the Book on Fevers (one from the opening, the other describing medicinal substances) have been selected to analyze how the translator worked with a medical text in Hebrew. The terminology in both was compared with that of other medieval medical books in Hebrew to better understand how a medical lexicon was built and how it developed in the Christian environment where these translations were made. The conclusion of this study contributes to the understanding of translation as part of the intellectual interaction among Jews, Muslims and Christians.