Translation and the Making of a Medical Archive

Abstract

Research located at the nexus of medicine and translation deals with some of the fundamentals of human experience: the most basic drive to survive and flourish, and the urge to gather and to share information that might assist in this. Using a series of case-studies ranging from ninth-century Baghdad, to fourteenth-century Aragon, to seventeenth-century Cartagena, to nineteenth-century Bengal, this volume weaves together an interconnected, long-view history of the translation of medicine. The geographically and temporally diverse contexts of our case studies explore common themes and divergent experiences, connected by our historical actors' varied endeavours to "translate" knowledge about health and the body across languages, practices, and media. Collectively, we offer a new approach to histories of (medical) knowledge, re-localising and deconstructing traditional narratives, and de-emphasising well-worn dichotomies.

Educational Paradigms in Islamic Medical History: A Review

“…[ 5 ] Translations of the Medicinal treasures from antiquities from Hellenic world to Ancient Indians were patronized by Abbasids and Umayyads centered at Baghdad and Cordoba. [ 13 ] Jirjis bin Bukhtyishu, the chief physician of Jundi-Shapur was appointed as the court physician by Caliph Mansur in 762 CE. [ 4 ] From this moment to fall of Baghdad by Mongols, in 1258 CE, the translation movement prospered for the centuries.…”