![]() Andromachus the Elder on horseback, questioning a patient who has received a snake bite.Kitâb al-Diryâq, 1198-1199, Syria.[1] | |
Author | Pseudo-Galen |
---|---|
Original title | كتاب الدرياق |
Language | Arabic |
Subject | Medicine,Antidotes |
Genre | Non-fiction |
Publisher | Various (modern editions) |
Publication date | 12th, 13th centuries |
Publication place | Jazira (Syria or Northern Iraq) |
Media type | Manuscript, Print |
Kitāb al-Diryāq (Arabic:كتاب الدرياق, "The Book of Theriac"), alsoBook of Anditodes of Pseudo-Galen or in FrenchTraité de la thériaque, is a medievalArabic book supposedly based on the writings ofGalen ("pseudo-Galen"). The work describes the use ofTheriac, an ancient medicinal compound initially used as a cure for the bites of poisonous snakes.
Twoillustrated manuscript copies are extant, adorned with beautifulminiatures revealing of the social context at the time of their publication.[1] The books describe various physicians of Antiquity, including Greek ones such asAndromachus the Elder, and their medical techniques.[1] These manuscripts are generally attributed to theJazira region of Syria and northern Iraq.[1]
Copied in 1198–1199, this book with miniatures (BNF Arabe 2964) is generally attributed to theJazira (northernSyria or NorthernIraq).[1] It was probably made inMosul.[2]
The dignitaries described in the miniatures wear the Turkic dress: the stiff coat with diagonal closing and arm bands.[3] Scenes of daily life, such as agricultural work in the fields, are also depicted.[1] Two beautiful moon deities are also depicted, holding the shape of a crescent moon in their hands, but their significance remains conjectural.[1]
The ruler and attendants are similar to those found in the decoratedPalmer Cup and in metalworks from theMosul or NorthJazira area, with their typicalsharbush type of headgear and robes.[4][5]
This copy, from the second quarter of the 13th century, is thought to have been produced inMosul.[1] Although there is no mention of a dedication in this edition, the courtly paintings are quite similar to those of the court ofBadr al-Din Lu'lu' in theKitab al-Aghani (1218–1219), and may be related to this ruler.[9][10]
The frontispiece shows an intricate courtly scene with figured in Turkic dress: a central king resemblingBadr al-Din Lu'lu' (wearing a fur-trimmed, patternedqabā'maftūḥ, with elbow-lengthtirāz sleeves and on his head asharbush hat), surrounded by numerous attendants (most of them wearing theaqbiya turkiyya Turkic coat andkalawta caps). The courtly scene is framed by equestrian scenes, some of the horse-riders wearing the brimmed hat with conical crown known assarāqūj.[8] "In the paintings the facial cast of these [ruling] Turks is obviously reflected, and so are the special fashions and accoutrements they favored".[7]
Nevertheless, the most distinctive feature of late Saljuq and post-Saljuq male dress was the popularity of patterned textiles for these garments. (...) That these patterns do not merely represent ceramic conventions is clear from the rendering of garments in fragmentary wall paintings and in illustrations from the copy of Varqa wa Golšāh already mentioned, as well as in frontispieces to the volumes of Abu'l-Faraj Eṣfahānī's Ketāb al-aḡānī dated 614-16/1217-19 and to two copies of Ketāb al-deryāq (Book of antidotes) by Pseudo-Galen, dated 596/1199 and ascribed to the second quarter of the 7th/13th century respectively (Survey of Persian Art V, pl. 554A-B; Ateş, pls. 1/3, 6/16, 18; D. S. Rice, 1953, figs. 14-19; Ettinghausen, 1962, pp. 65, 85, 91). The last three manuscripts, all of them attributed to northern Mesopotamia, show that the stiff coat with diagonal closing and arm bands was also worn in that region from the end of the 6th/12th century.
The iconography of its figures is very similar to that on the Palmer Cup, in the design of their robes, in the headgear (sharbūsh) and in the way that walking figures are rendered, with one leg straight and the other slightly bent, with a slim foot slightly raised from the ground. Although the candlestick does not have a date, it is securely datable to the early 13th century, as it clearly belongs to a group of metalwork that has now been established as of that period and coming from the Mosul or North Jaziran area. These elements also confirm the early 13th-century date of the Palmer Cup and further support the region of provenance.
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: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)Fig.19: Frontispiece of a mid-13th-century manuscript, probably from Mosul of theKitāb al-Diryāq of Pseudo-Galen showing an informal court scene in the center with a seated Turkish ruler (on left) wearing a fur-trimmed, patternedqabā'maftūḥ, with elbow-lengthtirāz sleeves and on his head asharbush. Most of his attendants wearaqbiya turkiyya andkalawta caps. Workman depicted behind the palace and riders in the lower register wear the brimmed hat with conical crown known assarāqūj. On thesarāqūj of one workman is a crisscrossed coloredtakhfīfa with a brooch or plaquette pinned in the center of the overlap. The women on camels in the lower righthand corner wear a sac-like head veil kept in place by a cloth`iṣāba (Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, ms A. F. 10, fol. 1).
In the painting the facial cast of these Turks is obviously reflected, and so are the special fashions and accoutrements they favored. (p.162, commentary on image p.91)
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