Here’s some analysis and commentary on Ibn Abi Usaybi’ah’s History of Physicians, which was written in Arabic in thirteenth-century Damascus. Ibn Abi Usaybi’ah’s book describes physicians and medical practices from the origin of medicine to the thirteenth century.
Ibn Abi Usaybi’ah’s book is now freely available online with Arabic text, English translation, commentary, and interpretive essays: Savage-Smith, Emilie, Simon Swain, G. J. H. van Gelder, and Ignacio Javier Sánchez Rojo. 2020. A literary history of medicine: the ‘Uyūn al-anbā’ fī ṭabaqāt al-aṭibbā’ of Ibn Abīuṣaybi’ah {The Best Accounts of the Classes of Physicians}. 5 vols. Handbook of Oriental studies. Section One, Near and Middle East, volume 134/1. Leiden: Brill.
Outsiders could achieve high status in ancient Baghdad, but the paths to high status were complex and volatile. … Read the post Awhad al-Zamān’s rise: status dynamics in 12th-century Baghdad
Ibn Abi Usaybia apparently sought to write literary-biographical reference works for all intellectual fields — astronomers, physicians, and others. … Read the post Ibn Abi Usaybia's historical-biographical book enterprise
Ibn Abi Usaybia’s social-biographical directory of physicians memorialized social status within 13th-century Damascus’ highly insecure social markings. … Read the post Ibn Abi Usaybia in 13th-century Damascus status economy
Ancient arguments over the creation of the heavens and the earth set the pattern for ancient arguments about the origin of medicine. … Read the post ancient arguments about the origin of medicine
Medicines for the poor developed in contrast to expensive medicines like Mithridatium and Theriac that were popular among the wealthy. … Read the post history of medicine for the poor