Articles |
A Hospital Handbook for the Community: Evidence for the Extensive Use of Ibn Ab
'l-Bay
n's al-Dust
r al-bmristani by the Jewish Practitioners of Medieval Cairo1
University of Haifa
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ben-Gurion University of The Negev, Beersheba
Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit, Cambridge University Library
Al-Dust
r al-b
m
ristn by Ibn Ab 'l-Bayn forms an important part of the Arabic tradition of hospital dispensatories and has remained well-known to the traditional practitioners of the Middle East. So far, eleven fragments of the Dustur have been identified in the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Collections at the Cambridge University Library, of which eight are in Arabic script and three are in Judaeo-Arabic. This article discusses the significance of these fragments, particularly those in Judaeo-Arabic. We also provide editions and translations of two of the fragments.
1 We would like to thank the staff of the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit at Cambridge University Library, and in particular its then Director, Professor Stefan Reif, for their generous help. The research and writing of this article was enabled by L. Chipman being the recipient of the 2005 Levkowitz Family Memorial Prize and E. Lev being granted an Overseas Visiting Scholarship at St. John's College, Cambridge, for the 2003–4 academic year.