Overview

The Kitab Tahrim dafn al-ahya', the Book on the Prohibition to Bury the Living, written by the Nestorian physician 'Ubaidallah Ibn Buhtisu' (d. c. 1060 CE), deals with the causes, signs and treatments of apparent death. Based on a short pseudo-Galenic treatise, whose Greek original is lost, 'Ubaidallah's Arabic commentary is a comprehensive and in many ways unique piece of scientific writing that moreover promotes a psychological understanding of physical illness. Oliver Kahl's present book offers a critical Arabic edition with annotated English translation of 'Ubaidallah's work on apparent death, framed by a detailed introductory study and extensive glossaries covering all relevant terms; for comparative purposes, the Arabic and Hebrew recensions of the lost Greek prototype are presented in an appendix.

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9789004371286

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Reviews

K. hat mit seiner philologisch soliden Edition, die durch ausfuhrliche Indizes bereichert ist, ein fruhes und wertvolles Zeugnis der grako-arabischen Komponente der arabisch-islamischen Kultur zuganglich gemacht...Daruber hinaus enthalt der Kommentar des 'Ubaidallah eine Fulle interessanter Einzelheiten zu Zeitgenossen und weitere persoenliche Reminiszenzen, auch zur eigenen arztlichen Praxis. Gotthard Strohmaier, in Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 114/4-5 (2019): 351-381

Author Information

Oliver Kahl, Ph.D. (1993), Manchester University, is Research Fellow in the Department of Semitology at the University of Marburg. His work focuses on the history of Arabic medicine and pharmacy, and he has published widely on these and related subjects. Gerrit Bos (Ph. D. 1989) is Professor Emeritus of Jewish Studies at the Martin-Buber-Institut fur Judaistik, University of Cologne, Germany.

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