ABSTRACT
THEpre-MuhammadanArabsfirstbecameacquaintedwiththeGreekHerbalandGreekmedicine throughtheJewishteachersofmedicinewhohad studiedatAlexandria,andtheSyrianChristiansof thefamousSchoolatEdessa.WhentheNestorians becameall-powerfulinthisSchool,theGovernment disbandedthepupilsandclosedit.Itwasreopened byBishopIbasinA.D.435,butwasfinallydissolved bytheEmperorZenoinA.D.489.Thepupilsfled toNisibis,whereBar-SawmafoundedanotherSchool, whichflourishedforaconsiderabletime.Fromthe fifthcenturyonwardstheSyrianstranslatedGreek medicalworksintoSyriac,andfromthesetranslationstheArabphysiciansmadetranslationsintotheir ownlanguage.Themostimportantofthesewere: GEORGE,thesonofBokht-Isho,physiciantoAlMansfi.rtheKhalifahintheeighthcentury;GABRIEL, physiciantoHarlinar-Rashid,whodiedatBaghdad A.D.828;HoNAINIBNIsHAKAL-IB.ADI,whotranslatedfromtheSyriactheworksofHippocrates, Dioscorides,Galen,andPauloflEgina,anddiedin 873.IsAAC,sonofthelast-named,andHoBAISHhis nephew,translatedmanyGreekworksintoSyriac andArabic.AccordingtoIbnJuljul,quotedbyAbi Usaibiah,theworkofDioscoridesonMateriaMedica wastranslatedfromtheGreekintoArabicbySTEPHEN,
THEHERBALINARABIC77 sonofBasil,aChristianArabwhoflourishedat BaghdadundertheKhalifahMutawakkil,A.H.240 (A.D.853).IbnJuljulsaysthatStephengavethe ArabicequivalentfortheGreeknameofthedrug wheneverheknewit,andwhenhedidnothetranscribedtheGreeknameintoArabicletters(DeSacy, Relationdel'Egypte,Paris,1810,p.495).TheBrit. Mus.MS.Or.3366containstwoofthefivebooksof theworkofDioscorides(thethirdandthefourth), andattachedtomanyofthedescriptionsofthe plantsareneatcoloureddrawings(seep.61).
