The Medicine of Maimonides

Maimonides Medical Society Meeting-11/23/97
Robert S. Stall, M.D.

  1. Historical Perspective (Maimonides life span 1135-1204)
    1. 460 BCE (through 370 BCE) Hippocrates life span
    2. 129 (through 200) Galen (wrote On the Natural Faculties) life span
    3. 571 (through 632) Muhammad life span
    4. 980 (through 1037) Avicenna life span-attempted to reconcile science & Aristotelian philosophy
    5. 1000 (through 1100) Illuminated books flourish
    6. 1000 (through1300) Improvements in plow & loom design; rise of guilds and banking
    7. 1033 (through 1109) Anselm life span-attempted to reconcile reason & revelation
    8. 1040 (through 1105) Rashi life span
    9. 1066 William of Normandy conquers England
    10. 1095 Crusades started by Pope Urban II (10 crusades through 1291)
    11. 1096 Rhineland Crusade-Jews massacred or expelled
    12. 1100 (through 1200) Growth of town life; first universities
    13. 1126 (through 1198) Averroes life span--attempted to reconcile science & Aristotelian philosophy
    14. 1135 Birth of Maimonides in Cordova, Spain (March 30)
    15. 1167 (through 1227) Genghis Khan life span
    16. 1168 Completes Commentary on the Mishnah (age 33)
    17. 1172 Letter Iggereth Taimon (Gate of Hope) written for Jews of Yemen
    18. 1174 Brother David drowns in the Indian Ocean-Maimonides becomes a physician
    19. 1174 Construction of the Leaning Tower of Pisa begins (completed 1300's)
    20. 1180 Completes Mishneh Torah (Code of Maimonides) (age 45)
    21. 1190 Completes first version of Guide for the Perplexed (age 55)
    22. 1190 Devotes most of his time to medical practice and writing books on medical subjects (until his death)
    23. 1200 Completes final version of Guide for the Perplexed (age 65)
    24. 1204 Death of Maimonides in Fostat, Egypt (Cairo suburb) (December 13)
    25. 1225 (through 1274) Aquinas life span-attempted to reconcile reason & revelation
    26. 1265 (through 1321) Dante life span
    27. 1276 (through 1337) Giotto life span
    28. 1348 Bubonic plague reaches Europe (killed as much as half the population by 1350)

  2. The Medical Writings of Maimonides
    (translated into English and published by the Maimonides Research Institute in Haifa, Israel)
    1. Extracts from Galen (1992)
    2. Commentary On the Aphorisms of Hippocrates (1987)
    3. Medical Aphorisms (1989)
    4. Treatise on Hemorrhoids (1984)
    5. Treatises on Sexual Intercourse (1984)
    6. Treatise on Asthma (1994)
    7. Treatise on Poisons and Their Antidotes (1984)
    8. Regimen of Health (1990)
    9. Discourse on the Explanation of Fits (1990)
    10. Glossary of Drug Names (1996)

  3. The Oath and Prayer of Moses Maimonides (written in 1783)
    O, grant-
    That neither greed for gain, nor thirst for fame, nor vain ambition,
    May interfere with my activity.
    For these I know are enemies of truth and love of men,
    And might beguile one in my profession
    From furthering the welfare of Thy creatures.
    O strengthen me.
    Grant energy unto both body and the soul
    That I might e'er unhindered ready be
    To mitigate the woes,
    Sustain and help
    The rich and poor, the good and bad, enemy and friend.
    O let me e'er behold in the afflicted and suffering,
    Only the human being.

  4. References
    1. Art and Civilization, Edward Lucie-Smith, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 1993, pp. 106-131.
    2. A Treatise On the Canon of Medicine of Avicenna: Incorporating a Translation of the First Book, O. Cameron Gruner, M.D., Luzac & Co., London, 1930 (The Classics of Medicine Library reprint, 1984).
    3. Familiar Medical Quotations, Maurice B. Strauss, M.D., Editor, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1968.
    4. Judaism and Healing: Halakhic Perspectives, J. David Bleich, Ktav Publishing House, Inc., USA, 1981 [TBE Library].
    5. Medical Encyclopedia of Moses Maimonides, Fred Rosner, M.D., Jason Aronson, Inc., 1998 (available soon).
    6. Medicine: An Illustrated History, Albert S. Lyons, M.D. & R. Joseph Petrucelli, II, M.D., Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 1978, pp. 298, 313-315.
    7. Medicine in the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides, Fred Rosner, M.D., Jason Aronson, Inc., New Jersey, 1997, pp. 1-17.
    8. Moses Maimonides: Rabbi, Philosopher and Physician, Rebecca B. Marcus, Franklin Watts, Inc., New York, 1969 [TBE Library].
    9. Search the Scriptures: A Physician Examines Medicine in the Bible, Robert B. Greenblatt, M.D., J.B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, 1963 [TBE Library].
    10. The Medical Legacy of Moses Maimonides, Fred Rosner, M.D., Ktav Publishing House, 1997 (available soon).
    11. The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1995, Funk & Wagnalls Corporation, USA, 1994, pp. 512-518.

  5. Book Suppliers/Publishers
    1. AMAZON.COM, On-line books, http://www.amazon.com/.
    2. JASON ARONSON, INC., Publisher, http://www.aronson.com/.
    3. KTAV PUBLISHING HOUSE, INC., Publisher, 900 Jefferson Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-7205, Tel: 201.963.9524, Fax: 201.963.0102, http://www.ktav.com/, 74631.2017@compuserve.com.