Medicine in medieval Egypt: creating online access to the medical corpus of the Cairo Genizah. (360G-Wellcome-105086_Z_14_Z)

£95,089

The Cairo Genizah Collection at Cambridge University Library is the single largest and most important collection of medieval Jewish manuscripts in the world. Comprising approximately 200,000 leaves, the discovery of this treasuretrove 100 years ago revolutionised the study of medieval Judaism and our understanding of the broader economic, social and intellectual history of the Mediterranean world. Intended as a resting place for religious works, the Genizah ('religious storeroom') has in fact preserved an ample number of secular texts too, both literary and documentary, and conspicuous among these is a unique medical corpus of approximately 2000 manuscripts. The medical fragments of the Cairo Genizah (which date from the 10th century onwards) include a large number of Judaeo-Arabic renditions of Arabic translations of Greek medical texts and of Arabic medical works, often annotated by their medieval users, together with original works by prominent, and less well-known, Jewish physicians. Uniquely,the collection preserves numerous prescriptions, druggists' notes, and lists of materia medica. This project will build upon previous work in the Collection, and make these important items freely available through Cambridge University's digital library platform, in the form of a detailed electronic catalogue of all the items of medical content along with high quality digital images of the manuscripts themselves. These will form a unique source of research on the study, transmission and practice of medicine by Jews and Muslims in the medieval Mediterranean world, and we believe that the medical humanities community will greatly benefit from their enhanced availability.

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Grant Details

Amount Awarded 95089
Applicant Surname Outhwaite
Approval Committee Research Resources Committee
Award Date 2014-05-20T00:00:00+00:00
Financial Year 2013/14
Grant Programme: Title Research Resources Award
Internal ID 105086/Z/14/Z
Lead Applicant Dr Ben Outhwaite
Partnership Value 95089
Planned Dates: End Date 2017-04-30T00:00:00+00:00
Planned Dates: Start Date 2015-02-01T00:00:00+00:00
Recipient Org: Country United Kingdom
Region East of England