Peter E. Pormann - Böcker

Hippocrates is a towering figure in Greek medicine. Dubbed the 'father of medicine', he has inspired generations of physicians over millennia in both the East and West. Despite this, little is known about him, and scholars have long debated his relationship to the works attributed to him in the so-called 'Hippocratic Corpus', although it is undisputed that many of the works within it represent milestones in the development of Western medicine. In this Companion, an international team of authors introduces major themes in Hippocratic studies, ranging from textual criticism and the 'Hippocratic question' to problems such as aetiology, physiology and nosology. Emphasis is given to the afterlife of Hippocrates from Late Antiquity to the modern period. Hippocrates had as much relevance in the fifth-century BC Greek world as in the medieval Islamic world, and he remains with us today in both medical and non-medical contexts.

Hippocrates is a towering figure in Greek medicine. Dubbed the 'father of medicine', he has inspired generations of physicians over millennia in both the East and West. Despite this, little is known about him, and scholars have long debated his relationship to the works attributed to him in the so-called 'Hippocratic Corpus', although it is undisputed that many of the works within it represent milestones in the development of Western medicine. In this Companion, an international team of authors introduces major themes in Hippocratic studies, ranging from textual criticism and the 'Hippocratic question' to problems such as aetiology, physiology and nosology. Emphasis is given to the afterlife of Hippocrates from Late Antiquity to the modern period. Hippocrates had as much relevance in the fifth-century BC Greek world as in the medieval Islamic world, and he remains with us today in both medical and non-medical contexts.

Did you know that the Quran contains Greek stories; that medieval Muslims produced a rich literature on sexology, based in part on Greek sources; or that the Islamic Republic of Iran is partially modeled on Plato's Republic?Muslim civilisation constantly engaged with the Graeco-Roman heritage in fascinating ways. This book shows how Islam was born in a Hellenised world and examines the profound engagement with classical art, philosophy, theology and science that resulted. The Abbasid Caliphate's translation of key Greek texts into Arabic even influenced the language's grammar and literature: courtiers recited Homer, with one Ottoman Sultan even visiting Troy to admire the graves of the heroes of the Iliad. Pormann shows how this legacy endures today, with classical scholarship shaping modern debates about the Quran both among modernists and fundamentalists. We can thus trace a line from Homer to al-Qaida.Anybody interested in understanding the intellectually fruitful relationship between the Islamic civilization and the classical inheritance of the Graeco-Roman world will find rich pickings in this erudite and wide-ranging account.

Did you know that the Quran contains Greek stories; that medieval Muslims produced a rich literature on sexology, based in part on Greek sources; or that the Islamic Republic of Iran is partially modeled on Plato's Republic?Muslim civilisation constantly engaged with the Graeco-Roman heritage in fascinating ways. This book shows how Islam was born in a Hellenised world and examines the profound engagement with classical art, philosophy, theology and science that resulted. The Abbasid Caliphate's translation of key Greek texts into Arabic even influenced the language's grammar and literature: courtiers recited Homer, with one Ottoman Sultan even visiting Troy to admire the graves of the heroes of the Iliad. Pormann shows how this legacy endures today, with classical scholarship shaping modern debates about the Quran both among modernists and fundamentalists. We can thus trace a line from Homer to al-Qaida.Anybody interested in understanding the intellectually fruitful relationship between the Islamic civilization and the classical inheritance of the Graeco-Roman world will find rich pickings in this erudite and wide-ranging account.

The group of Hebrew manuscripts at Corpus Christi College Oxford forms one of the most important collections of Anglo-Jewish manuscripts in the world. Although few in number, the College's holdings are outstanding in rarity and value.Corpus Christi College was founded at a time when universities were putting considerable effort into providing better facilities for the study of Greek and Hebrew. Bishop Richard Fox, the founder of Corpus Christi, and John Claymond, the college's first President, therefore ensured that the library should be adequately stocked with the necessary printed books and manuscripts. In a famous letter to Claymond in June 1519, Erasmus predicted a great future forthe College and alluded to its well-stocked trilingual library (Hebrew, Greek, and Latin).Although few in number, the College's Hebrew manuscripts are outstanding in rarity and value. Seven Hebrew manuscripts donated byClaymond were probably produced in Oxford and Cambridgeshire in the thirteenth century. They include texts from the Hebrew Bible - the Tanakh - presented in parallel Hebrew and Latin versions, often with a literal translation into Latin written directly above the Hebrew text. It is thought that the manuscripts were the product of co-operation between Jewish and Christian scholars, and were used by non-Jews to learn Hebrew and understand the primary textsof a shared scriptural tradition. In addition to the Claymond bequest, the collection contains a second, nearly complete copy of Rashi's commentaries, and an Ashkenazi prayer book both produced in northern Europe in the twelfth century. The prayer book is one of the oldest surviving prayer books produced in Europe. It later came into the possession of a Sephardic Jew who settled in England, and who used some of its blank pages to record business. He did this in Judaeo-Arabic (Arabic written in Hebrew letters). This document is the only one written in this language in England during the Middle Ages to survive. Taken together, the Corpus collection forms one of the most important collections of Anglo-Jewish manuscripts in the world. PETER E. PORMANN is Professor of Classics and Graeco-Arabic Studies and Director of the John Rylands Research Institute at the University of Manchester.