Nestorian Christian Contributions to Medicine in the Golden Age of Islam under the Abassid Caliphs of Baghdad 786

Nestorian Christian Contributions to Medicine in the Golden Age of Islam under the Abassid Caliphs of Baghdad 786–1258 CEActa Medica MartinianaSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/XAQHQSVB/tei

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2025-05-20-05:00

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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.Mark WilliamWorthingNestorian Christian Contributions to Medicine in the Golden Age of Islam under the Abassid Caliphs of Baghdad 786–1258 CEhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/XAQHQSVBhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/XAQHQSVBhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/XAQHQSVBActa Medica Martiniana24:32024116-126The period under the Abassid Caliphs in Baghdad, often known as the Golden Age of Islam, saw great advances in science and medicine. This paper explores the often under-appreciated contribution of Nestorian Christians to medicine in this period. Many key translators of Greek medical texts and important court physicians were Nestorian Christians. The Nestorians ran hospitals and schools of medicine that were influential in the great medical advances during this era. The Golden Age of Islamic medicine was able to flourish, in part, because of the openness to cooperation with Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian scholars and practitioners. This paper focuses on the Nestorian contribution and argues that the Nestorians made significant contributions if four specific areas: the translation of Greek medical texts; the development of the hospital system; original medical research (particularly the anatomy of the eye, pharmacology and the discovery of the placebo effect); and the understanding of the practice of medicine as an ethical calling. Worthing, Mark William. “Nestorian Christian Contributions to Medicine in the Golden Age of Islam under the Abassid Caliphs of Baghdad 786–1258 CE.” Acta Medica Martiniana 24:3 (2024): 116–26. Mark William Worthing, Nestorian Christian Contributions to Medicine in the Golden Age of Islam under the Abassid Caliphs of Baghdad 786–1258 CE, Acta Medica Martiniana 24:3 (2024): 116–26.