Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā)
Canon of Medicine, Arabic synopsis
Paper, rubricated headings, marginal notes, Egypt, 12th–13th century
T-S Ar. 11.3

Originally composed in Arabic, the fame of Avicenna’s medical masterpiece was fostered by its introduction into the curriculum studiorum of medieval and early modern European physicians. The same is true for the Arabic-speaking countries where synopses, summaries and tables were drawn from Avicenna’s text and employed in the education of aspiring physicians. This bifolium preserves an Arabic synopsis of the chapters dealing with diseases of the eyes and the ears. Avicenna provides here a detailed description of the anatomy and physiology of the eye and touches upon a number of ailments (including blindness, hallucinations and infections) that were very common in the medieval Mediterranean world. The seminal contribution of medieval Arabic medicine to ophthalmological theory and practice is undisputed.