Paper; Egypt; 10th–13th century; Arabic

T-S Ar.39.487

A list of simple treatments to be used alone or as ingredients for compound drugs. The Genizah contains many lists like this. It could have been a shopping list for a pharmacist’s workshop, an inventory of left-over substances after the closure of a medical practice, or a note for a trader dealing in drugs of mineral, vegetable or animal origin.

The left side of the fragment lists quantities in Coptic numerals, while the names of the items are hastily jotted down in Arabic script. They include oxtongue, litharge (lead monoxide), wax, kohl (stibnite), sulphur, red and yellow arsenic, cinnabar (mercury sulphide), lapis lazuli, saffron, borax and mercury. These mineral substances were commonly administered to patients with skin complaints, eye infections and low sex drive.