Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

History of Medicine

About   |  Collections   |  Exhibitions   |  Research Tools   |  Copyright   |  Get Involved   |  Visit   |  Contact

Decorative calligraphic page header featuring orange Arabic script for Islamic Culture and Medicine

Islamic Culture and the Medical Arts


Visual Catalog of the Illustrations (Part 4/9)


Hand drawing of a nerve diagram, with figure viewed from the back, with the head hyperextended so that the mouth is at the top of the page. The pairs of nerves are indicated by colored inks.

Nerve diagram, with figure viewed from the back, with the head hyperextended so that the mouth is at the top of the page. The pairs of nerves are indicated by colored inks. From The Anatomy of the Human Body (Tashrih-i badan-i insan) written in Persian at the end of the 14th century by Mansur ibn Ilyas. Copy undated, probably 15th century.
NLM MS P19, fol. 11b

[Corresponding Text]


Hand drawing of a muscle figure, shown frontally, with extensive text denoting muscles.

Muscle figure, shown frontally, with extensive text denoting muscles. From The Anatomy of the Human Body (Tashrih-i badan-i insan) written in Persian at the end of the 14th century by Mansur ibn Ilyas. Copy completed 8 December 1488 (4 Muharram 894 H) by Hasan ibn Ahmad, a scribe working in Isfahan.
NLM MS P18, fol. 20a

[Corresponding Text]


Hand drawn page featuring the venous system, with figure drawn frontally and the internal organs indicated in opaque watercolors

The venous system, with figure drawn frontally and the internal organs indicated in opaque watercolors. From The Anatomy of the Human Body (Tashrih-i badan-i insan) written in Persian at the end of the 14th century by Mansur ibn Ilyas. Copy completed 8 December 1488 (4 Muharram 894 H) by Hasan ibn Ahmad, a scribe working in Isfahan.
NLM MS P18, fol. 25b

[Corresponding Text]


Hand drawn figure of a pregnant woman.

The figure of a pregnant woman. From The Anatomy of the Human Body (Tashrih-i badan-i insan) written in Persian at the end of the 14th century by Mansur ibn Ilyas. Copy completed 8 December 1488 (4 Muharram 894 H) by Hasan ibn Ahmad, a scribe working in Isfahan.
NLM MS P18, fol. 39b

[Corresponding Text]


Hand drawn skeleton, drawn in red and black ink, viewed from behind with the head hyperextended so that the face looks upward.

The skeleton, drawn in red and black ink, viewed from behind with the head hyperextended so that the face looks upward. From The Anatomy of the Human Body (Tashrih-i badan-i insan) written in Persian at the end of the 14th century by Mansur ibn Ilyas. Copy completed 8 December 1488 (4 Muharram 894 H) by Hasan ibn Ahmad, a scribe working in Isfahan.
NLM MS P18, fol. 12b.
Earliest recorded copy.

[Corresponding Text]


The frontispage of a printing in 1875 at the famous Bulaq press in Cairo of The Comprehensive Book on Materia Medica and Foodstuffs  (Kitab al-Jami` li-mufradat al-adwiyah wa-al-aghdhiyah) by Ibn al-Baytar (d. 1248/646 H). The top half of the page is a decorated stamp to resemble a building while the bottom half of the page is handwritten Arabic.

The frontispage of a printing in 1875 at the famous Bulaq press in Cairo of The Comprehensive Book on Materia Medica and Foodstuffs (Kitab al-Jami` li-mufradat al-adwiyah wa-al-aghdhiyah) by Ibn al-Baytar (d. 1248/646 H).

[Corresponding Text]


Illuminated opening of The Storehouse of Medicaments Concerning the Explanation of Materia Medica (Makhzan al-adwiyah dar-i bayan-i adwiyah) by the 18th-century physician Muhammad Husayn ibn Muhammad Hadi al-`Aqili al-`Alavi, a practitioner in India. Copy finished 3 May 1732 (4 Dhu al-Hijjah 1144 H) by the scribe Hasan ibn `Abd al-[?] Musavi.
NLM MS P12


Two handwritten pages of folios 303b and 304a of a treatise on antidotes for poisons.

A unique copy of an Arabic treatise on antidotes for poisons written in 1270 (669 H) in Syria by `Ali ibn `Abd al-`Azim al-Ansari. The opening shows part of the 33rd chapter in which the author lists treatises that he consulted. Undated copy; probably 16th century.
NLM MS A64, fols. 303b-304a.
No other copy recorded.

[Corresponding Text]


The text is written within a frame of single red ink lines. In the margins are ink drawings of a triple alembic, with 3 distilling heads, only the top one having a delivery tube. The lower drawing shows a cold still or `Moor's head still' in which the distillate when it rises is cooled by water placed in a trough at the top of the alembic.

Inkdrawings of a triple alembic, with 3 distilling heads, only the top one having a delivery tube. The lower drawing shows a cold still or `Moor's head still' in which the distillate when it rises is cooled by water placed in a trough at the top of the alembic. From an alchemical commentary on a poem composed in Spain by Ibn Arfa` Ra`s (d. 1197/593 H). Copy made in 1712 (1123 H).
NLM MS A65, fol. 81b (old 82b)

[Corresponding Text]



Previous Section | Table of Contents | Next Section

Last Reviewed: December 15, 2011