Mazor A. and Abbou Hershkovits K, "Spectacles in the Muslim World: New Evidence from the Mid-Fourteenth Century," Early Science and Medicine 18-3(2013) 291-305 (original) (raw)
Related papers
Spectacles in the Muslim World: New Evidence from the Mid-Fourteenth Century
Early Science and Medicine, 2013
Obscurity surrounds not only the date and name of the inventor of eyeglasses, but also the date and place where eyeglasses (or information pertaining to them) reached the Muslim world. It is assumed that eyeglasses were transmitted to the Muslim world through commerce with Italian traders, which is probable, while other options also present themselves. This paper shows, at any rate, that the date traditionally given for the first acquaintance of the Muslim world with eyeglasses is wrong. In this article, we present evidence that eyeglasses were available in Syria since the fourteenth century and discuss the implications of this discovery.
The History of early promulgation of eyeglasses in Persia
2018
Background & Aims: From ancient time the human being was familiar with refraction of light through the crystals. One of the earliest finished natural crystals as a lens belongs to 3000 years ago named as Nimrud lens. The purpose of this research was to find when the use of eyeglass was promulgated in Persia Methods: To answer the question, we looked for the first use of the “eyeglass” or its synonyms in the Farsi literature and Persian ancient artistic paintings. Results: Jami was the first the Persian poet that used a synonym of eyeglass in his poems. The frequency of its use in Farsi poems has been increased from 16 century onward. We also found two Persian paintings demonstrating the use of eyeglasses in the Safavid period. Conclusion: Eyeglass was introduced from Europe to Persia. The use of the eyeglasses in Persia was promulgated in the 15th century and early Safavid period onward.
Could Medieval Islamic Oculists Remove Cataracts? The views of a fourteenth-century Egyptian sceptic
SUHAYL, 2022
As early as the ninth century ce, Arabic ophthalmological treatises described surgical procedures for treating cataracts. Most commonly the technique described was the ancient technique known to classical antiquity and today called, in English, «couching» (Arabic qadḥ), in which the cataract (the opaque lens) was pushed to one side. However, occasional mention was made of the extraction of a cataract by suction through a hollow needle. This study reviews the evidence for the practice of couching of cataracts as well as for their extraction, concluding with a translation and edition of the very sceptical report on cataract removal written by the eighth/fourteenth-century Egyptian oculist and scholar Ṣadaqa ibn Ibrāhim al-Shādhilī.
Survey of Ophthalmology, 1986
Editor's note. Every so often we receive letters to the editor commeIlting on a previously published paper. The following commentary is just such a letter. Its content and review are so thorough, we feel compelled to share the letter with our readers as it complements the original article on the history of glasses ("Spectacles: Past, Present and Future," March-April 1986). Modesty keeps me from further elaboration on my original article. SulEce it to say, Dr. Letocha's letter elaborates upon the issues of the date and mventory of spectacles. It stands solidly as an example of erudition in historical research.
Muslim Contributions to Ophthalmology
Between 800-1300 Islamic World produced over 60 eye doctors, and surgeons. These scholars produced remarkable books on ophthalmology which will be considered to encyclopedias today. They invented new techniques, operated on eyes, introduced new drugs, described various eye ailments, their treatments. Their books are still being translated into European languages which speaks for their usefulness and immortality. This is one field of medicine in which Muslim scholars made most of the contributions.
Ophthalmology in Ancient Egypt
Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies, 2022
The civilization of Ancient Egypt is the one that has the most references regarding the work of ophthalmologists, compared to the rest of the ancient civilizations. There are complete anatomical and treatment descriptions. Pepi Ankh Or Iri, who lived between 2270 and 2210 BC, is recognized as the first documented ophthalmologist in history. Ophthalmological cures were carried out with prayers, incantations, astrology for prognosis, amulets and pharmacotherapy with eye drops and ointments. Details of ophthalmologic surgery are unknown. The Edwin Smith (1600 BC), Ebers (1550 BC), Hearst (1550 BC) and London (1300 BC) medical papyri include ophthalmological pathologies. Ophthalmological medical assistance was in charge of lay doctors or swnw, priests and magicians, who worked together, since they believed that the origin of diseases was the result of external agents, as well as supernatural causes. The importance of this historical review article lies in pointing out some of the avant-garde aspects of the ancient Egyptian civilization with respect to ophthalmology and its practice, and the coexistence in their society of a rational medical practice together with a magical-religious approach.
Annales du 18e Congres de l'Association Internationale pour l’Histoire du Verre, 2012
The purpose of this study is three-fold: first, to present the results of a preliminary chemical analysis of some early Islamic glass artifacts from the site of Ayla in southern Jordan; second, to view this data in light of current scholarship that deals with reasons for the changes in glassmaking technology that took place ca. the 8th-12th centuries; and third, to think critically about current research questions and approaches in order to suggest other theoretical steps forward.
Islamic glass from the auditoria on kom el-Dikka in Alexandria
2004
The glass presented here comes from the excavation of a complex of lecture halls located along the Theater Portico.1 The vast area of three superimposed medieval Muslim cemeteries and thick overlying dump strata produced a significant collection of glass fragments, second only to that found at Fustat. The range in date is from early Byzantine (to be reported on later) through Islamic, with a concentration in the Fatimid and Early Mamluk periods. As one would expect, this material is closely comparable with finds from other Islamic sites in Egypt and elsewhere in the region. The glass is overwhelmingly dominated by free-blown vessels. An outstanding feature is the large number of bottles, flasks and jars of different size, shape, decoration and function, but the variety of sherds makes it extremely difficult to identify specific vessel forms. Next in quantity are the open forms, consisting mainly of simple drinking beakers and bowls. The excavated area yielded a number of pieces of l...
This interdisciplinary study of Ophthalmology in India during the premodern times highlights the evidence of spectacles depicted in a few Mughal paintings. The study also demonstrates that there was a very rich history of optics and refraction in the medieval Islamic world. The theories of optics and refraction did not possibly make similar strides in the subcontinent. We have highlighted particularly the immense contribution of Ibn al Hytham, an eleven century polymath, to the theories of optics and refraction without which the lens for the spectacles cannot be manufactured. Historically speaking, the earliest spectacles were manufactured in Italy (13 th century) from where these rapidly spread to other parts of Europe. The advent of European merchants in India from the 16 th century onwards resulted in the familiarity with spectacles, at least in the court and elite circles. The paper also discusses the possible benefit of the use of spectacles for correcting aphakia, a refractive condition arising out of cataract surgery done in the subcontinent in the traditional couching/intracapsular/extracapsular method, modelled mostly on the celebrated medical treatise, The Sustrutasamhita.