Recommendations on Cancer and Herbal and Animal Treatment Methods in Kitab-ı Tercüme-i Tezkire-i Dâvûd Fî İlmüt't-Tıbb
Chapter from the book: Tansü, Y. E. (ed.) 2023. Selected Papers in the Field of History- III.

Nevzat Topal
Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University

Synopsis

In this study, the cancer disease mentioned in Kitab-ı Tercüme-i Tezkire-i Dâvûd Fî İlmüt't-Tıbb (KTDT) and the recommended treatment methods for the cure of this disease are included. This work is the translation of Dâvûd-ı Antakî's famous medical book into 17th century Turkish. However, the translation includes only the third part of Antakî's translation of his work Teẕkiretü Uli'l-Elbāb ve'l-Cāmiü li'l-Acebi'l-Ucāb, whose meaning is notes to the wise, a compilation of unknowns and oddities. In the third part of the work, drugs, foods, animal products, minerals to be used for treatment are given and explained in Arabic alphabet order. In the work, drugs, their properties, their equivalents to be used in their place, the mixtures to be made from them and their usage patterns, warnings and precautions about the relevant drugs are introduced. In this respect, the work shows an intense quality of pharmacy as well as medicine. However, like all medical texts, it is seen that the work also includes subjects other than medicine and these are discussed.

In the scan made in the relevant text, it was noticed that there were also data on cancer, which is one of the important health problems of today. It has been thought that the explanation and description of the treatments related to this should be considered as it is thought that it will contribute to the history of Turkish medicine, especially the history of world medicine. The data obtained need to be evaluated separately by physicians, chemists, biologists and pharmacists from the field of medicine. Therefore, the cancer treatments that will be given here are by no means intended to be a treatment recommendation. It has been tried to describe cancer-related suggestions from the knowledge of a physician who lived and wrote his work in the Ottoman borders only in the 16th century. Of course, it is hoped that the data of the study will contribute to positive sciences by examining whether it will contribute to the treatment of a disease that is feared and deadly for today by those who deal with medical science in the future.

As in many issues of humanity, developments and changes are always made in the continuation of the accumulations that have come up to that time. Medicine, as one of the most important issues concerning humanity, is one of the fields where knowledge is important and necessary. The developments in it reach all humanity through translation, oral and written transmission and application. Processing and synthesizing these with different experiences and new information provides the emergence of new treatment methods and new diagnoses. In the light of this information, addressing past medical experiences can also provide access to new information. Although this study also aims to describe without applied laboratory analysis, it has been prepared to provide the opportunity to provide data for such information and to draw attention to the subject. In the subject, the feared, deadly and painful, costly and long disease of the age was chosen as cancer. It was thought that the data obtained on the selected subject could contribute to the history of this disease, perhaps to its treatment. The words ekle and seretan, which mean cancer, in the work are scanned and the treatment of these diseases with herbal and animal products is described.

How to cite this book

Topal, N. (2023). Recommendations on Cancer and Herbal and Animal Treatment Methods in Kitab-ı Tercüme-i Tezkire-i Dâvûd Fî İlmüt't-Tıbb. In: Tansü, Y. E. (ed.), Selected Papers in the Field of History- III. Özgür Publications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.58830/ozgur.pub142.c623

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Published

June 25, 2023

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