Medical Writings

Maimonides was known as a brilliant physician and practitioner of medicine. About ten medical treatises in Judeo-Arabic written in his later years reveal his great expertise. He adopted the Graeco-Roman medical tradition, especially that of Galenus, whose works he studied in the Arabic translation by Honein b. Ishak. Maimonides works were translated into Hebrew and Latin from the 13 th century onwards, attesting to his influence on western medicine. The writings deal not only with illnesses and physiological manifestations, but also with the effect of psychological processes on physical health. They also cover such topics as medications, providing their names in Judeo-Arabic and their uses.

Fragments in his handwriting were found in the Cairo Geniza. Particularly noteworthy is the commentary on Hippocrates, composed ca.1195. We know of two translations of this work: one by Moses Ibn Tibbon, published by S. Muntner, Jerusalem , 1961; the other by Nathan ha-Meati which is less well-known. Pirke Moshe was translated twice: once by Zerahia ben Yitzhak ben Shealtiel Hen; the other by Nathan ha-Meati, which is better known, published by S. Muntner, Jerusalem , 1961; a critical edition of Hanhagat ha-beriut, translated by Moses Ibn Tibbon, was published by S. Muntner , Jerusalem , 1957.

Other short medical writings, some of which are preserved in the Jewish National and University Library Heb.8° 3941 include: 1) Sefer ha-Kazeret (Treatise on Asthma); 2) Maamar ha-Mishgal (Treatise on Sexual Intercourse); 3) Maamar Shemirat ha-Beriut (Guide to Good Health); 4) Maamar ha-Hakhraa (Explanation of Coincidences). All of these were translated anonymously and differed from other better known versions. The last of these was published in a facsimile edition with the Judeo-Arabic original in: Moses Maimonides on the Causes of Symptoms, Maqalah fi bayan ba’d al-a’rad wa-al- jawab a’nha. Maa’mar ha-Hahraa’h, De causis accidentium, edited by J.O. Leibowitz and S. Marcus, Berkeley , Los Angeles and London , 1974. These medical writings and others were translated into Latin and published in various editions.

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