مطالعات تاریخ پزشکی (journal of research on history of medicine)
سال:1394 | دوره:4 | شماره:3 |تعداد مقالات:6

During the Medieval Iranian history, many of courtiers were aware of medicine. By the thirteenth and fourteenth century, under Mongol yoke, a lot of minorities emancipated of Abasid Caliphate ties and could perform his religious deed. Because of his jewish affiliation, Rashid al-Din could join as an apothecary in the Mongolian circles. Large though Mongol numbers were, they employed Iranian sages to manage of bureaucratic affairs. First thing first, his position culminated when he acquired title of special medic and proved his competency. Under Ghazan reign, he gained bureaucratic occupations gradually. A part from his historical work,Jame al-tawarikh, Rashid al-Din wrote some treatises in medical science, music, agriculture and astronomy. Eventually, during the last Ilkhanid king, Abu said, he was blamed for death of oljeytu to wrong prescription. In this study, the investigator tries to survey of Rashid al-Din endeavors and contributions on medicine and introduce his works by using descriptive- analytical method.

Leech therapy was popular for many centuries. While many research studies have supported the medical use of Hirudo medicinalis, other species have not received that much attention. Due to the large demand and lack of supply, more research is needed to justify the medical use of other species. Ibn al Quff provided general guidelines on differentiating between the beneficial and toxic types of leeches.In his manuscript al-Oomdaa fi Senaatal-Jeraaha, Ibn al Quff described the uses, as well as different types, of leeches. A copy of the manuscript was obtained from King Abdulaziz Public Library in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Arabic). I studied the manuscript and translated it to English.Medical literaturehas proven that many leeches can be used with some efficacy. Ibn al Quff provided descriptions of the beneficial and toxic types of leeches.Additional beneficial species of leeches that can be used in medicine have been described in the literature. Ibn al Quff described and differentiated the beneficial and harmful types available during his time. Additional scientific research is necessary to classify these leeches.

Finding out about the extent to which a ritual can be similar to the human cognitive system can be very effective in understanding its development. Were the rituals influenced by brain physiology and was this the mystery to their effectiveness? Are these the rituals and continuing prayers which have caused the brain to grow and develop? Perhaps probing into such investigations would show us that human development did not occur unilaterally and is the result of a bilateral interaction between the brain and the surrounding world including the culture.Visiting the Raise Cave in Niyasar (Figure 1) was a chance to think about some of these questions during a unique experience. The Raise Cave is a man-made cave in Niyasar which dates back to the era of Archimedeans and was in fact a Mithra Temple. Mithra is one of the most important goddess in ancient Persian who is protector of truth and contracts. This cave consists of nested tunnels/corridors as short as half a meter at some points. This calm, quiet, and dark environment was used for praying and the total length of the rooms’ tunnels/corridors is 2500m. Passing through the tunnel/corridors seems to be similar to passing through different stages of a ritual. Although the whole cave could not be accessed due to the risk of falling, approximately 100m was open to the public and even this short distance was quite breath-taking.The height of the tunnels/corridors gradually decreased, which felt like passing from one ritual stage to another. This is quite compatible with seven steps of Mehr religion in Mithraism. Mithraism is a deep and ancient religion and mysterious rituals in Old Persian and Roman Empire.Passing through tunnels/corridors of the Raise Cave was quite similar to passing through brain tunnel/corridors leading humans to a novel stage of development. This similarity with the brain’s processing structure raises a question on the extent to which Mithra rituals were effective in the cognitive development of the brain. Answering the very question requires more comprehensive studies on the relationship between the brain and culture.