Therapeutic recipes in Talmud (1)

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There are some Aramaic passages in the Babylonian Talmud which give therapeutic recipes. A good example of the genre occurs in Ab. Zar. 28a, a remedy for ‘split’ in anus:

‘take (lyty) 7 grains of worm(-coloured) alkali-plant (ˀhlˀ twlnˀ), wrap (ṣyyr) them inside the neck (of a garment) (bḥllˀ dby ṣwˀrˀ), wind (lykryk) it in thick cord (nyrˀ), decoct it (ṭmš) it in white balm (nṭpˀ = Akkadian napṭu), roast it and spread it (bdr) upon it (the anus).

All of the enumerated instructions resemble Akkadian ones, such as ‘take’ (Akkadian teleqqe) the plant-remedy, wrap it in a cloth (Akkadian ina ṣubati taṣammid), tie it with cord (Akkadian nīru), decoct or macerate the drug in a liquid (Akkadian ina mê taramuk), then roast it (Akkadian taqallu) to make a powder and finally sprinkle it (Akkadian teṭetti) on the affected area. A second recipe for the same ailment also employs idiomatic expressions found in Akkadian, such as taking the fat of a virgin goat (= Akkadian uniqu lā petītu) in order to make an ointment.

Source (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Babylonian Talmud, Aboda Zara 28a

Bibliography

Mark Geller

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