Medicines from vegetable ingredients (1)

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Occasionally, simplicia are mentioned in the Talmud, consisting of a single plant or drug to address a single medical condition, and in many cases the Talmud asks for further clarification because the plant names are not recognisable, for various reasons. One cure for diarrhea, for instance, is the plant dardaraˀ (Git. 70a), which Abaye has to translate (as mwryqˀ dḥwḥy), although the plant name is actually known in Akkadian as well. Similarly, the Talmud asks for what medical use the medicinal plant grgyr is known (Erub. 28b), but this plant is also known in Akkadian as gurgurru. Another simplicium appears in Erub. 29b, in which Abaye quotes his ‘mother’ that hemp-seed (kysˀny) is good for the heart (mind) by annulling thoughts, presumably bad thoughts. This may be the same plant as Akkadian kiššanu, a legume, which is used in medical recipes, see CAD s.v. Shab. 65a also records a simplicium recommending lumps of salt for diseased gums, using the Aramaic word dwršyny = Akkadian dūr šinnī, lit. ‘wall of the teeth’ or gums.

Sources (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Babylonian Talmud, Erubin 28b
Babylonian Talmud, Erubin 29b
Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 70a
Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 65a

Bibliography

Mark Geller

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