Abu al-Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas al-Zahrawi better known as al-Zahrawi, was a physician and surgeon who lived in al-Andalus. He was born in the city of Azahara in the year 936 CE, only a few kilometers from Cordoba. Al-Zahrawi lived most of his life in Cordoba where he studied, taught and practiced medicine and surgery. He lived in the time of the 'islamic golden age' and was a court physician to the Andalusian caliph Al-Hakam II. He dedicated his life to the advancement of medicine as a whole and to surgery in particular.
Al-Zahrawi wrote a thirty-chapter medical treatise which he completed in the year 1000, called Kitab al-Tasrif, in it he covered a broad range of medical topics. He also emphasised the importance of positive doctor-patient relationship and treating patients irrespective of their social status.
A page from al-Tasrif
Kitab al-Tasrif was later translated into latin in the 12th century by Gerard of Cremona and was used for five centuries during the European Middle Ages as the primary source for European medical knowledge. There are many medical procedures which are described by al-Zahrawi in al-Tasrif that were later accredited to surgeons and physicians who came long after al-Zahrawi. In al-Tasrif, al-Zahrawi describes the method for treating a dislocated shoulder, which is now known as "Kocher's method", he also describes how to ligature blood vessels, almost six centuries before Ambroise Paré.
Medical Instruments in Kitab al-TasrifAl-Zahrawi wrote the book 'On Surgery and Instruments' which is an illustrated surgical guide. In it he drew diagrams of each tool used in different procedures, explaining step by step the correct use of each of these tools.
He introduced more than 200 surgical instruments, many of which were never used before. He was also the first person to use catgut for internal stitching, a practice still used by surgeons today.
Source - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Zahrawi
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How very interesting! I wouldn't have thought modern surgery would have originated from Arabia haha
Al-Zahrawi was of arab descent but he was born in islamic Spain, so it actually originated out of, what we know today as Spain. The street which al-Zahrawi lived in is now named after him, it's called 'Calle Albucasis street'.
Really interested to learn about this man and I will try to find out more. I just love the illustrations – such rich colours!
There were many great Arabian scientists, and we don't hear so much about them these days.
About a year ago I visited an exhibition on the development of printing, and there were some old books on display. One British book on mathematics and astronomy from the 18th century had extensive scribbled notes in the margin about the work of an Arabian mathematician, suggesting that scholars in those days were more aware of the work of these ancient Arabian scholars than we are today.
It is amazing to see the achievements of the muslims during the islamic golden age, to the point that arabic literacy became a must for anyone seeking knowledge.
Thanks for reading :-)
My mother was a doctor and she was very interested in medical history and loved reading. I never heard about Al Zahrawi before, and I'm glad to know about such people who made a difference in the history of medicine during the Andalus golden age under the Islamic civilization. Thanks for sharing.
Perhaps you know him as 'Abulcasis' which is latinised from the arabic 'Abu al-Qasim'.
Thanks for stopping by :-)
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Wow, it's easy to take for granted where and when our modern knowledge originated. I'm amazed how even simple surgery could be performed that long ago.
We learned about him in my high school, but it was so long ago that I completely forgot him. Thanks for reminding me about one of the great people who helped humanity move another step forward :D