ReOrienting Histories of Medicine : Encounters Along the Silk Roads

It is rarely appreciated how much of the history of Eurasian medicine in the premodern period hinges on cross-cultural interactions and knowledge transmissions. Using manuscripts found in key Eurasian nodes of the medieval world – Dunhuang, Kucha, the Cairo Genizah and Tabriz – the book analyses a number of case-studies of Eurasian medical encounters, giving a voice to places, languages, people and narratives which were once prominent but have gone silent. This is an important book for those interested in the history of medicine and the transmissions of knowledge that have taken place over the course of global history. ReOrienting Histories of Medicine takes a cross-cultural approach that provides a re-appraisal of the 'globalised' character of early medicine. It re-orients medical history, and emphasizes the role of the transmission of medical ideas and practices between European and Asian cultures. Using original research taken from the medical findings of Dunhuang, Turpan and Cairo Genizah, this book contextualises the history of Euro-Asian medical encounters, from Greco-Indic early contacts to the present adoptions of mindfulness in psychotherapy. This is an important book for those interested in the history of medicine and the transmissions of knowledge that have taken place over the course of global history "ReOrienting Histories of Medicine takes a cross-cultural approach that provides a re-appraisal of the 'globalized' character of early medicine. It re-orients medical history, and emphasizes the role of the transmission of medical ideas and practices between European and Asian cultures. Using original research taken from the medical findings of Dunhuang, Turpan and Cairo Genizah, this book contextualizes the history of Euro-Asian medical encounters, from Greco-Indic early contacts to the present adoptions of mindfulness in psychotherapy"-- Provided by publisher List of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgements Transliterations and Abbreviations Introduction: Medical Encounters along the Silk Roads -- 1. Narrating Eurasian Origins of Medical Knowledge -- 2. Of Dice and Medicine: Interactions in Central Asian 'Contact Zones' -- 3. Myrobalans: The Making of a Eurasian Panacea -- 4. Tibetan Moxa-Cautery from Dunhuang: Practices and Images on the Move -- 5. Medicine of the Bakhshis: Cross-Pollinations in Buddhist Iran Afterword Bibliography Index Cover Contents Illustrations Preface Acknowledgements Transliterations and abbreviations Introduction: Medical encounters along the Silk Roads 1 Narrating Eurasian origins of medical knowledge 2 Of dice and medicine: Interactions in Central Asian‘contact zones’ 3 Myrobalans: The making of a Eurasian panacea 4 Tibetan moxa-cautery from Dunhuang: Practices and images on the move 5 Medicine of the Bakhshis: Cross-pollinations in Buddhist Iran Afterword Notes Bibliography lndex