Defining Jewish Medicine: Transfer of Medical Knowledge in Premodern Jewish Cultures and Traditions

Abstract

This volume brings together a group of scholars from different fields within Jewish studies who deal with Jewish medical knowledge in ancient and medieval time from a comparative perspective. Based on various methodological and theoretical questions, they address strategies of interaction with earlier Jewish traditions and with other fields of rabbinic discourse (e.g. law, theology, ethics), while exploring the complex interplay between literary forms and the knowledge conveyed. The studies trace the ways of transmission, transformation, rejection, modification and invention of pertinent knowledge in Jewish traditions and beyond by examining broader contexts and points of contact with medical ideas and practices in surrounding cultures (Ancient Near Eastern, Graeco-Roman, Byzantine, Persian-Iranian, early Christian, Syriac, Coptic, Arabic and Islamic). Such a twofold perspective allows for assessing particularities of the medical discourse within Jewish history, while probing its transcultural interactions with other medical traditions. These studies may serve as a starting point for further inquiries into the role of these exchanges and entanglements, not only within a broader history of medicine, sciences and knowledge, but also for the history of premodern cultures and religions at large.