Roman oculists' medicine stamps and collyria / [C.J.S. Thompson].

  • Thompson, C. J. S. (Charles John Samuel), 1862-1943
Date:
[1920?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Roman oculists' medicine stamps and collyria / [C.J.S. Thompson]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    140/150 (page 26)
    of blue 1 wool and of white wool thou shalt spin, twist, bind on; his temples on both sides . . . thou shalt take out, and his eyes . . . 26. If a man’s eyes are changed 2 to blood, seed of eruca, mountain- honey, yellow sulphide of arsenic 3 4 thou shalt mix [and apply]. 27. 1 shekel of cantharides (?), \ shekel of *storax, \ “ Akkadian salt ” 4 [thou shalt bray, apply to his eyes]. 28. Thou shalt apply to his eyes dry *storax : therein yellow sulphide of arsenic. . . . Thou shalt bray the dung of a lizard 5 in marrow of “ long bone ” (thigh), without a meal [thou shalt apply]. 30. 5 se of *storax in oil thou shalt bray, apply to his eyes ; cantharides (?) in curd [thou shalt mix and apply]. 31. If a man’s eyes are full of blood, thou shalt bray yellow sulphide of arsenic in curd, apply ... 6 32. Thou shalt mix *bellis and lupins in equal quantities, [thou shalt apply them] in curd (and) *liquidambar. 1 Kannu. It is opposed to “ white ” wool here ; on the other hand., in ADD. No. 954, 1-2, the contrast is between it and salmu (gig), both also of wool. Salmu is used of flowers (e.g. the anemone, AH. § 9 p, 11. 145, 146), but also of the “ black-headed race ”. Kannu would appear to be connected with Syr. I(jQ£5 Kvaveos (perhaps uknu, Jensen), or more probably with Syr. tuo isatis tinctoria, woad. The connexion of urapadi in this prescription may offer some explanation (in its connexion with “ blue wool ”) for AH. § 9 r, 1. 167 [ura]-pa-di = usa-mi uk-na-a-ti. v/ 2 Sunnu\ either Heb. “ are changed ”, or perhaps, like sinitu “ dyed garment ” (MA. 1076), from Heb. *’3t2T = “ dyed scarlet ”. 3 Doubtless for Sim.is.guskin. See p. 24, n. 7. 4 mun.eme.sal.lim, i.e. “Salt of Akkad”, as distinct from ordinary salt (;tdbtu), mountain-salt (tdbat sadi, Ku. i, i, 31), and tdbat Amanim (cf. 65, 5, 17) “ Salt of Amanus ”, supposed to be ammoniac or rock-salt. mun . eme . sal . lim, 22 times in AM. : used for eyes (here: 8, 5, 10; 8, 7, 3 ; 9, 1, 13, 34, 38; 11, 2, 44; 16, 1, 8, 10; 17, 4, 7); for yellow teeth (31, 6, 7); ears (35, 2, 12); wash head (64, 1, 37) ; in cough (by letting a piece dissolve in the mouth, followed by pig- meat soup, beer, and honey (80, 1, 12) ; in fumigation (99, 3, 8). Various salts occur in SM. The most likely equivalent for mun . eme . sal . lim appears to be either (1) “Armenian Salt” (cf. IB. No. 381, “Armenian nitre”) or (2) “Indian Salt” used for eyes (ii, 89, 98) and for cleaning teeth (ib. 190) (but “ Cappadocian Salt ” for ears, ib. 115). The probability is that it was called “ Akkadian Salt ” because it was especially that efflorescence of salt which appears on alluvial soil (certainly common in S. Babylonia), and probably comparable to the Indian Salt, Reh, an efflorescence on the surface of the ground, of sodium carbonate, sodium sulphate, and sodium chloride (Sir G. Watt, Commercial Products of India, 51), over large tracts of desert; or even potash, also from an efflorescence (ib. 972). 5 “ Dung of a lizard,” for eyes, SM. ii, 101, 660. 6 K. 2570 has : mastakal-plant (and) tarhu-plant in equal quantities thou shalt mix, [apply].