Phlebotomy knife

Atzlan ben Abraham al-Karaji

18th Century

Illustration of bloodletting knife on right side of a manuscript page, with Judeo-Arabic text surrounding.
This illustration of a phlebotomy knife appears in an eighteenth-century Judeo-Arabic medical manuscript. Bloodletting, thought to balance the humors of the body, was an accepted medical treatment at the time.

Credits

Courtesy the Russian State Library, Moscow, OR F.71 #1036.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.

Engage with this Source

Creator Bio

Atzlan ben Abraham al-Karaji

18th Century

Nothing is known about Atzlan ben Abraham al-Karaji, though his name suggests that he hailed from Karaj, a city near Tehran in present-day Iran. A Judeo-Arabic medical text is his only known work. 

You may also like

Light for the Path

We, the entire assembly of the congregation of Israel, believe that the Torah that is in our possession today is exactly the same as was written by Moses our master, peace be on him. From then until…
View Source