An analysis of Ibn Abi Usaybi`ah's `Uyun al-anba' fi tabaqat al-atibba'

Abstract

This dissertation is a partial translation of the thirteenth-century Islamic physician, Ibn Abi Usaybi'ah's biographical dictionary, the 'Uyun al-anba' fi tabaqat al-atibba' ( Sources of Information on Classes of Physicians) and an historical analysis of the 'Uyun. The 'Uyun is a biographical dictionary which encompasses the biographies of physicians from the ancient Greek period through the author's time, the thirteenth century. It contains the lives and works of the most elite physicians of these periods. The translation portion of the dissertation is of the fourteenth chapter of the 'Uyun which is the chapter on physicians of Egypt from the 'Abbasid period to the early Mamluk period. The historical analysis of this dissertation is an examination of the contents of the 'Uyun to see what it reveals about the status of physicians during this period and about the author's intentions in writing this book. Since the author was from Syria and studied in both Syria and Egypt, I have based my analysis mainly on the translation of the chapter on Egypt and also on evidence found in the fifteenth chapter on Syria. Thus, this dissertation serves to give modern scholars incite into the mentality of the author and his class during this time period in the Islamic world.