Linguistics meets Veterinary Medicine - 13th Century Armenian Medical Book on Horses has been Translated
Vienna, 20th June 2005
by:PR&D - Public Relations for Research & Development, Campus Vienna Biocenter 2
An Armenian manual about horse medicine from the 13th century has been translated into German for the first time. The compendium is Armenia’s oldest preserved veterinary medical work and offers an overall view of expert knowledge about horses during the late 13th century in the Near East. [...].
This oldest known manual about Armenian horse medicine consists of 184 handwritten pages. It was written in the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia between 1295 and 1298. An Armenian monk proficient in languages and a Syrian horse veterinary were responsible for writing this work. [...].
[...] experts from the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna were particularly surprised that knowledge of the use of medicinal herbs in those days was much more advanced than it is today. The plants came from the Armenian Highlands and they were also used to treat human diseases.
[...]
[...] Dr. Dum-Tragut explains: "The Cilician book on curing horses is a real scientific treasury. Not only for the analysis of the Armenian language, but also for the history of literature and the social history of horses in Armenia." [...]. "The book mentions an Indian book as well as two Arabian works as references. Studying these original references in Persian and Greek clearly shows that the Cilician book on the curing of horses is not a mere translation of already existing information: it is an independent Compendium."
[...] Dr. Dum-Tragut had many conversations with Armenian horse breeders, farmers and veterinarians. During her research, she noticed that these people generally prefer Russian or Turkish technical terms over Armenian ones. Apart from the know-how, the special vocabulary applied in the Cilician horse book seemed to be in jeopardy of becoming extinct. Therefore, Dr. Dum-Tragut included this vocabulary in a glossary for reasons related to linguistic preservation. It did not take long to notice the success of this measure, because breeders have already started to reincorporate this historic vocabulary of the Armenian language. [...]
[...]
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
by:PR&D - Public Relations for Research & Development, Campus Vienna Biocenter 2
An Armenian manual about horse medicine from the 13th century has been translated into German for the first time. The compendium is Armenia’s oldest preserved veterinary medical work and offers an overall view of expert knowledge about horses during the late 13th century in the Near East. [...].
This oldest known manual about Armenian horse medicine consists of 184 handwritten pages. It was written in the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia between 1295 and 1298. An Armenian monk proficient in languages and a Syrian horse veterinary were responsible for writing this work. [...].
[...] experts from the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna were particularly surprised that knowledge of the use of medicinal herbs in those days was much more advanced than it is today. The plants came from the Armenian Highlands and they were also used to treat human diseases.
[...]
[...] Dr. Dum-Tragut explains: "The Cilician book on curing horses is a real scientific treasury. Not only for the analysis of the Armenian language, but also for the history of literature and the social history of horses in Armenia." [...]. "The book mentions an Indian book as well as two Arabian works as references. Studying these original references in Persian and Greek clearly shows that the Cilician book on the curing of horses is not a mere translation of already existing information: it is an independent Compendium."
[...] Dr. Dum-Tragut had many conversations with Armenian horse breeders, farmers and veterinarians. During her research, she noticed that these people generally prefer Russian or Turkish technical terms over Armenian ones. Apart from the know-how, the special vocabulary applied in the Cilician horse book seemed to be in jeopardy of becoming extinct. Therefore, Dr. Dum-Tragut included this vocabulary in a glossary for reasons related to linguistic preservation. It did not take long to notice the success of this measure, because breeders have already started to reincorporate this historic vocabulary of the Armenian language. [...]
[...]
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 6:44 AM
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