A travel regimen from 15th century Cairo, Arabic critical edition and English translation

What is it about?

A jurist-physician of 15th-century Cairo, Ibn al-Amshāṭī (d. 1496) wrote a regimen for his patron, the head of the Chancery, likely for the occasion of his pilgrimage. It is entitled al-Isfār ʿan ḥikam al-asfār or 'The unveiling of the wisdoms of the books'. After a literary preface, it discusses why such a regimen and prophylactic or preventive knowledge is important for the traveller to possess. Then, it discusses the regimen to follow in eight chapters and an epilogue. In the eight chapters, the author familiarises his reader with various issues and conditions the traveller might face, offering preventive advice and instructions for treating the most common afflictions. He discusses (1) preparation, hunger, and thirst; (2) travelling in hot weater; (3) and in a very hot and burning wind called the samūm; (4) travelling in winter or cold weather; (5) and keeping the limbs safe in the cold; (6) skincare while travelling in extreme conditions; (7) making various kinds of waters safe to consume; (8) and how to stay healthy when travelling on the sea. At the end of this travel regimen, the epilogue contains a unique mini pharmacopoeia listing 74 simple medicaments and 56 compound remedies with their recipes the traveller should bring with himself for his journey. This text is made accessible through an English translation provided side by side with the ciritical edition of the Arabic text. Its evaluation is facilitated by an introductory study of the genre of travel regimens written in Arabic from the 9th to the 15th centuries, as well as a detailed commentary of the text.

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Photo by Simon Berger on Unsplash

Photo by Simon Berger on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Ibn al-Amshāṭī’s travel regimen is quite interesting for numerous reasons. For one, the author is a jurist-physician of the late Mamluk period who also travelled and participated in military campaigns. He was also a member of the learned Cairene elite of his time who might have held the position of chief physicianship as well. His biography offers a glimpse into the life and education of the elite and the physicians of the postclassical period. His travel regimen is a part of the tradition of medieval Arabic travel regimens. It not only utilises this tradition and adds its own novelties but also offers various explanations and pharmaceutical material not found in earlier travel regimens. The text provides insight into the theory and practice of travel medicine prevalent in the 15th-century Middle East. As it is written for a patron, it also illustrates how such medical knowledge was communicated not only to professionals but also to learned laypeople. Its closer examination also contributes to the refutation of the decline narrative and our understanding of the postclassical medical literature in general.

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