Moses Maimonides

Arthur Furst1

University of San Francisco, San Francisco California 94117

Moses Maimonides was the greatest Jewish philosopher of his day. In fact, he can be considered one of the few outstanding scholar-philosophers of all times. He was born March 30, 1135, in Córdoba, Spain, and named Moses Ben Maimon Ben Joseph (Maimonides in Greek). In some parts of the world he is known simply as RAMBAM. He died December 13, 1204, in Cairo, Egypt. One biography stated that in early life he showed little interest in scholarship. Conflicting statements are available in other works; it has been said that he showed great interest in exact sciences and philosophy at a very early age and read the philosophic works of the Mohammedan scholastics and the Greek philosophers, which were translated into Arabic. In his lifetime he became a scholar, Rabbi, physician, and philosopher; at all times he was a prolific writer.

When Maimonides was 13 years of age, a fanatical Moslem group from North and West Africa invaded Spain and captured Córdoba. Unlike other Islamic clergy, they engaged in religious persecution. Maimonides and his family were forced to convert to Islam but secretly practiced their own religion. They had to wear turbans and live the life of Arabic Marranos, the pejorative term used to describe such Jewish converts. The family wandered for 10 years and was able to settle for a time in Fez, Morocco. It is not clear how and when Maimonides became a physician. At age 24 he seriously started to study the Bible. His goal was, as he stated, "to grasp God so far as it is possible for a human being." The family later traveled to Palestine, but the Crusaders did not permit them to settle in Jerusalem. They then found their way to Alexandria in Egypt, where they could live without persecution, and finally settled in Fostat, Egypt (about one and a half miles from old Cairo). Under the benign ruler Sultan Saladin, they were able to revert to their own religion. There Maimonides resumed the practice of medicine and continued to study philosophy and theological texts of Islam and other religions. In his medical writings he showed that he read the Arabic translations of Hippocrates, Galen, and Aristotle. Centuries later, Maimonides was acknowledged by philosophers including Saint Thomas Aquinas, Rene Descartes, and Emanuel Kant.) He also read astrological books and declared them to be without merit.

To the vast majority of readers, he is best known as a philosopher from his three major works. At age 33 he wrote the comments on the laws of the Old Testament, i.e., the Mishnah. Ten years later, he rearranged the Talmud and codified it in a logical order in 14 books. This somewhat replaced the Mishnah. His greatest work, however, was The Guide for (to) the Perplexed. This work attempted to combine religion and philosophy; the ideas expressed in it are read and debated to this very day. Under the protection of Visier Kadhi Al Fedhil, Maimonides was appointed the court physician at the age of 39. In this capacity he had to see the visier each day and also attend to the ill the rest of a long day. This was at the expense of his personal health. As tired as he was, he still was able to pursue his scholarly writings.

Even today, the 10 books he wrote in Arabic on various aspects of medicine are little known to many who know his name and not even mentioned in some of his biographies. Included were treatises on fits, hemorrhoids, asthma, and sexual intercourse. His biggest book of 25 chapters was on medical aphorisms. He insisted that one must care for a person's mental health in order to prevent physical illness. Noteworthy for the toxicologist is the seventh medical book he wrote in 1198. This was perhaps the first real compendium on poisons, namely, The Treatise on Poisons and Their Antidotes. The original title was to honor Al Fedhil, thus the title was Treatise to the Honored One, or Treatise of Fedhil. The treatise contained an introduction and was divided into two main parts. In the introduction, Maimonides praised Al Fafhil for his virtues and deeds and noted that Al Fafhil instructed him to import as remedies drugs that were not found in Egypt. Maimonides was also asked to write on what to do after being bitten by a dog or snake, while waiting for the physician.

Part I was divided into six chapters. The topics were concerned with bites from mad dogs (rabies was not yet understood in a scientific way) and snakes. Also covered were stings of scorpions, bees, wasps, and spiders. For snake bites, he taught the use of tourniquets and the importance of sucking out the venom. Included in this section was information on which herbs were to be used as antidotes and which herbs draw out poisons from stings. Another topic was the effects of diet on the person who had been bitten. It is interesting that he also described the long latent period following the bite of a rabid dog and the fatal outcome.

Part II, composed of four chapters, dealt with poisons in food and minerals. Remedies for poisons were also discussed. In Chapter I, he suggested that one should be alerted to peculiar colors, tastes, and odors in food, as poison was the standard means of removing rivals and enemies. Any food or beverages with altered tastes or peculiar color should be shunned. He listed antidotes for many common poisons.

Chapter II discussed actions to be taken after any poison was ingested; emesis was emphasized.

Chapter III dealt with simple and complex remedies for general poisons, and Chapter IV, the last chapter, suggested remedies for one who knew what specific poison was ingested. Examples included such agents as belladonna.

Even in this modern day, Maimonides's Treatise can be considered contemporary. His emphasis on prevention and his distinction between "hot" and "cold" poisons can be correlated with hemolysins and neurotoxins. For example, the scorpion produces a cold poison, whereas the snake produces a hot poison. Over the years, the Treatise has been translated into Hebrew, French, German, Latin and English.

Maimonides can be considered one of the very first pioneers in toxicology.

NOTES

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed at The Forum, #311 D, 23500 Cristu Rey Drive, Cupertino, CA 95014-5524. Fax: (650) 967-4488. E-mail: artfurst{at}aol.com. Back

OTHER READING

Rosner, Fred (1984). Maimonides' Medical Writings. Haifa, Israel, Maimonides Research Institute.

Benatar, S.R., Prof. of Medicine, Dept. of Medicine, University of Cape Town and Groot Schuur Hospital, Cape Town. Address to the Inter Faith Forum in Cape Town, 14 July 1985.





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