Hunayn

Hunayn ibn Ishaq (809–873) was a famous and influential Nestorian Christian scholar, physician, and scientist, known for his works to translate Greek scientific and medical works into Arabic and Syriac during the Golden Age of Islam.

Early life

Hunayn ibn Ishaq was born in Al-Hira, in the south of what is now Iraq. He belonged to the influential Bakhtishu family, who served as court physicians for the Abbasid Caliphs for several generations.

Career

Hunayn's contributions to medicine are numerous and varied. He translated many works of the ancient Greek physicians into Syriac and Arabic. These translations became the foundation of medical knowledge in the Islamic world and were later translated into Latin and used in Europe.

Among his most significant translations are those of Galen's works. He also wrote several original works on medicine, including the Book of the Ten Treatises on the Eye, which was the first systematic book on ophthalmology, and a synopsis of medicine, Isagoge Johannitius.

Legacy

Hunayn's translations of Galen and other Greek physicians had a profound impact on the development of medicine in the Islamic world and later in Europe. His original works also had a significant influence on the development of Islamic and European medicine.

See also

• Islamic Golden Age
• History of medicine
• Galen
• Bakhtishu

External links

• Britannica Biography of Hunayn ibn Ishaq

Hunayn Resources
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