Miniature from a copy of Kitab al-hashaish an Arabic translation of Dioscorides’s De Materia Medica. “Viper’s Bugloss”, Iraq, Baghdad (?); 1224. Leaf: 32.5 × 23 cm. Inv. no. 18/1988. © The David Collection.

Pharmacology in classical Arab culture can be said to have drawn on three major sources: popular medicine (both local Arab medicine and knowledge acquired from the peoples of conquered lands),translations of works about medicines from earlier cultures, and Arab physicians’ own observations and experiences.