Salmawaih ibn Bunan (died 840) was an Assyrian Nestorian Christian physician who translated works of Galen from Greek into Arabic. He flourished at the time of the Abbasid caliphs al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833) and al-Mu'tasim (r. 833–842), serving as private physician to the latter. It is reported that al-Mu'tasim trusted Salmawaih to such an extent that he called him "father", and that he prayed in person over Salmawaih's grave when he died.
He was a patron of the fellow Nestorian physician and translator Hunayn ibn Ishaq, helping him in his translation of Galen's On The Therapeutic Method. His scientific work included studies on the harmful effects of aphrodisiacs. He was a rival of the fellow Nestorian physician Ibn Masawayh.
References
- De Lacy O'Leary How Greek science passed to the Arabs "How Greek Science Passed to the Arabs" online 2002- Page 166 "Hunayn had many other friends and clients, mostly physicians of Jundi-Shapur and those who had removed to Baghdad and used the Arabic language, like Salmawaih ibn Bunan an alumnus of Jundi-Shapur who became court physician to ..."
- Sarton 1927, p. 573.
- Bosworth 1991, p. 207 (note 609).
- Sarton 1927, pp. 573–574.
- ^ Sarton 1927, p. 574.
Sources
- Bosworth, C. E., ed. (1991). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXXIII: Storm and Stress Along the Northern Frontiers of the ʿAbbāsid Caliphate: The Caliphate of al-Muʿtasim, A.D. 833–842/A.H. 218–227. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-0493-5.
- Sarton, George (1927). Introduction to the History of Science, Volume I. From Homer to Omar Khayyam. Baltimore: Carnegie Institution of Washington. OCLC 874972552.