Isaac Judaeus

An Andalusian Arab named Ibn Juljul wrote Ṭabaqāt al-aṭibbā’ w’al-hukamā’ ("Generations of physicians and Wise Men") in the late 900s. It is one of the only sources for biographies of several early scholars, philosophers, and doctors. In it we learn details about the life and career of Isaac Israeli ben Solomon, who is sometimes called simply Isaac Judaeus.

He was born in Cairo and became known as an oculist (we've talked about medieval eye treatment before).  About 904 he became the court physician to Prince Abu Mudhar Ziyadat Allah III in Kairouan, capital of Tunisia. He studied general medicine while there.

After the death of Ziyadat in 909, Isaac became doctor to Caliph 'Ubaid Allah al-Mahdi, the founder of the Fatimid dynasty. The caliph enjoyed the witty repartees of his Jewish physician. Isaac began lecturing on medicine, and his fame spread as many people came to hear him speak. He continued to learn, studying astronomy, mathematics, medicine, and natural history.

He wrote medical manuals in Arabic which, in the Arabic-speaking world, were considered gems, but were unknown in Western Europe. The 12th century saw translators in Toledo striving to make many works available to a wider audience. Gerard of Cremona translated Isaac's Liber de Definitionibus (Book of Definitions) and Liber Elementorum (Book on the Elements) into Latin. Christian scholars started noticing his work, such as Albertus Magnus, Aquinas, Roger Bacon, Nicholas of Cusa, and Vincent de Beauvais.

One of his works dealt with the urinary tract, and I covered it a few years ago.

The years of his life are given as different dates according to the source. Encyclopedia Britannica says born 832/855, Egypt—died 932/955) and that he lived more than 100 years. His death has been declared as 932, 940, 942, 950, and 955.

One of his pupils, Dunash ibn Tamim, created a work of Jewish mysticism that quotes Isaac so extensively that later scholars that it was written by Isaac himself. Dunash and this work, the Sefer Yetzirah, will be our next line of topics.