On Hemorrhoids

On Hemorrhoids is written for a young man of a noble family who was seeking a regimen to help him treat his hemorrhoids. While not the first to write on this subject, Maimonides’s work bears his personal stamp with his emphasis on dietetics, which plays a primary role in so many of his other medical writings. He warns against hastily treating the painful condition with drastic measures such as bleeding and surgery, instead encouraging more cautious treatments like a change in diet. He also advises his patient that if more extreme actions need to be taken, then Maimonides himself must be present.

About the Author & Translator

Gerrit Bos

Gerrit Bos is chair of the Martin Buber Institute for Jewish Studies at the University of Cologne. He is proficient in classical and Semitic languages and is widely published in the fields of Jewish studies, Islamic studies, Judeo-Arabic texts, and medieval Islamic science and medicine. In addition to preparing the Medical Works of Moses Maimonides, Professor Bos is involved with a series of medical-botanical Arabic-Hebrew-Romance synonym texts written in Hebrew characters, and is producing an edition of Ibn al-Jazzār’s Zād al-musāfir (Viaticum). He is also studying the Hebrew medical terminology used by the major translators of the thirteenth century; a first analysis can be found in his Novel Medical and General Hebrew Terminology from the 13th Century (2 vols.). He received the Maurice Amado award for his work on Maimonides’ medical texts and is a Member of Honor of the Argentinean Society for the History of Medicine.

Publication Information

ISBN 10: 0-8425-2789-3
ISBN 13: 978-0-8425-2789-7
Page Count: 304
Price: $ 89.95
Sub Site: Middle Eastern Texts Initiative