One of the Samples of the Influences of Avicenna on the Ottoman Medicine, Shams Al-Din Itaqi

Abstract

Anatomy was an important subject to solve human health problem. In Islam Avicenna (980-1037) was well known physician and he was also interested in anatomy and gave description on this subject in detail in his famous work, al-Qanun. Avicenna showed extensive influence on the physicians lived in the following the centuries, not only in the eastern countries, but also in the West. His work, al-Qanun was translated into different languages including in Latin. Its Latin version was published several times in different countries in Europe. Avicenna was also very influential in the Ottoman Empire. His work, al-Qanun was used extensively as a handbook among the physicians. One of the physicians who showed this influence obviously was Shams al-Din Itaqi in the Ottoman Empire in the seventeenth century. He wrote an illustrated anatomical work, named 'Treatise on Anatomy of Human Body'. 'Treatise on Anatomy of Human Body' was written in Turkish and gave description of the anatomical structures of the whole human body in detail including in several anatomical illustrations of some of the organs in colour. When we study Itaqi's work we can define the resemblance of his anatomical explanations witlı Avicenna did in his al-Qanun, as is seen in the classification of the organs as simple and compound organs. Itaqi also gave original description of some of the organs in his work. Among them can be mentioned the description of the cranial nerves.