Practice versus Theory: Medieval Materia Medica according to the Cairo Genizah

Much information on medicine and the use of materia medica in the medieval period exists, but it is mainly based on the vast medical literature of that period both in the East and theWest. Such books composed in the Arab world cover various subjects: medical theories and doctrines, the maintenance of good health (regimen sanitatis) or preventive medicine, different diseases and ailments, and qualities of medicinal substances, pharmacopoeias listing remedies and how to make them, andmateria medica—medicinal substances, their different names and medical uses. Most of these books were written by qualified and learned physicians and pharmacists, are well organized, and were meant for teaching as well as references for theory and