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Although whole books have been devoted to the study of talmudic medicine and quite a number of studies to specific related topics, only a small number of scholars in the field of medical history are aware of this rich corpus of knowledge. The core of the Talmud (the authoritative body of Jewish law and tradition), called Mishnah(divided into six tractates), was compiled between the second century BCE and the second century AD. Two extensive commentaries and glosses were added to the basic text. One is the so‐called Jerusalem Talmud, which was completed in the fifth century AD. The Babylonian Talmud, which was much larger, was sealed in the sixth century. No medical texts from the ancient Hebrew–Jewish period have reached us, so the wealth of medical knowledge that is interspersed in the Talmud is the sole source of documentation in these matters. It should be made clear that these medical data are recorded by talmudic scholars in the midst and for the sake of legalistic discussions....

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© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York

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Kottek, S.S. (2008). Medicine in the Talmud. In: Selin, H. (eds) Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_9384

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_9384

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