The De Phisicis Ligaturis of Costa Ben Luca: A Little Known Treatise About the Use of Enchantments and Amulets with Therapeutic Purposes
Abstract
The De phisicis ligaturis or Epistola de incantatione is a very little known magical- medical treatise that considers the efficacy of amulets, enchantments and other magical devices in combating ill health or in preventing illnesses. It was written in Arabic by Costa ben Luca (ca. 820-ca. 912), but its original version is missed. It survives, however, in a translation quite probably made by Constantine the African in Monte Cassino between 1077 and 1087. This paper analyses principal aspects of the treatise (biographies of both author and translator, structure and contents of the epistle, medical-philosophical sources, manuscripts that survive, fortune of the text up to the Renaissance, etc.) and offers as a supplement a critical edition, including notes mainly devoted to the identification of the Greek sources of the text, namely Dioscorides and Galen. The epistle al.so sheds light on the complex relationship between Indian and Greek Medicine in the Arabic context of the 9th century A. D.Downloads
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