The Legacy of BukhtYishu Family

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The Legacy of Bukht-Yishu Family

• Samir Johna, MD, FACS, FABHP, FACEP
• Associate Clinical Professor of Surgery
• Associate Residency Program director
• Loma Linda University School of Medicine

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Introduction

• Many physicians are immortalized by their
  contributions to science and humanity
• It is unusual to have their medical knowledge
  and experience transferred down to their kindred
  over several generations

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Introduction

• The Assyrian Bukht-Yishu family is perhaps an
  exception
• A unique example of seven generations of
  physicians over 3 centuries who dominated the
  royal courts of Islamic empire
• A true legacy in the history of medicine

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What is Bukht-Yishu ?

• Bukht-Yishu Jesus hath delivered
• Adopted by the Assyrians when they accepted
  Christianity in 32 A.D.
• Through the Assyrians, the name carved its
  place in the books of history even in the absence
  of an Assyrian state

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Why the Assyrians?

• The role was inspired by
• The geographical location of their land
• Christianity led to the study Greek literature,
  arts, and science
• The schools of Nisibis, Edessa, and Jundi-Shapur
• The excommunication of the Assyrian Nestorians

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The Outcome

• The Assyrian scholars were not only able to
  preserve the pre-Christian Greek literature that
  nearly disappeared they also transferred and
  enriched the existing fund of knowledge, ensuring
  its safe passage through the Dark Ages.

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What is the Problem?

• After the fall of their empire in 612 B.C., the
  Assyrians have been deprived of their
  intellectual achievements
• The new rulers always claimed the Assyrian
  accomplishments as their own
• The role played by the Bukht Yishu family in
  the history of medicine is only one example of
  Assyrian heritage claimed by others

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Jurjis I

• Physician-in-chief of the medical school in
  Jundi-Shapur
• Summoned to Baghdad by the Caliph al-Mansur
• Throughout his life, al-Mansur suffered from
  dyspepsia that his own physicians could not
  relieve
• To the Caliphs delight, Jurjiss treatment was
  entirely successful and he was persuaded to stay
  on as a physician-in-chief to the Caliph.

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Jurjis I

• A man of principles who resisted all temptations
  and died with honors in 769 A.D.
• Returned slave girls to the Caliph
• Refused to convert to Islam even upon the request
  of the Caliph
• Jurjis swore that he would rather burn with his
  own forefathers than enjoy Paradise with the
  Caliph

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Achievements

• A skilled clinician
• Reputable mentor
• Bukht-yishu II
• The first who rendered work s on medicine in
  Arabic
• Reputable translator

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Bukht Yishu II

• Recalled by the Caliph Harun al-Rashid
• Harun sent his wazir Yahya to conduct the
  interview
• Yahya summoned three of the court physicians
• Abu Quraysh, al-Tayfuri, and Ibn Sarabiyun

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Bukht Yishu II

• Abu Quraysh exclaimed
• O Commander of the Faith, there is no one in
  this company capable of speaking with this man.
  For, he is a master of disputation. He, his
  father, and his whole family are all of them
  philosophers.

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Bukht Yishu II

• The Caliph Harun al-Rashid himself decided to
  test his skill
• Called for the urine of a mule that was presented
  to Bukht Yishu for a diagnosis
• Abu Quraysh swore it was the urine of a favorite
  slave girl

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Bukht Yishu II

• Bukht Yishu calmly examined it and exclaimed that
  in that case the girl was bewitched, for only a
  mule could pass such urine
• When asked what treatment he would give, he
  replied that a good feed of barley would be the
  most suitable

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Bukht Yishu II

• Harun was delighted, and Bukht Yishu was rewarded
  and made the chief personal physician to the
  Caliph
• Died with many honors in 801, leaving behind two
  physician sons, Jibrail I and Jurjis II

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Jibrail I

• Succeeded his father as a court physician
• After a successful cure of a favorite slave of
  the Caliph
• Hysterical paralysis was treated by shock!
• Although he had no scientific explanation by
  todays standards, he had the right way of
  addressing the problem

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Jibrail I

• Caliph Harun al-Rashid relied heavily upon him
  and showered him with presents
• He even took him to Mecca!
• when the Caliph was reproached for taking a
  Christian to the Holy City, he replied that the
  fortunes of the empire depended upon himself and
  he himself depended upon Jibrail.

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Jibrail I

• Enjoyed a unique reputation
• Exhibited solid judgments in practicing medicine
• He was known to make convincing arguments
• Relied on medical experimentation to drive his
  points home

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Jibrail I

• Jibrail I once forbade the Caliph from eating
  fish!
• He himself ate it all!
• He conducted an experiment to defend himself!
• In response, the Caliph exclaimed
• How could any one blame me for admiring this
  man who takes such a good care of me?

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Jibrail I

• During the last and fatal illness of Harun
• The too candid exercise of his profession caused
  Jibrails downfall,
• Harun asked Jibrail
• How come you are unable to cure me?

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Jibrail I

• Jibrail replied
• I have always advised you with what was right
  for you but you never took my advice, and now I
  am asking you to go back home because you are
  seriously ill and the weather home suits you
  better but you are still defiant. I hope God will
  heal you
• This was enough for Jibrail to be imprisoned and
  condemned to death.

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Jibrail I

• Jibrails life was spared through the
  intercession of a wazir
• The new physician was lying
• The Caliph is dying anyway
• Jibrail was thrown into prison by Al-Mamun
  because he was accused of neglecting al-Mamun as
  a child

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Jibrail I

• Was followed at court by his son Mikail
• Jibrail was completely restored to favor because
  of a successful cure of the Caliph.
• He died and was buried with full honors in the
  Convent of S. Sergius, leaving behind three
  physician sons
• Mikail, Bukht Yishu III, and Ubayd-Ullah I

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Achievements

• Jibrails written works include
• An open letter to al-Mamun on food and drink
• A work on logic
• An epitome of medicine
• Some other similar minor works
• He encouraged translations and is said to have
  patronized Hunayn ibn Ishaq

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Bukht Yishu III

• Was introduced to the royal court by his father
  Jibrail I
• Accompanied the Caliph al-Mamun in his campaign
  against the Greeks as his personal physician.
• During the reign of al-Wasiq, Bukht Yishu fell
  out of favor at the tongues of his detractors.

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Bukht Yishu III

• The Caliph summoned him to Baghdad when overcome
  by his last fatal attack of dropsy
• He arrived too late
• The successor, Caliph al-Mutawakkil, kept his
  services,
• Allowed him to enjoy the immense wealth that the
  family had collected.

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Bukht Yishu III

• But al-Mutawakkil was a waster
• The Caliph then turned his eyes to the wealth of
  the Bukht Yishu family
• A few days later Bukht Yishu was dismissed from
  office
• His money seized
• All his goods that were worth anything were
  transported to the warehouses of the Caliph.
• He died in 870 A.D. without ever regaining the
  royal favor

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Jibrail II

• Became the court physician to the Caliph
  Azud-ul-Doula
• Achievements
• Reputable clinical work
• Authored two known books
• Al-Kafi (The Sufficiency), a work in five parts
• The Mutabigat bayn qol-il-Inbiya wa il-Falasifat
  
• (The Common Ground Between the Prophets and the
  Philosophers)
• He was survived by his son, Ubayd-Ullah II

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Ubayd-Ullah II

• The last of this great family
• Never entered the service of any Caliph
• Distinguished above all the nobles attached to
  this profession
• Excellent in the medical profession
• Renowned for his activity in it
• Perfect in its principles and branches

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Achievements

• Some of his Written Works
• A description of the various kinds of milk
• A panegyric on his profession
• A work on eugenics,On the Right Way to Preserve
  Descent
• A book on natural history, On the Nature, the
  Properties and the Utility of the Organs of
  Animals
• (survives in a copy now in Paris)
• Several open letters on medical subjects

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Achievements

• Other surviving manuscripts include
• Al-Rawzat-ul-Tibb (The Medical Garden)
• Tazkirat-ul-Hazir wa Zad-ul-Musafir (Memorial of
  the Resident and Provision of the Traveler)
• A treatise called On Love as a Disease.

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Achievements

• The Medical Garden
• Was more of a metaphysical than a medical work
• Little space was given to physiology of
  temperaments, sleep, pulse, and vision.
• Pure medicine was covered even less

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Achievements

• In Chapter 25, he quoted his father from Al-Kafi
  in a paragraph concerning love
• Love is a corruption caused by the influence of
  the senses, especially the sight, on the rational
  soul which is subdued to the morbid passion like
  a great king when he becomes an instrument in the
  hands of a vile slave.
• Ubayd-Ullah II died in 1055 A.D., honored if not
  distinguished, like many others of this medical
  family

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Conclusions

• This review serves only as a brief biography of a
  small Assyrian family that cultivated its
  profession over seven generations
• Survived adversities and kept their faith even in
  the presence of relentless pressure from their
  masters
• Their diligent work and strong foundation in
  science favored them above all others
• Became the royal court physicians of the Islamic
  empire for more than three centuries
• Without a rival, they were a true legacy in the
  history of medicine

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References

• 1. Eusebius. The Legend of Abgar. Historia
  Ecclesiastica, I Chapt.13. New York Dorset
  Press, 1965.
• 2. Whipple, A. Role of the Nestorians as the
  connecting link between Greek and Arabic
  medicine. Ann Med HistoryNew Series 1936
  2313-323.
• 3. Sarton, G.E. Introduction to the History of
  Science. Baltimore, Maryland Williams and
  Wilkins, 1927.
• 4. Whipple, A.O. The Role of the Nestorians and
  Moslems in the History of Medicine. New Jersey
  Princeton University Press, 1967.
• 5. Bar Hebraeus. Historia Dynastiarum. Oxford,
  1663.
• 6. Elgood, C. A Medical History of Persia and the
  Eastern Caliphate. Cambridge Cambridge
  University Press, 1951.
• 7. Ibn abi Usaybia. Uyun-ul-Inba fi
  Tabaqat-il-Atibba. Cairo, 1882
• 8. P.Paul Sbath. Ar-Raoudat at-Tibbiyya. Cairo,
  1927.