French Literature Reviews - 2026
Thibault Miguet, Viatique du voyageur d’Ibn al-Ǧazzār. Histoire du texte grec, de la Sicile à Constantinople
History, Politics and Society
Thibault Miguet
Viatique du voyageur d’Ibn al-Ǧazzār. Histoire du texte grec, de la Sicile à Constantinople
Paris, Classiques Garnier, Savoirs anciens et médiévaux, 2024
This book provides the first comprehensive study of the Greek version of the *Viatique du voyageur*, an Arabic medical encyclopedia composed in Kairouan in the 10th century by Ibn al-Ǧazzār. Produced in Sicily at the turn of the 12th century, this translation subsequently made its way to Byzantium, where it achieved widespread success.
The transmission of scientific and medical knowledge between the Arabic-speaking world, the Latin West, and the Byzantine Empire constitutes a central area of study within medieval intellectual history. Texts originally composed in Arabic frequently underwent translation and adaptation as they circulated across linguistic and cultural boundaries. This dynamic process facilitated the exchange of empirical observations and theoretical frameworks among diverse scholastic traditions throughout the Mediterranean region during the medieval period.
Readers interested in the history of medicine, medieval translation practices, and the circulation of texts between the Islamic world and Byzantium may find this volume relevant. Thibault Miguet examines the Greek version of the Viatique du voyageur, an Arabic medical encyclopedia composed in Kairouan in the 10th century by Ibn al-Ǧazzār, produced in Sicily at the turn of the 12th century and subsequently made its way to Byzantium.