Museum treasures: Lapis judaicus, from the Burges Collection of materia medica, 1745–1807

摘要

The use of Hajr ul Yahood or ‘Jew’s Stone’ ,made primarily from the fossilised spines of sea urchins, began in Roman times. The mineral drug was administered by practitioners of the Unani system of medicine to treat urinary disorders, such as dysuria, and kidney and bladder stones. Unani medicine originated in ancient Greece and was practised by the ancient Greek practitioners Hippocrates and Galen. It was developed over subsequent centuries by Persian and Arab scholars, such as Ibn Sina.