Salmawaih ibn Bunan (died 840) was an Assyrian Nestorian Christian physician who translated works of Galen from Greek into Arabic.^[1] He flourished at the time of the Abbasid caliphs al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833) and al-Mu'tasim (r. 833–842), serving as private physician to the latter.^[2] It is reported that al-Mu'tasim trusted Salmawaih to such an extent that he called him "father", and that he prayed in person over Salmawaih's grave when he died.^[3]

He was a patron of the fellow Nestorian physician and translator Hunayn ibn Ishaq, helping him in his translation of Galen's On The Therapeutic Method.^[4] His scientific work included studies on the harmful effects of aphrodisiacs.^[5] He was a rival of the fellow Nestorian physician Ibn Masawayh.^[5]

References

Sources

• Bosworth, C. E., ed. (1991). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXXIII: Storm and Stress Along the Northern Frontiers of the ʿAbbāsid Caliphate: The Caliphate of al-Muʿtasim, A.D. 833–842/A.H. 218–227. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-0493-5.
• Sarton, George (1927). Introduction to the History of Science, Volume I. From Homer to Omar Khayyam. Baltimore: Carnegie Institution of Washington. OCLC 874972552.