This document summarizes a presentation on analyzing the Syriac text of Galen's Book Nine On Simple Drugs found in the Syriac Galen Palimpsest. It discusses how the Syriac text covers the first three chapters of Book Nine but is missing 15 pages of content. It also notes additional context the Syriac provides on the transmission and interpretation of Galen's work. Examples are given of how the Syriac text clarifies the Greek by including chapter titles and correcting terms through identification of the Greek letter digamma. The analysis has significance for understanding the Syriac translation and identifying translators of texts outside Books 6-8.

1. On Simple Drugs:
an in-depth study of the
Syriac text of Book Nine
Rethinking Ancient Pharmacology: the transmission and interpretation
of Galen’s treatise On simple drugs
Rome 22th September 2017
Dr Naima Afif (The University of Manchester)

2. The Syriac Galen Palimpsest
Project
Full title: The Syriac Galen Palimpsest: Galen’s
On Simple Drugs and the Recovery of Lost
Texts through Sophisticated Imaging
Techniques (September 2015 to February
2020); AH/M005704/1.

3. Plan
- coverage of Book 9 in SGP
- structure of the text
- additional content in SGP and not in Kühn

4. Coverage of Book 9 in SGP
- chapters 1-3
- 4 missing folios = 15 pages in Kühn’s edition

5. Working hypothesis
1 single-sided bifolium of SGP = 2 pages of Kühn’s
Greek text
ff. 206v–212r K., XII, 216–217

6. Missing content in SGP within
chapters 1-3
- 2 folios : translator’s preface, list of chapters and
Galen's introduction up to K. p. 163
- 1 folio : a part of the chapter on various types of
e a r t h (Περὶ τῶν διαφορῶν τῆς συνήθως
ὀνομαζομένης γῆς) and on types of earth that
necessites to be washed (Περὶ πλύσεως γῆς, K., p.
173–178)
- 1 folio : a part of the chapter on Samian earth
(Περὶ Σαμίας γῆς, K. p. 188–192).

7. Missing content in SGP
outside chapters 1-3
- 40 folios = 30 pages in Kühn’s edition (entry on
diphryges until the end of the Book)
- 48 % of Book nine in Syriac survived through
SGP

11. Structure of the chapters in
Book 9
Books 6-8
- main text (dark brown)
- entry names or chapter titles (red)
Book 9
- main text (dark brown)
- no entry names or chapter titles

12. Rubrics in
Book 8
ff.
166r-171v

13. φλόμος
φοίνικος

14. No
rubrics in
Book 9
ff. 02v-03r

15. !"#$‫ܘܗܪ‬ (")*+, !-.$/,‫ܕ‬ ‫ܝ‬ ̇‫ܗ‬ ‫ܘܐܦ‬
(« And also the one that is named magnetite or
Heraclia »)
Τῶν λίθων δ’ ἐστὶ μία καὶ ἡ μαγνῖτις τε καὶ
Ἡρακλεία καλουμένη (K. p. 204)

16. !"5‫ܐܪ‬ !-.$/,‫ܕ‬ ‫ܝ‬ ̇‫ܗ‬ (« The one that is
named Arabia »)
Ὅ γε μὴν Ἀράβιος καλούμενος λίθος (K. p.
204).

17. 678/9,‫ܕ‬ 6":‫ܗ‬ !̈<=8 ‫ܘܐܦ‬ 6-‫ܕ‬ /-‫ܐ‬
‫@?]ܓ[ܐ‬A5 (« They are also stones that are
found in sponges »)
Εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ οἱ ἐν τοῖς σπόγγοις εὑρισκόμενοι
λίθοι (K. p. 205)

18. (")"8‫).ܐ‬B‫ܐܘ‬ CD,/9,‫ܕ‬ ‫ܝ‬ ̇‫ܗ‬ 6-‫ܕ‬ !<=E:
(« the stone that is named ostracitis »)
Τὸν δὲ ὀστρακίτην ὀνομαζόμενον λίθον (K.,
p. 206)

19. ‫ܐܘ<)=ܣ‬ !-.$/,‫ܕ‬ ‫ܝ‬ ̇‫ܗ‬ ‫ܬܘܒ‬ !<=8‫ܘ‬
(« And also the stone that is named ophite »)
Καὶ ὀφίτης δὲ καλούμενος λίθος (K., p. 206).

20. Additional content in SGP
- not in Kühn’s edition
- knowledge of the transmission of Galen in Syriac
- textual tradition of the Galen’s treatise On Simple
Drugs

21. ff.
33r-36v:
end of
Book 8,
beginning
of Book 9

22. A translator’s introduction?
- ?I9@J: 6: K"B !L‫ܕܗ‬ (« that is now our intention to
translate »), Book 6
- !M##J, 6, ?I9@J: 6: K"B !L‫ܕܗ‬ !N‫ܗ‬ O"8‫ܗ‬ !5.95
!*-‫?ܪ‬B !*9#: !"N?- (« in this discourse, then, which we
now intend to translate from the Greek language into
the Syriac tongue »), Book 6
- ?I9@J: 6: K"B !L‫ܕܗ‬ !N‫ܗ‬ P.,=MJ5 6-‫ܕ‬ !L‫ܗ‬
(« now in this discourse that we now intend to
translate »), Book 7
- ‫ܬܐܕܘܪܐ‬ ‫ܢ‬?R‫ܐ‬ ‫ܐܘ‬ ?I9@J: 6: K"B (« it is our
intention to translate, O our brother Theodore »)
- ?I9@J: 6: K"B !L‫ܕܗ‬ (« that is now our intention to
translate »), Book 8

23. Armenian earth
About digamma ϝ
SGP ff. 184r-185v and 184v-185r
Urb. Gr. 67 , ff. 239v-240r

24. Urb. Gr. 67, ff. 239v-240r

25. Urb. Gr. 67, f. 240r

26. ff. 184v-185r:
Book 9, (not
in Kühn)-
XII, p.
192-193. Περὶ
ἐνεργουσῶν
ποιοτήτων τῶν
λίθων.

27. ff.
184r-185v:
Book 9, XII,
p. 193-195.
Περὶ
αἱματίτου,
γαλακτίτου
καὶ μελιτίτου.

28. Armenian city’s name
!N‫=ܘ‬S=5

29. Digamma (ϝ) in SGP
‫@"@/ܐ‬T !M,=S

30. Digamma in Syriac script
‫.ܘܕܐ‬ ̈S
[!N]!M:= ̈S

31. Initial digamma
SGP : [!N]!M:= ̈S
U : σελίνην
(for Ϝελένην)

32. Conclusion
- significance of the Syriac translation of On Simple Drugs of Book 9
- identify the translator of Books outside 6-8
- Armenian city
- grammatical discussion on digamma
- correct the Greek text
- edition of the Syriac version of Book 9 of On Simpe Drugs

33. ϝin