An Examination of Medicine and Folk Medicine Elements on the Example of a Medical Text in Verse

Abstract

People have sought cures for the diseases and ailments they have experienced since ancient times. These were sometimes the sorcerers, herbalists, embers, enchanters, atasaguns or shamans of the period, and sometimes the physicians who worked on modern medicine of the period. Anatolia, as the land where civilizations intersect, contains traces of many cultures and has a very deep structure in terms of cultural accumulation. Considering ancient medicine in Anatolia, it can be seen that sometimes modern medical knowledge and traditional folk medicine methods are used together. These methods are frequently mentioned in written texts and many works in the field of health, both in copyright and translation, have been created. The fact that they include easy treatment methods for illnesses and that they contain medical information that the public can use in daily life emphasize the importance of such texts. It is known that the oldest medical texts in Turkish written in Anatolia were created in the 14th century. Since then, many works including field information such as medicine, folk medicine, pharmacology, botany have a special importance in terms of fully revealing the vocabulary and structure of our language. The text, which is our subject of study, is registered in the collection of Ankara National Library Elazig Provincial Public Library with the number 23 Hk 2/3. The title of the work appears to be Manzume-i Tib and its author Ferdi. The text, written in "me fa' i lun me fa' i lun fe' u lun" prosody pattern and consists of 61 couplets. Although the name of the author appears as Ferdi in the manuscript, the note that the author is not known was written at the beginning of the work. Although the year of writing is not known, the text was written in Old Anatolian Turkish. The note to the head of the manuscript contains the information that it contains some information about health protection. In its content, factors affecting health and disease are emphasized. The medical knowledge until the time of writing and some practices from the field of folk medicine have been combined to include behaviors that should be done in the treatment of diseases and avoided for some diseases. Writing a text on the subject of medicine with prosody, besides the purpose of informing, it also ensures the permanence of the information transferred in a certain harmony. In the text, on the subject of diseases; Problems such as indigestion, headache, sore throat or dry throat, weakness, paralysis, sciatica, meningitis, constipation, hemorrhoids, cramps and pain were included. Among the treatments; Methods such as vomiting, laxative, cupping, and consent have been discussed. Although in small numbers, there are herbal preparations that can be used for some ailments such as tooth jaundice and bad breath. In the face of some ailments and conditions, the daily foods recommended for therapeutic purposes have been pointed out. It is seen that information about mood is also included in addition to physical health. In our study, by giving the transcription of the aforementioned manuscript, it will be pointed out the diseases, diseases and the treatment methods recommended for them.

These suggestions will be examined under the headings of beneficial and harmful actions. Comparisons will be made by giving examples from other medical texts written in Anatolia. At the end of the review, there will be a glossary of terms used in the fields of medicine and folk medicine. With further examination of such texts, Old Anatolian Turkish vocabulary will be put forward in a healthier way and data that shed light on various fields such as botany, folklore, pharmacology and psychology will be obtained along with medicine.