What were some of the medical afflictions faced by patients 1,000 years ago? And how did physicians treat these cases? Nearly 2,000 of the 300,000 fragments found in the Cairo Genizah deal with medical issues, and among them is a practical prescription written in the hand of the great Jewish philosopher, legal scholar, and physician, Maimonides (1138-1203).

This research seminar, sponsored by the Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life and presented by Dr. Efraim Lev, Professor of Humanities in the Department of Land of Israel Studies at the University of Haifa, will offer some insights into the materials used in the prescription and what they can tell us about practical medical knowledge in the Middle Ages.