Inorganic substances and their uses in Nikolaos Myrepsos’ Dynameron. Recent applications in modern therapy

Abstract

Inorganic compounds have been known and used since antiquity. Dynameron is the largest Byzantine medical manuscript divided into 24 sections, in accordance with the letters of the Hellenic alphabet, which contains 2667 recipes. The majority of them contain ingredients of plant origin, followed by animal origin, while fewer inorganic substances are quoted. In the present study, the latter ones are listed. Moreover, the information on the uses of inorganic ingredients in the treatment of many diseases in the late Byzantine era is presented and their evaluation in light of the modern Pharmacology and Toxicology.

Keywords

• Inorganic drugs
• Mineral salts
• Stones
• Earths
• Nikolaos Myrepsos
• Dynameron