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Al-Masaq, Vol. 20, No. 2, September 2008

Donkeys and Mules in Arabic Veterinary Sources fromthe Mamluk Period (7th–10th/13th–16th Century)

HOUSNI ALKHATEEB-SHEHADA

ABSTRACT The central place occupied by donkeys and mules in the life of the medieval

Islamic world often necessitated medical care. Three veterinary treatises were chosen for the

present study owing to the special attention attributed to these animals by their writers.

The identity of the writers is of some interest: two of them were rulers of Yemen, whereas the

third was the chief veterinarian of the Mamluk Sult_an Muh

_ammad Ibn Qalawun.

In dealing with the treatment of donkeys and mules, these writings are mainly concerned with

breeding, preventive medicine (including nutrition, exercise and diet), and the diagnostics

and healing methods of ailments peculiar to donkeys and mules, including behavioural

problems, infirmities of hooves and problems resulting from carrying heavy loads.

The dedication of special sections of these treatises to donkeys and mules is an indication of

their importance in the economy of Egypt and Yemen. They reflect the high professional

level of veterinary medicine during the Mamluk period.

Keywords: Mamluks; Donkeys; Mules; Egypt; Yemen; Veterinary medicine;

Veterinarians; Animals; Middle Ages; Baytara; Islam; Abu Bakr al-Bit_ar; al-Nas

_ir

Ibn Qalawun; Rasulids; Ailments; Cauterization

It is impressive to see how many writings dealing with the medical care of animals

were either composed or copied and re-edited during the Mamluk period.

The quantity of writings on this subject produced between the mid-seventh/

thirteenth and the early tenth/sixteenth century is much larger than during any

former or later Islamic period. This fact in itself clearly indicates that the field

attracted great interest in this historical phase, much more than has been hitherto

recognized by modern scholars.1

Though mainly focusing on the treatment of horses, which was so central in

Mamluk culture, contemporary veterinarian writings also deal extensively with

hawks, falcons and dogs, and do not entirely neglect other kinds of animals, such as

sheep, cattle, camels, mules, donkeys, cheetahs and elephants. When the

Correspondence: Dr Housni Al-Khateeb Shedada, Department of Middle Eastern History, Tel Aviv

University, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel. E-mail: housnis@macam.ac.il

1See Housni Alkhateeb-Shehada, ‘‘Veterinary Medicine and Veterinarians during the Mamluk Period

(648 H/1250-923H/1517)’’, PhD Thesis, Tel Aviv University, 2005 [in Hebrew].

ISSN 0950–3110 print/ISSN 1473–348X online/08/020207-8 � 2008 Society for the Medieval Mediterranean

DOI: 10.1080/09503110802283424

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sixteenth-century physician al-Ant_aki wrote that veterinary medicine had witnessed

a decline in his time, he must have thought about the Mamluk period as the heyday of

this science.2

Before considering the specific medical treatment of donkeys and mules, it is

important to dwell on a few general principles characterising the treatment of large

animals, according to contemporary medical treatises.

The first important principle that regarded all kinds of animals was preventive

medicine, to which long sections of these treatises were dedicated. Proper diet was

considered as the chief means to achieve good health. Other measures were keeping

the animals clean, tending their skin and hair, and allowing them to rest. The periodic

administering of a few medical substances, as a defence against certain ailments, is

also sometimes recommended.3 The measures employed indicate that the possibility

of contagious diseases was taken into consideration. This is most notable in view of

the Islamic principle, accepted in human medicine, rejecting such a possibility, by

attributing these diseases to divine intervention.

Another characteristic of this veterinary system is the preponderant role of

pharmaceutics, a field that had witnessed an impressive development in the Islamic

world during the sixth and seventh/twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Prescriptions

were based on materials originating from minerals, plants and animal organs,

administered in all the forms known to us today, such as pills, unguents, potions,

enemas, suppositories, etc.4 Many of them were used for curing similar diseases

among human beings.5

Cauterization was a very common method in treating a wide variety of infirmities,

particularly, but not exclusively, all kinds of skin problems, external wounds and

inflammations.6

It is noteworthy that in contrast to human medicine, where bleeding was

recommended for nearly every disease and most frequently employed by surgeons,

veterinary doctors in late medieval Islam, at least according to the professional

literature, were more sceptical with regard to the healing capacities of this method.

When recommended, it was usually only as a secondary measure accompanying

other medical methods, or as a last resort.7 The classical theory of humours, on

2Da8ud b. ‘Umar al-Ant_aki (d. 1008/1599), Tadhkarat uli al-albab wa l-jami‘ lil-‘ajab al-‘ujab (Beirut: al-

Maktaba l-Thaqafiyya, n. d.), II: 53–4; See also Housni Alkhateeb Shehada, ‘‘Arabic veterinary medicine

and the ‘Golden Rules’ for veterinarians, according to a sixteenth-century medical treatise’’, in Animals

and People in the Ottoman Empire, ed. S. Faroqhi (Istanbul: Muhittin Eren, in course of publication).3Al-Malik al-Ashraf ‘Umar b. Yusuf al-Ghassani (696/1296), Al-Mughni fi l-bayt

_ara, ed. Ramziyya

Muh_ammad al-Atraqji (Baghdad: Markaz Ih

_ya8 al-Turath al-‘Ilmi l-‘Arabi, 1410/1989), p. 157.

4Abu Bakr Badr al-Din al-Bit_ar (d. 740/1340), Kashif hamm al-wayl fi amrad

_al-khayl (Le decouvreur de

l’importance des maux relativement a la connaissance des maladies des chevaux), ou Kamil al-s_ina‘atayn

al-bayt_ara wa l-zart

_aqa (La perfection des deux arts, traite complet d’hippologie et d’hippiatrie, connu sous le nom

Al-Nas_iri, ed. Abdel-Rahman Al-Daccak, sous la direction de G. Troupeau (Beirut: Dar An-Nafaes, 1416/

1996), II: 389–417.5See, for example, Abu Bakr’s description of the treatment of fractures. He suggests using the same

material to fix the bones of human and animal patients in case of fracture. The receipt includes Armenian

tin, bitter vetch flour, nutmeg (h_as

_a l-ban), roasted tamarind kernels, and the white of the eggs. See Abu

Bakr, II: 409.6See, for example, Abu Bakr, II: 261, 265, 281, 283, 285, 301, 337, 401. On cauterisation, see also

Alkhateeb-Shehada, ‘‘Veterinary medicine’’, 449.7Although most veterinarian treatises include chapters indicating the parts of the body appropriate for

bleeding (e.g., Abu Bakr, I: 117–23), Abu Bakr is reserved as to its application for curing certain illnesses

(ibid., II: 151, 153, 163). See Alkhateeb-Shehada, ‘‘Veterinary medicine’’, 445–9.

208 Housni Alkhateeb-Shehada

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which the practice of bleeding was based, was not discarded in principle by the

writers of veterinary treatises, but it certainly did not occupy such an important role

as among physicians treating human beings.8

A special contribution of Mamluk veterinary medicine concerns surgery.

Orthopaedic surgery was particularly developed and casts used for setting the

bones were considered to be stronger than those used for setting fractured

bones of humans. Judging by these theoretical treatises, the vets did not give

up treating a horse, a mule or a donkey with a broken leg. Other operations

included removal of tumours, dental surgery, hoof surgery, and the removal of

a dead foetus from the womb. Surgical treatments were combined with the

use of medicines to prevent excessive bleeding and infection. The treatises

include detailed description of surgical instruments, including stitch materials

applicable in different operations. Equally noteworthy is the fact that the

surgeon was required to lessen the pain and the suffering of the animal under

his care.9

The Mamluk veterinary treatises occasionally refer to curing methods that clearly

derived from popular medicine. Such references are usually provided in the case of

internal diseases, such as lungs or liver ailments, problems in the urinary system,

rabies, difficulties in fecundation etc. The means recommended in such cases were

spells, incantations, talismans, reading of chapters from the Qur8an, and

numerology, all methods that were also employed for humans.10

�

Donkeys and mules had a prominent place in the daily life of the medieval

Islamic Levant. Westerners who travelled in Mamluk Egypt were impressed by

the number of donkeys in the streets of Cairo,11 and even Muslim visitors were

surprised to discover to what extent the Egyptians, regardless of their social

status, were accustomed to ride on these animals.12 Mamluk sources mention

the use of donkeys in the building industry and for carrying supplies to

mountain areas and fortresses.13 But donkeys are also said to have served for

training the children of Mamluk rulers to ride.14 The veterinary treatises, on

which this study is focusing, dwell on the military roles of mules, which were

expected to carry soldiers with all their equipment, thus enabling the horses to

8Avicenna describes the importance of cauterization in his famous treatise al-Qanun, also mentioning the

theory of humours as the basis of this method. See Abu ‘Ali l-H_usayn b. ‘Ali Ibn Sina (370–428/980–

1037), Al-Qanun fi l-t_ibb, ed. Idwar al-Qush (Beirut: Mu8assasat ‘Izz al-Din lil-T

_iba‘a wa l-Nashr, 1993),

I: 299–307 (fi l-fas_d_), I: 309–10 (fi l-h

_ijama), I: 311–12 (fi l-‘alaq).

9See, for example, al-Ant_aki, II: 51.

10See, for example, Abu Bakr, II: 411–15.11See, for example, Leo Africanus, ‘‘Descrizione dell’ Africa’’, in G. B. Ramusio, Navigazioni e viaggi, ed.

M. Milanesi (Turin, 1978), I: 412; Adolf Reubauer, ‘‘Zwei Briefe Abadjah’s aus Bartenuro aus dem Jahre

5248 und 5249’’, Jahrbuch fur die Geschichte der Juden u. des Judentums, 3 (1863): 211.12Al-Maqrizi, for example, observes that in Egypt the custom of riding on donkeys was widespread among

notables, such as Cadis, fuqaha8 and other respectable persons: Taqi l-Din Ah_mad b. ‘Ali l-Maqrizi (845/

1441), Kitab al-Mawa‘iz_

wa l-i‘tibar fi dhikr al-khit_at

_wa l-athar [Al-Khit

_at

_al-Maqriziyya] (Cairo:

Maktabat al-Adab, n. d.), II: 147.13Al-Maqrizi, IV: 92; Abu Bakr, II: 435.14Abu Bakr, II: 435.

Donkeys and Mules in Arabic Veterinary Sources from the Maml �uk Period 209

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save their energy for the combat itself. Alongside horses, they also served in the

Mamluk postal system.15

These many beasts, in Cairo and elsewhere, were often in need of veterinary

treatment, an activity reflected in the professional treatises dedicated to the science of

bayt_ara, or veterinary medicine.16 Three veterinary treatises of the Mamluk period

are particularly informative with respect to these animals, and will therefore serve as

the main basis for the present study. These are the treatises by al-Malik al-Ashraf

‘Umar b. Yusuf al-Rasuli (d. 696/1296);17 Al-Malik al-Mujahid ‘Ali b. Daud b.

Yusuf b. ‘Umar al-Rasuli (d. 764/1362);18 and Abu Bakr Badr al-Din al-Bit_ar

(d. 740/1340).19 The first two authors were rulers of Yemen, then under Mamluk

influence, whereas the third served as chief veterinary doctor at the court of the

Mamluk Sult_an al-Malik al-Nas

_ir Muh

_mmad Ibn Qalawun (ruled, with three

intervals, between 693–741/1293–1341).20 These treatises were chosen because they

contain more references to donkeys and mules than other veterinary works written

during the same period. Abu Bakr, in his chapter on shoeing, even scolds those

scholars who do not consider donkeys worthy of treatment in veterinary treatises.21

The veterinary writings attribute great importance to the provenance of donkeys

and mules. The Egyptian donkeys were valued over all others, to be followed by the

ones from the Maghrib and Yemen. For the breeding of strong mules, fit for heavy

work, one writer suggests mating a big-eared and healthy donkey with a mare of the

Rumi race, or the one called Biqa‘i. Female mules originating from Armenia were

considered as particularly fit for carrying heavy weights. Those coming from

the Maghrib had similar physical qualities.22 Yemenite mules were described by

al-Malik al-Mujahid as having large bodies and long necks, and as being rather

uncomfortable for riding. For the latter purpose, a special breed of Yemenite mules,

called al-Ah_bush, was used. Their hooves were so strong that they did not have to

be shoed.23

15On the animals in the postal system under the Mamluks, see Alkhateeb-Shehada, ‘‘Veterinary

medicine’’, 70–78; J. Sauvaget, La poste aux chevaux dans l’empire des Mamelouks (Paris: Librairie

d’Amerique et d’Orient Adrien-Maisonneuve, 1994); Youssef Ragheb, Les messagers volants en terre d’Islam

(Paris: Editions CNRS, 2002). Abu Bakr al-Bit_ar writes that the sultan al-Malik al-S

_alih

_used mules to

cross the sandy areas between Cairo and Damascus: Abu Bakr, II: 435.16On the term bait

_ara, its origins and significance, as well as on veterinary terminology in general, see M.

Plessner, ‘‘Bayt_ar’’, Encyclopaedia of Islam; second edition (hereafter: E. I.2) (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1960), I:

1149b; and Alkhateeb-Shehada, ‘‘Veterinary medicine’’, 1–2.17Al-Malik al-Ashraf, 41–7; About al-Malik al-Ashraf see Al-Malik al-Mu8ayyad ‘Imad al-Din Isma‘il b.

‘Ali Abu l-Fida8 (d. 732/1331), Al-Mukhtas_ar fi akhbar al-bashar, ed. Muh

_ammad Zaynhum et al., IV vols

(Cairo: Dar al-Ma‘arif, 1998–1999), IV: 43–4; G. R. Smith, ‘‘Rasulids’’, E. I.2, VIII (1995): 455a–457b.18Al-Malik al-Mujahid ‘Ali b. Da 8ud b. Yusuf b. ‘Umar al-Rasuli (764/1362), Al-Aqwal al-kafiya wa l-fus

_ul

al-shafiya ‘‘fi l-khayl’’, ed. Yah_ya Wahib Jabburi (Beirut: Dar al-Gharb al-Islami, 1987); on al-Malik

al-Mujahid, see ‘Ali b. al-H_asan al-Khazraji l-Zabidi (d. 812/1409), Kitab al-‘uqud al-lu8lu8iyya fi tarikh

al-dawla l-rasuliyya, ed. Muh_ammad Basyuni ‘Asal (Cairo: Mat

_ba‘at al-Hilal, 1911–1914), II: 1–128.

19See the important fourteenth century book by Abu Bakr Badr al-Din al-Bit_ar (d. 740/1340), who served

as the court veterinarian of the Sult_an al-Nas

_ir Muh

_ammad Ibn Qalawun (supra, note 12); J. Ruska

[F. Vire], Ibn Al-Mundhir’’, E.I.2, III (1971): 890b–891a; C. Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen

Litteratur (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1902–1942), II: 136 and S II: 169.20See P. M. Holt, ‘‘Al-Nas

_ir Muh

_ammad b. K

_alawun (684–741/1285–1341)’’, E. I.2, VII (1993):

991a–992b.21Abu Bakr, II: 435.22Abu Bakr, I: 329.23Al-Malik al-Mujahid, 363.

210 Housni Alkhateeb-Shehada

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As in the case of horses, a substantial part of the sections dealing with donkeys

and mules is dedicated to their colours. Colours were one of the most important

factors in establishing the different breeds and their respective importance. AbuBakr mentions seven colours of mules: bay (ah

_mar), dark grey (adgham), bright

chestnut (ashqar), light grey (ashhab), greenish grey (dizaj), tawny (aqmar), and

reddish (qilla). The last two are described as peculiar to mules. Then he describes

combinations of the different colours, comparing colours with those typical of

horses. He also mentions all the body markings and whorls, stockings and facial

markings (shamat, tah_ji l and ghurar), also similar to those of horses.24 In the

Yemenite treatise of Al-Malik al-Ashraf it is interesting to note the local

terminology related to the colours and other characteristics of mules.25

Abu Bakr dedicates a separate chapter to the colours of donkeys.26 Here too seven

of them are mentioned: grey (ashhab), green (akhd_ar), black (aswad), blond, or

desert-sand colour (as_h_ar)27, reddish-light grey (abraq), olive (zaytuni), and stony

grey (h_ajari). The last five are said to be peculiar to donkeys.

The colours of animals are usually associated with passages of the Hadith

literature referring to specific animals belonging to the Prophet Muh_ammad: his

hourse, called al-Murtajiz, his mule, called Duldul, his two donkeys, called Ya‘fur

and ‘Ufayr, and his she-camel, called al-Qas_wa8.28 Beside their names and colours,

the Islamic traditions contain personal stories of each one of them, including their

origins, and their relationship with the Prophet.29

Passing now to the purely medical aspects, let us begin by looking at the methods

suggested for keeping animals in good health. As already noted, this aspect occupies

a central place with regard to all sorts of animals. It includes proper nutrition, proper

amount of exercise, environmental conditions, and also medications aimed at

keeping the animals fit and healthy. As far as mules are concerned, one treatise

recommends, for example, changing the habitual diet of thorns with dry fodder (tibn)

and herbs (qad_b), and letting them sniff a preparation containing fat of good quality,

in quantities relative to the respective size of the animal. Such a treatment is said to

favour good skin condition.30

Given the limitations of medieval medicine, methods of diagnosis depended

mainly on external symptoms, such as the colour of the skin, the condition of

the hair, the eyes, the mouth, the tongue, as well as behavioural disturbances.

24Abu Bakr, I: 278–81. For the identification of Arabic terms related to horse colours, see also Janet C. E.

Watson, Lexicon of Arabic Horse Terminology (London and New York: Kegan Paul International, 1996),

pp. 21–4.25For example, banat shajih

_and ‘adas are terms employed to denote she-mules; the male mule is called baz;

manaqi l, ‘aqiq, and jarada are terms used to denote red she-mules, whereas sa‘ada is used for black ones;

a she-mule born on a Thursday is called khamisa; dawwaj is used to denote a docile mule. See Al-Malik al-

Ashraf, 162–3.26Abu Bakr, I: 283.27Hans Wehr, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic: Arabic-English, ed. J. Milton Cowan (Beirut and

London: Librairie du Liban and Macdonald & Evans Ltd., Third Printing, 1980), p. 504.28Al-Malik al-Mujahid, 369.29On the Prophet’s donkey, see Khalid Sindawi, ‘‘The donkey of the Prophet in Shi‘ite tradition’’, Al-

Masaq, 18, i (2006): 87–98. It should be emphasized, however, that several characteristics attributed to

the Prophet’s donkey, such as his name, his ability to speak, his provenance, and even his suicide, do not

specifically belong to the Shi‘ite tradition, and, as already mentioned, some of them even found their way

into the veterinary literature (e.g. supra, note 28).30Al-Malik al-Mujahid, 266–7.

Donkeys and Mules in Arabic Veterinary Sources from the Maml �uk Period 211

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No less important was the examination of the various bodily secretions. Thus,

successful insemination was checked by a urine examination one day after

copulation.31 The writers emphasise the great importance of these diagnostic

methods, especially since it was impossible to get a description of the ailments

from the patients themselves.32

Al-Malik al-Ashraf describes seven diseases that were most common among

donkeys, specifying, in each case the respective diagnosis and treatment.33 The first

one, called al-h_afa, resulted from malnutrition, or from frequent walking on hard

soil. The symptoms of this ailment included strained walking and pains in the hooves.

It was treated by rubbing the hooves with special kinds of wet herbs and then by warm

sesame oil and tar. For older donkeys, shoeing was recommended.

A second donkey disease was called al-rahs_a, believed to be caused by frequent

walking on wet soil or in areas where cows used to urinate and defecate.

The symptoms of this disease were purulent inflammations and wounds in the

hooves, and particularly on their back side, hindering the donkey’s movement.

The treatment of this ailment included repeated cleaning of the wound with henna

and lemon juice followed by rubbing it with sesame oil and warm tar.

The third disease, called al-h_amar, was believed to be caused by excessive drinking

after eating fodder (hasik), or by consuming excessive quantities of fodder. The

symptoms were difficulties in breathing and walking, and general sluggishness. It was

treated by a potion prepared from a special kind of onion mixed with sesame oil.

A fourth disease, called al-nafakh, was also believed to be caused by a wrong diet.

The symptoms were a swollen stomach, heavy breathing and perspiration. It was

cured by warming up the donkey near a fire, and by a special diet.

The fifth ailment mentioned by al-Malik al-Ashraf is called al-kuzaz, and was

caused, according to this writer, by ‘‘bad air’’. The symptoms were a curved stiffening

of the ears, lack of appetite, collapsing without ability to stand up, and occasional

cold sweating. This disease was treated by cauterisation in the form of a cross on both

sides of the belly, and by covering the donkey and warming it up. The diet prescribed

in this case consisted of green fodder. In another section of his work, the same author

writes that this infirmity could be caused by a poisoned arrow or spear, in which case,

after removing the foreign body, cauterisation and healing unguents were applied.34

The sixth disease mentioned by al-Malik al-Ashraf was al-h_as

_r, the symptom of

which is urinary retention. The text in this section is somewhat confused, but al-

Ashraf explains the treatment of the same disturbance in writing about horses, and it

can be surmised that similar methods were also applied for donkeys. This disease was

cured by introducing a mixture of musk and clay into the animal’s sexual organ, using

an instrument usually used for applying kohl to the eyes. Another method was

putting soil on the animal’s back and leading it to where other animals were urinating,

thus encouraging it to follow their example. Here, the writer refers to the following

spell, also used for horses, which should accompany this operation: ‘‘Oh, violent

stomach-ache, get out of the beast belonging to so-and-so, son of so-and-so, unless

he turns to believe in a god other than Allah!’’.35 It should be observed that in

31See, for example, Abu Bakr, II: 105.32On the rules of preventive medicine and the methods of diagnosis, see Shehada, ‘‘Veterinary medicine’’,

355–79.33Al-Malik al-Ashraf, 167–8.34Ibid., 9035Ibid., 130–31.

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Abu Bakr’s treatise a different treatment for the same sickness is prescribed, namely

introducing the veterinarian’s hand, after duly anointing it with oil, into the donkey’s

anus to massage the bladder, thus causing the urine to come out. Interestingly, both

writers do not provide explanations for the causes of this disturbance.

The last donkey disease listed in al-Ashraf’s treatise is called al-h_inak, which was

an acute gingivitis, preventing the donkey from eating and drinking. This infirmity

was also believed to originate from improper diet, or from an accumulation of heat

and blood in the area of the jaw. To treat it, the animal’s mouth was forcibly opened

by help of a special instrument called a ‘‘ladder’’, blood was drained from the infected

gums, followed by the application of salt and garlic to the inflamed area.

In his discussion of mules, Al-Malik al-Ashraf mentions a few additional diseases,

on which he has little to say, referring the reader to what he wrote about the same

disturbances when dealing with horses. For example, al-takbbud was a problem

arising from binding the saddle too tightly to the horse’s or the mule’s body. This

caused pain to the animal, leading to the stretching forward of his neck, the

concentration of blood in the bound areas, the stiffening of the forelegs, and to

collapse. As a treatment, besides loosening the bindings, the writer prescribes

cupping.36 Another common disease attacking horses as well as mules is called by the

same author al-qasar, which seems to have been some kind of stiffening of the neck.37

The treatments of this problem included cauterization in different parts of the body,

the administration of a special ointment to the body, and covering and heating the

mule for twenty days.38 When referring to the same illness, Abu Bakr describes how it

used to be cured in former times: the patient was covered by dung (or manure) for

seven days to cause him to perspire; subsequently his entire body was rubbed with an

ointment made of lard, pine resin, turpentine gum, garlic and salt; this long and

complicated treatment was then completed by letting the mule sniff a medicine

prepared from a mixture of pepper, natron, asafetida, and wine.39

A peculiar behavioural problem concerned female mules in heat. This disturbance

was treated by introducing ground pepper and salt into the mule’s anus, and

administering her with a great quantity of oil to stop her screaming.40

Abu Bakr al-Bit_ar mentions several other ailments characteristic of donkeys and

mules. One of them was called al-shaz_a, signifying problems in the animal’s

shoulders, resulting from carrying heavy loads. This problem caused great pain, even

though not involving any fracture or dislocation of bones.41 It was treated by

bandaging and tying, similar to the treatment of fractures and dislocations. In his

reference to this treatment, Abu Bakr al-Bit_ar also criticised those who made use of

cauterisation in such cases.42

Another infirmity discussed by Abu Bakr is caused by an insect, called by the

author zanbur, which tended to cling to the animal’s rectum, causing exhaustion and

loss of weight. The vet had to introduce his hand into the rectum and simply pluck off

the insects.43

36Ibid., 85.37I am following al-Daccak’s interpretation in his edition of Abu Bakr, II: 504.38Al-Malik al-Ashraf, 91–2.39Abu Bakr, II: 218–19.40Al-Malik al-Ashraf, 141.41Abu Bakr, II: 43.42Ibid., II: 227.43Ibid., II: 313.

Donkeys and Mules in Arabic Veterinary Sources from the Maml �uk Period 213

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Abu Bakr also dedicates considerable space to infirmities of hooves, particularly

those of horses and mules. He considers the donkey-farriers to be the most

experienced and qualified ones, because of the difficulty in shoeing donkeys

compared to other equines. He mentions a special type of horseshoe invented by his

father to solve infirmities afflicting the hooves of donkeys.44

Castration occupies an important place in this literature. It was especially

recommended for old horses or mules.45 Al-Malik al-Mujahid, however, describes

the method employed to castrate young donkeys. The animal was laid down on the

floor and tied with ropes. An incision was made in his scrotum, and the testicles

pulled out and squeezed. This was followed by bandaging the area to prevent

excessive bleeding and applying antiseptics to avoid infection.46

What conclusions can be drawn from these chapters on donkeys and mules

included in the Arabic veterinary treatises of the Mamluk period? The materials

related to these animals are instructive both with regard to specific issues concerning

donkeys and mules, and to the more general aspects of veterinary medicine during

the Mamluk period. It is true that donkeys and mules were not the main

‘‘protagonists’’ of the veterinary treatises, which mainly focused on horses and

birds of prey. Yet the fact that special chapters were dedicated to donkeys and mules

confirms the impression derived from other sources as to the economic importance

of these animals in the lands ruled by the Mamluks, and even more so in far-away

Yemen, whose economy and daily life must have relied considerably on the use of

donkeys and mules owing to its mountainous topography. It should also be

remembered that the authors of these treatises specify that for the cure of many other

ailments, the treatments of donkeys and mules were similar to those described in the

chapters on horses. Thus, the relatively restricted space allotted to donkeys and

mules in these writings is partly due to a tendency to refrain from repetitions, rather

than to disregard. Thus, issues related to obstetrics do not figure in the chapters on

donkeys and mules, but as everybody knows, mules are usually offspring of male

donkeys and female horses. The detailed discussions of obstetrics in the chapters on

horses are therefore also most relevant to our subject.

More generally speaking, the chapters on donkeys and horses in these treatises

confirm the general impression as to the professional level of veterinary medicine and

its importance in the areas concerned. When discussing methods of treatment, the

authors express, on the one hand, a tendency to document all relevant methods

known to have been applied in the cases concerned, but on the other hand, they also

occasionally express their personal criticism of methods believed by them to be

harmful or of no benefit. In principle, diagnosis and therapeutic methods were

a result of many centuries of observation and long processes of trial and error, partly

inherited from other cultures. The great reliance on pharmaceutics and the

importance of preventive medicine, characteristic of other chapters, are also

reflected in those dedicated to donkeys and mules. Finally, the fact that these

treatises were composed by court veterinarians, and in the case of Al-Malik al-

Mujahid and Al-Malik al-Ashraf, by the Yemenite rulers themselves, testifies to the

great interest of ruling circles in veterinary medicine and arguably also to its relative

importance in the general culture of that period.

44Ibid., II: 433–5.45Al-Malik al-Mujahid, 273; Al-Malik al-Ashraf, 160.46Al-Malik al-Mujahid, 273–4.

214 Housni Alkhateeb-Shehada

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