Cilician horsebook - translation, glossary, commentary

The Cilician Medical Book for horses, dated 13th century, written by the Syriac doctor Farac and the Armenian priest T`oros in Middle-Armenian language, ordered by King Smbat III. of Cilicia, has never been translated and has not been professionaly commented yet. This hippiatric-hippo-logical book is mostly based on the traditon of Indian and Arabic horse literature, but seems to have also links to the hippological works at European royal houses. With its extremely linguistic-lexicological complextiy and the unusual subject it is considered not only as unique in Armenian literature but also as the oldest existing manuscript of Veterinary medicine in the linguistic-histori-cal area of Caucasus/Armenian Highland. The present scientific project comprises the first transla-tion ever of this Armenian text into a foreign language, here into German, a multilingual glossary and a commentary. The scientific importance of this project is additionally stressed by the inter-disciplinary cooperation of Armenlogy/Linguistics and Veterinary medicine. The translation from Cilician-Armenian into German and the etymologization of the Cilician terminology which is obso-lete in today`s Armenia as well as the investigation of the present Armenian hippiatric-hippological terminology are the fields of activity of the project`s head and applicant.The complex glossary bases on the translation and the etymologies: the Cilician hippiatric, hippological and botanical terms used are listed with their German equivalents, the Latin termini technici, the terms of the source lan-guages (Arabic, Persian and others). Field work in Armenia will help to list also the current Armenian terms. The commentary consists of three parts, which introduce into the armenological-philological, historic, veterinary medical, hippological and phytotherapeutic aspects of the Cilician manuscript and thus stresses the interdisciplinarity of this project. Especially the translation and the comprehensive multilingual glossary can be considered as aid for further research work in medical literature of this linguistic areal not only for armenologists but also for comparative linguists, ori-entalists and history of science in general. The translation and the glossary consulted and advised by veterinarians, the intensive investigation of possible sources and the comparison of the text with Arabic hippiatric literature and terminology will makethe Cilician Medical Book for Horses not only available to Armenology, but also to Oriental Studies and Comparative Linguistics. The German translation will give new insights into a so far undiscovered geographical region of hippiatry/hippology to Veterinary medicine, especially to the History of Veterinary medicine.

Apart from a voluminous publication under the project`s title with OLMS Publishing house, the two-and a half year lasting project "The Cilician Medical Book for Horses", - Translation, Commentary, Glossary - has resulted in essential insights and new findings for various fields of studies. Above all in the field of Armenian Studies: the translation has opened a new literary genre (Armenian Philology). The translation of this complex and specialized literary genre has also proved, how much a competent translator is required for a precise and expert tranlation- in all fields. In the field of Armenian linguistics the unusual linguistic structure of the Cilician-Armenian variety has been investigated (Grammar) and the specific "horse" terminology which was used in the manuscript, but which is obsolete in nowadays Armenian, has been analysed for its Arabic or Persian etymological origins (Terminology). The terminological work on the manuscript itself and during the field work with horse breeders, veterinarians and farmers in Armenia has provided relevant information not only about the socio-historical importance of the horse for the Armenian people from the Middle Ages until today but also about the various influences on hippological knowledge from the East and from Europa during the crusades (Armenian social history). The extensive study of Arabic, Persian and Greek literary sources has also proved that the Middle Armenian manuscript is not a translation of Arabic horse books but a collection of the hippological and hippiatric knowledge of the late 13th century written in the medieval Armenian vernacular of Cilicia. As such a collection the Cilician Medical book for Horses can be regarded as unique literary and hippological/hippiatric work of the 13th century. The fact, that Armenian horses breeders have started to re-use the medieval horse terminology for their studbooks and their horses` breeding documents because of the intense contact with the project leader, can really be regarded as an unexpected, but especially practical result of this research project. The interdisciplinary cooperation with experts from the Veterinary Medicine of Vienna has shown that the Cilician Medical Book for Horses bases on the general veterinary knowledge of the 13th century, but that phytotherapeutic treatment was rather progressive. Thus many medicinal herbs and plants are used in the manuscript, which are indigenous in the Armenian highland and come from Armenian popular medicine and tradition. The translation of the manuscript has also contributed to complete and broaden the history of veterinary medicine: in the geographical region concerned no hippological/hippiatric manuscripts - especially in such an original style and with such considerable contents - have so far been known to veterinary medicine. This is a further hint to the importance of the horse for the culture in the region between Asia and Europe -, the Caucasus and the Anatolian- Armenian Highland.