I-Newswire.com (press release)
June 20 2005

Linguistics meets Veterinary Medicine – 13th Century Armenian Medical
Book on Horses has been Translated

An Armenian manual about horse medicine from the 13th century has
been translated into German for the first time. The compendium is
Armenia’s oldest preserved veterinary medical work and offers an
overall view of expert knowledge about horses during the late 13th
century in the Near East. The Austrian Science Fund FWF supported
this project and it was made possible thanks to an Austrian
Armenologist, her excellent knowledge about the country and its
language as well as her close cooperation with veterinarians in
Vienna.

i-Newswire, – This oldest known manual about Armenian horse medicine
consists of 184 handwritten pages. It was written in the Armenian
kingdom of Cilicia between 1295 and 1298. An Armenian monk proficient
in languages and a Syrian horse veterinary were responsible for
writing this work.

Now, almost 750 years later, a similar interdisciplinary cooperation
has led to the work’s translation into German. For this project, the
linguist Dr. Jasmine Dum-Tragut, from the Institute for Linguistics
at the University of Salzburg, worked closely with scientists from
the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna.

Herbs Heal Horses
In addition to the actual translation, it was possible to prepare an
extensive addendum that offers detailed insight into veterinary
medicine in the Near East in those days. Furthermore, the work also
includes comments on 13th-century veterinary medical knowledge from a
contemporary perspective. For example, experts from the University of
Veterinary Medicine Vienna were particularly surprised that knowledge
of the use of medicinal herbs in those days was much more advanced
than it is today. The plants came from the Armenian Highlands and
they were also used to treat human diseases.

However, the Cilician horse manual comprises much more than `just”
medical knowledge. The first chapter explains the creation of the
horse. The following chapters describe the good and bad
characteristics of horses, breeding, the different races known at
that time, breaking in and riding, horse care and defects. Only the
last chapters deal with different types of pain as well as illnesses,
symptoms and treatments.

Thus, this historical and medical work offers insight as well as
different facets of the cultural history of Armenia and horses. In
addition, as Dr. Dum-Tragut explains: “The Cilician book on curing
horses is a real scientific treasury. Not only for the analysis of
the Armenian language, but also for the history of literature and the
social history of horses in Armenia.” Altogether, the manual offers
an overall view of the knowledge about horses in the Near East during
the Middle Ages. Dr. Dum-Tragut came to this conclusion through
intensive studies of source references: “The book mentions an Indian
book as well as two Arabian works as references. Studying these
original references in Persian and Greek clearly shows that the
Cilician book on the curing of horses is not a mere translation of
already existing information: it is an independent Compendium.”

Terms Taken for a Ride
A central aspect of this two-and-a-half-year project was also to
investigate the terminology of special Armenian technical terms
mentioned in the manual. In order to clearly establish their
meanings, Dr. Dum-Tragut had many conversations with Armenian horse
breeders, farmers and veterinarians. During her research, she noticed
that these people generally prefer Russian or Turkish technical terms
over Armenian ones. Apart from the know-how, the special vocabulary
applied in the Cilician horse book seemed to be in jeopardy of
becoming extinct. Therefore, Dr. Dum-Tragut included this vocabulary
in a glossary for reasons related to linguistic preservation. It did
not take long to notice the success of this measure, because breeders
have already started to reincorporate this historic vocabulary of the
Armenian language. This is a fact that especially pleases Dr.
Dum-Tragut – as well as many horse lovers in Armenia. And that is
also why in 2003, an Armenian breeder decided to express his
appreciation to Dr. Dum-Tragut. He gave the enthusiastic horse-rider
a gift: a colt named `Bor’ – an especially beautiful sort of research
funding.

Image and text will be available online from Monday, 20th June 2005,
09.00 a.m. MEZ onwards:

Jasmine Dum-Tragut, ‘Kilikische Heilkunst für Pferde – Das
Vermächtnis der Armenier` ( The Cilician Art of Healing Horses – The
Armenian Legacy` ). Comments, translation, glossary. Editorial OLMS
Verlag, Hildesheim 2005. ( Available in German only )

Scientific Contact:
Dr. Jasmine Dum-Tragut
University of Salzburg
Institute for Linguistics
Mühlbacherhofweg 6
A-5020 Salzburg
Austria
Tel.: +43 / ( 0 )662 / 8044 – 4259
E-mail: jasmine.dum.tragut@inode.at

Austrian Science Fund FWF:
Mag. Stefan Bernhardt
Weyringergasse 35
A-1040 Vienna
Austria
Tel.: +43 / ( 0 )1 / 505 67 40 – 36
E-mail: bernhardt@fwf.ac.at

Issued by:
PR&D – Public Relations for Research & Development
Campus Vienna Biocenter 2
A-1030 Vienna
Austria
Tel.: +43 / ( 0 )1 / 505 70 44
E-mail: contact@prd.at

Vienna, 20th June 2005