This is the first detailed analysis of an immensely popular 13th c. Arabic guide for pharmacists, from a time in which Jewish physicians and pharmacists worked alongside Muslim and Christian practioners. "Minh j al-dukk n" ("How to manage a pharmacy"), by Ab l-Mun al-K h n al- A r (fl. 1260) is the first attempt to explore the full spectrum of pharmacy in the medieval Arabic world: identification of the materia medica and methods of preparation; pharmacy's place within the sciences and particularly its relationship with medicine; the social position of the pharmacist and his role in the marketplace and the hospital; the economics of pharmacy; legal aspects of pharmacy; and the image of the pharmacist in literature and drama. The result is a full and nuanced picture of a section of society usually invisible.

Leigh Chipman, Ph.D. (2006) in Middle Eastern Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, works on the social and intellectual history of Islamicate medicine. She has published on Arabic pharmacology and on the materia medica of the Cairo Genizah.