Try to google "horse anatomy", and I promise you that this manuscript will appear in the search results.
This Egyptian manuscript is an anatomical study of the horse conducted in the fifteenth century during the reign of the Burji Mamluks (1382-1517 AD).
The version uploaded on the internet is originally scanned from the book Islamic Science: An Illustrated Study written by Seyyed Hossein Nasr, an Iranian professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University. The original version is found in University library in Istanbul, Turkey.

Being outstanding cavaliers and valiant warriors, the Mamluks cherished the Arabian horse and considered it to be precious possession, life savior and companion, and a detrimental element in achieving victory in wars.
History records Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammed Ibn Qalawoon (1290-1342) importing numerous Arabian horses to his Al-Naseri stud which kept a record of the purchases of the Sultan with each horse's description and abilities.
No wonder that such devotion and love motivated the veterinarian (whose identity is unfortunately unknown) to conduct an anatomical study of the "drinkers of the wind". Actually the Medieval Islamic veterinary medicine covered many aspects of caring for horses including exercise, physiology as well as deformities, diseases and their treatment, not to mention the prevailing use of horses in different fields of art work including calligraphy, ornaments, pottery and glassware.

And because the world of Arabian horse lovers is linguistically diverse, I took on the task of translating this manuscript into English, and give non-Arabic speakers the chance to travel back in time and relive every moment spent in conducting this anatomical study.
I would like to give Mr. Wael Hanafy, the manuscript examiner and expert in Arabic language, my heart-felt thanks for examining this manuscript and helping me read the Arabic language written six hundred years ago.

While reading the translation of the manuscript, the reader will see that there are some words left untranslated.
To explain this, here is a brief account of the characteristics of the Arabic language six hundred years ago:

1. Colloquial Arabic language was used in documentation as well as among the sultans and royal offices. The Mamluks (who were not of Arab origin) diligently encouraged the progress of sciences and arts except the sciences of the Arabic language, which according to some historians declined during the Mamluk and the Ottoman eras. Accordingly, it was very hard for Mr. Hanafy and me to decipher terms or expressions used six hundred years ago.
2. Turkish and Persian terms were adopted and used.
3. The use of rhetoric, rhymes and figures of speech was the hallmark of the Arabic language at that time. And this is manifested in drawing a simile between the horse's speed and "how much it drinks from the wind" or "drinkers of the wind", this is to mention a single example.
4. Although not recurrent, the veterinarian described the organs with their colors or texture rather than naming them. This case is obvious in the anatomy of the eye when the veterinarian refers to the sclera as the white organ and the pupil as the pitch-black organ and describing other organs or substances as moist, dry and hard

Translating this manuscript was the hardest task I have ever taken on. However, it has been a rewarding experience to me on every level. And I admit that it was worth every hour and every sleepless night I spent working on it.

I invite you to embark on a journey to the fifteenth century and explore the body of the horse through the eyes of the Mamluks.

"Article and translation by Rania Elsayed"

Click on the numbered buttons in the image below to read the translation of the text!