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Sacralization of medical prescriptions: evolution of the genre from Antiquity to the Byzantine era
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Nikolai Valeryevich Ozhirelyev
Tyumen State University
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Submitted:
December 18, 2025
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Abstract.
This paper examines the evolution of medical prescriptions from ancient step-by-step protocols to Byzantine texts incorporating ritual elements. Its aim is to demonstrate which standard ‘modules’ (such as invocations to God and saints, numerical repetitions, gestures, and graphic symbols) were added to the stable pharmacological core, and how these elements diffused across Greek, Latin, and Slavic traditions. The study employs historical-philological and typological analysis, comparing manuscripts and variations of formulas. The novelty of this research lies in conceptualizing the prescription as a modular structure, where the ‘substantive’ part remains constant, while ritualistic blocks are layered on and standardized. Throughout this historical process, the prescription is treated as a performative component of therapy, capable of shaping and structuring medical practice. The article demonstrates that sacralization did not replace the rational components of prescription, but rather supported their application and transmission in monastic and domestic practice. Consequently, the proposed approach offers a novel way to describe the evolution of prescriptions and can be applied to comparative studies, including those involving Slavic and Arabic medical traditions.
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Key words and phrases:
античная и византийская рецептура
модульная структура рецепта
фармакологическое ядро
сакрализация врачебного рецепта
межъязыковая миграция формул
ancient and Byzantine prescriptions
modular structure of prescriptions
pharmacological core
sacralization of medical prescriptions
interlinguistic migration of formulas
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