History of pharmacy
Encyclopedia
The history of pharmacy as an independent science is relatively young. The origins of historiography pharmaceutical back to the first third of the nineteenth century which is when the first historiographies that while not touching all aspects of pharmaceutical history is the starting point for the final start of this science.
Until the birth of pharmacy
as an independent science, there is a historical evolution from antiquity to the present day that marks the course of this science, always connected to the medicine
.
The earliest known compilation of medicinal substances was the Sushruta Samhita
, an Indian Ayurvedic treatise
attributed to Sushruta in the 6th century BC. However, the earliest text as preserved dates to the 3rd or 4th century AD.
Many Sumerian
(late 6th millennium BC - early 2nd millennium BC) cuneiform clay tablet
s record prescriptions for medicine.
of 1550 BC, and the Edwin Smith Papyrus
of the 16th century BC.
The earliest known Chinese manual on materia medica
is the Shennong Bencao Jing (The Divine Farmer's Herb-Root Classic), dating back to the 1st century AD. It was compiled during the Han dynasty
and was attributed to the mythical Shennong
. Earlier literature included lists of prescriptions for specific ailments, exemplified by a manuscript "Recipes for 52 Ailments", found in the Mawangdui tomb, sealed in 168 BC. Further details on Chinese pharmacy can be found in the Pharmacy in China
article.
In Ancient Greece
, according to Edward Kremers and Glenn Sonnedecker, "before, during and after the time of Hippocrates
there was a group of experts in medicinal plants. Probably the most important representative of these rhizotomoi was Diocles of Carystus
(4th century BC). He is considered to be the source for all Greek pharmacotherapeutic treatises between the time of Theophrastus
and Dioscorides." The Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides
is famous for writing a five volume book in his native Greek Περί ύλης ιατρικής in the 1st century AD. The Latin translation De Materia Medica (Concerning medical substances) was used a basis for many medieval texts, and was built upon by many middle eastern scientists during the Islamic Golden Age
. The title coined the term materia medica
.
In Japan, at the end of the Asuka period
(538-710) and the early Nara period
(710-794), the men who fulfilled roles similar to those of modern pharmacists were highly respected. The place of pharmacists in society was expressly defined in the Taihō Code
(701) and re-stated in the Yōrō Code
(718). Ranked positions in the pre-Heian
Imperial court were established; and this organizational structure remained largely intact until the Meiji Restoration
(1868). In this highly stable hierarchy, the pharmacists—and even pharmacist assistants—were assigned status superior to all others in health-related fields such as physicians and acupuncturists. In the Imperial household, the pharmacist was even ranked above the two personal physicians of the Emperor.
There is a stone sign for a pharmacy with a tripod, a mortar, and a pestle opposite one for a doctor in the Arcadian Way in Ephesus near Kusadasi in Turkey. The current Ephesus dates back to 400BC and was the site of the Temple of Artemis one of the seven wonders of the world, the home of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, Mary Magdalen and where St Paul read his letter to the Ephesians.
the first pharmacies, or drug stores, were established in 754, under the Abbasid Caliphate during the Islamic Golden Age
. By the 9th century, these pharmacies were state-regulated.
The advances made in the Middle East in botany
and chemistry
led medicine in medieval Islam substantially to develop pharmacology
. Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi (Rhazes) (865-915), for instance, acted to promote the medical uses of chemical compounds. Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis) (936-1013) pioneered the preparation of medicines by sublimation and distillation
. His Liber servitoris is of particular interest, as it provides the reader with recipes and explains how to prepare the `simples’ from which were compounded
the complex drugs then generally used. Sabur Ibn Sahl
(d 869), was, however, the first physician to initiate pharmacopoedia, describing a large variety of drugs and remedies for ailments. Al-Biruni
(973-1050) wrote one of the most valuable Islamic works on pharmacology entitled Kitab al-Saydalah (The Book of Drugs), where he gave detailed knowledge of the properties of drugs and outlined the role of pharmacy and the functions and duties of the pharmacist. Ibn Sina
(Avicenna), too, described no less than 700 preparations, their properties, mode of action and their indications. He devoted in fact a whole volume to simple drugs in The Canon of Medicine
. Of great impact were also the works by al-Maridini of Baghdad
and Cairo
, and Ibn al-Wafid
(1008–1074), both of which were printed in Latin
more than fifty times, appearing as De Medicinis universalibus et particularibus by `Mesue' the younger, and the Medicamentis simplicibus by `Abenguefit'. Peter of Abano (1250–1316) translated and added a supplement to the work of al-Maridini under the title De Veneris. Al-Muwaffaq’s contributions in the field are also pioneering. Living in the 10th century, he wrote The foundations of the true properties of Remedies, amongst others describing arsenious oxide, and being acquainted with silicic acid
. He made clear distinction between sodium carbonate
and potassium carbonate
, and drew attention to the poisonous nature of copper
compounds, especially copper vitriol, and also lead
compounds. He also describes the distillation of sea-water
for drinking.
In Europe
pharmacy-like shops began to appear during the 12th century. In 1240 emperor Frederic II
issued a decree by which the physician's and the apothecary's professions were separated. The first pharmacy in Europe (still working) was opened in 1241 in Trier
, Germany
.
In Europe there are old pharmacies still operating in Dubrovnik, Croatia located inside the Franciscan monastery, opened in 1317 ; and one in the Town Hall Square of Tallinn, Estonia dating from at least 1422.
The oldest is claimed to be set up in 1221 in the Church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy, which now houses a perfume museum. The medieval Esteve Pharmacy
, located in Llívia
, a Catalan enclave close to Puigcerdà
, is also now a museum dating back to the 15th century, keeping albarello
s from the 16th and 17th centuries, old prescription books and antique drugs.
Until the birth of pharmacy
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
as an independent science, there is a historical evolution from antiquity to the present day that marks the course of this science, always connected to the medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
.
Prehistoric pharmacy
Paleopharmacological studies attest to the use of medicinal plants in pre-history.The earliest known compilation of medicinal substances was the Sushruta Samhita
Sushruta Samhita
The Sushruta Samhita is a Sanskrit text, attributed to one Sushruta, foundational to Ayurvedic medicine , with innovative chapters on surgery....
, an Indian Ayurvedic treatise
Ayurveda
Ayurveda or ayurvedic medicine is a system of traditional medicine native to India and a form of alternative medicine. In Sanskrit, words , meaning "longevity", and , meaning "knowledge" or "science". The earliest literature on Indian medical practice appeared during the Vedic period in India,...
attributed to Sushruta in the 6th century BC. However, the earliest text as preserved dates to the 3rd or 4th century AD.
Many Sumerian
Cuneiform script
Cuneiform script )) is one of the earliest known forms of written expression. Emerging in Sumer around the 30th century BC, with predecessors reaching into the late 4th millennium , cuneiform writing began as a system of pictographs...
(late 6th millennium BC - early 2nd millennium BC) cuneiform clay tablet
Clay tablet
In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age....
s record prescriptions for medicine.
Antiquity
Ancient Egyptian pharmacological knowledge was recorded in various papyri such as the Ebers PapyrusEbers papyrus
The Ebers Papyrus, also known as Papyrus Ebers, is an Egyptian medical papyrus dating to circa 1550 BC. Among the oldest and most important medical papyri of ancient Egypt, it was purchased at Luxor, in the winter of 1873–74 by Georg Ebers...
of 1550 BC, and the Edwin Smith Papyrus
Edwin Smith papyrus
The Edwin Smith Papyrus is an Ancient Egyptian medical text and the oldest known surgical treatise on trauma. It dates to Dynasties 16-17 of the Second Intermediate Period in Ancient Egypt, ca. 1500 BCE. The Edwin Smith papyrus is unique among the four principal medical papyri in existencethat...
of the 16th century BC.
The earliest known Chinese manual on materia medica
Materia medica
Materia medica is a Latin medical term for the body of collected knowledge about the therapeutic properties of any substance used for healing . The term 'materia medica' derived from the title of a work by the Ancient Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides in the 1st century AD, De materia medica libre...
is the Shennong Bencao Jing (The Divine Farmer's Herb-Root Classic), dating back to the 1st century AD. It was compiled during the Han dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
and was attributed to the mythical Shennong
Shennong
Shennong , which names mean "Divine Farmer", but also known as the Emperor of the Five Grains , was a legendary ruler of China and culture hero reputed to have lived some 5,000 years ago...
. Earlier literature included lists of prescriptions for specific ailments, exemplified by a manuscript "Recipes for 52 Ailments", found in the Mawangdui tomb, sealed in 168 BC. Further details on Chinese pharmacy can be found in the Pharmacy in China
Pharmacy in China
-Counterfeit drugs:Figures in China report almost 200,000 persons are said to have died in 2001 as a consequence of having taken counterfeit drugs.- See also :* Chinese Pharmaceutical Association* Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines...
article.
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, according to Edward Kremers and Glenn Sonnedecker, "before, during and after the time of Hippocrates
Hippocrates
Hippocrates of Cos or Hippokrates of Kos was an ancient Greek physician of the Age of Pericles , and is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine...
there was a group of experts in medicinal plants. Probably the most important representative of these rhizotomoi was Diocles of Carystus
Diocles of Carystus
Diocles of Carystus , a very celebrated Greek physician, was born at Carystus in Euboea, lived not long after the time of Hippocrates, to whom Pliny says he was next in age and fame. Not much is known of his life, other that he lived and worked in Athens, where he wrote what may be the first...
(4th century BC). He is considered to be the source for all Greek pharmacotherapeutic treatises between the time of Theophrastus
Theophrastus
Theophrastus , a Greek native of Eresos in Lesbos, was the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He came to Athens at a young age, and initially studied in Plato's school. After Plato's death he attached himself to Aristotle. Aristotle bequeathed to Theophrastus his writings, and...
and Dioscorides." The Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides
Pedanius Dioscorides
Pedanius Dioscorides was a Greek physician, pharmacologist and botanist, the author of a 5-volume encyclopedia about herbal medicine and related medicinal substances , that was widely read for more than 1,500 years.-Life:...
is famous for writing a five volume book in his native Greek Περί ύλης ιατρικής in the 1st century AD. The Latin translation De Materia Medica (Concerning medical substances) was used a basis for many medieval texts, and was built upon by many middle eastern scientists during the Islamic Golden Age
Islamic Golden Age
During the Islamic Golden Age philosophers, scientists and engineers of the Islamic world contributed enormously to technology and culture, both by preserving earlier traditions and by adding their own inventions and innovations...
. The title coined the term materia medica
Materia medica
Materia medica is a Latin medical term for the body of collected knowledge about the therapeutic properties of any substance used for healing . The term 'materia medica' derived from the title of a work by the Ancient Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides in the 1st century AD, De materia medica libre...
.
In Japan, at the end of the Asuka period
Asuka period
The , was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 , although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period...
(538-710) and the early Nara period
Nara period
The of the history of Japan covers the years from AD 710 to 794. Empress Gemmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō . Except for 5 years , when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capital of Japanese civilization until Emperor Kammu established a new capital, Nagaoka-kyō, in 784...
(710-794), the men who fulfilled roles similar to those of modern pharmacists were highly respected. The place of pharmacists in society was expressly defined in the Taihō Code
Taiho Code
The was an administrative reorganization enacted in 701 in Japan, at the end of the Asuka period. It was historically one of the . It was compiled at the direction of Prince Osakabe, Fujiwara no Fuhito and Awata no Mahito...
(701) and re-stated in the Yōrō Code
Yoro Code
The was one iteration of several codes or governing rules compiled in early Nara period in Classical Japan. Major work on the Yōrō Code was completed in 718....
(718). Ranked positions in the pre-Heian
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...
Imperial court were established; and this organizational structure remained largely intact until the Meiji Restoration
Meiji Restoration
The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...
(1868). In this highly stable hierarchy, the pharmacists—and even pharmacist assistants—were assigned status superior to all others in health-related fields such as physicians and acupuncturists. In the Imperial household, the pharmacist was even ranked above the two personal physicians of the Emperor.
There is a stone sign for a pharmacy with a tripod, a mortar, and a pestle opposite one for a doctor in the Arcadian Way in Ephesus near Kusadasi in Turkey. The current Ephesus dates back to 400BC and was the site of the Temple of Artemis one of the seven wonders of the world, the home of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, Mary Magdalen and where St Paul read his letter to the Ephesians.
Middle Ages
In BaghdadBaghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
the first pharmacies, or drug stores, were established in 754, under the Abbasid Caliphate during the Islamic Golden Age
Islamic Golden Age
During the Islamic Golden Age philosophers, scientists and engineers of the Islamic world contributed enormously to technology and culture, both by preserving earlier traditions and by adding their own inventions and innovations...
. By the 9th century, these pharmacies were state-regulated.
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
and chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
led medicine in medieval Islam substantially to develop pharmacology
Pharmacology
Pharmacology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function...
. Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi (Rhazes) (865-915), for instance, acted to promote the medical uses of chemical compounds. Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis) (936-1013) pioneered the preparation of medicines by sublimation and distillation
Distillation
Distillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in volatilities of components in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
. His Liber servitoris is of particular interest, as it provides the reader with recipes and explains how to prepare the `simples’ from which were compounded
Compounding
Compounding is the mixing of drugs by a compounding pharmacist to fit the unique needs of a patient...
the complex drugs then generally used. Sabur Ibn Sahl
Ibn Sahl
This article is about the physicist. For the physician, see Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari. For the poet, see Ibn Sahl of Sevilla.Ibn Sahl was a Muslim Persian mathematician, physicist and optics engineer of the Islamic Golden Age associated with the Abbasid court of Baghdad...
(d 869), was, however, the first physician to initiate pharmacopoedia, describing a large variety of drugs and remedies for ailments. Al-Biruni
Al-Biruni
Abū al-Rayḥān Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-BīrūnīArabic spelling. . The intermediate form Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī is often used in academic literature...
(973-1050) wrote one of the most valuable Islamic works on pharmacology entitled Kitab al-Saydalah (The Book of Drugs), where he gave detailed knowledge of the properties of drugs and outlined the role of pharmacy and the functions and duties of the pharmacist. Ibn Sina
Avicenna
Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā , commonly known as Ibn Sīnā or by his Latinized name Avicenna, was a Persian polymath, who wrote almost 450 treatises on a wide range of subjects, of which around 240 have survived...
(Avicenna), too, described no less than 700 preparations, their properties, mode of action and their indications. He devoted in fact a whole volume to simple drugs in The Canon of Medicine
The Canon of Medicine
The Canon of Medicine is an encyclopedia of Galenic medicine in five books compiled by Ibn Sīnā and completed in 1025. It presents a clear and organized summary of all the medical knowledge of the time...
. Of great impact were also the works by al-Maridini of Baghdad
Masawaih al-Mardini
Masawaih al-Mardini was an Arabian physician. He was born in Mardin, Upper Mesopotamia. After working in Baghdad, he entered to the service of the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah. He died in 1015 in Cairo at the age of ninety.Masawaih al-Mardini was a Nestorian Christian...
and Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, and Ibn al-Wafid
Ibn al-Wafid
Ali Ibn al-Husain Ibn al-Wafid , known in Latin Europe as Abenguefit, was a pharmacologist and physician from Toledo. He was the vizier of Al-Mamun of Toledo. His main work is Kitab al-adwiya al-mufrada...
(1008–1074), both of which were printed in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
more than fifty times, appearing as De Medicinis universalibus et particularibus by `Mesue' the younger, and the Medicamentis simplicibus by `Abenguefit'. Peter of Abano (1250–1316) translated and added a supplement to the work of al-Maridini under the title De Veneris. Al-Muwaffaq’s contributions in the field are also pioneering. Living in the 10th century, he wrote The foundations of the true properties of Remedies, amongst others describing arsenious oxide, and being acquainted with silicic acid
Silicic acid
Silicic acid is a general name for a family of chemical compounds of the element silicon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with the general formula [SiOx4-2x]n...
. He made clear distinction between sodium carbonate
Sodium carbonate
Sodium carbonate , Na2CO3 is a sodium salt of carbonic acid. It most commonly occurs as a crystalline heptahydrate, which readily effloresces to form a white powder, the monohydrate. Sodium carbonate is domestically well-known for its everyday use as a water softener. It can be extracted from the...
and potassium carbonate
Potassium carbonate
Potassium carbonate is a white salt, soluble in water , which forms a strongly alkaline solution. It can be made as the product of potassium hydroxide's absorbent reaction with carbon dioxide. It is deliquescent, often appearing a damp or wet solid...
, and drew attention to the poisonous nature of copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
compounds, especially copper vitriol, and also lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
compounds. He also describes the distillation of sea-water
Distilled water
Distilled water is water that has many of its impurities removed through distillation. Distillation involves boiling the water and then condensing the steam into a clean container.-History:...
for drinking.
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
pharmacy-like shops began to appear during the 12th century. In 1240 emperor Frederic II
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...
issued a decree by which the physician's and the apothecary's professions were separated. The first pharmacy in Europe (still working) was opened in 1241 in Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
In Europe there are old pharmacies still operating in Dubrovnik, Croatia located inside the Franciscan monastery, opened in 1317 ; and one in the Town Hall Square of Tallinn, Estonia dating from at least 1422.
The oldest is claimed to be set up in 1221 in the Church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy, which now houses a perfume museum. The medieval Esteve Pharmacy
Esteve Pharmacy
The Esteve Pharmacy is a medieval pharmacy and museum located in the village of Llívia, in the comarca of Cerdanya, Catalonia, Spain. Llívia is a Spanish exclave within the French region of Pyrénées-Orientales...
, located in Llívia
Llívia
Llívia is a town of Cerdanya, province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It is a Spanish exclave within the French département of Pyrénées-Orientales...
, a Catalan enclave close to Puigcerdà
Puigcerdà
Puigcerdà is the capital of the Catalan comarca of Cerdanya, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, northern Spain, near the river Segre and the border with France .- History :...
, is also now a museum dating back to the 15th century, keeping albarello
Albarello
An albarello is a type of maiolica earthenware jar, originally a medicinal jar designed to hold apothecaries' ointments and dry drugs. The development of this type of pharmacy jar had its roots in the Middle East during the time of the Islamic conquests....
s from the 16th and 17th centuries, old prescription books and antique drugs.
See also
- History of medicineHistory of medicineAll human societies have medical beliefs that provide explanations for birth, death, and disease. Throughout history, illness has been attributed to witchcraft, demons, astral influence, or the will of the gods...
- Museum of the History of Lithuanian Medicine and PharmacyMuseum of the History of Lithuanian Medicine and PharmacyThe Museum of the History of Lithuanian Medicine and Pharmacy is located in a restored 16th-century building at the Town Hall Square in the Old Town of Kaunas, Lithuania. It moved to its current location in 1987, although its history dates to 1936...
- PharmacyPharmacyPharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...