TWO VIEWS TO THE ILLNESSES AND CURE METHODS ON THE LAND OF OTTOMAN AT THE END OF THE 17TH CENTURY: ANTOINE GALLAND AND JOHN COVEL

Abstract

Antoine Galland, a French orientalist and archeologist famous for the translation of “One thousand and one Nights” in the west, comes in 1670 to İstanbul, in order to work at the embassy. His written observations, during visiting different cities within the Ottoman territory are the references, which are used even today. The priest and scientist Dr. John Covel comes to land of Ottoman in the same year with Galland, in order to examine the Orthodox Church. Different information related to the Turkish society is found in his diary. Briefly said that, Galland writes about many subjects with a simply style, without details. He gives information about bloodletting, autopsy, pest, malaria, nephrostomy, like plants used in the production of medicines, about illness and cure directly, as well as the iophobia of upper- class, compares the Turkish and French’s attitude against illness. As for Dr. Covel, he focused mostly on pest, a subject also mentioned specially by Galland, with a detailed and descriptive explanation. Besides, the traveler deals with the subject as spreading form of illness, people’s attitude against the contagious illnesses. He also mentions the reactions to illnesses, superstitions, the similarities and the differences of Greeks, Armenians, Jews and Turks under the Ottoman sovereignty. Briefly, the French traveler compares the Turkish and his own nation’s attitude against illnesses and informs about that period. In addition, “The Priest’s Diary” refers to the attitudes of different nations against the illnesses in a different point of view. The purpose of this study is to examine the illnesses and the cure methods on land of Ottoman comparatively according to the observations of the two-westerner travelers, who were within the Ottoman territory in the same years.