Armenian Bole (Deposits, Chemical Composition, Application) and References to It in Medieval Armenian Medical Texts
Sahakyan, Armen · 2025
Traces the historical and modern medical uses of Armenian bole (bolus armenicus), a clay credited with anti-inflammatory and other properties. Its use is attested by Armenian and foreign scholars of the Middle Ages, and it remained significant in both Eastern and Western medicine until the eighteenth century. Sahakyan reports geological and mineralogical analysis of the clay's composition alongside citations from medieval Armenian medical works, and flags its catalytic properties as a subject for future research.
Read the publication ↗Citation
Sahakyan, Armen 2025. Armenian Bole (Deposits, Chemical Composition, Application) and References to It in Medieval Armenian Medical Texts. Matenadaran: Medieval and Early Modern Armenian Studies (MEMAS), Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 145–160 (Mesrop Mashtots Matenadaran / Brepols); eISSN 3041-5063.
What this offers a reader
A medieval Armenian remedy, put under a modern microscope.
Bridges Matenadaran medical manuscripts and modern mineralogy.
A clay named after Armenia was traded across Europe as medicine for a thousand years.
The Armenian clay that was sold as medicine across the medieval world.
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