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218 A. Akasoy, R. Yoeli- lalim / Asian Medicine 3 (2007) 217240

Musk appears as a highly desirable substance in a great variety otexts.2 In poetry and other literary sources it is typically the fragrancbeloved woman and evokes paradisiacal images.3 Te thirteenth-century author Ibn Abl-H add, for example, quotes in his monumental comtary on the collectionNahj al-balghaa report of the prophet who describhow Gabriel placed him during a night-journey on a carpet and gavquince. Te fruit burst and out came the most beautiful slave girl hbeheld. She greeted him and described herself: My upper part is

ambergris, my middle part of camphor, and my lower part of musk.4

In Arabic literature from the mid-ninth century onwards, ibet iquently described as the land of musk. In hisBook of Curious and Entertaing Information, Lat if al-marif , for example, the tenth-century authTa lib recounts a disputation at the court in Shrz. One contestafamous traveller Ab Dulaf, is reported to have wished to experien wonders of the world:

. . . and may [God] bring down on me . . . the silks of China, . . . the greyfurs of the Kirghiz lands, the woven mats of Baghdad. May He appoinme Greek eunuchs, urkish military slaves, slave girls from Bukhr anbines from Samarqand; . . . May He let me eat the apples of Syria, the frof Iraq, the bananas of the Yemen, the nuts of India . . . the grapes of Baand the melons of Khwrazm; And may He let me breathe the musk of 5

In historiography we nd musk, alongside gold and armour, as a char

gift of ibetan kings, for instance to the famous rulers Alexander the G Anushirwan.6 In Arabic texts on the geography and culture of other peentries on ibet usually begin with an appraisal of the quality of its mu7

2 For an overview see Dietrich 2001. Tis article is limited to exemplary and repreuses of musk in Islamic medicine for comparative purposes. In addition to musk musk pod or musk mouse ( farat al-misk ) is used in Islamic medicine. An analysis of its ubeyond the scope of this article, but will be part of Akasoy forthcoming b.

3

See Lichtensttter 1932, p. 51 for examples from early Arabic poetry. For mumartyrs paradise cf. Cook 2007, p. 37.4 Ibn Ab l-H add 19591963, ix, pp. 280281. Cf. also the puns and anecdotes a

musk in the same text, xix, pp. 34151.5 Ta lib 1968, pp. 1456.6 For Alexander cf. Ibn Khurraddhbih 1889, p. 263. For Anushirwan al-Bakr 199

and Masd 19651970, 624. Similar accounts appear in books on gifts and rariexample Ibn al-Zubayr 1996, p. 62.

Pommaret mentions a Bhutanese example of musk as a royal gift, where Sherab W

the thirteenth temporal ruler (sDe srid) of Bhutan (r. 17441763) regularly gave mother precious items) to the Cooch Bihar royal family in order to nurture the tradebetween the two countries. See Pommaret 2000, p. 5. For an illuminating theoretical of royal gifts see Appadurai 1986.

7 For an account of ibet in Arabic geographical literature cf. Petech 1947, Beckw Akasoy forthcoming a.


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A. Akasoy, R. Yoeli- lalim / Asian Medicine 3 (2007) 217240 219

Te value that medieval Muslims attributed to musk and its exotic im were certainly connected with its limited availability and the fact thatimported from distant lands. In this respect, musk has much in com with ambergris and camphor, the two other ingredients of the heavenl8 Like these substances, musk was more than a literary image. Tey werobjects and gured among the main trading goods between Central and Asia and the Islamic world. Musk in particular was imported from the Hlayas. It was a tangible link between the two regions and a material me

for ideas which travelled between the two cultures. But how exactly ditransmissions take place? Which ideas travelled and how did they chathe course of their journey?

References to musk are found in the Middle East from as early as thecentury CE.9 Trough the analysis of the material presented below, we suggesting the addition of a set of Musk Routes to the establishedRoads. While the Silk Roads form a helpful model for examining trad

cultural relations between China and Europe,10

the Musk Routes draw theattention to interactions between the ibetan and Islamic cultures.11In what follows, we will highlight, by way of comparison, several asp

musk as a vehicle for intercultural relations. We will focus on trading, scknowledge and practical uses of musk, in particular in the eld of medicinraise questions which relate to the broader eld of Islamic- ibetan relation

ibetan Musk in Arabic Literature

When ibetan musk is praised in Arabic sources the authors frequently that it is superior to Chinese musk. Tree reasons are usually given: rst unlike the Chinese musk deer, the ibetan deer was said to nourish itsefragrant vegetation, in particular spikenard, as, for example, al-Masd (before280/893345/956) states.12 A more detailed account from Muh ammad ibn

8 Donkin 1999.9 See discussion below on the mentions in theBabylonian almud . Other early sources are

discussed by King. See King 2007, particularly pp. 11741. We would like to thank Anfor having made her thesis available to us.

10 For a more nuanced discussion see Whiteld in this issue.11 See Akasoy, Burnett & Yoeli- lalim (in preparation).12

Masd 19651970, 391. Similarly Qalqashand 19131918, ii, pp. 11416. Nuwquotes a different version in which he says about the musk deer: Tis gazelle lives in ibin India. Tey say it moves from ibetafter it has eaten there the non-aromatic grassto and then it leaves the musk in India, and it is of bad quality because it has not used this Ten it eats the aromatic grass of India, and the musk clots in it. It goes to ibet and leavemusk there, and it is better than the sort one nds in India. Nuwayr 19232002, ix, p. 33


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Abbss lost treatise on musk is preserved in Nuwayrs (677/12797encyclopaedia:

Te best musk is produced by gazelles which eat a herb which is calle (k.d.h.m.s) and which grows in ibet and Kashmir. According to Ah mad ibn Yaqb, the name of this herb is (k.n.d.h.sa). He said: Second best to therb is the Indian spikenard, i.e. the aromatic nard. It grows a lot in Inibet. Te musk produced by an animal which eats spikenard is of a mquality, inferior to the rst class. He said: Te lowest quality is the muduced by an animal which eats a herb calledmarwa.13 Tis herb smells like muskexcept that the smell of musk is more intense and more delicious.14

Te second reason for the superiority of the ibetan musk, according tbic sources, was that the ibetans kept the musk inside its pod and spods whole whereas the Chinese used to open the pods and add othstances, for example blood or lead (cf. below, for methods of extract15

Te third reason was that ibetan musk travelled a much shorter path

more signicantly, that the trade route did not involve a long maritiment which could spoil its fragrance because of the humidity and tas is the case for Chinese musk.16 Te idea that musk is initially odourleand eventually assumes the aroma of the place where it is kept appein Arabic literature17 (for the smell of musk cf. also below).

raders and rading Routes 18

Apart from the emphasis on overland transport medieval Arabic ldoes not give us more than a general idea of the trading routes. Qalq

13 Te editor discusses the possible meanings of this word.14 Nuwayr 19232002, xii, pp. 69.15 When the Arab authors refer to ibet, they usually have a place or region in mi

is not necessarily identical with what we currently know as ibet. For more on this Akasoy forthcoming a.

Evidence of the measures of quality control exercised by the king of Bhutan are suin the seventeenth-century travel account of Jean-Baptiste avernier: Te King of Boing that the cheats and adulterations of Musk would spoil the Musk- rade, orderd thathe Bladders should be sowd up, but that they should be all brought to Boutan, and tdue inspection, be seald up with his Seal. avernier 1678,ravels in India, Book II, p. 153.

16 Masd mentions also that on the sea it is exposed to moisture and changes ofMasd 19651970, 392.

17 Masd 19651970, 392; Qazwn 1928, p. 20. Damr in his book on animathat the distance between the living animal and the sea is equally important (Dam1908, pp. 2667); Ibn Sdah 18981903, s.v. m-s-k.

18 For some references on ibetan trading routes see: Beckwith 1977; Van Spengen 2ticularly chapter four, Te Geohistory of ibetan rade, pp. 96144. See also Boulnois 20


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for example, a fourteenth-century Egyptian author, states that fromHimalayas, ibetan musk was brought into Khorasan from where it transported to places all over the Islamic world.19 An alternative route is men-tioned by the same source which went via India.20 In these Arabic texts,Indian merchants are referred to as experts on the substance.21

From India, ibetan musk was brought to the port of Daybul, on tshores of the Gulf of Oman, in present-day Pakistan, from where, accoto Nuwayr, it was shipped to Srf in Persia, Oman in Bah rayn (the southern

shores of the Persian Gulf, not to be confused with modern Bahrain), in Yemen and other ports.22One of the nal stations on these Musk Routes was the port of al-U

near Basra. Several Arabic sources include the following anecdote whia vivid picture of the arrival of the trading ships:

When the ships come close to al-Ubulla, the smell of the musk rises, anmerchants cannot hide it from the tax collectors. When it is taken from theits smell improves, and the smell of the sea goes away.

23

Other genres within the vast body of medieval Arabic literature offertional details. Te famous Spanish traveller Ibn Jubayr (11451217),example, mentions musk as one of the goods sold in the markets of Mone of the centres of the Islamic world where people from its differenmet,24 thus further highlighting its place in a cosmopolitan environment

Further information can be gleaned from the cartographical traditioparticular from the lucky case of an Arabic map preserved in a manuscthe possession of the Bodleian Library.25 Te manuscript is an anonymouscosmography composed between 1020 and 1050 in Egypt, with the titlTe Book of Curiosities of the Sciences and Marvels for the Eyes .26 Te manuscriptincludes a whole series of maps which reveal the authors knowledge ofroutes. One of these maps shows the way from Daybul to the Gate of COne of the stations along this route is ibet. But although we are thus ab

19 Qalqashand 19131918, ii, pp. 11416; Nuwayr 19232002, xii, pp. 12, 4, 691112.

20 Nuwayr 19232002, xii, pp. 69 and 1112; Qalqashand 19131918, ii, pp. 11421 Qalqashand 19131918, ii, pp. 11416.22 Nuwayr, 19232002, xii, pp. 69.23 Nuwayr, 19232002, xii, pp. 1112.24 Ibn Jubayr 1952, p. 117. See also Labib 1965, p. 193.25 On theBook of Curiosities see: Johns and Savage-Smith 2003; Edson and Savage-Sm

2004; Rapoport and Savage-Smith 2004; Rapoport, forthcoming. See also:www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/bookofcuriosities (last accessed: 04/09/07).

26 Rapoport and Savage-Smith 2004.
http://www.bodley.ox.ac/http://www.bodley.ox.ac/


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reconstruct several stations which are mentioned for the musk tradehardly reconstruct a complete trading route, or a whole road networkibetans themselves seem to have been involved with musk trade far as neighbouring countries, i.e. Nepal, Ladakh, Bhutan and Benfteenth-century ibetanBlue Annals , for example, tells us about an accoplished practitioner of Mahmudr, Dam pa skor (b. 1062, also knsKor chung/Ni ru pa/ sKor ni ru pa), who was also a trader in musk.told that he began his trading career at the age of twelve by stealin

quoise. Selling his turquoise, he received: 13 goldensrang s, one roll of goldembroidered silk and musk worth one goldenzho.27 Dam pa skor is thensaid to have visited Nepal with famous ibetan teachers, to have studtantras and received Mahmudr initiations, before returning to ibet28

Over several centuries, ibetan musk was traded not only by Araibetans but also by Sogdian, Armenian, Jewish, European and othchants. Evidence of the trade in musk is documented in letters of the

chants.In the Sogdian letters dating to the fourth century (or possibly found in the region of Dunhuang by Stein and analysed by de la Va29 musk is mentioned as one of the goods. Te letters mention that muskby the Sogdians was brought from the ibetan borders of Gansu.30

Jewish merchants had a very signicant role in the trade of mu Jerusalem and Babylonian almuds, of approximately the fourth acenturies respectively, are among the earliest extant sources on m31 Inboth cases musk appears as a perfume, and the issue discussed is wappropriate blessing to be said over it. Te sources conclude that, other perfumes which originate from a plant and hence call for one ptype of blessing to be said when they are employed as a perfume, muderived from an animal, calls for another sort of blessing.32

27 srang andzhoare both ibetan weight measures used mainly for gold and silver. Ozho is equal to approximately 5.5 grams.

28 SeeGos lo ts ba gzhon nu dpal, 1996, pp. 84953.29 Te Sogdians were a people of Iranian origin who were engaged in commerce

Silk Roads. Te Sogdian letters refer to letters, written by Sogdians, which were foDunhuang, and which provide illuminating material about life and commerce of the

30 de la Vaissire 2005.31 For an overview of other early sources and an extensive work on musk as a p

King 2007.32 Te Babylonian almud , in the section of Berakhot has:

.


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Evidence of the role of Jewish merchants in the musk trade is providthe geographer Ibn Khurraddhbih who wrote hisKitb al-maslik wal-mamlik (Book of Highways and Kingdoms ) inca. 846.33 Binyamin of udela, who journeyed through the Middle East during the second half of the twcentury, and whose Hebrew travelogue became widely known in Ethrough its Latin translation,34 described the extent of the Persian kingdomas stretching:

..till the land of ibet, in whose forests one nds animals from which muderived. And its government is four months walk from there.35

Although Binyamin of udela himself did not travel as far as ibet, he mtions ibet in a few other instances. He describes, for example, one povariation of the Musk Routes. Judging by the lengths of the differements he is giving, he obviously did not embark on the route himself. Yinformation is still valuable, as he probably gathered it from traders he

Baghdad. He begins in Baghdad, where he is situated. He then proceedescribe the way to some cities in Persia: And from there, it is four days to Shiraz, which is [in] the land of Persithere, there are about ten thousand Jews. From there it is seven days to Ghthe large city, which is on the Gozan River. And there, there are eight36 thousand Jews. And that town is a land of trade and [merchants] come there withgoods in all the languages of the gentiles and it is a vast place. And from

In Simons translation: Over all incense-perfumes the blessing is who createst fragranexcept over musk, which comes from a living creature and the blessing is, who createskinds of spices. Simon 1960,Berakoth, 43a. Te question also arises in the Jerusalem almud , intheBerakhot section, where the text has:

.

Rabbi Hisdah said: On all he says, who createst good smell in fragrant woods except on which one says, who createst good smell in various kinds of perfumes.almud Yerushalmi,Berakhot , 50.

33 Ibn Khurraddhbih 1889, pp. 1535. For the Rdniyya cf. also Labib 1965, pp. 3also the following pages on musk in Egyptian markets and Gil 1974. For musk trade chelm Heyd 18851886, ii, pp. 63640.

34 ranslations from Hebrew into Latin of Binyamin of udelasItinerary appeared in Antwerp (1575), Basel and Leiden (1633), Helmstadt (1636), and Leipzig (1674). Tesfollowed by numerous translations from the Latin into English, French and Dutch, appeared from the seventeenth century onwards. For more details see Hess 1965, p. 16.

35 Te Itinerary of Benjamin of udela, fol. 75. In Adlers edition: Adler 1907, p. 50. Binyamin of udela uses mor (myrrh) for musk. On the identication of mor (myrrh) within Hebrew sources see Shapirah 1959. We would like to thank Efraim Lev for sharinHebrew sources with us.

36 Another manuscript says: eighty, but eight seems more probable.


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is ve days to Samarkand, which is the large city at the edge of the land

And there are about fty thousand Israelites. And Rabbi Obadiah Hanasi is incharge of them and amongst them are many who are very wise and vFrom there it is four days to ibet, which is the land where musk is founforests.37

Te collection of the Genizah of Cairo also contains highly valuable mon Jewish trade in musk. We are not able to deal with the whole rangmaterial as yet, but can merely offer a glimpse of the type of inform

may discover in letters preserved in the collection.38

Merchants sometimeinformed each other in such letters about the demands and prices markets. Such evidence is contained in a letter received by a Jewish in eleventh-century Egypt, Joseph ibn Awkal. His colleague Hrn al-Ghazinformed him that musk was sold at 4 1/2 dinars (per ask) in unisthat it sold badly in Qayrawn and Mahdiyya.39 Western merchants in theMediterranean supply further data. According to a Portuguese sourclate fteenth century, before the sea route to India was discovered, for onemithql of musk in Alexandria was one cruzado.40

Hovaness Joughayetsi, an Armenian merchant who lived in Lhalmost ve years in the late seventeenth century, provides additional tion on the Musk Routes. His detailed accounts record his voyage fhan to ibet. He sailed to Surat, and after a number of trade transacti Agra, he proceeded to Patna. From there, he continued via Nepal, t After a stay of nearly ve years (16861691) he left Lhasa with 4of musk, along with some gold and tea.41 Considering that the rate for mu west of ibet was signicantly higher than its worth in gold, we cimagine why his detailed accounts stop upon his successful return to

Economic perspectives

Te Sogdian letters also supply us with further data concerning the pmusk. According to them it appears that in urfan in the eighth centugoing rate for one gram of musk was 8.4 silver coins. By comparisontemporary markets, musk remains one of the most expensive natur

37 Benjamin of udela, fol. 82.38 Goitein 1973, pp. 4951.39 Stillmann 1973, p. 50.40 Ashtor 1969, p. 337, quotingRoteiro da viagem de Vasco da Gama en 1497 , second edi-

tion, ed. A. Herculano (Lisbon, 1861), p. 116.41 Khachikian 1966.


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ucts, with end consumers in Europe or Japan paying between three antimes its weight in gold.42From the Arabic anecdote about the arrival of the trading ships iUbulla mentioned above, it is evident that musk trade was importanthe economy of the lands that the merchants passed through. Muskobviously also a very signicant source of income for the country ofand Himalayan rulers. Tis is conrmed by the following passage quby Nuwayr:

Ah mad ibn Ab Yaqb, a client of the Abbasids, said: Some scholars mentiothat it was well known that the origin of musk was in ibet and elsewherelocal traders there build something like a little tower which has the heighforearm. Te animal in whose navel the musk is produced, comes and scraits navel on this tower so that the navel falls off. Te traders go there at a ctime of the year which is known to them and gather the navels freely. Whebring it to ibet, they have to pay tax on it.43

Tat musk was a lucrative source of income for the ibetan authoritieconrmed by Hovaness, the Armenian merchant. He reports in his lthat every time one traded a litre of musk, the buyer had to pay oneequalling 37.79 grams, of silver to the state treasury in Lhasa.44

Te Production of musk: sources and methods

Musk is produced from a gland found on the male musk deer. Te word mis probably derived from an old Iranian rootmus ka, cognate with the Sanskrit,and meaning testicles.45 Tis probably alludes to the musk sac, which is locatclose to the genitals of the male musk deer. Apparently, this is also the soits aphrodisiac reputation, which is so prominent in Arabic literature.46

raditionally, musk pods are harvested by killing the deer, although possible to obtain musk from a live deer. In modern times the extraof musk from a live animal is performed using a spatula, which is ininto the musk sac via the external orice, while the animal is manrestrained. Te procedure takes a few minutes, and the opening to the m

42 Homes 1999.43 Nuwayr 19232002, xii, p. 4.44 Khachikian 1966. p. 171.45 Commonly found is the assertion that musk is derived from Sanskrit. Te problem

this, as pointed out by King is that in Sanskrit the common word for musk iskastr.For thediscussion on the source of the word and musk terminology see King 2007, pp. 2034.

46 Cf. for example the article Perfum in Chebel 1997.


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sac is afterwards treated with antibiotic cream. Te extracted musk i weighed and sealed in an airtight container.47Descriptions of the musk deer ( : gla ba) are found in several ibetansources. An important ibetan pharmacological treatise of the earlteenth century, theDri med shel phreng , mentions that musk is derived frothe navel of the musk deer. It describes two kinds of musk deer, a bla white one. Te black deer ( : gla nag ) lives in forests. It is small in size bluish-black in colour. Its musk is very strong in smell and consider

in quality. Te black musk deer lives at the upper limit of the pine foresaid to produce the greatest amount of musk.48 Te other type is the whitedeer ( : gla skya), from which a musk of lesser quality is produced.

In another pharmacological treatise, by Jam dpal rdo rje, a nineteentcentury Mongolian physician, we nd the following description:

Te musk deer is called good smell/smelling . . . It is as big as a goat, bbrown with long hair. Te musk is manufactured in the testicles of the mis formed in accordance with the lunar month. Females have none.

49

Medieval Arabic sources give rather confused answers to the questionanimal or animals produce musk and how it is extracted.50 Te most impor-tant sources are zoological books. Most authors mention that the which produces musk resembles a small gazelle. Frequently appeabutes of this animal in these descriptions are a horn in the middle of from which knife handles are made, and two ne white teeth which cof the lower (!) jaw. According to the Arabs, musk is produced in thethese animals. Nuwayr quotes an anonymous source on the process:

Musk is a surplus of blood in the animals body which is concentratenavel every year at a determined time. Tis is like the substances whichcertain body parts. If the blood has reached the navel, it swells and granimal becomes ill and suffers pain until this process is completed. It itself with its hooves and the navel falls off in the desert and in the step51

While Arabic sources agree more or less on the explanation of whaand how it is produced, they vary in their descriptions of how mextracted from the animal.

According to one tradition the musk gazelles go every year to one pplace where they rub their navels off, as mentioned before. Ten the

47

Homes 199948 Dil dmar dge bshes bstandzin phun tshogs 1983, p. 125.49 Jam dpal rdo rje 1971, p. 233.50 Akasoy forthcoming b.51 Nuwayr 19232002, xii, p. 4.


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come and collect the navels. Damr, the author of a zoological book fourteenth century, describes a rather elaborate method:

God has created the navel of the musk gazelle as a mine for musk, and it gfruit every year like a tree, which gives its fruit at every season by the permissionLord (Koran 14:30). When the navel becomes full, the gazelles sicken unmusk becomes mature. It is said that the people of ibet x pegs in the groso that the gazelles rub themselves against them and the musk falls near the52

According to other authors the gazelles are hunted. Masd describes theprocedure as follows:

In ibet the gazelles are hunted with ropes and nets. Sometimes they arehunted with arrows. When they are caught and the musk bags are cut offblood in their navels ows, does not clot, and remains fresh. Te smell is rnant and disappears only after a while. Trough substances from the achanges and becomes musk. Tis is like fruit which are cut from the tree bthey are judged to be ripe.53

Another interesting point to take notice of in the Islamic context is musreligious problem. As the quotation from al-Ghazl at the beginning oarticle shows, musk was very much a standard component of descriptiparadise. Tis, however, does not necessarily imply that it was recommeto use it in this world. After all, wine is equally described as being partin paradise, yet its consumption in this world is strictly forbidden. Potemusk could be a problem for orthodox Muslim scholars from at leaspoints of view, as a sexually stimulating perfume, as a luxurious prand as a product of blood which is considered impure in Islam. It seemit was only the last aspect which was controversial in Islamic law anSunni and Shiite scholars defended opposed views. Even though the sclearly deserves full investigation, it may be reasonable to assume thopposition reects the different stances Sunni and Shiite legal scholavis--vis the lawful consumption of meat from animals slaughtered bMuslims. Sunni law reveals a more relaxed attitude which is also obvthe views of Sunni jurists regarding the lawfulness of eating cheese prby non-Muslims. Te production of cheese requires rennet which impproblems very similar to those involved in musk.54 In some of our sources wecan nd a critique of the Shiite position. Damr, for example quoteopinion which explicitly condemns the harsh attitude of the Shiites.55 Sunni

52

Damr 19061908, pp. 2656.53 Masd 19651970, 392.54 Cook 1984.55 Damr 19061908, pp. 2667. Damr also stipulates that musk has to be extracted

a living animal (Ibid., pp. 2689).


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al-Misk mentions Sogdian musk as having the best quality, followIndian musk. Both, he explains, are produced in ibet, the Indian kindthe border region with India. One of the possible explanations for a clack of simplicity in the terminology might be found again in zoologica which claim that musk-gazelles live and graze in one region but wananother region to throw off their musk-bags.59 Authors also emphasise differentelements which determine the kind and quality of musk. Some stress thof the region where the animals graze, whereas others emphasise meth

extraction and preservation. Apart from the regional attributes Arabic texts mention several critedetermine the quality of musk, namely substance, colour and fragrTese allow a comparison with the ibetan distinctions. In a classicatiomusk quoted by Nuwayr a lower quality of musk is brought from theof the oghuzghuz urks. It is described as heavy and blackish. Te mchants use it for cheating. Another passage in Nuwayrs text conrm

similarities between the ibetan and the Arabic classications:Te best musk with regard to fragrance and appearance is that which is alike. Its fragrance resembles that of the Lebanese apple. Its colour is prenantly yellow. It is between coarse and ne. Te musk which follows it is intense in black colour, but it has a similar fragrance and appearance, yet ithe same. It is followed by a variety of musk of even more intense blackneis the weakest kind and has the least value.60

Even though the Arabic sources we have consulted so far do not meexplicitly brown or red musk, the scale of colours and their implicatiothe quality of musk seem to be the same in both the ibetan and Arabicditions.

Arabic sources also discuss articial musk and substances which arby merchants to deceive their customers. It is hardly surprising that stutes for musk are more frequently discussed in countries where the

nal is a highly priced trading good. Arabic books on market rules aimportant source for this question. Tey frequently mention the substamerchants use to extend original musk and explain how to test the auticity of the substance.61 In Shayzars treatise, for example, we nd the flowing description:

59 Nuwayr 19232002, ix, p. 333. Cf. also Qalqashand 19131918, ii, pp. 11416.60 Nuwayr 19232002, ix, p. 333.61 Ibn al-Ukhwa 1938, pp. 1245; al-Shayzar 1999, pp. 6575 for apothecaries an

fumers. Cf. also Schnig 2002, pp. 1847.


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Some of them ll musk bags with the bark of emblic myrobalan and Ind

perwort, and also shdrn. Tey knead it with diluted pine resin and fofour dirhams of this they add one dirham of musk. Ten they ll the mu with it, seal them with resin and dry them on the top of the oven.

Te way to recognise this and all other frauds regarding musk bags ismuh tasib62 to open them and put them to his lips like someone wanting to what is inside a substance. If the musk is sharp like re to his mouth tgenuine and unadulterated, but if it is not, it is adulterated.63

Other traders simply sold Chinese musk as ibetan musk, as the authe treatise Minhj al-dukknin thirteenth-century Egypt notes.64

Uses of musk in Islamic Medicine

In the Islamic medical tradition musk is used for a great variety ofand bodily ailments. It appears almost as a universal remedy. But tsome distinctive features. In addition to its aphrodisiac effect, onproperties of musk that is mentioned in many Islamic sources isstrengthens the heart. Te Spanish pharmacologist Ibn al-Bayt r (ca. 11971248), for example, quotes two ninth-century authors, Ibn Mssa65 and Ish qibn Imrn,66 to this effect. Similar statements are made by the encycloal-Nuwayr,67 the zoographical writers Damr and Qazwn,68 the pharma-cologist Ibn al-But ln,69 and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya in his book on

medicine of the prophet.70

Another recurrent feature is the use of musk as an antidote in pocases. In addition to Ibn Sn, Ibn al-Bayt r quotes Ish q ibnImrn, accord-ing to whom musk stops the effect of poison.71 A similar statement is mad

62 market inspector.63 Al-Shayzar 1999, p. 70.64 Abl-Mun al- At t r 1992, p. 282. We would like to thank Leigh Chipman for dra

our attention to this passage.65 Ibn al-Bayt r 1875, iv, p. 156.s ibn Mssa, probably d. 275/888, has not yet b

properly studied, cf. Sezgin 19672000, iii, p. 257.66 Ibn al-Bayt r 1875, iv, p. 156. Ish q ibnImrn is known as the autor of a treatise on m

ancholy. He died before 296/907. Ibn al-Bayt r is probably quoting from Ish qsal-Uns r wal-tamm(Sezgin 19672000, iii, pp. 2667).

67 Nuwayr 19232002, xii, pp. 69.68 Qazwn 1928, p. 20; Damr 19061908, pp. 2667.69 Ibn al-But ln 1990, p. 110.70 Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya 1998, p. 276.71 Ibn al-Bayt r 1875, iv, pp. 1567. See also the great musk electuary in Leve

p. 75. Apart from that, musk is not mentioned very often in Ibn Wah shiyyas treatise.


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by Qazwn and Damr in their books on zoology,72 and by Ibn Qayyim al- Jawziyya.73 More precisely, musk can be used as an antidote for a poicalledbsh, an aconite, say Ibn al-Bayt r and Ibn Sn.74 Te theoretical back-ground of this effect of musk is that, according to the Islamic medical trapoisons have a cooling effect which is countered by the warming effect oSeveral authors mention, for example, that musk is useful for cold diseas75

Uses of musk in ibetan Medicine

In the Dunhuang manuscripts, which represent the earliest extant ibmedical sources (eighthtenth centuries), musk appears as a substance foing wounds. When discussing wounds, Dunhuang ms. IOL ib. 756 says:

If the bleeding does not stop, break up musk [and] put it inside a bowl of If [the patient] drinks a bit at a time, it will get better.76

Another reference is repeated further down along in the same manuscriIf the wound is dry and swollen, one can cover the wounded area with thfrom the chest of livestock.....; administer musk and bears gall.77

Te notion of musk as a kind of super-drug in a manner reminiscent ofof the Arabic sources, is found in therGyud bzhi , thelocus classicus of ibetanmedical writing, dated to the twelfth century. Te mythical description wopens therGyud bzhi and which sets the scene of the teaching of the textcome, focuses on an ideal medicine city (lta na sdug , Beautiful to Behold ).Te text describes the four medicinal mountains around the city, which gsuperiormateria medica: the southern mountain produces ultimate heatinsubstances; the northern mountain produces ultimate cooling substanceast and west produce various types of balancing substances. Te descr

72 Qazwn 1928, p. 20; Damr 19061908, pp. 2667.73 Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya 1998, p. 276.74 Ibn al-Bayt r recommends a musk-medicine (daw al-misk ) to counter the effect of the

aconitebsh(Ibn al-Bayt r 1875, s.v. b-y-sh). Ibn Sn 1294 AH, p. 360.75 Ibn al-Bayt r quotes Rz, abar ( Al ibn Rabban al- abar,c . 158/775c . 250/864, cf.

Sezgin 19672000, iii, pp. 23640), Ish q ibn Imrn, and theKitb al-tajribatayn(a text,apparently a commentary on a work by Ibn al-Wd, attributed to Ibn Bjja and Sal-Andalus, cf. Cabo Gonzlez 2004).

76 sman pai dpyad| khrag myi chod na| gla rtsi mnyes la| chu phor gang gi nang du blukheu sus la| phor bu re rethungs na| phan no| Dunhuang ib. IOL ib (S.t.) 756, Luo (ed.)2002, p. 134, lines 4445.

77 gla rtsi dang dom mkhris khong du gthang. Ibid., line 81.


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goes on to include the area around this mythical city of medicine, wnds other super-potent substances. It is here that we nd musk, t with other general super-potent substances.78

As in the Arabic tradition musk is described in therGyud bzhi primarily asa substance for treating poisons.79 Within the chapter dealing with the powof medicines in therGyud bzhi , musk is described in the following way:

Musk ( gla rtsi ): It cures poisoning, parasite illnesses (srin), disorders of the kid-neys and liver and contagious diseases ( gnyan nad ).80

Musk is also described primarily as a poison antidote within the discprinciples for compounding medicines in therGyud bzhi .81 Here we nd themain categories of illnesses and a list of medicines for the treatmencategory. Musk is listed as the rst substance on the list of that classcines which neutralise poisons.82

Later sources conrm that the main use of musk in ibetan medi

for treating cases of poisoning. It is described as an antidote againsous bites, primarily of snakes.83 Tis primary use is exemplied in the ibetalanguage by some of musks synonyms, eg. snake terrier (sbrul skrag byed)or: snake venom antidote (sbrul dug myos pai mtsan ma).84

Musk also appears in ibetan medicine as a general restorer. In discof specic therapeutic techniques, musk is mentioned for treating dtriple humoral disorders.85 Te general instruction here is that there is a n

78 rGyud bzhi 2000, p. 2. Similarly, the area surroundinglta na sdug is also where Sangs rgyargya mtsho in his seventeenth-century commentary of therGyud bzhi , locates musk: Sangsrgyas rgya mtsho 1994, p. 19. It is interesting to note, however, that in the medical ilcommissioned by Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho, the musk deer appears on the south which in this context implies it would be regarded as a heating substance. Could thia reection of an adoption of the Islamic notion of musk as a heating substance? At we need to leave this an open question.

79 rGyud bzhi 2000, p. 68. For Clarkes translation see: Clarke 1995, pp. 1412. Claradditional information (in square brackets), taken from the Sangs rgyas rgya mtshosBlue Beryl .

80 Chapter twenty of the second tantra. For the section on musk see:rGyud bzhi 2000,p. 68. For Clarkes translation see: Clarke 1995, pp. 1412. Clarke adds additional in(in square brackets), taken from the Sangs rgyas rgya mtshosBlue Beryl .

Contagious disease is but one possibility of translating gnyan nad.Drungtso and Drungtsosuggest: severe disease; viral and bacterial diseases. Drungtso and Drungtso [1p. 158.

81 Second antra, chapter twenty-one.82 rGyud bzhi 2000, p. 76; Clarke 1995, p. 184.83 See Jam dpal rdo rje. fols. 39v & 117r.84 Yisun (ed) 1993, i, p. 419.85 Second tantra, chap. 28:rGyud bzhi 2000, pp. 8892; Clark 1995, pp. 21415.


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for a medicine, or combination of medicines, which have both coolinheating qualities. Musk appears together with black gu gul , usually identiedas frankincense, or Indian bdellium resin, as good for treating infe( gnyan nad ) and spirit ( gdon) disorders.86

Musk is also described as effective in treatingsrinillnesses.87 Srinusually refers to worms or vermin.88 Srinillnesses, however, include much more geerally, as put by Kletter and Kriechbaum:

various disorders which occur due to an imbalance in the differentsrinof thebody. Te conditions for these diseases are the consumption of an unsuitabland wrong behaviour (which also implies underestimating any danger of gion) and the inuence of demons. Furthermore, any srinpenetrating from out-side may cause an imbalance in the internalsrin.89

In both the ibetan and the Islamic traditions musk is also prescribed agdiseases of the eye. Jam dpal rdo rje mentions that musk is good for diseaof the eye channel (mig rtsa). According to Ibn al-Bayt r, Ish q ibn Imrnmentions that it helps against winds in the eye;90 also Ibn al-Jazzr says thatit is useful for winds which enter the eye,91 equally Ibn Wah shiyya, quoted by Damr,92 H akm ibn H unayn, quoted by Ibn al-Bayt r,93 and Ibn Qayyimal-Jawziyya in his book on prophetic medicine.94

Yet, there are also uses for which we have not found any parallel Islamic medical tradition. One of these is the use of musk in ibetan mcine for curing illnesses of the kidneys and liver.95

86 Second tantra, chapter twenty-eight;rGyud bzhi 2000, p. 91. For the nature of gnyanill-nesses see note 80 above. Illnesses caused by various types of spirits, sometimes also as demons, such as gdonand others, is of major concern in ibetan medical theory and pratice. For an overview see Clifford 1984, particularly pp. 14797.

87 Within the context of the discussion for compounding medicines, Second achapter twenty-one. Clarke 1995, p. 185.

88 Te Arabic tradition ascribes this quality particularly to the musk deers horn.89 Kletter and Kriechbaum 2001, p. 364.90 Ibn al-Bayt r 1875, iv, 156.91 Ibn al-Jazzr 1985, p. 40.92 Damr 19061908, pp. 2667.93 Ibn al-Bayt r 1875, iv, 156. For the mysterious author H akm ibn H unayn and the paral-

lels in RzsH w , cf. Sezgin 19672000, iii, p. 270.94 Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya 1998, p. 276.95 rGyud bzhi 2000, p. 68; Clarke 1995, p. 141.


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Musk and theriac

In ibetan medicine musk also appears as one ingredient of dar ya kan. Teibetan namedar yak anis a loan-word which seems to be derived fro

Arabic or Persian form of the potiontiryq (Greek:Teriakon), a very popu-lar remedy originating from Greece, which became very widesprea Arab world.96 It is typically made from a large number of exotic and sive ingredients and used for a great variety of diseases, in particu

antidote for the poison of snakes.In the ibetan contexts musk seems to be not just one ingredient oriac, but the key one. In one ibetan recipe fordar ya kan, musk is termed asthe the elixir of dar ya kan (rtsi dar ya kan).97 dar ya kanappears in a list of works said to have been translated by Biji sanpashilaha, the yet unidibetan court physician, who is mentioned in ibetan medical historbelonging to the school of Galenos.98 A section on thedar ya kanalso appears

in thesMan dpyad zla bai rgyal po (Somaraja), a text which is considered be one of the earliest texts on ibetan medicine, dated to the eighthcentury and which contains other elements which may have come fGraeco-Arabic medical tradition.

In the Arabic sources, the association of musk and theriac is evida short passage in Ibn SnsCanonin which he describes musk. AccordinIbn Sn, it has the power of a theriac and is used as an antidote fobsh.99 Tis statement is repeated by Ibn al-Quff (d. 685/1286) in hisKitbal-umda100 and Ibn Hubal (c. 515/1122610/1213) in his Mukhtrt f l-t ibb.101

Te idea that miraculous life-saving substances, even the elixir were difficult to come by and included priceless essences imporexotic places in the far East, was not unusual in Greek antiquity medieval Islamic world. Recipes for theriacs or powerful panaceas wically include ingredients from India or East Asia. A similar notionveyed by the legend that Alexander the Great travelled to the East for the source of immortal life. In the passage fromTe Jewels of the Qur n quoted at the beginning of our article, al-Ghazl also associated musantidote (tiryq ), which he understood in a spiritual sense. For the ibe

96 On theriacs see Watson 1966; Ullmann 1970, pp. 32142; otelin 2004.97 Yonten 1998, pp. 979.98 See Beckwith 1980.99 Ibn Sn 1294 AH, p. 360.

100 Ibn al-Quff 1356 AH, i, pp. 2623. Kircher 1967, pp. 3467.101 Ibn Hubal 1962, pp. 1223.


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thedar ya kanseems to have played a similar role, but as a cure-all impofrom the exotic West rather than the exotic East.

ransmissions; the Silk Roads; the Musk Routes

A study of musk in Arabic and ibetan historical sources and a compastudy of the uses of musk in Islamic and ibetan medical literature su

that the Musk Routes formed a link between ibet and the Islamic woTese routes were relatively short and immensely easier to travel than thRoads.102 But how far does the link indicated by the substance also poia link or exchange of ideas? Can we learn from the Silk Roads modassume that a trade route also implied cultural exchanges?

Te case of musk is a particularly interesting one, as it involves aspelong-distance, medicine and what Appadurai terms, cultural econom103

Te last of these is concerned with how culturein the present contmedicine, literature and religionis to be seen as part of the process th which value is constructed. Te cultural formulation of musk as a lugood as well as a super-drug is inter-twined and multi-faceted. As can serve as a model for the study of other exotic super-drugs.

What we have described so far suggests that by and large the Islamthe ibetan medical traditions are quite in harmony with each other as f

the use of musk is concerned. Although there are some usages that areonly in one or the other tradition, we do, in general, nd many comusages. Indeed, there is also other growing evidence to suggest cobetween the two medical traditions.104

But while uses of the drug appear to have travelled along the Musk Rtogether with the substance, the comparison between the two sets of salso brings to light important differences, primarily regarding the classiof musk. Arabic pharmacology uses the Greek classication of four pqualities, namely: dry or moist, hot or cold, and grading each drug with rto these qualities on a scale from one (weakest) to four (strongest).105 Withinthis context musk is classied as hot and dry in the second or third degre106

102 A description of the exact geographical routes which were used would be desirablbeyond the scope of our present work.

103 Appadurai 1986, pp. 363.104 On the links between ibetan and Graeco-Arab medicine see Beckwith 1979; M

forthcoming and Yoeli- lalim forthcoming.105 Pormann and Savage-Smith 2007, p. 53.106 Ibn But ln 1990 (hot in the second and dry in the third degree, p. 110); Ibn al-Ja

1985 (hot in the second degree, p. 40); Qazwn 1928 (hot and dry in the third degree, p


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In the ibetanrGyud bzhi, materia medicaare classied according to thsix tastes107 (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, hot and astringent).108 Materia medica are further classied by their eight qualities (nus pa), namely: heavy, oily, cooblunt, light, coarse, hot and sharp.109 A further classication is into the senteen secondary qualities (smoothness, heaviness, warmth, oiliness,coldness, bluntness, coolness, pliability, uidity, dryness, absorbenlightness, sharpness, coarseness and motility).110 Within this context, musk iclassied as a medicine with a bitter taste. Medicines having a bitter

then discussed as curing loss of appetite, parasite illnesses (srin),111

thirst, poi-soning, leprosy, fainting, infectious diseases, as well as overcominvomiting of uid and bile. It dries necrosis (drul ), fat, grease, marrow, stooand urine. Te text tells us that bitter-tasting substances (musk being them) improve mental alertness, cure breast disorders and hoarsenevoice. Te text also warns against partaking of bitter things in excessmay consume the bodys constituents and increase wind and phlegm112

Te variation of classication of the same drug between different systems is a fundamental issue to explore when discussing medical sions across cultures. A different primary classication of the samfound even in two medical traditions with very close links, whether gical, or cultural such as yurveda and ibetan medicine, where we materia medicais categorised in different, sometimes even opposing ter113

Te lack of correlation between the Arabic and the ibetan systemterms of medical theory, on the one hand, and the correlation of the puses on the other hand, although not surprising, is an interesting poinmaking. Practical uses transport easily across cultures, whilst medicaremain far more static. Following the trails of trade in exoticmateria medica brings a whole array of questions dealing with the ways by which practical uses are then made to t local medical theories. We belmusk and the Musk-Route can serve as useful models to explore thtions further.

107 astes are further divided into tastes rst felt by the tongue (ro) and post-digestive taste(zhu rjes ).

108 Tis topic is discussed in the second tantra, chapter nineteen.rGyud bzhi 2000, pp. 625.109 Tis topic is discussed in the second tantra, chapter twenty.rGyud bzhi 2000. pp. 6575.110 In Clarks translation. Tis topic is also discussed in the second tantra, chapter tw111 See above.112 rGyud bzhi 2000, p. 64; Clarke 1995, p. 127.113 We would like to thank Dr. ashigang for pointing this out.


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