Analysis of plant illustrations in the Islamic tradition (11th-14th centuries) from Dioscorides' De Materia Medica

This study analyzes the depictions of seven common plants identified in four illustrated Arabic manuscript translations of De Materia Medica, originally authored by Dioscorides. These manuscripts, created in different centuries within the Islamic manuscript tradition, have been examined in comparison with the earliest illustrated version of De Materia Medica, the Anicia Juliana Codex. Since later translations were based on this codex, it serves as the foundation for this research. The thesis seeks to answer the following questions: In which manuscripts are the plant illustrations from the Anicia Juliana Codex found? How were these illustrations replicated and interpreted across different periods? By analyzing these aspects, the study determines how the same plants were illustrated and interpreted in Arabic translations from different centuries. The aim of this thesis is to compare and analyze the historical evolution of plant illustrations in the Arabic manuscript translations of Dioscorides' De Materia Medica within the Islamic tradition. The first chapter provides an overview of Dioscorides' life and the reception of De Materia Medica in Islamic literature. The second chapter examines the Arabic illustrated manuscripts of De Materia Medica from the 11th to 14th centuries, along with information about the artistic traditions of that period. The third chapter presents framed drawings of the seven common plants found in these manuscripts, analyzing their formal characteristics and artistic value. In the fourth chapter, full-page illustrations of the seven identified plants from manuscripts dating between the 11th and 14th centuries are organized in tables, allowing for a comparative evaluation of their spatial positioning, formal elements, and artistic differences over the centuries. Keywords: Botanical, Botanical Illustration, Dioscorides, Peri Hiles İatrikes, De Materia Medica, Kitabül Haşayiş