Al-Akhawayni and the Early Descriptions of Meningitis

Abstract

Abubakr Rabi-ibn Ahmad Akhawayni Bukhari, also known as Al-Akhawayni, was a Persian physician who lived in the Near East during an age in which medical knowledge blossomed in the Islamic world. This era, the “Islamic Golden Age,” extended from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. During his lifetime as a physician, Al-Akhawayni was famous for his expertise in medicine, including disorders that would be considered neurological today. In his extant book Hidayat al-Muta`allemin fi al-Tibb [A Scholar’s Guide to Medicine], he provided an early description of what is probably meningitis. He illustrated the membranes surrounding the brain tissue in detail and described manifestations resulting from their inflammation.