Spinal anatomy in an essential illustrated medical treatise of the late Ottoman era.

Abstract

The aim of this article is to introduce a great physician of the late Ottoman period and his writings on spinal anatomy. The article presents chapters related to the anatomy of vertebra and the vertebral column in the book of Şanizade Ataullah Mehmed, Mir'āt al-Abdān fı Tashrıḥ-i A'ḍāi'l-Insān (Mirror of the Bodies in the Dissection of the Members of the Human Body). Works of Şanizade are viewed as important landmarks in Turkish medical history. Anatomy education in Turkey can be divided into four historic periods and the second period is called the Şanizade Period (1816-1827). This period leads up to the opening of the first modern medical school in Turkey on March 14, 1827. The most important characteristic of Şanizade's work is that it is the first illustrated anatomy book printed in the Ottoman Age, and the value of the work is shown by Şanizade being one of the originators of medical terms in Ottoman Medicine.