Please include reference to me, and to this site, if making use of any notes below.
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- (Jan 11th. 2009) – Burnett quotes Simon of Genoa to the effect that “Ezledari in the second book of the Practica is explained as being ginger, but it is neither Greek nor Arabic”. I’d suggest that the term intended was the Arabic and/or Farsi [al] jadwaar or zedwar [جدوار], describing one of the ginger family that is still known in French as Zédoaire and in English as Zedoary (Curcuma zedoaria [Christm.] Rosc.). That is, an error of pronunciation which made of al zedwar, el-zedar and then a mistranscription of which produced Ezledar[i]
My source for the Arabic, French and Farsi terms is Gernot Katzer.
Reference to Burnett is to:
- Simon Burnett, ‘Simon of Genoa’s use of the Brevarium of Stephen, the Disciple of Philosophy’ in Barbara Zipser, Simon of Genoa’s Medical Lexicon (2013). pp. 67-78.
Anyone exploring the intersection of eastern and western knowledge during our period of interest might also read:
Voynich Revisionist 