Protecting against the unseen: Chazal’s approach to chemical and biological hazards

Abstract

In terms of the outside environments that surrounded the Talmud, the Sassanian empire surrounded the Rabbis of the Babylonian Talmud, whereas the Greco-Roman tradition surrounded those of the Yerushalmi. Regarding the approaches of the surrounding environments to health, Geller points to differences between the Greco-Roman and Akkadian/Babylonian approaches [1]. Greco-Roman medicine attributed disease to an imbalance of the four humours and as such, used diet, purges, changes of environment, and bloodletting as treatments [2]. In contrast, Akkadian/Babylonian medicine attributed disease to demons or other external factors and therefore used external drugs for treatment, rather than diet, purging, and bloodletting [3].