Embryology and Heart in Persian Medicine

The heart, as an organ of the human body, has been a mysterious object even from prehistoric times and as such has been the object of much curiosity and interest. The history of cardiac anatomy dates back to 3500 BC, when the Greeks and Egyptians first established their understanding of this structure based on their religious beliefs. For the ancient Greeks, the heart was always a fascinating subject for continuous study, and their scientific endeavors gradually further illuminated the anatomy of the heart.1 Nowadays, it is known that the heart is the first functional organ to form during vertebrate development, in the third week.2 A review of historical evidence in Persian medicine shows that this scientific finding has a longer history. Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari (d. 873 AD), who was the author of Firdaws al- Ḥikma (Paradise of Wisdom) (Ali b. Rabban al-Ṭabari. Firdausu’l-Ḥikmat or Paradise of Wisdom. Edited by Ṣiddiḳi MZ. Berlin: Kunstdruckerei Sonne; 1928:137–138.), quotes Aristotle (384–322 BC) as saying that “the first organ to form in an embryo is the heart.” Tabari corroborates Aristotle’s theory in this regard and mentions that Hippocrates (460– 375 BC) opposed the theory as he had observed the brain to be the first organ to develop in a chicken embryo