Reck Ch., Benkato A. ‘Like a Virgin’: A Sogdian Recipe for Restoring Virginity and the
Sanskrit Background of Sogdian Medicine // Written Monuments of the Orient, 2(8) 2018. P. 67—91.
Among the fragments of Sogdian medical texts is what seems to be a collection
of gynaecological prescriptions, including a recipe for the restoration of virginity.
In addition to providing an edition and translation of the text, we attempt to set it within
a comparative context including recipes for virginal simulation occuring in Arabic,
Chagatai, Greek, and Latin medieval works. Finally, we identify the text as, like much of
Sogdian medicine, possible Sanskrit origin, and give an overview of the Sogdian medical
fragments so far identified.
The Nineteenth All-Russia Orientalist Conference in memory of O.O. Rosenberg will be held at the IOM RAS on November 24–25, 2025. The conference program is now available.
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