"כוס של עצם אליקורנו": "חד-קרן" בכתבי הרפואה של חכמי צפת במאות ה-17–16

The medicine cabinet of the Middle Ages and the early modern world contained dozens of medicinal substances, which derived from plants,animals, and minerals. Several Jewish sources from Land of Israel (16th-17th centuries) record a material called "alicorno". The current study discusses the identification of this substance, its origin, and medical usages. The term "alicorno" in Jewish literature parallel to the term"alicorn" in general sources and means unicorn's horn. During the history many different substances were believed to be the horn of the unicorn,such as, fossilized bones, mammoth ivory, walrus tusks, narwhal tusk, mountain goat's horns, Indian rhinoceros' horn, various types of soil and even alchemical preparations. Moreover, the horns of the unicorns were perceived as having magical properties and were believed to have thepower to cure a wide variety of illnesses, particularly to neutralize poisons. The Jewish sources from the Eretz Israel region mention two main usages of the alicorn – preparing a magical-medicinal cup and making a medical powder for neutralization poisons. The identity of the alicorno in the Jewish literature is not unequivocally clear, possibly referring to the horn of an Indian rhinoceros or narwhal tusk. During the period under discussion, the use of narwhal "horn" for medical purposes was very popular in Europe, so it is very likely that magical cups were brought to Eretz Israel in 16th century with Jews who immigrated from European countries.