{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,2]],"date-time":"2026-01-02T18:25:52Z","timestamp":1767378352960,"version":"3.48.0"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"BMJ","content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Med Humanities"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,18]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Ferdowsi\u2019s\n                    <jats:italic>Shahnameh<\/jats:italic>\n                    , composed around 1000 CE, contains a remarkable narrative of the birth of the Persian hero Rostam, which describes a procedure resembling a caesarean section, termed \u2018Rostam-zad\u2019 or \u2018Rostamina\u2019. This account, predating Roman associations with the procedure, offers insights into ancient Persian medical practices, including surgical techniques, anaesthetic methods and postoperative care. The story details a lateral incision, the use of a cannabis and camphor concoction for pain management and suturing with a healing salve, culminating in maternal survival\u2014a rare outcome in ancient surgical births. By analysing this narrative, this paper explores the intersection of myth and medicine, highlighting the sophistication of Persian medical knowledge and challenging Eurocentric narratives in the history of medicine. The\n                    <jats:italic>Shahnameh<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2019s depiction not only reflects empirical surgical and pharmacological practices but also underscores the role of epic literature in preserving medical history, offering valuable perspectives on the cultural and scientific heritage of ancient Persia. This article also draws on contemporary scholarship, offering a comparative exploration of this cultural and medical tradition alongside Greco-Roman, Indian and Islamic medical texts. Additionally, the article clarifies that Ferdowsi\u2019s purpose in composing the Shahnameh was primarily to preserve the Persian language and mythohistorical identity, not to record medical procedures. The present study treats the narrative of Rostam\u2019s birth as a \u2018mytho-medical\u2019 episode, a symbolic story that nevertheless preserves empirical medical knowledge embedded in Persian cultural memory.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1136\/medhum-2025-013416","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,2]],"date-time":"2026-01-02T18:20:18Z","timestamp":1767378018000},"page":"medhum-2025-013416","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Myth and medicine: a historical perspective on caesarean section in Ferdowsi\u2019s\n                    <i>Shahnameh<\/i>"],"prefix":"10.1136","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6729-9113","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Babak","family":"Daneshfard","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Chronic Respiratory Diseases Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran"},{"name":"Noor Persian Medicine Clinic (NPMC), Mehestan, Alborz, Iran"},{"name":"Canadian College of Integrative Medicine (CCIM), Montreal, Quebec, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4630-2082","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Majid","family":"Nimrouzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Center for Traditional Medicine and History of Medicine, Department of Persian Medicine, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,2]]},"reference":[{"issue":"3","key":"2026010210200933000_medhum-2025-013416v1.1","first-page":"147","article-title":"\u201cA Short Review on the History of Anesthesia in Ancient Civilizations\u201d","volume":"8","author":"Abdoli","year":"2019","journal-title":"Journal of Research on History of Medicine"},{"key":"2026010210200933000_medhum-2025-013416v1.2","unstructured":"Albucasis . 1973. \u201cOn Surgery and Instruments. 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