The Sultan’s Sex Potions

About the Book

Arabic erotic literature has a long and rich history, going back at least to the ninth century. Far from being mere titillation, eroticism and sexuality were explored with scientific rigour by scholars and physicians.

Written by leading thirteenth-century polymath Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī, The Sultan’s Sex Potions belongs to a group of works devoted to aphrodisiacs, sexual practices and coital positions. Sober and measured in tone, the treatise was composed at the request of the ruler and so its potions, electuaries, syrups and enemas enjoyed a ‘royal warrant of appointment’.

This newly revised edition is based on five Arabic manuscripts and accompanied by an English translation. It also includes an extensive introduction to Arabic erotic literature, a biographical study of al-Ṭūsī, a bibliography of erotological sources and comprehensive indexes, offering the most complete and authoritative presentation of the text to date.

For more on sex and eroticism in mediaeval Arabic literature, visit www.arabicerotica.com

About the Author

Daniel L. Newman holds the Chair of Arabic Studies at the University of Durham, UK. His publications include An Imam in Paris: Account of a Stay in France by An Egyptian Cleric (1826–1831), The Sultan’s Sex Potions: Arab Aphrodisiacs in the Middle Ages, The Sultan’s Feast: A Fifteenth-Century Egyptian Cookbook and The Exile’s Cookbook: Medieval Gastronomic Treasures from al-Andalus and North Africa. In addition to his academic work, Newman shares his passion for recreating medieval Arab dishes on his blog (www.eatlikeasultan.com) and Instagram account (@medieval_arab_cooking).
A Persian polymath, Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī produced an oeuvre in excess of 150 works in both Arabic and Persian, covering a large number of fields including mathematics, geometry, mineralogy, astronomy, medicine, philosophy and theology. He also re-edited and wrote commentaries on Greek and Arabic mathematical works, which became crucial resources in the spread of the Greek sciences in the Muslim world. The historian Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) considered al-Ṭūsī to be the greatest of Muslim scholars.

Reviews

‘Provides a much-needed, compact guide to the genre … generally serious in tone, but also rather amusing … accessible and inviting to both specialists and non-specialist readers.’
School of Abbasid Studies