The main goal of this project is to analyse the ways in which ancient Hebrew, like ancient Tibetan, is a case of medical syncretism deriving from what is termed eastern and western medical traditions. Having initiated collaborative work on different aspects of cross-Asian transmissions of knowledge (as part of the Islam and Tibet , Medicine along the Silk Roads and Rashid al-Din projects, see list of publications), it has become clear that still missing from this newly emerging picture is the role of Jewish networks, encompassing Jewish physicians, pharmacists and traders, who had a major role in the trans- Asian and cross-cultural medical exchanges. This project will build on the work I have conducted so far on the multi-cultural aspects of Tibetan medicine. It will analyse the Hebrew Book of Assaf, as a syncretic text bringing together Greek, Hebrew and Indian medical knowledge and practice. The study of this text is extremely important for the history of early medicine, as it is a unique exemplar of a Sassanid period medical compendium. As such, its study is vital for a better understanding not only of Jewish, but also of Islamic, early European and Asian medicine. In assessing cross-Asian links in medical knowledge, the project will build on my personal and collaborative research in previous projects in the last five years, and progress to the next necessary stage, focusing on two main themes: 1. How did medical knowledge move across Asia? 2. What was the nature of the knowledge which moved? Dealing with Hebrew sources, this project will deal with the role of Jewish physicians, pharmacists and traders, who had a major role in the trans-Asian and cross- cultural medical exchanges. A main focus of the project will be a first of its kind multi-cultural analysis of the hugely important, yet understudied, Book of Assaf, an early (pre-Islamic) Hebrew medical compendium. As in the case of Tibetan medical histories, which present Tibetan medicine as a synthesis between Greek, Indian and Chinese medical systems, the Book of Assaf in its medical history section also presents its knowledge as deriving from the great traditions around it: the Greek, th e Egyptian and the Indian. This parallel description in the medical histories raises the interest in a comparative analysis regarding medical content as well, focusing on processes of transmission and adaptation of medical knowledge.