12. FORCEPS

           This surgical instrument, made of brass, appears to be a rather crude forceps of the non-locking type. The date and place of its origin cannot be definitely ascertained. The well-known treatise on surgery and surgical instruments, Kitab-al Tasreef of Al-Zahrawi of the Abbaside period, preserved at the library, contains sketches of various surgical instruments but this figure does not match with any of those images. This suggests that it had a later origin. It was possibly used as a forceps in cases of surgical treatment. It may also have been used for gynaecological surgery.