[The origins of the Islamic model of hospital]

In this paper a new perspective is proposed regarding the most relevant factors in the origin and the first developments of the Islamic hospital in Abbasid Baghdad. Notably, the importance of the Persian contribution to the foundation of the first hospitals is questioned and the major focus is put on the role of Eastern Christian assistential institutions. The rise of the Islamic hospital is reconsidered in the frame of the wider process of urbanisation in the first Abbasid century. The Islamic bîmaristan brought about a new concept of assistance by offering a medical cure rather than care.