1001 Inventions lex ¢ re 0 pasten Heritage in Our World Second Edition Chief Editor Salim TS Al-Hassani Co-editors B&B - ; Elizabeth Woodcock & Rabah Saoud SEBS Technology and Cvitzaton‘Much ofthe msterisl for thisbook is based cn aticles published on ‘worn Muslimberitage com. Principal articles are written by the following schelars, arranged in alphabetical order: Professor Mohammed Abattouy (Engineeting and Mechanics) RH Princess Wiidan Ali (Art and Islas coins) Dr Salim Ayduz (Ouoman Scienee) Dr Suibhi Al-Azzawi (Architecture) Professor Charles Burnet (Medicine and Methematis) Dr Mahtub Gani (Mathematics and ruumbers) Professor SM Ghazanfar (Muslim Spain) Professor Salim TS Al-Hassani (Engineering) Dr Zohor lds (Agriculture and Codes) Professor Fkmeleddin Ihsancehs (History of Science) Dr Abdul Nasser Kaadan (Medicine) Dr Munim Al-Rawi (Geology) Dr Rabah Saoud (Architecture and Town Planning) Professor NilSari (Ottoman Medicine) Professor Aydin Sayili (Muslim Observatories) Dr Ibrahim Shah (Surgery) Professor Sevim Tekeli (Enginecring and Mapping) Dr Emily Winterburn (Astroiabes) Dr Salah Zaimeche (Muslim Science and Geugraphy) Professor Salim TS AL-Tlasanl, University of Manchester, Chairman of Foundation for Science, Techncllogy and Civilisation (FSTC) Flizabeth Woodceck, 1001 Inventions Lad Dr Rabah Sacud, Muslim Heritage Consuling (MHC) De Salim Ayes, FSTC ‘Wai Yin Chang, MHC. Mora Kamal, MC ‘Margaret Mores, PSTC Dr Rabia Yousef, MHC Dr Subki ALAzzawi, Architect, Kent Dr Faroog Baja, FSTC, London Dr Ruth Barnes, Ashinolean Museu, Oxfocd Dr Anne-Maria Brennan, London South Rank Univesity Professor Chatles Burnett, The Warburg Institute, London Professor Sami Chalhoub, Insitute of History of Atab Science, Universiy af Aleppo Professor Nabila Dawoed, Centre forthe Study of Arab & Muslin Helge, University of Baghdad Professor Mohanniad El-Gornath, University of York Dr Abdul Nasser Kiadan, Institute of History of Arab Science, Univesity of Aleppo ‘Mr Paul Keder, Golden Wel, Cambridge Dr Masiafa Mawaldi, stitute of History of Arab Science, Aleppo Mr Peter Raymond, MBE, Manchester Professor Emily Savage Smith, University of Oxford [Dr Rim Turkmani, Imperial College and Meicine, London, Semia Khan, MHC Nosheen Ladha, MHC ‘Mukhtar Sanders Inspiral Design Ali Amro, MHC. Sayed Al Hashinl 1G cory-epirox Nighat Bajwa Carolyn Garwes Carolyn Garwes De Ranjan Chancho FIRST EDITION PUBLISHED BY FSTC LTD, Copyright © 2006 by the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civtsation (FST), UK + 27"Turner Srv, Manchester (Ma IY, Great Britain SECOND EDITION PUBLISHED By #STC LTD Copyright © 2007 bythe Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation (FSTC), UK All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced Inany fort or by ary means without permission from the ‘Publishers. athough brief passages may be quoted for reviews. 150N13:978-0-9552426 2-8 British Library CIP Datez Al-Hassani, Salim TS 1001 Inventions: Maslin Heritage in ‘Our Wore US Library of Congress CIP Data: Al Hassani, Salim TS. 1001 Inventions: Muslin Heritage in ‘Our World Salim T'S Al-Hassani 1 Adlamic Science History Includes manuscript ist. 2. Technology Civilisation, 1. Technology: Islam story. 1 Title 2-Sclence-Civilistion. 50953/ Has Lie en-igi-s9siny7 2005 Printed end bound by Mega Basim in Istanbsl, TurkeyPreface Te FIRST EDITION OF THIS BOOK was part of the 1001 Inventions project. com- prising a touring exhibition, book, teachers’ pack, educational posters and website www. €0Linventions.com, The resounding success of this project saw the book selling out within three months. This revised second edition provides an opportunity to improve the content by introducing new material, im- ages and clarifying ambiguities. For the benefit of the academic reader there isa fuller reference list of authoritative manuscripts and their locations. An expanded glossary of Arabic and other relevant terms have also been added and the index extended. ‘There is a worldwide demand for the 1001 inventions project. and we are now translating the book into other languages and developing the exhibition to tour the world, ‘The popular and specialist media, the public, the education community and academe have praised the project and from various surveys conducted on the impact of the 1001 Inventions project, it seems that it has impinged positively upon the public mind, Thousands have re-evaluated their perception of the so-called 'Dark Ages’ and the role of Muslim civilization in laying the founda. tions of modern science and technology. The question very frequently asked is why it is that none of this material is found in the UK National Curriculum? The 1001 Inventions project has proved its effectiveness to stimulate young people’ interest in sci ence and technology to instil confidence, and to provide positive Muslim role models for evolving ‘Muslim identities, especially in the West. Great Muslim men and women of the past - mathematicians, astronomers, chemists, physicians, architects, engineers, economists, sociologists, artists, artisans, and educators - expressed their religiosity through beneficial contributions to society and humanity. They did so with open: mindedness and, in many instances, positively and constructively worked alongside non-Muslims. ‘This track record of cooperation over the centuries, although deeply rooted within early Muslim society. seems to have been forgotten. The 1001 Inventions project, indirectly, is tapping into that tradition by seeking to develop a better understanding between peoples and cultures Some terminology used here can have a wide meaning, used in specific contexts, and should not be taken literally, For example, in this book the word invention can also mean innovation, embrac ing new discoveries, concepts, methods, devices and machines which were hitherto unknown, It also includes items such as chess, the waterwheel and paper, which were known before Islam but brought to Europe by Muslims. Itis encouraging to see Muslim heritage at the forefront of media coverage, documentaries, arti- les, festivals, books and academic projects. In this context, | would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to the endless number of supporters of this project, in particular to those who have joined the global community of Mu tion. For new readers, I wish them an enjoyable and stimulating journey of discovery: Heritage since the launch ofthe frst edi PROFESSOR SALIM T § AL-HASSANI Chief Editor & Chairman of FSTCForeword COME THIS FASCINATING BOOK asa significant contribution toa wider understan we if [: science and technology within Muslim civilization, and of our debt in modern societies to this particular tradition. Within any particular culture, such as the Western and Anglo: centric tradition, itis all too easy to forget or downplay the complex history of the development Of scientific ideas and technological inventions. Science and technology, in some shape or form, exists and develops within all types of societies ang in the context of all shades of religious belief, Ultimately, it matters not exactly by whom, or exactly when, a particular discovery or invention was made. This book, however, is a welcome reminder that Muslims have made many important and far reaching contributions tothe developmentof our shared s ‘entific knowledge and ourtechnologi hope it will be an inspiration to people of beth Muslim and other faiths, and indeed to those with no religious belief, demonstrating the ways in which science helps reveal the wonders of the natural world, and through which technology makes stich a contribution to the ways in which we can work together with each other, SIR ROLAND JACKSON Chief Executive, The British Association for the Advancement of ScienceContents Introduction 6 Chapter 1: Home On the Cotfee Trail 12 Clocks 14 Chess 18 Cleanliness 20 ‘Tick Devices 24 Vision and Cameras 26 Fine Dining 30 ‘Three-Course Menu 32 Sound System 34 Feshion and Style 38 Carpets 40 Chapter 2: School House of Wisdom 46 Schools 50 Universities 54 The Professor's Chair 58 Libraries 60 Mathematics 64 ‘Trigonometry 68 Chemistry 72 Geometry 76 Artand the Arabesque 80 ‘The Scribe 82 Word Power 86 Story Comer 88 Translating Knowledge 92 European Universities 96 Chapter 3: Market Agricultural Revelution 102 Farming Manuals & Ecological Balance 108 Woter Management 112 Raising Water 114 Dams 120 Windmills 124 Trade 126 ‘Commercial Chemistry 130 “Teatile Industry 132 Paper 136 Pottery 138 Glass Industry 142 RawJewels 144 Checkout 146 King Offa and the Golden Coin Chapter 4: Hospital Hospital Development 154 ‘Teaching Hospitals 158 Instruments of Perfection 160 Surgery 164 Blood Circulation 168 Ibn Sina’s Bone Fractures 172 Notebook of the Oculist 174 Vaccination 178 Herbal Medicine 180 Pharmacy 184 European Medicine 188Chapter 5: Town ‘Town Planning 194 Architecture 198 Arches 200 Vaults 208 The Dome 208 Sir Christopher Wren 212 The Spire Tower 214 Muslim Architecture in the World 216, Bookshops 218 Public Baths 220. ‘The Tent 224 From Kiosk to Conservatory 226 Gardens 228 Fabulous Fountains 232 Chapter 6: World Planet Earth 238 Surveying 240 Earth Science 242 Natural Phenomena 246 Geography 248 Maps 252 Travellers and Explorers 256 Navigation 262 Sea Exploration 264 Code Breaking and Cryptography 268 Weaponry 270 Castlesand Keeps 272 Social Science and Economy 274 Post and Mail 278 Chapter 7: Universe Astronomy 282 Observatories 286 Astronomical Instruments 290 Astrolabe 294 Armillary Sphere 298 Signs for Wise People 300 ‘The Moon 302 Lunar Formations 304 Stars 306 308 Reference Personalities fiom the Past 316 Europes Leading Minds 322 Timeline of Islamic and European Events 324 ‘Map of Major Muslim Contributions 330 Authors and Treatises 332 Further Reading 344 A Thousand Years of Scholarship 348 Glossary 356 Index 362 Image Credits 374 “Thanks and Acknowledgements 376Introduction LE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS BOOK tells an interesting slory. In 1975, Lord BV Bowden, | the Principal at the time of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), became fascinated by the manner in which the Muslims managed a domain that stretched from Chine across to, and including, Spain for so many centuries. Of particular interest ‘was how they introduced the concept of ‘indexation’ in combating inflation, which was rampant in the Roman Empire. He announced in the House of Lords that in order to guide the UK's economy, then riddled with inflation, we should learn from the Muslims’ experience and consider the ‘economic principles laid down some one thousand four hundred years ago in the Quran He set up an Institute for the History of Muslim S myselfand a few professors from UMIST and the Victoria University of Manchester, und we were ‘augmented by dignitaries. Although this initiative did not thrive forlong, it gave me the opportunity to encounter histo: ide my engineering discipline and, more significantly, it revealed to me the frightening level of their ignorance of the traditions and beliefs of other cultures. Lord Bowden subsequently passed away in 1989, and with bin went that Institute. jence, Technology and Commerce, recruiting ins and scholars out It was not until 1993 when Professor Donald Cardwell, Head of the Department of History of Scienceand ‘Technology, and the Founder of the Museumof Science and Technology in Manchester, presented me with a challenge. Much in the spirit of Lord Bowden he said: Salim, [my first name] you should by now know there are a thousand years missing from the history of engineering, a jod we call the Dark Ages. Most of the missing knowledge is contained in Arabie manuscripts ng the cellars of many famous libraries. You are a distinguished Professor of Engineering at prestigious university and you know the Arabic language. Therefore, you are best suited to do something about filling this gap" ‘That wake-up call propelled me to fellow a line of inquiry that eventually changed my life. That was when the story of this book began. Before taking this challenge, however, [looked up various books and journal papers and consulted numerous friends. Book after book, journal after journal, all pointed to this incredible gap. Take, for instance, this typical popular book at the time: The People Who Made Technology From Eauliest Times to Present Day by Anthony Feldman and Peter Ford, published by Aldus Books Ltd in London 1979. Ihe authors explain that the book gives, in chronological order, humanit technological progress from invention of movable type to the discovery of penicillin, The names of the great inventors, to whom they devote short chapters, follow in chronological order like this: Empedocles (c.490-430 BCE), Democritus (460-370 BCE), Hippocrates (460-377 BCE), Aristotle (383-322 BCE), Archimedes (287-212 BCE), Johannes Gutenberg, (1400-1468 CF) followed by others ike Da Vit scientific and etc The remarkable jump of one thousand six hundred years from the time of Archimedes to Johannes Gutenberg was amazing but troubling, Further reading of other books revealed that the whole period, 450-1492 CE. is in fact passed over as “The Dark Ages’ It is altogether ignored as far as science and civilization are concerned, termed variously ase middle age, an intermediary period, uniform bloc, ‘vulgar centuries’ and, most disconcerting of all, ‘obscure time! Some book:abit more on the Romans, but still leap over one thousand years, More disquieting were the gaps in school textbooks and other sources of learning, which form the views and perceptions of pupils oon other cultures aside from their own, Later that same year, on the 27 October 1993, I attended an inspiring lecture by HRH Prince Charles at the Shcldonian Theatre, Oxford, entitled Islam and the West. Addressing « galaxy of eminent scholars in one of the strongholds of Orientalism, his speech was received like fire in dry. ‘woods. The eye-opening extract below reinforced my findings: I there is much misunderstanding in the West about the nature of Islam, there is also ‘uch ignoranceabout the debt our own culture and civilization owe to the Iskantic world. It isa failure, which stems. I think. from the straight-jacket of history, which we have inherited. The medieval Islamic world, from central Asia to the shores of the Adantic, was a world where scholars and men of learning flourished. But because we have tended to sce Islam as the enemy of the West, us an alien culture, society, and system of belief. we have tended to ignore or erase its great relevance to our own history: All students are trained to think critically; yet when faced with the darkness of ten centuries in Barope, they are tol! things appeared, os if by miracle all at once during the Renaissance, This fies logic. Things, such as discoveries, inventions and further developments that alter the course ‘of humanity, as any scientist knows, do not appear by chance! Continuity is fundamental, especially in the birth and rise of the sciences; itis almost so in every other field of study. A couple of years later and just before passing away, Professor Cardwell arranged for me to give a presentation at the esteemed Literary and Philosophical Society, entitled the Muslina Contribution to Science and ‘Technology. The amount of amazement and surprise expressed by the audience, ‘on the littl I had to say, reinforced the statement of Prince Charles, From then on, whenever I lectured on the topic [ felt like a one-eyed man amongst the blind. Of special excitement was the fascination of young people in the subject of knowing where our present civilization came from, ‘The ambition to write a book on the subject was pushed aside by the reality of being a Professor of Mechanical Engineering, in a university world invaded by market forces with all the pressures of lecturing, researching, publishing. fund raising, administration, and running two consulting, companies. The practical solution was to hire historians and initiate undergraduate projects on the viru I reconstruction of ancient machines. This, together with the support of like-minded academics and professionals, saw the emergence of the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation, The would-be book instead began to take shape in the form of a website, www. MuslimHeritage.com, which attracted excellent peer reviewed papers from renowned writers and researchers. Very quickly, the website became the first destination and source of information for many institutions of learning, schools, media groupsand young people from all over the English speaking world, It now attracts more than 50,000 daily page views. ‘The subject of Muslim contributions to science and civilization attracted much popular interest immediately after the (now known as) 9/1 1 attack (11 September 2001) on the World Trade Center twin towers. What was amazing was a daring specch given, two weeks later, by one of the most famous businesswomen ond historians at the time, Ms Carleton Fiorina, Chief Executive Citficer IntroductionIntroduction of Hewlett-Packard Corporation. Ata meeting ofall the corporation's worldwide managers, on 26 September 2001, Ms Fiorina announced: “There was once a civilization that wes the greatest in the world. It was uble fo create a continental super-state that stretched from ocean 10 ocean and from northern climes to tropicsand deserts. Within its dorainion lived huandreds of millions of people, of iferent creeds and ethnic origins. One of its languages became the universal language of much of the world, the bridge between the peoples of a hundred lands. Its armies were made up of people of many nationalities, ana its military protection allowed a degree of peace and prosperity that had never been known. The reach of this civilizations commerce extended from Latin “America to China, and everywhere in between. “And this civilization was driven more than anything, by invention. Its architects designed inuldings that defied gravity. Its mathematicians created the algebra anc algorithins that would enable the building of computers, and the creation of encryption. Its doctors examined the human body, and found new cures for disease. lis astronomers looked into the heavens, named the stars, and paved the way for space travel and exploration. Its writers created thousands of stories. Stories of courage, romance and magic. Its poets wwrote of love, when others before them were too steeped in fear to think of such tings. When other nations were afraid of ideas, this civilization thrived on them, and kept them alive. When censors threatened to wipe out knowledge from past civilizations this civilization Kept the knowledge alive, and pessed if on to others. While modern Western civilization shares many of these traits, the civilization I'm talking about was the Islamic world from the year 800 to 1600, whicl included the Ottoman Empire and the courts of Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo, and enlightened rulers lke Sulayman the Magnificent. “Although we are often unaware of our indebtedness to this other civilization, its gifts are very much a part of our heritage. The technology industry would not exist without the contributions of Arab mathematicians. ‘When I gave. presentation in the city of Watford, afew years ago, the chief guest Lady Mayoress expressed dismay at why the Muslims do not use this language, referring to our common heritage inscience and technology for dialoguc, instead of the language of religious and political differences, and why is it that we do not find this in the National Educational Curriculum? ‘A number of colleagues, well established in the subject, began a lecturing campaign in Britain, Europeand abroad. A large nuruber of people from all walks of life derived pleasure and inspiration from this knowledge. Presentations to the younger generation, especially the ones I gave to the Youth NGOs at the European Parliament in Brussels, sparked enormous interest in science and technology, and especially i the lives of Mustim pioneersin chemistry, physics, medicine, biology, algebra, engineering, architecture, art, agricultureand ia numerous manufacturing industries who have impacted so positively on our modern civilizationYoung Muslims, however, find in such knowledge a new identity, allowing them to be European Whilst at the same time Muslims. They find exciting role models, male and female, for innovation and invention, and beg jous commitment and faith through deeds useful to society, be it Mustim or non-Muslim, and that ineptness, looking inwards and reliance on governments to develop society’ was not their tradition. o recognize that these pioneers, unlike many today, had expressed their Good TY series began to emerge, like the most fascinating one presented by Adam Hart-Davis. (BBC2), His What the Ancients Did for Us, devoted a whole episode to What the Islamic World Did for Us, showing reconstructed machines, devices and products. Other shows followed, revealing the scientific impact of Muslim Spain on the rest of Europe. This is an encouraging movement, but negative public perceptions of Muslim civilization and tradition are likely to remain as long as there is no available popular digest or school text on the subject to fill this void. ‘Ata time when greater cultural understanding is paramount, it became imperative to take the resounding success of the website to a new dimension. This evolved into an interactive, educa- tional, non-political and non-religious touring exhibition on the theme of Muslim contributions to civilization, Entitled 1001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage in our World, this enjoys the ‘benefit of being accompanied by this book, a teacher’s pack, posters and a brand new dedicated ‘website. This book is thus one of the much laboured-over fruits of the 1001 Inventions project. Its painstaking completion 1s an achievement of no single individual, but of all those mentioned on. the contributers, acknowledgements and sponsors pages. “This book identifies, in an enjoyable, easy-to-read format, aspects of our modern lives that are linked with inventions by Muslims or were inspired by Islam. ‘The book is chapters which mirror the seven zones of the 1001 Inventions exhibition: home, school, hospital, market, town, world and universe. Fach zone represents a sphere of our lives that has benefited from Muslim inventions. led into seven Amongst the main objectives we hope to fulfl are to: « Raise awareness of the thousand years (7"-17" century) of Muslim heritage. «# Generate understanding and appreciation of Muslim contributions towards the development of y science and technology worldwide. contempora ‘Inspire young people from both Muslim and non-Muslim backgrounds to find career role models in science and engineering. «# Promote the concept of scientific and technological innovation as a positive and constructive channel of personal expression of beliofs, as an alternative to religious isolationism and extremism, « Bridge themes in the history of science, industry and arts with contemporary developments. We very much hope that with the assistance of the readers we can achieve some, if not all, of these noble objectives. PROFESSOR SALIM ‘T § AL-HASSANL Chief Editor é Chairman of FS IntroductionO1 Ourada PT ag peasant, who Bierce) UTS URLs HOME Sa SGC a eS Rea Mk eo OR the big world stops at the front door. Your home represents who you are, it speaks your language. In the kitchen, maybe a favourite coffee pot sits by the kettle, under a clock that's beside a holiday photo taken from last year’s break Gee ee eer ea crise net ce on au Dron hae CR Un MLC nn ets Cee Nn ra ae ere eeu ecu eager) or were developed over a millennium ago by industrious Muslims who sought to Peer eCard) BO em eC a Re a ed Egyp, and if you're late, hurriedly looking at your watch, think about the Pee ee ay a ee mR coeur engineering technology. A man with the nickname of ‘Blackbird’ came from 8' -century Baghdad to Muslim Spain bringing the etiquette of three course meals and seasonal clothes, while chemists developed perfumes, and chess went from being a war game to household entertainment.‘Coffee makes us severe, and grave, and philosophical.’ Jonathan Swift ce Leftte right A goat herd in Bhiopis where vas fist discovered Lloyds Coffee House. On the Coffee Trail BILLION CUPS OF COFFEE are drunk worldwide everyday. That’s enough to fill nearly three hundred Olympic-sized swimming pools oD everyday. and if you don't have a jar of coffee in your kitchen, you're probably in a minority. Coffee is a global industry and is the second largest commodity-based product; only oil beats it. More than twelve hundred years ago hardworking people fought to stay awake without this stimulant, until a herd © and their watchful master, an A named Khalid, discovered this simple, lie changing substance, As his goats grazed on the Ethiopi lively and excited after berry. Instead of just ea wer and boiled to create al-qahwa. Sufis in Yemen drank al-qahwa for the same reasons we do to to stay awake. They trate during late night Thikr (prayers in the remembrance of Allah). It could now cone spread to the rest of the Nf travellers, pilgri ca and Turkey in the late 15" century and Cai ro in the 16" century .d traders, reaching Mei The first coffee house in Europe appeared in Venice in 1645, after coffee came to Europe through trade with North Egypt. The Lloyds in London (below), established in the late 17" century, was a place for merchants and ship-owners. Coffee houses became forerunners of today’ pubs. They were the places where the public discussed political affairs and alse gave rise to the liberal movementIt was a Turk named Pasqua Rosee, a merchant in 1650 CE, who first brought coffee into the UK, selli yard, Lombard Street, London. Fight years it in a cofiee house in George- later another café called ‘Sultaness Head’ was opened in Cornhill, Lleyds of London, today a famous insurance company, was originally a coffee shop called “Edward | loyds Cofiee House: By 1700, there were about five hundred coffee houses in London, and nearly three thot known as'pe could listen and talk with the great minds of the day for the price of coffee, « penny, which cin the whole of England. They were y universities because you was then 1/240! of a pound The consumption of colfee in Europe was largely based on the traditional Muslim preparation of the drink. This the mixture of coffee powder, sugar and water together, which lefta coffee residue in the cup ailed boiling because it was not filtered, However, in 1683 a new way of preparing and drinking coffee was discovered, and it became a coffee house favourite, Cappuccino coffee was inspired by a certain Marco dAviano, a priest from the Capuc inastic order, who was fighting against the ig Vienna in 1683. Following the retreat of the Turks, the Viet Turks besi nese made coffee from ahandoned sacks of Turkish coffee Finding it too strong for their ta it with cream and honey. This made the colour te, they nixed ‘of coffee turn brown, resembling the colour of the Capuchins’ robes. The Viennese then named it cappuccino in honour of the Marco D’Aviano’ order and since then cappuccino has been drunk for its enjoyable, smooth taste 16°-century manuscript showing 2 coffee house with men drinking cofice ‘Coffee is the common man's gold, and like gold it brings to every person the feeling of luxury and nobility: Sheikh ‘Abd-al- Kadir who wrote the earliest known history of coflee manuscript in 1588From eft to right: The ‘evoluticn of recording time from suncials.clepysdrs, wale clocks weight driven {rancfather clocks to today’s Aigtal locks, Clocks HATEVER WE DO, wish, hope, dream or fear, time will always go on, with or without us, Whether it is an examination we dread taking, an important interview or a birthday, there will be a time when it begins and ends From the first sundial, people have wanted to record time. Now we can have silent, digital jeces as well as the tick-tock of modern tin clocks. Their ancestors were the drip-drop ofthe clepsydra and of water clocks. The clepsydra, a simple vase marked with divisions that measured water flowing out of a small spout near the base, was used in Egypt before 1500 BCE Another ancient water timing device is from India. of a small, hemispherical bowl (made of wr a coconut) with a small hole ir Floated i + pot of water, the bowl would gra Kk. When it reached the bottom, an audible thud alerted 4 is called ghatika-pantra. It consists copper sally fill and i the timekeeper who would raise it up to start the process again. This became very popular in Buddhist and Hindu temples, and very widely used in Indian Muslim mos ur story begins with 13°-century water clocks and an ingenious man called al-Jazari from Diyarbakir in South Fast Turkey. He ‘was a picus Muslim and a highly skilled engineer who gave birth to the concept of automatic machines. He was inspired by the history of machines and the technology of his particularly the Ancient Greek and Indian scientific inventions predecesso By 1206, al-Jazari had made numerous clocks ofall shapes and sizes while he was working Controlled Sinking of Perforated Bowl ‘An Indian ghati- asthe bow! fil vith water it sinks to the batt the tank after a pre-set time i depending on the weight ard si the bowl and size of the hole. hits the bottom. it makes a thud alerts the timekeeper who lifts it start the process again,Like others in his day, al-Jazari heeded the Arab proverb: ‘Time is like a sword, unless you cut with it, it will cut you" for the Urtug kings of Diyarbakir. The then King, Nasir al-Din, son of the great Sal said to “You have made peerless dev aid thecigh atdenggh have broughthiens Sith as works; so da not lose what you have wearied yourself with and have plainly constructed. Iwish you to compose for me a book which embles what you have created separately, and brings together a selection of individual items and pictures The outcome of this royal urging was an oulstanding book on engineering called The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices. This book became resource for people of different e backgrounds, as il described fity mec evices in six categories, including water docks. Just as we need time today to structure our lives, so did Muslims over seven hunered ago, and al-Jazari was keeping jim tradition of clock-making. 7 that time could not be stopped, that we are always losing it, and that it was important to long know the time so it could be used well through ood deeds. Muslims also needed to prayat the right times each day ad to know the time s0 they could know Mosque announce the call to prayer. Important annual events, like when to fast in Ramadan, celebrate lgrimage to D Eid’ or goon cca also had to be anticipated. This inspiration meant that the ‘peerless n referred devices’ to which included the Elepha swell as telling the time, this grand clock was a symbol of status, grandeur and wealth, while also incorporating the first robotics with moving, time-telling figures. Below left The remal at Bou Inania me 1350 CF in Fe ‘1 (Allah) swear by the time, surely man is in loss, save those who believe and do good works and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Endurance.’ Quran (103)Alduaris 13% century manuscript showing the Elephant Clock, The Elephant Clock ‘About eight hundred years ago. al-lazari built this elaborate clock in order to celebrate the diversity of mankind and the universal nature of Islam, At this time, the Muslim world spread from Spain to Central Asia. So, to reflect this scope, al-Jazari used Greek (Archimedes) water principles combined with an indian water timing device (ghati), an Indian elephant, an Egyptian phoenix, Arabian figures, a Persian carpet and Chinese dragons. The figure on the top of the castle is thought to be Saladin included as a sign of respect to the great leader. The features also symbolized countries and trade, end each enimmal hhad 2 myth associated with it: the elephant was a symbol of royalty, the phoenix of rebirth and life, and the dragon of power and impregnatility. As well as celebrating the divessity of his word, he also wanted to develop machines with a better design end greater ‘output than his predecessors. So although the clock was awe- inspiring te look at, its brilliance was really seen in adapting the perforated water bowl (Archimedian/Indian ghati), so that it ‘oscillated ebout its rim rather than sinking vertically. This was certral to the whole timepiece ‘The bowl had 2 hole init and floated in a water tank inside the elephant's belly. Gradually it filled with water, slowly sank and. tilted sirrultaneously, pulling three ropes attached to it. The three ropes then set off mechanisms that controlled thirty balls that were released individually, the action of the dragons, and the rotating scribe. The ingenuity of al-Jezari was in the precision with which he measured the hole in the oscillating bowl: it took exactly half an hour for the bow! to fill sink and begin again. ‘When the bow sank it caused a flute roise, like a bird's song, ‘and the phoenix would spin, The released ball would make the dial behind Saladin turn, and Saladin would meve from side to side, ‘deciding’ which falcon would release which bal. The ball then dropped into the dragon's mouth and it bent down placing the ball into the vase behind the Mahout. the elephant rider. ‘That made him move his arms and a cymbal sounced as the ball went into the vase. The circles on the éial behing the top Of Saladin’s figure told the time, as they filled half-by-half as each hall-hour passed. This sophisticated series of actions and reactions continued every half-hour throughout the day. ‘The clock would be ‘reset twice a day, at sunrise and sunset, This meant restoring the thirty metal balls to their original position and maintaining the water level, as the rate of flow. changed daily because the span of an ‘hour’ varied in length from day to day as periods of darkness and daylight altered,The Elephant Clock as -evonstructed in the Tbr Battuta Mall, Dubat, The Workings of the Elephant Clock atcerpanies by the Sergo the peer iat ‘San he ‘Noveshis as to reveal aan 33%: seeeaek: ‘over-sized, reconstruction of the Elephant Clocks in the ta Mall the world’s largest themed shopping mall, in Dubai * 7 metres high (almost 3 times the original size) cs Ce one core ter timing device (ohati eee esc en)From leftto right: A Masiny and Christian playing chess in tert, rom King Alfonso XS Libros del Ajedie2, 2 century; two modern cay ‘chess players chose players taken fi conchess inthe second ‘of the 16” century Chess ‘TEAM RISES FROM THE HOT POOLS of Budapest city’s outdoor baths, hanging above gathering crowds as they crouch low over marble chessboards. In China, chessboards are laid out in the parks, as they are in Central Park, New York. Chess is a game of mental combat played on sixty- four squares with thirty-two pieces by most nationalities. Despite its size and unassuming appearance, the number of possible games the can be played far exceeds the number of atoms in the universe. The stories, figures and individuals surrounding chess give ita mysterious dimension and its definite origins remain unknown. It came from either India or Persia. In the 14" century, Ibn Khaldun connects chess to an Indian named Sasse ibn Dehir, an ‘eminent man of wisclom. There was an ancient Indian game called Chaturanga, which means ‘having four limbs, probably referring to the four branches of the Indian army of elephants, horsemen, chariots and infantey. Chaturanga wasnit exactly chess buta precursor to the chess of today A 14® century Persian manuscript describes how an Indian ambassador brought ‘chess’ to the Persian court, from where it was taken to Europe by Arabs going to medieval Spain. Before it reached Europe, the Persians modified the game into chatrang, using it in their war games. Arabs came into contact with chess, or Shatnanj as it was then called, Persia and it was absorbed into their culture, At that time, the playing pieces were Shalt as king; Firzan was a general, and became a queen in modern times that became the bishop; Faras was the horse; Rukh was a chariot that is now the castle or i was an elephant rook: and Baidag is the foot soldier or pawn. It was very popular with the public as well as the nobles and the Abbasid ealiphs particu- larly leved it. The great masters, though, were al-Suli, al-Ravi, al Aadani and [bn al- Nadim, Russian grandmaster Yuri Averbak played an astonishing move in one of his championship games, which an ingenious new idea but it was actualy de- ised well over a thousand years ago by al Sul ‘won, Many thought this to beSeeley abe logics sal Yas Te Pee aiieor Lye. Early L0*.cemtury chess table minature from Abu Bake a-Sul Mute Kita l Sh The Black is winning and itishis turn to play, so were not sure whether this isa game through correspondence or an instruction manval of how to ple. aj. The Arabic says Arab 'grandmasters’ wrote copiously on chess, about its laws and Muslim world, There were strategies, and these spread all ove books on chess history, openings, endings and problems, Book Game of Chess, written around of the Fxamples of Warfare in 1370, introduced for the first time the chess game “blind Abbess and Her Nuns: ‘he whirlwind Ziryab. a great musician and trendsetter. brought cchess, as it was now called, 10 An ‘The word ‘Checkmate’ is Persian in origin a alusia in the early 9 century. ida corruption of Shohmat, meaning, ‘the King is defeated. From Andalusia, the game spread among the Christian and the Mozarabs, and reached northern Spain over the Pyrenees, ‘crossing the borders into southern France. ‘the first E records to mention chess go back to 1058 CE, when the will of Countess Ermessind of Barcelona dedicated her crystal chess ropean pieces to Si Giles monastery at Nimes. A couple of years later Car dinal Damiani of Ostia wrote to Pope Gregory VIL urging him to ban the ‘game of the infidels’ from spreading among the clergy. Chess was also carried via the trade routes from Central Asia to the southern steppes of early Russia: 7- and §".century Persian yeen found in Samarkand and Farghana. By wead even further on the regularly used Viking cchess pieces ha 1000, chess had Kempelen’ Iron Nstim robot (1769) kad a chessmaster inside the cabinet ho played skilfully and beat other master players of the day trade routes as they carried it back to Scandinavia along wit Arabian coins and statues of Buddha. Those trade routes that by the 11" century, chess had made its way right into Iceland, and an leelandic saya written in 1155 talks of the Danish king, Knut the Great, playing the game in 1027 By the 14" century, chess was accepted in Europe and King Alfonso X, nicknamed ‘the Wise. produced the Book of Che and Other Games in the 13 century, For the last eight cen- turies, there has been ne looking back for chess and it has gone from strength to strength, producing a few funny side- lines, such as the robotic chessmaster of 1769, Hungarian Wolfgang de Kempelen decided to give a giftto his Queen, Empress Maria Theresa, who was a chess fanatic. His gift was a robot machine called the Iron Muslim, later ‘enamed Ottoman Turk, who played chess skilfully, beat ing high-ranked players of the day. It was the fist Big Blue, except that it was more 4 mix of mechanical engineering an trickery. Inside, all cramped up, was @ chessmaster who Te- ceived none of the credit when he won. Instead, people tre elled miles to marvel at the incredible turban-wearing robot In fact, fifteen chess players inhabited it for eighty-five years an the guise of an Ottoman ‘Robotic’ TurkWhen you rise up for prayer, wash your face, and your hands up to the elbows, and lightly rub your heads and (wash) your feet up to the ankles...’ Quran (74: 1-4) From Ieftto right: A manu script showing al-Javart’s ud: machine; 2 Muslin ‘performing wud before i prayer at ermorque Cleanliness EDIFVAL TIMES are often imagined as being smelly, dark, rough and unclean. Images of open sewers, disease and deformities spring into the imagination. In the 10"-century Islamic world though, the products found in bathroom cabinets and hygiene practices could compete with those we have today. ‘A Muslims faith is based on purity and cleanliness, whether in its physical or spiritual form. They are requested to wash immediately before going to, and after getting up fiom, sleep as well 2s before and after eating. They are also ordered to wash five times a day. in ablution or what is known as wudli, before they carry out their five daily prayers. On Friday, the Muslim holy day. itis essential for Muslims to take a bath before the main ‘congregational prayer Rack in the 13" century there was an out- standing mechanical engineer called al-Jazari who wrote a book called! The Book of Know!- edge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices. This book beca ple of different engineering backgrounds, de- invaluable resource for peo- scribing mechanical devices, including wudhw machines. Look how elaborate and artistic this plece of ingenious engineering is compared to a tap and sink of today! This wudh ma was mobile and brought in front of guests, appearing like a peacock on a tray. The guest would tap the head and water would ensue in eight short spurts, providing enough water for ablution. This method also conserved water. Some of these robots would have an additional action of providing you with a towel! Muslims wanted to he really clean and not just splash themselves with water, so they made soap by mixing oil (usually clive cil) with al gali (a salt-like substance). Thi boiled to achieve the right mis, left to harden and used in the hiamrmams or bath houses, was thenA recently discovered manuscript from the 13°" century details more recipes for soap making, for ‘example: take some sesame cil « sprinkle of pot- ash, alkali and some lime, mix them all together and boil. When cooked, pour the mixture into moulds and leave to s producing a hard soap. Soap had arrived in Europe with the crusaders retucn, but hadnt been fashionable. By the 18 century, though, soap making was an important industry, especially in Syria. Coloured, perfumed toilet soap was produced as well as medicinal soaps. Apart from scrubbing themselves clean, medi eval Muslims also went to great lengths on thetr appearance, with physicians devoting books to beauty. One such man wasal-Zahrawi, a famous. physician and surgeon from Cordoba, southern Spain about whom you can read more in the Hos- pital chapter. He hal been inspired by hadits, ‘orsayings, of the Prophet (pbuh) referring to cleanliness, management of dress, and care of hait and body. So, included in his medical book, called al-Tusrif, was.a chapter in the nineteenth volume devoted completely to cosmetics. From a thou. sand years ago, this was the fist original Muslim. work in cosmetology, as al-Zahrawi considered cosmetics a definite branch of medicine, calling it The Medicines of Beauty. He described the care and beautification of hair, skin, teeth and other parts of the body, all within the boundaries 0 and teeth bleached. practice, He included nasal sprays, mouthwashes: and hand creams and even suggested keeping clothes in an incense-filled nook so that they ‘would have a pleasant fragrance for the wearer. slam. Gums were strengthened i dentistry was a common He eleborated on perfume and talked of perfumed stocks, rolled and pressed in special moulds, abit like today’s roll-on deodorants, He also named medicated cosmetics like hi removing sticks, as well as hair dyes that turned blond hair to black and lotions for straightening kinky or curly hair. ‘The benefits of suntan lotions Stke Dean Mahomeds Indign Vapour Baths on righton seafront In the 1770s and ‘80s, Brighton was a blossoming beach resort and it was onto this scene that Sake (Sheikh, but be cause of accents this became Sake) Dean Mahomed arrived. He was from a Muslim family in Patna, India, and in 1759 opened what was known as Mahomed’ Indian Vapour Baths on Brighton seafront, the site of what is now the Queens Hotel. These were like Turkish baths, but clients were placed ina flannel tent and received an Indian treatment of champi (shampooing) or therapeutic massage from a person whose hands came through slits in the flannel. This remarkable ‘vapouring’ and shampooing batlt led. him to recei 2 the ultimate accolade of being appointed ‘Shampooing Surgeon’ to both George 1V and William IV.bs ‘Allah is Beautiful and He loves beauty. Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) narrated by Mustim (110.131) were also discussed as were their ingredients amazing considering this was thousand years ago. AL Kindi also wrote a book on perfumes called Book of the Chemistry of Perfume and Distilla- tions. Born in Kufa, now in Iraq, he was best known ay a philosopher, but was also a physi- cian, pharmacist, ophthalmologist, physicist, mathematician, geographer, astronomer and chemist, and like many men today was in volved with music, the manufacture of swords and even the art of cookery. His book contained more than a hundred recipes for fragrant oils, salves, aromatic waters and substitutes or imitations of costly drugs. Initially, the more affluent in society wore these, until they became accessible for all. His century book also described 107 methods and recipes for perfume-making, and even the perfume-making equipment needed, like the alembic, which suill bears its Arabic name. ‘The centuries-old tradition of perfume-making is currently popular with many celebrities, and it was all made possible by Muslim chemists and their methods of dis distilling plants and flowers, making perfumes and substances for therapeutic pharmacy. as they were “These processes and ideas of the Muslims filtered into Europe in various ways, including via merchants and travellers, as gifts, and with crusaders. The BBC documentary What the ats Did for Us: The Islamic World said that the ideas of the Muslims eventually arrived at Haute Provence in the south of France, which, haya perfect climate and the right kind of s and the perfume industry still flourishes here after seven hundred years, Ancie Another important cosmetic in Islam is henna, known for its beautiful, elegant hands. With the spread of Islam, it reached different parts of the Muslim land, becoming an essential cosmetic ingredient ricate designs on *.. indigo and sesame oil ... gives protection against extremes of temperatures, it acts as an insect repellent, it gives bloom of neither adark nor blue but something like a dark plum’ Freya Stark writing on suntan lotions in Southern Gates of Arabia, Indigo, from India, was known in ancient Egypt and by the Greeks, Muslim agronomists were the first to transplant, acclimatize and spread it all over their lands, especially in Africa, where it was grown along with cotton. Ibn al- Baytar, the 13"-century botanist, called it Niledj. India, China, Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt had no olive oil, so sesame oil was the only alternative 4as sun protection, whereas the Touaregs and the Yemeni people protected their skin with indigo as 4 form of tanning,Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) and his companions dyed their beards, while women decorated their hands and feet and also dyed their hair ike women of today. There are also particular henma-related traditions within tance, Berber tribes quest that a bride apply henna for seven mights before going to various countries: for of Algeria and Morocco re her groom. Moder scientists have found it to be anti: bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-haemorrhagic: Iris useful in healing athlete foc Bad breath and food bi unhygienic, so in the 6” ce eth with a Swiss pharmaceutical company, Pharba Basle Ltd, carried out experiments on Miswak (0} antibacterial substances which destroy cause gum infections and tooth decay. Independent tests conducted on the Miswak extract in Riyadh University, Saudi Arabia, and Indiana University, Indiane antibiotic activities. If no Miswak and chewed on coriander leaves to g or garlic. Yet another remedy for fungal skin sin your te tury, Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) sc wig of Mis alvadora persica), and they found that it cor USA, have confirmed its anti-inflammatory and as at hand, Muslims ate cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom tri d breath was fried cheese in olive oil with powdered cloves Left to right: A woman having her hand decorated with Ferns; green ben powder sold by wei IszanbulTarkey: infections and local inflammation. ‘The leaves and seeds of the plant possess medicinal prop: erties, and both act as cooling agents for the head and body. Henna also contains natural ingredients that are vital for hair nourishment. For Muslims today, too, being clean and looking good holds just as much i as it did back then, A person using all these thou be out of place in a stylish restaurant in any cosmopolitan city in the 21 century. \d-year-old products today would not are not just embarrassing, but bbed hi k before each prayer. ns harmful germs in the mouth that of bad breath from eating onionsThe Banu Musa Brother "century Drinking, Bull robet Trick Devices Pree AYBE YOU CAN HEAR the ic clack of the metal balls swinging on wires as they knock each other rhythmically while you fiddle with a Rubik cube. Maybe its not executi € toys that interest you, but games and puzzles, whether for business or leisure will always be a source of fascination. This sense of human wonderment was captured by three brothers in the 9" century. Muhammad ibn Musa ibn Shekir, Ahmed ibn Musa ibn Shakir and al-Hasan ibn Musa iba. Shakir were known as the Banu Musa brothers, ‘They were part of the famous ‘House of Wisdom the intellectual academy of Baghdad in the 9" century, which you can read more about in the School chapter. As well as being ‘great mathematicians and translators of Greek scientific treatises, they also invented fabulous trick devices which, some would say, are a precursor to executive toys. The brothers fed their peers’ obsession by designing and making trick inventions and their Book of Ingenious Tw Plog Feat Compartment A Devices lists over a hundred of them. These were the beginnings of mechanical technology, Like toys today, they had little peactical function but these eleven-hundred-year-old ms displayed amazing craftsmanship and knowledge. Many of the mechanisms involved water, fake animals and sounds. For example, the drinking bull made o noise of contentment when it finished, as if ts thirst had been satisfied, It did this using @ series of filling chambers, floats, vacuuins and plugs. So takea deep breath and see if you can follow the Banu Musa brothers’ thinking on the diagram Compatnent 6 Cemoartrent CHess (Coroartset b) Initially water comes from the tap into compartment A and then it's closed off. The bowl is then filled with water too. The float m (seen in the diagram opposite) rises with the level of water, pulling the plug out of the valve. Water drains from compartment A into compartment B. Float B rises with the water, pushing up plug B andl allowing water to flow between the two compartments. When the air in compartment B is fully evacuated, a ‘vacuum forms in compartment A since no air is allowed to flow into it. Water from the bowl is then drawn through the pipe and into A. Once all the water is gone from the bowl ait is sucked in so it appears that the bull is making a sound of contentment. Since no water is left in the bowl to keep the plug afleat, that particular plug closes, so only plug 8 is open toempty compartment A. Compartment B empties vie a small hole between Band C. Air isallowed to flow freely from a hole on the side of compartment C, Now see if you can make it! Highly complex and mind-twisting, this must have kept people enthralled for hours Another of the Banu Musa brothers’ trick devices was flask with two spouts. Coloured liquids were poured in each spout, but whe was time to pour, the ‘wrong’ colour came out of the ‘wrong’ spout. Like the magician who can make orange juice come out of his elbow, the brothers had an even better, and simple, intricate mechanism up their sleeves. What they had done was to divide the jar in tnso vertically, with each section being totally separate from the other. Liquid came into the right side from the right funnel and into the left side by the left funnel and it couldn't leave this way again. Instead, another pipe had been inserted for the outflow: Of course, people observing couldr’t see any of this and although it was simple, it still had impact and amazed them. The brothers’ imagination for fun also seeped into designing fountains. So take a look at ‘Fabulous Fountains in the ‘Town chapter. the nse of the Bona Muse brothers trick’Flask with Two Spoute! ‘Ajoke is not a thing but a process, a trick you play on the listener's mind, You start him off toward a plausible goal, and then by a sudden twist you land him nowhere at all or just where he didn’t expect to go, Max Eastman‘ar right: Roger Bacons| by the work carried optics by 9"-contury ius al-Kindh Vision and Cameras 5 4 CHILD did you ever wonder how we ‘see’? Did you think that if you shut your eyes and you couldn't see anyone then no one could see you? Some ancient Greek scholars had less than conventional ideas of sight as well, and the fi theories. The first maintained that rays came out from our eyes,a bit like laser technology today, and these rays were cutoff by the objects in cou vision. So, sight was carried out through the movement of the rays from the eye to the object. The second idea said that we see because something is entering our eye which represents the object. Aristotle, Galen and their followers rightly believed in this model, but their theories were speculation and nat backed up by experiments. Ninth-century polymath al-Kindi first laid down the foundations of modern day optics by ‘questioning the Greek theories of vision, He said that how we see, our visual cone, is not st understanding of optics consisted of two main formed of discrete rays as Euclid had said, but appeared sa volume, in 3D, of continuous radiations, Sixteenth-century Italian physician and mathematician Geron dano Kindi was ‘one of the twelve giant minds of history’ because he discussed how light rays came in a straight line, sight with and without a mirror, end the influence of distance and angle on sight including optical illusions. AL-Kindi wrote two treatises on and physiological opti that were used by somettical the English scholar Roger Bacon in the 13" century and the German physicist Witelo. ‘According to Sebastian Vogl, a 20"-century Danish scholar; ‘Roger Bacon not merely‘He, Ibn al-Haitham, was the greatest Muslim physicist and student of optics of all times. Whether it be in England or far away Persia, all drank from the same fountain. He exerted a great influence on European thought from Bacon to Kepler.’ George Sarton in his History of Science counted al-Kindi one of the mast perspective but in his ewn Perspectiva he and others in his field referred repeatedly to his optics? ‘The questioning originally begun by al-Kindi was built upon by al-Hasan ibn al-Haitham, in the 10 century, who eventually explained that Vision was made possible because of the refraction of light rays. Distinguished 200*-century science historian George Sarton said that the leap forward made in optical science was due to this man’s werk, which scientifically explained much of what we know today about optics. In fact, a 10" century physicist, Ibn Sahl from Baghdad, had worked on light refraction by lenses before Ibn al-Haitham, were not sure that bn al Fait Ibn Soh’s work. Al-Hasan ibn al Haitham, usually called just Ibn al-Haitham and also known in the West as Alhazen, carried out meticulous experiments a thousand years ago, which enabled him to provide the scientific explanation that vision was caused by light reflecting off an object and entering the eye, ntury Kamal al-Din al-Faras ‘The Arabic text i referring to the je image onthe retina ofthe eye “The anatomy of the eye by based on fbn al Haitharns idea soe ofthe brain in iter pretiny hep iH elellpascsel me Belpet eee Ee bay2bLrlenclarstl alee Ypber sh ets! np bet reel ils ioeabelb ae pl ster al libre aU Ge Lagianlen Lisle lal wteab ialsl ee a ULV aink WLS Ws Dll -LaliyLybelea! Tages eben EI aa kell prea lr e be ale, aly le!elow: Frontispiece taken from the 1572 Latin edition of Book of Optics by Alhazen (the Latin name for ‘a-Hasan ibn al-Halthar, ‘Light issues in all directions opposite any body that is illuminated with any light [and of course, also opposite any self luminous body]. Therefore when the eye is opposite a visible object and the object is illuminated with light of any sort, light comes to the surface of the eye from the light of the visible object: 10"-century Ibn al-Haitham from his Book of Optics and he was the first to totally reject the theory of the Greeks Born in Basrs, Iraq, he moved to Egypton the invitation of its ruler to help reduce the effects of the Nik’s flooding, and was the first to combine the ‘mathematical’ approach of Eu: lid and Ptolemy with the ‘physical’ principle favoured by natural philosophers. He said "The knowledge of optics demands a combination of physical and mathematical study. He was alsoa mathematician, astronomer, physician and chemist, but his Rook of Optics has formed the foundations for the science of optics, Famously known as Magnum Opus, it discussed the nature of light, the physiology and mechanism of sight, the structure and anatomy of the eye, reflection and refraction, and catoptries. He studied lenses, experimenting with differ: ‘ent mirrors like flat, spherical, parabolic and oylindrical, con ed the eye as a dioptric system, by applying the geometry of retraction to it. He brilliantly investigated the phenomenon of atmospheric refraction, calculating the height of the atmos: re and convex. He also treat phere to be ten English miles. This compares Well with modern measurements of the tropo sphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere, which meas res about seven miles. Ibn al-Fiaitham used experimental evidence to check his theories, which was unusual for his time because physics before him was more like philosophy, without experiment. He was the first ro introduce experimental evidence as a requirement for accepting o theory, and his Book of Optics was actually a critique of Ptole my'sbook Almagest. A thousand years on, this ‘optics book is still quoted by professors train- ing research students to be factual and not be swayed by opinions or prejudice. Some science historians believe that Snelfs Lav, in optics, actually resides in the work of Ibn Sahl and Ibn al-Fiaitham.{An artistic impression showing Ibn al-Hatham and his camere ‘obscura in Cairo, Egypt. Luke many eminent philosophers and rnathematicians, tbn al- Haitham was a keen observer. While ina room one day he noticed light coming through a small hole made in the window shutters. It fell onto the wall opposite and it was the half-moon shape of the sun's image during eclipses. He said: The image of the sun at the Lume of the eclipse, unless its total, demonstrates that when its light passes through a narrow, round hole and is cast on a plane eppasite to the hole it takes on the form of a moon-sickle’. From these experiments, he explained that light travelled in a straight line and when the rays were reflected off abright subject they pessed through the smell hole and did rot scatter but crossed and reformed as an upside-down image on a flat white surface paralleto the hole. He then established that the smaller the hole, the clearer the picture. His experimental conclusions were that when the sunlight reached and penetrated the hole, it made a conic shape at the meeting pont with the pinhole, and later formed another conic shape in reverse to the first one on the opposite wall in the dark room, Inlater stages, these discoveries led to the invention of the camere ‘obscura, and thn al-Haitham built the first camera, a camera obscure or pinhole camera, in history. He went on to explain that we see objects upright and not upside down, as the camera does, because of the connection of the optic nerve with the brain, which analyses ard defines the image. During his practical experiments, Ibn al-Haithem often used the term al-Bayt o-Muthlim, which was translated into Latin as camera obscura, or dark, private or closed rocrn or enclosed space. Camera is still used today, as is qamara in Arebic which still means a private or dark room, Many of Ibn al-Haitham’s works, especially his huge Book of Ontics, were translated into Latin by the medieval scholar Gerard ‘of Cremone. This had a profound impact on the 13"-century big. thinkers like Roger Bacon and Witelo, and even on the 15"-century_ ‘works of Leonardo da Vincl. ‘Today, that camera has gone from the humble beginnings of Ibn al- Haitham’s derk front room, the qamara, to become a sophisticated digital process, while the study of optics has blossomed into.a whole science covering lasers, optical sectioning of the human retina and researching red bioluminescence in jelly fish.Fine Dining E CAN THANK a 9"*-century man with the nickname ‘the blackbird? for introducing the concept of three-course meals into Europe. Eating habits were totally transformed when Ziryab soared into Andalusia in the 9" century and said meals should start with soup, followed by a main course of fish, meat or fowl, and finish off with fruits and nuts. Muslims ate according to seasonal influences. ‘Typical winter meals used rich vegetables such as seakale, beet, cauliflower, turnips, parsnips, carrots, celery, coriander, peas, broad beans, lentils, chickpeas, olives, hard wheat, pasta and nuts. Thes dishes. Desserts usually consisted of dried fruits such as figs, dates, raisins and prunes. bby drinks made from syrups of violet, jasmine, aloes, medicament e wore usually eaten with meat ‘These were accompa spices, fruit pastels, and gums. In contrast, their summer diet consisted of eleven types of chicory, aubergines, carrots, cucumbers, agherkins, watercress, marrow, courgettes and rice, The meat accompanying these vegetables ‘was mainly poultry, ostrich and beef products. green beans, radishes, lettuces, Desserts included fruits such as lemon, lime, quinces, nectarines, mulberries, cherries, plums, apricots, grapes, pomegranates, ‘watermelon, pears, apples and honeymelon. ‘Meanwhile, drinks were made from syrups and preserves of fruit pastels, lemon, rose, jasmine, ginger and fennel, This banquet of food was presented on a tablecloth, the concept of which was spread in Andalusia by Ziryab. He also changed the heavy metal drinking goblets and gold cups found on the dinner tables of the Cordoban court to delicate crystal In European aristocratic circles, the demand for Muslim foodstutTs and spices increased rapidly. Sources from the chronicles of the Abul-Hasan Ali ibn Naft, was nicknamed Ziryab, the blackbird, because of his melodious voice and dark complexion. A musician and fashion designer, he came from Iraq in the 9" century to Cordoba, Andalusia, one of the leading cultural centres of the Muslim civilization. Here he set fashions in eating, etiquette, clothes and music that have lasted until today. Because of his impact, you can read more about him in many sections of this chapter. He became the foremost trendsetter of that time, His talent generated an invitation to Moorish Spain, where he received a salary of 200 golden dinars in addition to many privileges. With him he brought fine etiquette, cooking, fashion, and even toothpaste.Left: Rock crystal ewer from the Fatimid period in Cara, Egypt dating trom the 10° or 11" century, Crystal vas brought to the dinner table by Zityab in theo" century, ater Abbos iba Firmas introduced erystal to al-Andalus, Pope in Avignon in the 14 century st brought id special tell us that ships from Bei jams, preserves, ric flour for cake-making, plus compensatory laxatives! Queen Cristina of Denmark, Sweden and Norway took are to follow the Muslim diet and imported their products and fruits Denmark could only supply apples and rye, itis perhaps food for thought to consider the origin of Danish pastries Crystal was available in Andalusia due to the ingenuity of another Muslim, “Abbas ibn Firnas, who died in 867 CE. In his experiments, he manufactured glass fr establishing a crystal industry based on rocks mined north ‘of Badajos (Patlios), Mest of the Andalusian rock crystal pieces thy m sand and stone, have reached us are found in European churches ous among them being a spherical hottle currently in the Asturga Cathedral, Spain. It bears vegetal patterns and a Kutic inscription, the common decorative elemer and monaste es, the most fa ‘on rock crystal pieces. As well as introducing crystal that was used in drinking glasses, “Abbas ibn Firnas was the sume man who used glass in a most ingenious way to construct a planetarium, supplyin it with artificial clouds, thunder and lightning, Naturally this astounded the 9"-century public Muslim potters then introduced the art of stylish dining with a variety of ceramics and glazes, Malaga and Valencia were zmajorr centres of the industry, and Muslims revolutionized the J decoration of pottery through their invention the Market production of lustre glaze, which you ean read more about chapter and ‘Pottery’ section. Toth Valencian and Malagan potters exported their wares to Spanish Christian- dominated regions like southern France and as far as Italy. Here Malagan potters were thought to have laid the foundations of the famous Majolica ware, which went on to dominate the Italian ceramic industry, Next time you have a meal look at the ceramics and glasses Are the plates made of fine earthenware with designs that . A 16 centory Libolulu Mustafa Ais book, Nusrat rage, showing a banquet given by the commander-in-che La Pasha, seted atthe head ot the table, tothe lading dignitaries of the in lamit. On either side of the commander ate side officers particip the campaign, sitting according to rank. They are e with servants carrying pitchers of rosewater [thei sit drink). Note the ap- pearance of cutlery and serviettes covering the diners laps. anuscript from Ge ook like precious metals? Are the glasses delicate, chirning if you gently tap them? We sometimes assume that just because these people lived centuries before us, they must have been worse off than us, that they must have been crude and unsophis- ticated: after all it was ‘the dark ages’ we're told, but in certain areas, their quality of life far outmeasured what we have today.Starters Main meal Three Course Menu From an Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook of the 13" century ‘Translated by Charles Perry Meat Soup with Cabbage ‘Take meat and cut it up as fine as possible. ‘Take old cheese, the best you can obtain, and cut it up, and throw on it an onion pounded with cilantro. Take tender “eyes” of cabbage, boil, then pound them with all of that in a wooden mortar, and throw them in the pot, after boiling once or twice. Add some murri a little vinegar and some pepper and caraway. Cover the contents of the pot with dough [or sourdough] and cover with eggs. Roast in a Tajine Take an entire side of a young, plump kid and. place it in a lange tajine [earthenware cooking dish with alld still used in North Africa today] big enough to hold it; put it in the oven and leave it there until the top is browned. Take it out, tar it and put it in the oven a second time until it is done and browned on both sides. Then take it out and sprinkle it with salt ground with pepper and cinnamon. That is extremely good and is the most notable roast that exists, because the fat and moisture stay in the bottom of the pan and nothing is lost in the fire, as in the roast on a spit or the roast in ‘a tannur [clay oven], Mirkas with Fresh Cheese Take some meat, carefully pounded as described earlier. Add fresh cheese that is not too soft lest it should fall apart, and half piece of cut-up meat and some eggs, for it is what holds it together, along with peppec cloves, and dry coriander. Squeeze on it some mint juice and cilantro juice. Beat it all and use it to stuff the innards, which are ted with threads in the usual way. Next fry it with fresh cil, as aforementioned, and eat it in nibbles, without sauce, or however you like Fish Tharid Pound well pieces ofa big fish and add to them such as they will bear of egg white, pep- per, cinnamon, enough ofall the spices, anda little leavening yeast. Beat them until all is well mixed. Then, take a pot and put in ita spoon fal of vinegar, two of cilantro juice, one and ahalf of onion juice, one of murri nagi’ [pure type of barley flour], spices. flavourings. pine nuts, six spoonfuls of oil and enough salt and ‘water, and put it over a moderate fire. When it has boiled several times, make the pounded [fish] meat into the form of a fish and insert into its interior one or two boiled eggs, and ppat it carefully into the sauce while itis boil ing, Cut the remainder into good meatballs: take boiled egg yolks and cloak them with that meatalso. Throw all that in the pot and when all is done, take the fish from the pot and the meat-cloaked yolks, and fry them in a frying pan until browned. ‘Then, cover the contents of the pot with six eggs, pounded almonds and breadcrumbs, and dot the pot [with yolks]Main meal Roast Chickens Take young, fat chickens, clean and boil them ina pot with water. salt and spices. Take them out of the pot and pour the broth with the fat in a dish and acd to it what has been said for the roast over coals. Rub that onto the boiled hen and then arrange it on a spit and turn it over a moderate fire with @ continuous movement and baste it constant, until it is ready and browned: then sprinkle it with what remains of the sauce and serve. Ittastes nicer than livestock meat, and is more uniform. Other birds may be roasted the exact same way. Drinks Syrup of Pomegranates ‘Take a rat! [500g approximately] of sour pomegranates and another of sweet Pomegranates, and add their juice to two ratls of sugar: cook all this until it reaches the consistency of syrup, and set it aside until needed. Its henefits:it is usefal in cases of fevers, cuts the thirst, alleviates bilious fevers ‘and lightens the body gently. Tharda of the Emir Knead white flour well with water, ¢ little oil and leavening yeast, making four thin raghifs [flatbread, rolled out decidedly thinner than a pita, like a thin pancake]. Fry them in ¢ frying pan with much fiesh oil, until they brown a little take them ut of the oil and pound them well. From the rest of the dough make little hollow things on the pattern of mujabbana [cheese pie], and make top crusts for them, Fry them in fresh oil, making sure they stay white and not turn brown, fry the top crusts, too. Then, take peeled pistachios, almonds, and pine-nuts, and sufficient suger; pound them coarsely, spice them and knead them with sharp rosewaterand mix with ground raghifs and stir until completely mixed. Fill the hollow dumplings prepared earlier with that mix, and put on their covers, and proceed confident that they will not be everdone. Arrange them on a dish and put between them the rest ofthe filling and then sprinkle them with sharp rosewatcr until the dish is full. Sprinkle with plenty of ground sugar and present it, And if ‘some syrup of thickened, honeyed rosewater syrup is dripped on it, it will be good, God. willing.L 1: Traditions! micas in Moot 1 century manuscnpé on mus cal composition and rhythns showing a qitara (guitar) from efi al-reagearat by Kamani Khidie Age. Sound System USIC CROSSES CONTINENTS, Cultures, people and nature. Like language, it enables us to communicate, and music has run through the veins of great composers and even the tone deaf, as their favourite tunes revolve about th Islam doesn't forbid all types of music, only those which lead to improper behaviour, and today the Arab world has also witnessed some great musicians, ike Oum Kolthoum, the late legendary songstress, also known as the ‘Nightingale of the Nile; who dominated a generation with the poetry of her songs and her lilting voice; and Muhammad Abdul Waheb, who set classical poetry frem the Arab golden age alight, inspiring pride in his, listeners for their rich heritage Do 20"-century artists and singers know that raf lies in the hands of 9 century Muslims? These artists, particularly al-Kindi, used musical notation, the system of writing musi much of the ‘They also named the notes of a r heads. musical scale with syllables instead of letters, called solmization. These syllables make up the basic scale in music today and we are all familiar with doh. ray. me, far, so, la, tee. The Arabic al Mim-Pa Sad-Lam-Sin. The phonetic similarity nd the Arabic alphabet used in the 9" century is striking habet for these notes is Dal-Re between today's seale Muslims were also developing musical \sruments. Fleven hundred yea al-Kindi suggested a detailed fretting for the ud (lute) while also discussing the cosmological connotations of music. In using the alphabetical annotation for one-eighth, he buill on and improved the achievement of Greck musiciansAl Kindi was one of the first to realize the therapeutic value of music and tried to cure a quadriplegic boy with musical therapy. After consulting most reputable physicians, the boy's father lost hope and decided to try al-Kindi as ss Eg @ last resort. Seeing the boy, al-Kindi called his music students and ordered them to play. The boy rel sat up and talked while the music played. Seeing this improvement, al-Kindi asked the boy’ father to talk to his son, which he quickly did, but as soon as the musicians stopped playing the boy returned to his former ill state. The father wanted them to keep playing, but al-Kindi said, ‘No, it was an episode in his life. No one can lengthen another é > person's life. Your son has fulfilled the divine term! Today music therapy is an established healthcare profession that uses music to help physical, emotional, 4‘ e and mental conditions. -e Two musicians ax depicted in Alfonso Xs 'Canliga de Santa Mari’ 136 century About seventy years after al-Kindi, al-Farabi invented the rubabah, an ancestor of the violin family, and qanun, a table zither. He wrate five books on music but The Great Book of Music on the theory ‘of music was his masterpiece. In the 12" century, it was translated into Hebrew, and then into Latin. The influence of al-Farabi and his book com nued up to the 16" century Many instruments used in traditional music, rock bands and orchestras today take their names and ‘origins from Arabic-Musiim origins. Instruments like the lute came from the al-‘ud, the rebec from the rababuh, the guitar from the gitara and the naker from naggara, a goatskin-covered wooden drum. Roving musicians, merchants and travellers all helped Arabic music on its way into Europe, and this shaped the cultural and artistic lite of Spain and Portugal under the eight hundred years M is found in the collection of Cantigas de Santa im rule. One of the earliest examples of this Maria, Composed around 1252 upon the orders of Alfonso X el Sabio, king of Castile and Aragon, this collection consists of 415 religious songs about the Virgin Mary (pbuh)‘Arabs, when they came to Europe, in the beginning of the eighth century, were more advanced in the cultiva- tion of music, ... in the construc- tion of musical instruments, than were European na- tions, thus only can their as- tounding musi- cal influence be accounted for. C Engel, a 20"-century history of music scholar 5 18°-century manuscript on matical on apd rhythin showing a abba fom Taphi:- magemat by Qamani Khir Aga. This is an ancestor ofthe violin family Many individuals also played a part in the spreading of music into Europe. Legendary influence lies with one man, Ziryab, known as the blackbird, because of his melodious voice and dark complexion. He wasa gifted pupil of a renowned Baghdad musician but his talent and excellence in music slowly overtook his teacher’, so the Umayyad caliph invited him to Andalusia. iryab settled in the court of Cordoba in 822 CE, which was then under the Caliph ‘Abd al-Rehman IH, the son of the Umayyad caliph. He arrived at the right time as ‘Abd al-Rahman Il was investing in the arts and Andalusian cultural life was flowering. Here, Ziryab found prosperity and recognition of his art, becom ig the court entertainer with 4 monthly salary of 200 golden dinars in addition to many privileges. This promotion gave him a great opportunity to set his talent and creation free from any boundaries, and he went on to revolutionize music. His accornplishments are many, including. establishing the first conservatory in the world in Cordoba: teaching harmony and composition; introducing the lute (al-'ud) to Europe and adding the fifth bass string to its replacing the wooden plectrum with a quill feather from a vulture: rearranging musical theory completely by setting free metrical and rhythmical parameters, so cre of expression (muwashshah, zajal and nawbah suites). Many, like music historian Julian Ribera, say that counterpoint and polyphony ‘were first developed in the Cordoba conservatory around 1000 CE. ing new ways Henry Terrace, the French 20"-century historian, said, ‘After the arrival of this oriental (Zirysb), a wind of pleasure and luxurious life blew through Cordoba. An atmosphere filled with poetey and exquisite delight surrounded Ziryab; he composed his songs at night in the ‘company of two servants who played the lute, He gave his art an unprecedented value... ‘This unprecedented value has remained through the last millennium for the whole world to enjoy in the many different forms Imusic takes today.The Ottoman Caliphate was t) Euro-Asian st military musical band. Founded in 1299, the famous Mehterhane military band followed the cc his expeditions. It would arrive middle of battles to rouse the spir the soldiers while also terrifying the enemy. The Janissary, an eli had a bai fo nine 0 vith s like drums, zurna, clarinets (zil) and kettledrom on th f camels. in peace and war. On various ambassadorial receptions it becan fas inst to have Ottoman- Turkish left ind their musical instrum This was an event that led to the of European military bands. Even poleon Be band: N ench militar quipped with Ottor war musical instruments such as zil (cymbal) and the kettledrums. It is said battle ¢ that Napoleon's success in th Austerlitz (1805) was due in part to the psychological impact of the nois of his fanfare‘Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity! Plato: Fashion and Style ASHIONS MAY COME AND GO, but timeless style will always bea foundation of taste. So it may not be surprising to find out that many present European styles and ideas of dressing arrived twelve hundred years ago when Spain was part of the Islamic world. Ziryab, the musician and etiquette teacher, was also a trendsetter and style icon in 9"-century Cordoba, Spain. “He brought with him all the fashion. Baghdad was the Paris or New York of its day and ... you have this influx of ideas from Baghdad to Cordoba, so he brought with him toothpaste and deodorant, and short hair... ‘this is the thing: Cordoba had street lighting, sewage works, running water.’ sid author Jason Webster about Ziryab when speaking with Rageh Omar on the BBC’ recent An Islamic History of Europe Baghdad in [raq was a great cultural and intellectual centre of the Islamic world, from which Ziryab also brought new tableware, new ns and even the games of chess and polo, He was renowned as an sartorial fash tic man with good taste and his name was connected with elegance. With his refined and luxurious ays, he defined the court of the caliphs while the average Cordoban imitated his hairstyle, the new short look, and enjoyed the leather furniture he brought to Spain. Henry Terrace, the French historian, said twelve hundred years later of Ziryab that, He introduced winter and summer dresses, setting exactly the dates when each fashion waste be worn, He also added dresses of half season for intervals between seasons, Through him, luxu- rious dresses ofthe Orient were introduced in Spain. Under his influence fashion industry ‘was set up, producing coloured striped fabric still and coats of transparent fabric, which found in Morocco today’ Ziryab’s achievements gained him the respect of successive generations, even up to the present day. In the Muslim world, there is not a single country that does not have a street. ahotel,a dub or a café named after him, In the West, scholars and musicians still pay him tribute His time in southern Spain coincided with a movement and development that shock the Muslim world in general, because without a oubt.a lone man could not achieve the total transformation that occurred. t's just that he,Eady 17*-century menuscript titled Albwr of the Sulign Ahmad 1 by Kalandar Pasha, showing typical costumes of this tire Ziryab, has become the legendary figure asso- ciated with this. Muslims, especially in Andalusia, developed a sophisticated lifestyle pattern that wos based on seasonal inthiences. The choice to cat particular foods and wear certain types of dothingand material was crucial in providing, comfort and well being. In clothing terms, warm cotton or woo! items, usually in dark. colour ‘costumes were made essentially from Summer costumes were made of light materials such as cotton, silk and flax that came in light and brilliant colours from local dye works, ‘Andalusian Muslims were also heirs to 2 number of oak-basedl industries developed by the Romans, including the making of cork soled shoes. They Intensified and diversified the production technique and cork-soled shoes became universal in the country, and a staple of the export trade. The shoe was called ‘qura, the plural is erag, which subsequently relu | to Castilian in the form aleoryue. The artisan who made the product was a garrag. Such an artisan was ‘Abdullah, 2 Sufi mystic sandab Ibn ‘Arabi, Artisans of this trade quarters called garragin, now Caraquin. in Granada, Madrid also had (and still has) an oak district. of Seville, mentioned by ad living ‘Two medieval Muslim writers, al-Sagati and Ibn Abdun, provide detailed specifications of the making of cork-soled shoes, notably that the leather stitched to the back should not be skimpy, and that leather should be sewn, {o leather, with no filler inserted in between, Some shoemakers put sand below the heel to make it higher, cousing it to break when worn. ‘The more sophisticated styles and methods were then adopted by Christians after the conquest of al-Andalus. So the next time you're out shopping for the latest fashions in the fanciest designer shops. remember the high heels of a thousand years ago. When you try on a light pair of summer nber Ziryab, the blackbird from twelve hundred years age trousers or a dress rem because this was the time such ideas were ‘lying into Europe from the East!low lef: In the early 16" century. Cerdiral Wokey decided to rid the floors of ‘Hampton Court of the unhy ppenic rushes and use ca stead, Fe ordered city Damascene carpets origin. {ng in Damascus,ard a few more from Venice Below right: Carpets were aso used to drape over cam als on long journey’ to some evel of comfort for the Bese as as ode bigs {estore provisions Carpets HANKFULLY, about five hundred years ago carpets replaced the usual floor covering of rushes that were scattered about and changed from time to time. Fifigenth-century writer Erasmus had quite definite ideas about these rushes on English floors, saying: “The floors are. in general, lid with white clay, and are covered with rushes, occasionally renewed, but so imperfectly, that the bottom layer is lefi undisturbed, sometimes for twenty years, harbouring expectoration, vomiting, the leakage of dogs ‘and men, ale droppings, scraps of fish, and ‘other abominations not fit to be mentioned, Whenever the weather changes a vapour is ‘exhaled, which I consider very detrimental to health. I may add that England ... would be much more salubrious if the use of rushes were abandoned fo aveid such pitfalls of twenty-year-old undisturbed flooring, Hampton Court is said to have had the rushes changed daily upon the orders of Cardinal Wolsey. ‘There is als an illustration in Lambeth Palace that shows King Edward TV (1461-1483) seated ina room. strewn with bright green rushes, Fortun Cardinal Wolsey took personal interest in his floor coverings and eventually rid Hampton Court of th from Venice and another sixty Damascene carpets, originating in Damascus, in 1526 Carpets come from an old tradition of carpet making, a tradition that started long belore Islam. Carpets were first made by the Bedouin tribes of Arabia, Persia and Anatolia, who used them as tents, sheltering them from, sand storms; floor coverings providing gr comfort for the household; wall curtains providing privacy; and for items such as blankets, bags and saddles,For Muslims, carpets are held in special esteem and admired for being part of Paradise, Inspired by this, they developed both the design and weaving technique, and so their carpets came in wonderful colours. This was also due to Muslim chemistry producing new tinctures for tanning and textiles. A Tunisian scientist called Ibn carried out pio jadis in the 11 century ks and the colouring of dyes and mixtures ty produce his Staff of the Scribes. ing work on As well as being colourful, Muslim carpets were renowned for their quality and rich geometric patterns of stars, octago ind rosett . triangles Ilarranged around a large central medallion, Arabesque and floral patterns filled the areas arcund these shapes pulling it all together with a sense of unity Carpets could be huge, covering enormous floors of an entire audience hall, or aniniature rugs for individuals which g: clean « people 3 pace to pray or simply to sit, Wherever they were, they could place the rug on the fleor and know it would be clean In Europe carpets caught on quickly and became status symbols. King Henry VIL rom left to sight A Turkish lady weaving acorpet loomsa Musim prostrating ‘on is prayer ma. (ruled 1509-1547) is known to have owned ‘ever four hundred Muslim carpets, and a portrait made of him in 1537 shows him. standing on a'Turkish carpet with its Ushok star, Muslim designs also decorate his robe and curtains. But the earliest English contact with Muslim carpets was when the grandson of William the Conguecor, who lived in the Abbey of lu the 12% century. At this same time. the Muslim ‘geographer and philosopher al-Kdrisi said that woollen carpets were produced in Chinchilla ‘pet to;an English church in and Murcia, both now in Spain, exported all over the world. Paintings made in the late medieval period show us how and where carpets were used and what people thought of them. In 14" and 15"-century Europe, they were first used in Christian religious paintings. Then, in the 15" century, the European landed gentry and balconies, like the “Venetian Capaccto’ The 17° century displayed them from windows saw decorative carpets covering table tops and their bases. Cupboard and window c also made an appearance. arpetsCarpets were also valuable gifts, exchanged during diplomatic missions to Europe. Belgian artists were also inspired. Van Eyck’s Painting of the Virgin and Child with St \d Canon Van der Donatian, St George Paele, which he painted in 1436 at Bruges, shows Mary (pbuh) seated ona carpet with geometrical shapes, mainly circles, draw around rosettes combined with lozenges and ight-pointed star motifs Muslim carpets were so highly prized that 8 Vietoria and Albert Museum publication ‘quotes a chapter in Hakluyts Voyages, entitled toM Morgan Hubblethorne, sent into Persia, 1579) talking, “Certain directions given about a plan to import Persian carpet makers into England. It says:"In Persia you shall find carpets of course thrummed wool, the best of the world, and excellently coloured: those nd you ‘must use means to learn all the order of the dycing of those thrums, which an cities and towns you must repair to, 0 dyed as ther rain, wine, nor yet vinegar can stain, Ifbefore you return you could procure « singular good workman in the art of Turkish carpet making, you should bring the art into the Realm and also thereby increase work to your company Besides the Otioman/Turkish carpet, no other carpet reached the status and popularity of the Persian carpet, which became a state enterprise in the Safavids’ reign, These rulers developed trade relations with Furope and under Shah Abbas I (1587-1629), and their export and the sifk trade became the main sources of income ane wealth for the Safavid also valuable gifts, exchanged tic missions to Europe. state, They w during diplon Carpet making was a huge industey and became a protessional art requiring designers to draw patterns first on paper betote translating them into woven designs. This was on 4 massive scale, and manuiactarers received orders from European consumers, Persian crafismen from Tabriz, Kashan, Isfahan and Kerman produced eye dozing and mesmes ng designs, clearly knotted, ranging from medallion centred carpets, mihrab carpets and vase carpets to personalized’ carpets bearing the coat of arms ofa number of European rulers, Many of the carpets had! a rectangular centre daminated bya medallion, and a border, which could be ds of various widths, several banBut by the early 19" century the carpet industry started to decline, partly due te historical events and conilicts, which lost Persia its stability and security, and because Europeans began manufacturing their own in the 18" century. “The first production of imitated Muslim carpet: patrons. The Reyal Seciety of Arts promoted the establishment of successful carpet ‘manufacturing ‘on the Principle of ‘Turkish Carpets’ through subsidies and awards. So between 1757 and 17589, the Society gave £150 as awards for the best Turkish “imitated carpets. n Europe was under English ‘Today Berber carpets, those from North Africa, are increasing in popularity faster than any other type. Berbers do not show footprint marks or vacuum tracks, and they ‘ean have thicker yarns than other level-loop pile carpets. They are available to all because they come in expensive wool fibres or less expensive nylon, olefin, or nylon-olefin fibres. ‘With modern sophisticated manufacturing materials, carpets haye become one of the cheapest available flooring methods in houses, apartments and offices. The comfort and warmth they offer has increased their popularity, making them the mest used flooring commodity, sought by collectors, textile museums and traders, while the fame of the flying carpet of‘Af al-Din has added a pinch of emotional mystery. Carpeting has become stem, They are also a luxury escential to life in the modern world,Bic i Sith ae u } a tas > jaeHouse of Wisdom HE HEYDAY OF BAC 1DAD was twelve hundred years ago when it was the thriving capital of the Islamic world. For about five hundred years the city boasted the cream of intellectuals and culture, a reputation gained during the reigns of Caliphs al-Rashid, al-Ma mun, al-Mu'tadhid and al Muktafi, It was the world’s richest city and a centre for intellectual development, being second in size only to Constantinople, with over one million inhabitants. People on the cutting edge of development and discovery group together and so it was in Baghdad under the four generations of these caliphs. The reason that Baghdad had reached, and maintained, such a pinnacle was that these caliphs had taken a personal interest in collecting global, groundbreaking scientific works. As well as books, they brought together Muslim scholars one of the greatest intelle inhistory called the House of Wisdom. This intellectual powerhouse, coupled with the prowess of toa ual academe Baghdad, meant the city was the headquarters for the Arts, Sciences and Letters, and the role Brian Whitaker it played in the spread and development of knowledge in the Arts and Sciences was huge. “The House (Academy) of Wisdom was known by two names according to its development stages. When it was like a single hall in the time of Harun al-Rashid it was named Bayt al-Hikmah but later, as it grew into large institute/academy, in the time of al Maimun, it was named Dar al-Hiknal, and both mean the House of Wisdom: It housed a large library, ‘the Library of Wisdom or Khize «al: Hikmah, and this held a huge collection of nat different scientific subjects in many languages, making it @ scientific academy, in the UK Guasdian newspaper in Sepreniber 20104 that “The House of Wisdom wos an unrivallid contre for the study of humanities andl jor sclences, including matherutics, astronemy, medicine ‘ology and geography... Drawing ‘ou Possian, Indian and Gewek texts - Aristotle, Plato, Hippoenates, Buel, Pythagoras and chemistry others- the scholars accumulated the greatest collection of knowledge in the world, ane bulls on it throwgh their ww discoveries.1932, Eleven centuries cailerthis capital {the House of Wisco, Caliph Mohammad al- Mahdi first began eal lecting manuscripts when he came across them during his war expeditions. 1 Caliph al- Hadi, carried on this work until his son, Caliph Harun al-Rashid, who reigned from 786 to 809 CE, formally built the scien tific collection and Academy of Science. Cal iph al- Mamun, who reigned for twenty years from 813, extended the House of Wisdom and. designated a section or wing for each branch of science, so the place was full to bursting with scientists oF “Ulam, art scholars, famous translators, authors, men of letters, poets, and professionals in the various arts and crafis ‘These medieval b s met every day for trans. lation, reading, writing, discourse, dialogue and discussion, The place was a cosmopolitan melting pot and the languages that were spo: ken ond written inchided Arabic, the lingua franca, Farsi, Hebrew, Syriac, Araniaic, Greek, Latin and Sanskrit, which was used to translate the ancient Indian mathematic ipts Among the famous translators was Yuhanna ibn al-Bitriq al-Turjuman, known as the ‘Translator Jonah, son of the Patriarch: He was more at home with philosophy than medicine and translated, from Latin, The Book Syrion stamps is leading scholar in the House of Wisdom, wh translated the work of Aristoule of Animals by Aristotle which was in nineteen chapters. Hunayn ibn Ishaq was also a renowned translator of the books by the Greck physician Hippocrates and Galen. AL-Kindi, the physician, philosopher, math cematician, geometer, chemist, logician and astronomer, was chosen by Caliph al-Mamun to be one of the scholars leading the transla tion ofthe work of Aristotle. He had his own personal library which used to be referred to asal-Kindiya. AL-Malmun wasa forward-thinking caliph and contacted other world leaders in his, pursuit for knowledge. Itis said that he wrote to the king of Sicily asking him for the entire contents of the Library of Sicily, which way rich in philosophical and scientific books. The king responded positively to the Caliph by sending him copies from the Sicilian Library. ‘The transportation of books varied, Without the availability of modern planes, itis also said that al-Ma'mun used a hundred camels to carry handwritten books and manuscripts, from Khurasan in Iran to Baghdad. “The Byzantine emperor was also approached because al-Maimu his scientists to translate the useful books that wanted to send some ofwere stored in his empire. The emperor said yes and the scientists ‘went, and were also charged with bringing back any books of the Greek intellectuals. Caliph al-Ma’mun not only steered the organization of the House of Wisdorn, but also participated with the scientists and scholars in their discourses and discussions and built an astronomy centre called Marsad Falaki, It was nun by his personal astronomers, a Jew named Sanad ibn Ali al-Yahoudi and 2 Muslim named Yahya ibn ‘Abi Mansour. It is said that Sanad became a Muslim at the hands of al-Ma'man himself. ‘As well as taking up the reins of the House of Wisdom, al-Ma'mun took after his father in establishing many higher institutes, ‘observatories and factories for textiles. Its said that the number of higher institutes during his reign reached 332, ‘They were packed with students pursuing various subjects in the erts and sciences. He also apparently asked a group of wise men to prepare a map of the world for him which they did. This was known as ‘al-Ma'munts map or al-surah al-manuniyah, which expanded upon those which were avsilable during the lifetime of Ptolemy and other Greek geographers. Among the House of Wisdom luminaries of the time were the Banu Musa brothers, Muhammad, Ahmed and al-Hasan, known as mathematicians and inventors of trick devices; al-Khwarizmi, the ‘father’ of algebra; al-Kindi, inventor of decryption and musical theory; Saced ibn Haroun al-Katib, a scribe or writer; Hunayn ibn Ishaq al-"Ihadi, physician and translator, and his son Ishaq, These names appear time and time again throughout this book because these individuals were researching, discovering and building @ vast edifice of knowledge, based on real experiments, that has provided a firm bedrock for much of what we know today. Al-Mémun was visionary of education and some historians have given him the title of “The Master of Arab Civilization’ because of what was left behind as cultural heritage in Baghdad. The House of Wisdom and the splendour of Baghdad made it a pulsating metropolis, crowded with the great minds of the day. However. we must distinguish between the Abbasid House of ‘Wisdom above and the Fatimid House of Wisdom (Dar Al-Hikna), which was established in Cairo in 1005 by the Caliph Al- Hakim, ‘This academy lusted 165 years. Other cities in the Fastern provinces of the Islamic world established several “Houses of Science’ (Dar al- ‘Thn), or more accurately ‘Houses of Knowledge, in the 9 and 10" centuries to emulate that of Dar Hikma in Baghdad.“Stand up for your teacher and honour him with praise. For the teacher is almost a prophet. Did you see greater or more honourable than that who creates, fosters and develops personalities and brains?’ AN se fram a prem Schools favourite teachers, hated subjects, and a bag full of memories from sports : ) PENDING UP TO SIXTEEN FORMATIVE YEARS IN SCHOOLS, we have days to sitting exams. Our lives are moulded by timetables of classes, until finally we emerge with a head full of some kind of knowledge. In Muslim countries @ thousand years 0. the school was the mosque. There was little gion and knowledge he place of prayer ing. Subjects included distinction hetween ¥ as the mosque was both and the place of lea science, so religion and science sat side by side comfortably, which was not the ¢ other parts of the world, According to Danish historian Johannes Pede learning was intimately bound up with religion ... to devote oneself to both, afforded ... inner satisfaction nd ... service to God. it not only made men of letters willing to accept deprivation it prompted others to lend them aid Prophet Moh then them, teaching and supervising schooling, Anywhere a mosque was established, basic instruction began, He also sent teachers. Quran to the tribes and they were called Ahl al-‘lm or the people with knowledge’ This mrad (pbuh) made th c of learning, mosque avelling between the meant that education spread everywhere and these travelli weachers lived lives of great contentment. In Palermo, Ibn Hawysl, 10" century geographer, merchant and traveller, claimed to have counted clementary teachers.At the time of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) in the 7* century there were nine mosques in Medina, which is now in Saudi Arabia Ihe first school then appeared here in 653 CE and the idea of schooling spread like wildlire, so one sprang up in Damascus, Sytia in 744. Fighth-century C Spain, had schools and by the late 9" cen- tury nearly every mosque had an elemen tary school for the education of both boys and girls At the age of six nearly all boys, except the rich (who had private tutors), some girls and some slave children, began elementary school. Tuition was normally free or $0 at it was accessible to all. One of fit lees ring wat 8 Karn how to write the ninety-nine most beautiful names of God and simple verses from the Quran, Atier this, the Qi thoroughly and arithmetic was added. ran was studied By the 10° century, eaching was moving away from the mosque and into the teacher's house, which meant that gradually schools developed, in Persia first. Then by 1066, when the Normans were invading England, the Seljuks built the school, named after its founder Nizam al-Mulk of Baghdad. This was the first proper school that had a separate teaching building, However, schools (madrasas) were established and salaries were designated for teachers in the early days of Islam, Like many Muslim buildings, schools were constructed with no expense spared, and beauty way an important consideration. Fach had a courtyard with one, two, three cor four hivans (large arched halls directly open to the courtyard), which were used for lessons, as well asa .ccommodation (individual rooms) and an ablution complex. For the first time, proficiency in Arabic and reading and reciting Daral-Hadith or ‘the house af Haditlt, special Mohammad (pbih), G from this se quivalent (oa univ rou a the The first schiook teai founded tw Darmasen hiaion carried out in hospitals and through apprenti: hooks widely established «stil the 16 he reigit of Suileyenan the Magmificent, tHe (trLeft Two schoate in Raghdad 890. Right: Bayarid IL Kalliye,a universty complex consisting of mosque, dra ad Hospital Edirne, Turkey. the state or ruling caliph exercised some supervision over teaching, and teachers had to have permission before they could teach. A.14*.century Muslim educationalist Ibn al-Haj had much to say about schools: “The schools should be in the bazaar or a busy street, not in a secluded place... It isa place for teaching, not an eating house, so the boys should not bring food or money... In the organization, a teacher must have a deputy to set the class in their places, also visitors according to their rank, to. to wam those who do whet they ought not ‘or omit what they ought to do, and bid the listen to the instruction, In class, conversation, laughing and jokes are forbidden’ By the 15® century, the Ottomans had revolutionized schools by setting up lean complexes in towns like Bursa and Ed Turkey. Their school system was called Kulliye, with ‘« mosque, hospital, school, public kitehen and dining area. These made learning accessible to 2 wider public while also effering free meals, health care and sometimes accommodetion. he Fatih ng and constituted a campus-like education iye in Istanbul was such 3 aaken the sleepers, complex, with sixteen schools teaching science and theology. Where did all the money come from for all these institutions? Well, not so much in taxes, but from public funds that were charitable donations from a foundation called nag. Anyone could set up a school under a deed of foundation as long as they abided by the beliefs of stam. Finance covered maintenance, teachers’ salaries, eecommodation, food for students, and also bursaries for those in need, Because education was held in such high es- teem, money was given generously and learning flourished. Ibn Rattuta, the [4!-century Mus- lim globetrotter, talks about the stude supported one hundred per cent’. any- ‘one who wishes fo pursue a course of studies or 1 who was to devote himself to the religious life receives, every aid to the execution of this purpose. Many students in the 21* century would like such free education, and even though the 14° century may seem like a long time ago, the methods of organization, logistics and system of institutionalization could maybe offer a fewUniversities ‘copay, more people than ever before are applying for university education, In the UK alone, just less than half a million people want to start studying full time courses, and more women than men are continuing on the path of learning, ‘This quest for knowledge was also close to the heart of Muslims as they are urged throughout the Quran to seck knowledge, observe and reflect. This meant that all over the Muslim world, advanced subjects were taught in mosques, schools, hospitals, observatories and the homes of scholars, You'll have read about school edueation in are completely thed together. There is no this chapter, and know that once ‘primary equivalent in other cultures or languages, and education was complete, a student could go some of the mosques of Islam are the oldest . ‘on to further study in Arabic grammar and universities Seek poetry, logic, algebra, biology, history, lawand snyus mosque universities include al-Azbar, knowledge vein esta were also scientific academies ich js still running today, one thousand which had their own rectors and thirty years later. Being the focal point of from the cradle “There is some overlap between school and. higher learning in Fgypt, it attracted the cream to the grave.’ university education, Both began in the of intellects. So itis known for its age, and also : mosque, but ‘University’ in Arabic is Jamil, for its illastrious alumni Ibn al-Haitham, who Ser nea hich is the feminine form of the Arabic iscovered how we see, lived there fora long Tor mosque, Jarni. So in Arabic the place of time and thn Khaldun,a 14!century leading, religion and the place of advanced leaning —_ sociologist, taught there Th in1 972, retains one of the renovined traditional uninerites of lam today Azhar mosqueA grand callege mosque complex was Qarawiyin wes originally built as « mosque during the Ideisids’ Rule in 841 CE by Fatima al-Fihri, a devout and pious young woman. She was well educated, and after inheriting a large ammount n Fez, Morocco, This university from her father, who was a successtul busi ness ance on building a mosque/university suitable for her community in Vee. She put a design ‘on the building that all the building material should be from the same land, On. launching the project she began a daily fast until the campus building was completed vowed to spend her entire inherit: constrai Fatima al-Fibri wanted to give the Fez community a learning centre, Like some of the grand mosques, al-Qaraw eveloped into a place for religious instruction and political discussion, gradually extending its education to all subjec natural sciences, and so it earned its name as: particularly the one of the first universities in history: The university was well equipped. especially with astronomy instruments, and the timers room had astrolabes, sand clocks and other instruments to calculate time. As well as astronomy, studies were in the Quran and theology verse writing, logic, arithmetic, geography and medicine, There were also courses on grammar, Muslim history, and elements of ry and mathematics. This variety of nd the high quality of its teaching drew scholars and students from all over. law; thetorie, pro So overwhelming was the number of applicants that the university had to introduce 4 rigorous selection system, just like included learning the whole Quran and good knowledge of Arabic and general iversities today. Back then, the conditions took local students, they were international affairs. So in ‘These mosque ‘universities’ not on the famous Abbasid universities of Baghdad, Iraq, medicine, pharmacology, engineering, astronomy and other subjects were taught students from Syria, Persia ond India, Stud atal-Azhar University in Cairo included large nunibers of foreigners, alongside Egyptians from areas outside Cairo. They were all given residential units that they had to look after, and received free food. Every large unit also included a library, kitchen and toilet. {of Courtyard of al Qarawivin showing Dire behind the fountain normally used for prayer on summer evenings Right: The timing room-at al-Qarawivin housing atully fanstioning water lock showing a series of brass jars and an astrolabe indicating, says and months. On the ‘white wall hangs one of the fkdest Europeen grandfather ‘docks. On the floor isthe bed en which the time Keeper seeps, Outside this room there i a sundial (not shown), This ‘university’ [al-Qarawiyin in Fez] was number one in Morocco, built in 841 CE by Fatima al- Fibri.... [who] wanted to give... [her] community a learning centre.Avone of the most southerly points of the Muslim lands was the University of Sankore, in Timbuktu, and it was the intellectual institution of Mali, Ghana and Songhay. It developed out vf the Sankore Mosque, founded in 989 by the erudite chivy judge of Limbukt, at-Qadé Agib ibn Mahomed ibn Umar. The inner court of the masque was in the exact dimtension of the Ka'bah in holy Mevca. A wealthy Mundike ladv yen financed Sankore University, making ita lading contre of edwcation. It prospered. so by the 12" century, student numbers were at twenty-five thousand, an enormous amount in a city of a hundred thousand peaple The University lutdl no central administration, but several independent colleges, cack ran by a single master. The “courses took place i open courtvards and subjects were the ‘Quran, Islamic stuties. law, literature, medicine and surgery: astronomy, mathematics, physics, chermsiry, philosaphy, language and linguishics, geography, history wud art Tr wasnt all corchrul, as che students also spent tine learning a trade, the business code and ethivs. These trade shops offered classes 1n business, carpentry, farming, fishing, construction showmaking, tailoring and navigaiton The highest superior’ degree: equrvalent to a PhD, cook ibout ten years, and produced world-class scholars who: wore recognized by therr publications. ‘he PhL) thesis usert wo be vailled Risaleh (literally meaning letter) It still is at many Muslin Universities and religious theological centres. (For example the Risuleh in Theology in Quin, fran would grant a person the degre of Ayatullah). During graduation ceremonies, students had to wear vaditional turbans represcnting the name Sillah, symbulizing divine light, wisctom, knowledge and excellent moral conduct These griuduites were renwwned for their erudition and employed as projeavors dill over the Muslim world. Ibe Sina also keown as Avicenna (in the chai), saurrounded by students, rom a 17 century Persian Financial support for students was part of the educational package. At the al-Qarawiyin ‘Mosque university in Morocco students didnt pay fees, unlike students of today, and were given monetary allowances for food and accommodation, All this was made possible by endowments from royal families. Students lived in residential quadrangles, in two- and three-storey buildings, each with between sinty and one hundred and fifty other students Like all good universities, these also had phe- nomenal libraries with a lot of books givenfrom personal collections, At the Zaytuna Mosque in Tunisia, there were manuscripts, on grammar, logic, documentation, etiquette of research, cosmology, arithmetic, geometry, minerals and vocational training, At the Tu nisian Qayrawan’s Atiqa Librar Arabic translation of History of Ancient Na tions which was written by St ferome before 420 CE there was an The teaching was ina study group, known es 2 kalagat all or halage. This was a semi circle in front of the teacher formed by seated students. Visiting scholars were allowed to sit beside the lecturer asa mark of respect, and in many hualagas a special section was always reserved for visitors. The Mesque of Amr near Cairo had more than forty halagas at some point, and in were 120 haleagas w chief mosque of Calto there Courses were difficult, and medicine was particularly gruelling, ike in unive today, with the department of medicine having hard and Jong examination Anything less than a pass meant that person couldn't practice medicine and was formally pronounced incompetent The students of law went through undergradu- ate training and, ifthey were successful, were chosen by their master asa fellow. Only then could they go onto graduate studies which lasted an indefinite period of time. It could be juired their up to twenty years before they ‘own professorial chair. The law student had to get a certificate of authorization and a license before practising. These certificates, known as ijazas, could be the origin of the word ‘baccalareus’ which is the lowest university degree. The term first appeared in the University of Paris degree system set up in 1231 by Pope Gregory IX. It could be « latinized Arabic phrase that the Muslims used. Bi-hiagq al-riwayeh meant ‘the right to teach on the authority of another, and this phrase was used in the ‘degree certificates, tia graduated be was given this li literally meant he now had the right to teach . for six centuries. When a student e and it Nov the International Baccalaureate is.a quali fication for international students getting them ready for universities anywhere in the world, Muslims insttutionalized higher level education, There were entrance exams, challenging finals, degree certificates, study nal students and grants. In circles, intern fact, there is femarkable correspondence between the teaching procedures in medieval ‘universities’ and the methods of the present day. They even had collegiate courses, prizes for proficiency in scholarship, and oratorical and poetical competitions. Graduation ceremonies: ‘ould have started in Cordoba ‘Books were presented and many a scholar bequeathed his library to the mosque of his city to ensure its preservation and to render the books ac- cessible to the learned who frequented it. And so grew up the great universities of Cordoba and Toledo to which flocked Chris- tians as well as Moslems from all over the world.’ RS Mackemsen, a contemporary an historian of librarianshipOU MUST HAVE WONDERED WHY A CHAIRMAN OR WOMAN, & professional head of terminology they are often just referred to as the ‘chair, This us n organization, is called by such a title. In today’s ally means a professor who has been awarded the chair of, say, mathematics, or itis a president who presides at the meetings of an organization and people have to address their remarks to this ‘chair’ pet Well. if we go back to the teaching in the mosques, Muslim schools and universities nd a study over a thousand years ago, we'll fi circle or a Halagat al-‘lm or halaga gathered around a professor who was seated on a chair Dr tially, it was just to uive the teacher a comfortable place and to make him higher than the seated students sc rsiin Arabic. they could see and hear him better. It is this or kursi, that evolved into a ike the chair of a board notion of ‘chair professional position oracommittec the professor in the chair of the study circles was either chosen by the ealiph or by 8 committee of scholars (al-Hawsa), as in present-day Qum in Tran or Najaf in frag They are chosen for their scholarly prowess and popularity. Ibn ‘Aqil, a scholar who died in 1119, was appointed to a well known chair in Jami al-Mansur in Baghdad, and he became the main teacher. Outstanding, distinguished 3! popular scholars cou! be appointed to two chairs at the same time, and they would lecture at two mosques. Some chairs were also known by the discipline they represented, so there was chair for the study-circle of the traditionalists or halagat ail al-hadith, and one for the gAalagat al-nahosiyin. Others were known by the name of the family whese members occupied it in succession, so there was the chair of the Barmakids or halagat al-Baramikah. Sometimes institutions specialized in particular fields and ved a corresponding chair ike the Nizamiyah, a school in Khargird, Iran, which did not have a chair of theology, but only a chair of haw. therefore ret Once a professor was appointed by the caliph to 2 chair in one of the main mosques or fami, he ‘ordinarily held it for the remainder ot his lifetime Cases of lengthy tenure are frequent, like Abu ‘Ali al-Kattani, who was in his eighties when he died in 1051 after occupying his chair for fifty years, Sometimes professors moved from one main mosque to another like, Sharif Abu Jafar, who died in 1077. He first hele a chair in Jam al-Mansur ‘on the west side of Baghdad, ‘then he moved. to the east side, where he taught in an exclusive institution near the Caliphal Palace, before moving further north once again, hecause of 2 flood in 1074, when he was appointed a new chair in fam al. Qasr, At times when the chair or chairs were vacated by the death of the incumbent, another was selected, usually based on his seniority and competence. So next time you are in a meeting, you now know where the pecultar term ‘chair’ criginated from. and why 19%cemury illustration of sermon ina mosque from the Maganiat or Assemblies of al- Hari Note that the fonly person on the chair (runbar) ts the lecturer and this is where the termchair" (Gs in university chai) comes from,‘ there can be no education without books.” werb Libraries ITH THE APPEARANCE OF THE TELEVISION it was predicted that the shelf life of books faced certain doom, but books have held their own. The introduction of the internet was the next big challenge but books still continue to enthral both young and old. Books have weathered the coming of modern entertainment technology as academic treatises, magic books, adventures, thrillers, romantic stories and biographies. Today, as a thousand years ago, they still captivate, inspire and draw people into their silent, personal world, and there is nowhere that this world exists more than in the corridors and bookcases of libraries. Books, manuscripts and treatises covering eve- ryarea of Muslim seience, technology and arts ‘were produced in astronomical proportions. Right from the 8° century Muslims began producing books, because they knew how to make peper, and because they couraged to record all their experiments. The Abbasid Caliph al-Malmun paid translators the weight of each book in gold that they trans. lated from Greek into Arabic. This produced a vast stack of books, commanding the attention and respect of following generations, Muslim and non-Muslim, During the Abbasids, hun- dreds of libraries (sls0 privately owned) were ‘opened, making greatly en- any thousands of books available to readers. Before the science books came the very first book in Islam in the 7* century. This was the Quran, which was revealed to Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) in the form of messages called Aayats or verses. These were immedi and written down by scribes on whatever mate- ately yemorized by several companir rial was available like leaves, cloth, bones and stones. The earliest full copy of the book was kept by Hafsah, the daughter of the second caliph, Omar. The arrangements of the verses were in chapters or Suras, and the location of each chapter was personally checked and re- vised by the Prophet (pbuh) copies existed, but most of these contained personal explanatory notes by their owners. sell, Several All these copies necded to be collected to produce a single standard copy without additional comments, and that was also checked against the original version of Hafsah, This copy of the Quran was produced by “Uthman ibn ‘Affan, the third caliph, which led (0 standardization of reading and writing styles and mad it easier to spread. Copies of this fourteen-hundred- year-old Uthman manuscript are still available in major libraries, of the world, and the present copy of the Quran is an authentic duplication of this original 7-century manuscript.Developing strong attachments to books meant Muslimsalso loved book collecting and establishing libraries. there were public and private libraries, with a huge network of public nosques in most big cities, plus prestigious private collections which attracted scholars from all parts of the Muslim world, The libraries, ‘or manuscripts in them were about the size of the modern book, containing good quality paper with writing on both sides, and bound in leather covers, Public book collections were so widespread that it was impossible to find a mosque, the learning institution, without a collection of books. Before the Mongols decimated Baghdad in 1258, it had thirty-six libraries and over a hundred book- dealers, some of whom were also publishers. employing a comps of copyists. There were similar libraries in Cairo, Aleppo and the major cities of Iran, Central Asia and Mesopotamia. Mosque libraries were called dlar al-kutub, or “The Flouse of Pooks and they were the focus dictated the results of their studies to mixed audiences of young people, other scholars and llectual activity, Here writers and scholars nter ed laymen. Anyone and everyone take part in the discussions. Professional warraqs lorscribes then copied and turned! them into books. Even when the books were especially ‘commissioned, they would still be published in. this way Aleppo in Syria probably had the largest and oldest mosque library, called ‘the Sayfiya, at the city’s grand Umayyad Mosque, with a collection of ten thousand volumes. These were reportedly bequeathed by the city’s most famous ruler, Prince Sayf al-Dawla, The Sayfiya was the oldest and largest, but the library at the Zaytuna Mosque college complex in ‘Tunis was possibly the richest ofall, had tens of thousands of books and, itis said that most rulers of the Hafsid dynasty competed with ted with maintaining and strengthening this library. So at ‘one point, the collection exceeded a hundred thousand volumes ach other for the prestige plex ernA view of the New York Publi Library ‘The book is silent as long as you need si- lence, eloquent whenever you want discourse. He never inter- rupts you if you are engaged, but if you feel lonely he will be a good com- panion. He is a friend who never deceives or flatters you, and he is a companion who does not grow tired of you.’ Al-lahia, Muslim popher andl ’ an of literature, # century, Basta. rag 11 wasn’t just public libraries that were huge, as J immense libraries too. Edward individuak Gibbon, a historian, tells a story of a private Muslim doctor who refused an invitation from the Sultan of Bukhara to visit because to take his books would have required four hundred camels, and he wasnt leaving without them! Al-Jahiz, an 8 century Muslim philosopher and man of literature returned to his home in Basraafter spending more than fifty years in Baghdad, studying and writing about two hundred books. These included a seven-volume Book of Animals, which had observations on the social organization of mals and the ants, communication between effects of diet and environment. Other books were The Art of Keeping Ones Mouth Shut and Against Civil Servants, He died an appropriate death in his private library in 868, at the age of ninety-two, when a pile of books fell en him. ‘These people loved books so much that when they died it was a tradition to donate their collected manuscripts, sometimes thousands, of volumes, to the mosque libraries, for all to enjoy. The histor Khatun,a wealthy widow of Turkish origin, founded a mosque in memory of her deceased husband, Murad Efandi, and attached a school and a library to it, Other books came from travelling scholars as they showed their p al-faburi says that Nayla tude to masques for giving them free accommodation, food and stationery. Libraries could be grand allaits. In Shiraz, Iran, these 10" century complexes were described by the medieval historian, al- Mugaddasi, as buildings surrounded by gardens with lakes and waterwa 1 topped with domes, and comprised an upper and a lower story with a total ... of 360 rooms.... In each department, catalogues were placed ona shell... the rooms were furnished with carpets Some libraries, like those of Shiraz, Contoba and Cairo, were in buildings separate from the mosque. They were spacious, with many rooms for different uses: shelved galleries to store books; reading rooms; rooms for making copies of manuscripts; and rooms for literary assemblies. All these were adequately lit and comfortable, with carpets, mats and seating mattresses Like libraries today, those of a thousand years ago were highly ordered, with both public and private libraries having book classification systems, and accurate cataloguing to help readers. It also gave librarians control over the quality and quantity of their resources In 1050, the book collection of al- Azhar library in Cairo had more than a hundred and twenty thousand volumes sixty volume catalogue totalling about three thousand five hundred pages. In Spain, the eatalogue for the works in al-Fakams library was alleged to have consisted of forty-four volumes, cored“The Public Library of tHulwan in Baghdad, from a 13%centary ‘manuscript of the Magia? or Astemblics of al Hari Jus’ s there was a cataloguing system, the books were arranged to make it easy to find them. So books could be in separate cases ‘or even in seperate rooms in the Baghdad libraries, and the content of each section of bookshelf was written on a strip of paper attached to the cutside of the shelf. This told the reader which works were incomplete or Jacking in seme part lees en) sf e ee UssagaiSilh People can borrow books fiom libraries today, and it wes the same a thousand years ago. The Muslim medieval historian, Yagut, seid that he could take out two hundred volumes on lean scithout leaving a pledge. That'sa lot of reading and maybe he was a rare case, but it does highlight the desire that people had to read and have access to books. Most book lending, though, had rules and regulations, like today. Readers were urged to take great care of borrowed books, and not to write comments ‘or correct any mistakes found in the book, but instead to report them to the librarian. They also had to return the borrowed items by a given date Librarians were also appointed to take charge and this was an honoured position, only for the most learned. Only those ‘of unusual attainment’ were considered as custodians of the libraries, the guardians and protectors of knowledge. The nvanagement of the libraries of the Almohad dynasty, the rulers in North Africa in the 12° and 13! centuries, was ane of the most privileged state positions, Al these libraries were the holders of vital knowledge and as Ralph Waldo Emerson.a 19®-century American writer said: ‘Consider what you have in the smallest chosen library. mat: men that oR A company of the wisest and wittie could he picked out ofa civil countries, in a thousand years, have set in best order the. v lithis here written out in (ransparent words to us, the strangers of another age results of their learning and wisdomMathematics HERE ARE QUITE A FEW MATHEMATICAL IDEAS that were previously thought to have been brilliant conceptions of 16", 17 and 18"-century Europeans. From the studying and unearthing of manuscripts we now know that Muslim mathematicians, about four hundred years earlier, were calculating with great intensity. Many of these mathematicians came from the Iran/Iraq region around 800 CE, when the House of Wisdom was the leading intellectual academy in Baghdad. You can read more about the House of Wisdom in a section in this chapter. ‘This remarkable period in the history of mathematics began with al-Khwarizmi’s work, when he intmduced the beginnings of algebra. Its important to understand just how significant this new idea was, In fact, it was @ revolutionary move away from the Greek concept of mathematics, which was essentially based on geometry. Algebra was a unifying theory that allowed rational numbers, irrational numbers and geometrical magnitudes to all be treated as ‘algebraic objects! It gave mathematics a whole new dimension and a development path, much broader in concept than before. Italso enabled. future development. Another important aspect. of the introduction of algebraic ideas was that it allowed mathematics to be applied to itself in a way that was not possible earlier. ‘The torch of algebra was taken up by the successor of al-Khwarizmi, a man called al- Karaji, born in 953 CE. He is seen by many as the first person to completely free algebra from. geometrical operations, and to replace them with the arithmetical type of operations which are at the core of algebra today. He was first to define the monomials x, 7, 2°, ... and x, 4°, ¥4°, ... and to give rules for products of any two ofthese. He started a school of algebra which flourished for several hundreds of years. ‘Two hundred years later, 12-century scholar al-Samawal was an important member of al: Karajis school. He was the first to give algebra the precise description of :... operating on unknowns using all the arithmetical tools, in the same way as the arithmetician operates on the known, ERG! 5c + SO OOOC 14 x) SOOO Al-Rhwarizmi, the father f algebra.on ¢ ‘commemorative stamp issued in 19KS by the former Soviet Union,“The next contribution to the algebraic story wwas with Omar Khayyam, known today as the poet Umar al-Khayyam, who was born in 1048. He gave a complete classification of cubic equations, with geometric solutions found by means of intersecting conic sections. He hoped to give a full description of the algebraic solution of cubic equations and said: “Ifthe opportunity arises and I can succeed, | shall give all these fourteen forms with ll their branches and cases, and how to distinguish whatever is possible or impossible so that a ‘paper, containing elements which are greatly useful in this at will be prepared? In the mid-12" century, while al-Samewal was studying in al: Karaji’s school, Sharaf al-Din al-Tusi was following Khayyamis application ‘of algebra to geometry. He wrote a treatise on ‘cubic equations, and in it said that algebra “.. represents an essential contribution to another field, which aimed to study curves by means of equations; thus inaugurating the ficld of algebraic geometry. Algebra is only one area where Muslim math- ematicians significantly changed the course of its development. Back in 9 century Baghdad and in the House of Wisdom were a group of three brothers called the Banu Musa brothers. You can read more about them in the Home chapter and how they developed their trick devices. They were gifted mathematicians, and ‘one of their students was Thabit ibn Qurra, ‘who was born in 836. He’ probably best known for his contribution to number theory, where he discovered a beautiful theorem al: owing pairs of amicable numbers to be found. “This term refers to two numbers such that each is the sum of the proper divisors of the other, .~ al-Khwarizmi's work ... introduced the beginnings of algebra. It's important to understand just how significant this ... was. Amicable numbers played a lange role in Arabic mathematics, and in the 13*-century al-Ferisi gave new proof of Thabit’s theorem, introducing important ideas concerning factorization and combinatorial methods. He also gave the pair of amicable numbers 17,296 and 18,416, which have been attributed to Foler, an 18-century Swiss mathematician. And many more years before Euler, another Muslim mathematician, Muhammed Bagir Yaadi,in the 17 century, gave the pair of amicable numbers 9.363.584 and 9,437,056. Mu century, in yet another area when Ibn al- Haitham was the first to attempt to classify all even perfect numbers (numbers equal to the sum of their proper divisors), such as those of the form 2" (2-1) where 21 is prime. He was also the first person that we know to state Wilson's theorem, namely that if p is prime then 1+(p-D! is divisible by p, but its unclear whether he knew how to prove this result. It is called Wilsonis theorem because its ‘discovery’ is attributed to John Wilson, a Cambridge mathematician in 1770, but again we don't know whether he could prove it or whether it was justa guess, It was a year later when a mathematician called Lagrange gave the first proof, seven hundred and fifty years after its ‘first discovery’ im mathematicians excelled, in the 10°Inthe 10" century. the “Muslim business community relied on finger counting And initially were nat keen, ‘op using Arabic numerals They eventually cane around tothe idea ad itis these business circles today, now known as English numbers ‘Mathematics is the door and key of the sciences and things of this world... It is evident that if we want to come to certitude without doubt and to truth without error, we must place the foundations of knowledge mathematics. Roger Bacon ‘Mathematics was also needed in business and everyday use, and in particular counting systems were essential. Today most of us are ‘only aware of one counting system which be- gins with zero and carries on into the billions and trillions, but back in 10"-century Muslim countries there were three different types of arithmetic used, and by the end of the century, authors such as al-Baghdadi were writing texts comparing them. ‘These three systems were finger reckoning arithmetic, the sexagesimal system and the Arabic numeral system. Finger-reckoning arithmetic came from count ing on fingers with the numerals written en tirely in words and this was used by the bu: ness community, Mathematicians such as Abu al-Wafa’ in Baghdad in the 10"-century wrote several treatises using this system. He was ac tually an expert in the use of Arabic numerals, but said these“... did not find application in business circles and among the population of the Eastern Caliphate for a long time! ‘The sexagesimal system had numerals denoted by letters of the Arebic alphabet. It came originally from the Babylonians, and was most frequently used by the Arabic mathematicians in astronomical work, Ihe arithmetic of the Arabic numerals and fractions with the decimal place-value system vias developed from an Indian version, The ‘Muslims adapted the Indian numerals into the modem numbers, 1 to 9, we have today, which ate called Arabic numerals, believed to have been based on the number of angles cach character carries, but number 7 creates a challenge as the medial cross line is a recent 19° century development. These have become the numerals we use in Europe and North Africa today, as distinct from the Indian numerals that are still used in some eastern parts of the Muslim world. Number 1, for ‘exemple, had one angle, 2 has two angles, 3 has three and so on. The arrival of these numerals resolved the problems faced by the then used. Latin numerals, ‘The Arabic numerals were referred to as the ghubar! numerals because the Muslims used dust (giubur) boards when making calculations instead of an abacus. A great refinement by Muslim mathematicians of the Indian system was the wider definition and application of the zero, Muslims gave it a mathematical property. sich that zero. multiplied by a number equals zero, Previously zero defined a space or a “nothing? They also used it for decimalization, hence making it possible to know whether, for example, the ‘writing down of 23 meant 230, 23 or 2300. Its interesting to note that if we imagined the zero sitting inside a hexagon, the ratio of the diameter of the circle to the side of the hexagon would equal the golden ratio, To read more about the golden ratio see the ‘Geometry’ section in this chapter. ‘Muslim scholars were also fascinated by the significance of some numbers, such as the link of Oand I to the one of the 99 attributes of God, ‘nothing before Him and nothing after Hint I is interesting to see how 0 and 1 are the only two digits used in all computers of toda “Mrabic numerals came into Europe by three sources: Gerbert (Pope Sylvester I) in the late 10” century, who studied in Cordoba and then returned to Rome: Robert of Chester in the 12” century, who translated the second book of al-Khwarizmi’s (which contained the second, ‘ghubari Arabic numerals). This route of Arabic ‘numerals into Europe is mentioned by con- temporary historian Karl Menniger in ‘Numberir av ]a Story Corner OM HANKS IN THE FILM casTaway played a 21°-century shipwrecked character, dragged violently from his ordered business World and onto an island, where he had to learn vital skills to keep himself alive. No one visited him for four years. He forged tools from items he salvaged; an ice skate became his knife, a volleyball was his companion and a piece of netting from a fancy dress box trapped fish. But is he really a 2b“ century re-enactment of Robinson Crusoe or an eight-hundred-year-old character revisited for a third time? In early 12"-century Muslim Spain, a gifted philosopher, mathematician, poet and medic wvas born. Ibn ‘Tulayl, or Abu Bakr ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Mahammad ibn Muhamnrad ibn Tufayl al-Qaysi, to give his full name, became known in the West as Abubscer. He held royal posts as an advisor and court physician, and he is remembered today for The Story of Hayy ibn Yagzan, which is now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. This tale was inspired by an carlicr story from the 11*-century physician. philosopher Ibn Sina, who also wrote a narrative celled Hayy ibn Yaqzan about a century earlier Hayy ibn Yagzan means Alive, son of Awake’ so this is “The Story of Alive, son of Awake), which describes Hayy’s character passing from sleepy childhood to knowledge and ultimately knowledge, by means of which he can fully contemplate the world and his surroundings. Itbegins with Hayy asa child, a princess son whose birth was secret, He is cast upon the shore 'ssuckled by a doe and spends the first fifty years of his life with out contact with any other human beings. His isolation isin seven stages of seven years. During of an equatorial island where he: cach seven-year stage he is his own teacher and learns about himself and his surroundingsTho Tufsyle 12 century Arabic manuscript, now inthe Bodleian Library, Oxford With the death of the dog, he passes from childhood dependency to the activ adolescent and then man, Here be f dilemma of what life is and what might le ahead behind all that he sees. By solving prac- tical problems and studying subjects from the anatomy and physiology of the animals to the movements of the heavenly bodies, he contem- plates the concepts of soul and of the Creator, tntil eventually he makes the great leap from the intellectual apprehension of truth to the inner, intuitive experience of reality. ofan ‘es the hn Tufayl begins by describing the experience of truth as the perception of a totally differ ent world, a state of such joy and happiness it secret, yet cannot find words to describe it. Those with little intellec tual capacity may experience this state and talk: about it with litte comprebension, Others with more intellectual knowledge may achieve a degree of mystical union through their own ef forts. By repetition, the state may be prolonged and may occur in daly life, not only during periods of devotion, until it becomes ¢ familiar experience, like meditation, At this stage, the seeker is conscious of truth and of the self. In the succeeding stage, he becomes unconscious of the self and aware only of the holy. that one cannot ke At this monumental point, a man of his own age arrives on the island, and Hayy meets his first human, Asal. Asal isa spiritual and devout person who has come seeking solitude to enable deep contemplation of the truth, which he too has reached by intellectual means. Asal tells Hayy about his own society, describ- ing organized religion in his homeland. Hayy is inspired, and with the chance arrival of a ship both men visit Asal island where the conventionel approach to spirituality exists under the rule of Asal’ friend, Salaman. Heyy slanders about his concept of truth, but he realizes no matter how much he preaches, the experience of truth must come from within. It occurs to him that for the ma jority ofhuman beings, religion is social and not spiritual. With this realization both Hayy and Asal return to their contemplative lives. ‘wants to tell the The first English translations of Hayy ibn Yaqzan appeared in 1709, and only eleven years later Defoe’ Life and Strange Adventures of Robinson Crusce appeared. Many of Defoe's contemporaries said his inspiration lay in the experiences of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish mariner who passed over four years in solitude on one of the Juan Fernandez Islands, The versions of how Hayy got there differ ... versions say ... that, with some misty history behind it, his mother wanting to save him frot a tyrannical kin; he was washed onto shore, in a little wooden box, filled with downy feathers Hayy Ibn Yaqze ‘Tufay), translated Daniel Abdal-He Moe —E—— 3Robinson Crusoe with his pets in an illustration published by Currier & Ives, New York inthe late 19® century. The similarities between Robinson Crusoe and Hayy ibs: Yagean are enough to make it Muslim work pprobable that Defoe knew th Crusoe is shipwrecked on an island and his solitude teaches him many lessons. He has te solve a myriad of practical problems of how to clothe and feed himself. The solutions he finds, and his struggle for survival can only be successful through the attentive stady of his natural world ond surroundings. He has to know and understand the climate, the landscape, the vegetation and the animals who share his island. He goes through psychological anguish as he experiences isolation from human society These overwhelm and lead him to despair until his exhaustion brings calmness, Only then can the voice of conscience be beard and he senses the presence of the Creator Robinson Crusoe’ first visitor is net an intellectual, but Man Friday, to whom he passes on some of the lessons he nas learned, The similarities between the two works don't stop with the actual storyline, as the third ‘volume of Defoe writing on Robinson Crusoe, Serious Reflections during the Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, with his Vision of the Angelic World. also covers a range of moral, religious and philosophical questions, These are very much like, but not as deep, as Hayy ibm Yagean’,Right: tba al-Haithams, on the lei and Galileo both ‘explored their world through ‘observation and rational thought. This is emph hereon the front of Jo Hevelius’ Selonograptia, 4 1647 description ofthe Moc In al-Haithars hard is 4 geometrical diagrers, ‘while Galileo clutches long telescope. Translating Knowledge HAT IS STRIKING ABOUT THE DISCOVERIES, innovations, research and writings of Muslim scientists and scholars, during the European medieval period, is their insatiable thirst for knowledge. This was not knowledge for the sake of knowledge; in most cases it had practical application ~ improving the quality of life of the people. ‘There was also a spiritual influence as Prophet ‘Mohammad (pbuh) had said: ‘When a man dies, his actions cease except for three things: a continuous charity, knowledge which continues to benefit people, or a righteous son who prays for him “Amazing energy was shown by encyclopaedic individuals who were writing down their findings at incredible rates, filling up enormous tomes with groundbreaking, information. Books ran to thousands of pages, numerous volumes and vast libraries. The golden age of this civilization, the 8" to the 13% centuries, saved ancient learning from extinction, modified it, added new discoveries and spread knowledge in an enlarged and enriched form. To read more about great feats ‘of learning and knowledge-gathering see the “House of Wisdom section above. At the heart of this understanding was the idea of direct observation. In order to understand how something worked, you had to see it with your own eyes, and only then could you write it down. One man, thn al-Haitham, in the late 10 century, did his experiments in complete darkness. Ibn al-Haitham was one of the first people in the world to test his theories with experiments, establishing one of the keystones of all scientific method ~ prove what you believe! You can read more about him and his experiments in the Home chapter and the “Vision and Cameras’ section. This thirst for knowledge was infectious and even reached its tentacles across oceans, touching non-Mustims who flocked to absorb the vast encyclopaedias, based on experimentation that the Muslim polymaths had produced. Daniel of Morley was an English vicar and scientist, born inc. 1140, from a small,‘A view of Toledo, Spain. tn the 12° century, Mustim Toledo simultanccudy atleast three religions (Mush, fews and C ested hnrisians) fs they ved and worked side by side. This meking pot of people and ideas attracted scholars and translators from East and West sleepy village in Norfolk, who went in search of knowledge. He's just one example of an outward-looking and forward-thinking European who opened his mind to Muslim. wowledge. Daniel was possibly a student of Adelard Cf Bath, who had written to the future king Henry Il saying Ithappens that you not only read carefully and with understanding those things that the writings of the Latins contain, but you also ... wish to understand the opinions of the Arabs concerning the sphere, and the For you say that whoever has been born and brought up in the hall of the world, if he does not bother to get to know the reason behind such wonderful beauty, is unworthy of that hall and should be thrown out... Therefore I shall write in Latin what I have learnt in Arabic about the world and its parts? rcles and movements of the planets. To further his education Daniel ike many young students, eft his native England, and heeded eas, first stopping at the Univ in Paris. Unfortunately, it had become ‘stale and moribund! and he could hardly w: leave. He said “These masters [in Paris] were ity so ignorant that they stood as still as statues pretending to show wisdom by remaining silent? So where did he go? Well, in his own words ‘since these days it ist Toledo that Arabic teachings are widely celebrated, I hurried there to listen to the world’s wisest philosophers? In 12"-century Toledo at least three cultures ide: Muslims, Jews and Christians. This was time of cultural richness \where all shared the same, breathtaking desire for knowledge. Today the way they worked and lived together is known by the Spanish word as convivencia What was really exciting for the Engl clergymen was what was turning up in Toledo, which had been retaken by Christian armies in 1085 CE. Before they’ only had fragments of classical Greek texts, and many of these were forgeries. Now they were hearing that the ‘Muslims had vast resources of the knowledge they yearned for, which wasnt only classical Greek. This had been pulled apart, rebuilt and added to in an immense way by over five hundred years of Muslim scholarship. ‘On the Day of Resurrection the feet of the son of Adam [man] will not move away till he is ques- tioned about four matters: how he spent his lifetime, how he spent his youth; from where he acquired his wealth and how he spent it, and what he did with his knowledge.’ Prophet Mohammad“The real jewel of Toledo is to be found in the city's libraries and involved all three communities [Muslims, Jews and Christians] working in a par- Id, translation. Teams of Muslims, Jews tians translated texts into Arabic, then into Castellan Spanish and Latin. It required close cooperation and religious tolerance. The Andalu- sian word for this is convivencia and means ‘living together’ Heporter Rageh On BCS An oy) Buerape FP humic Hi 2500 wanslated ranuscrip (trom Arabic to Latin) in the Teledo Cathedral archives, ating from Daniel of Mor ley’ Tt was in 12®-century Toledo that possibly the greatest translation effort, from Arabic to Latia, in the history of se nce tock place, leminded scholar and translator of the Christian West. Important works by Greek philosophers, and mathematicians, which had been lost in the West and enhanced by the Muslims. The critique and commentary on Aristotle by Ibn Rushd, known in the West as Averroes, was the real which attracted every vere tusning up in Toledo, saved start of Europe’ classical revival and this was two hundred years before the Re began Many of the commentaries on and summaies of Aristotles works by Ibn Rusha, writing in Arabic in Cordoba in the late 12° century, ‘were translated into Latin by Michael Seott, a scholar from Scotland who died before 1236, and by his successor, Herman the German. Thi n translations, made both in Toledo and Sicily, were destined to set Europe ablaze: “He [Avertoes] would launch Paris as the intellectual capital of Europe trying to defuse a conflict between science and religion because the truth revealed by science Averroes was, was ofien at odds with the truth of divine revelation. ‘This attempt had the opposite effect when his ideas cam Christian ¢ Averroes intellectuals fought back and a debate raged for years’ says Rageh Omar on the BBC An 1 the attention of the rch. T immediately banned ind Aristotle’ works. The Pacis Islamic History of Europe. ‘As well as Michael Scott and Daniel of Morley, the city of Toledo was buzzing with contemporary translation schulars. ‘There was also Gerard of Cremona, who was translating important works like al-Zahrawis thirty-volume medical encyclopaedia into Latin; Ibn al-Haithanrs voluminous Beok of Optics, al-Kindis treatise on geometrical optics; al-Razis De alunuinitns et salious or‘We ought not to be embarrassed of appreciating the truth and of obtaining it wherever it comes from, even if it comes from races distant and nations different from us. Nothing should be dearer to the seeker of truth than the truth itself, and there is no deterioration of the truth, nor belittling either of one who speaks it or conveys AL-Kindi, 9" century Muslim scientist mathematician, chemist and physician A Sad and Classification of Sats and Alums (audphatesh and numerous books by the Bi Musa brothers. What’ amazing about Gerard ‘of Cremona is that he made over eighty transtations but never had a full grasp of Arabic. Instead, he had to work with and rely. on Mozarab locals and the Christian Spanish, who knew the language The BBC's Voices From ‘he Dark programme says "The process [of translation] varied from translation to translation, Sometimes it was @ abic as team helped by a local person with their mother tongue. He read the text aloud to an intermediary who also knew Arabic and was expert in Romance, the language which preceded modern Spanish. Then the Romance translation woukl be put into Latin. Some they had full guages. trandators could work alone command ofall three la Even though Alfonso VI had taken the city ‘Muslim’ in nea was still Arabic, spoken ike; the wand the architecture was Islamic. Long, winding and into Christian hands it rem that the lingua fi by Muslims, Jews and Mezarabs culture and customs were Musi narrow streets provided rooms for lodgings and study for all the translators and scholars who arrived. For all these weste Toledo really was the place to be. schol ‘Manuscripts of the Latin transtations made in Toledo are still in the Toledo Cathedral archives, bout 2500 manuscripts are here, including translations from Arabic dating from Daniel of Moriey’s day. stayed under Spanish rile) building and, at this ves Jews, Christians and E Muslims lived and worked together transating scholarly worksLeft to right: Kings College Chapa, Cambridge ‘Universi; AL-Azhar University, Cito, Eaypt Chapel of Exeter College, Oxford Universi HE OLDEST ENGLISH AND EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES, Where some of us receive our undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, started to appear in the 12" century. They spread quickly from southern Italy and across to England, but why did they suddenly appear? Muslim learning hit medieval Europe when ¢ massive translation exercise began in the 12 century of Arabic works from the previous five hundred yeats. The main centre of translation was Toledo, which you can read about in more detail in this chapter in the Translating Knowledge’ section, Before this reservoir of knowledge spilled north, learning in Europe was really kept in the domain of the clergy who mainly studied the Bible. The church was the teaching institute, and to get a good edueation you had to become a member of the clergy. But scientific or rational thought wasnt encouraged. In fact, if anyone offered a scientific explanation other than one grounded in religion, they would more than likely have been called a heretic and met an unfortunate end. At the same time in the Muslim lands scientific thought was widely encouraged, So when the Arabic works were translated, the rational thoughts from experiments carried out were made available in Latin to a new audience. This established Europe. As you'll discover in this book, one of the main achievements of Muslim scholars a ss that they introduced an experimental approach and took nothing thousand years ago wa for granted. The greatest pressure was from Averroes,as Iba Rushd was kniowi in the West, whose radical espousal of Aristotle rocked the whole continent, starting with Paris and then hitting the universities of Padua and Bologna. This blew epen the whole subject, proving that there didn't need to be any conflict between religionThe influx of these Muslim tomes of " heavens in a rational way, meant that new Institutions appeared in Europe, No longer could these new ideas be kept inside the monasteries. So learning shifted from here to cathedral schools, The monasteries had limited students to a particular order, but the cathedral d drawing students from all over Europe, and producing more independent, liberal thinkers. knowledge, which explored the world schools gi rational reputations One of the new leading institutions was Chartres, a French cathedral school. The work done here paved the way and laid the foundations for the Renaissance. Under the tuition of Thierry of Chartres, in the 1140s, students were taught that the scientific approach was compatible with the story of the Creation in the Bible, In other words, religion ‘was no longer contradicting science. This was a revolutionary new concept and ‘thierry vas incredibly courageous, teaching despite outraged critics. This emerging scientific spirit of Europe found answers in Muslim books, which Thierry was ambitious to collect, his personal library contained many texts translated from Arabic “These cathedral schools soon gave way to the rise of universiti, 12% century, although they were not granted recognized charters until the late 13" centur towards the end of the So the availability of well referenced and researched, (eral kick-started European The French cathedral jon. the frst university of Sauer schol Charts wi on ‘ou can tead more about in this chapter heading institutions : phe 11" and 2 century The work done here lad books that triggered the beginning of more the founds advanced medical learning in Europe, because Renimence previously Europe had little or no access to tertiary educ western Furope was at Salemo in southern Italy, which burst into ite im the late 11" century alter the arrival of in the ‘Universities’ section. It was these ns for the nstantine the African, His rich cargo of books came initially from his native Tunisia, and legend has it that he fell into the sea and lost part of his treasure, research undertaken. but what he salvaged, he translated into Latin. The French city of Montpellier was an offshoot These medical books had come from Qayrawan Mosque colle eal ‘of Salerno and a major centre for the study omplex which ‘of Muslim medicine and astronomy. It was2 eal A dissection leson atthe faculty of medicine in Montpelier University France from 3 14% century French manuscript Begin ning in the 12" century Maontpelier was 2 major cem tre fr the stuly of Mulien medicine and sstroncay CPTI OUTS se my feJtaue De Whlebe duo close to Mustim Spain, with its large presence oflearned Muslims and Jews. Montpellier attracted students from all regions to study as early as 1137. One such student was Robert the Englishman who arrived around 1270 and wrote a treatise on the astrolabe, De Asirolabio Canones, and a treatise on the quadrant. Roth astrolabe and quadrant were Muslim instruments and you can read more about these in the Universe chapter. By the beginning of the 12" centu thought powerhouse of the Western world had shifted to Paris, ‘a city of teachers knowledge of Arabic works was continuing its journey with roving scholars. The Paris cllectuals were in three great schools: the cathedral of Notre Dame. the canons regular Of St Victor, and the abbey of St Genevieve across the river. The cathedral school of Notre Dame showed the greatest transformation and by 1170 the University was taking shape as it was fed by the translated, scientific cutting edge material that was filtering north, Little by litle, Parisian masters and students grouped themselves inte fow theology, law and medicine. These centres of learning gave birth to Onford University partly because Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris from 1167 onwards, and partly because Paris was stagnating. Daniel of Morley, 12" ntury visiting natural scientist said it was becoming ‘tale and moribund! and he moved on to ‘Toledo, the new intellectual epicentre, Daniel himself would return to teach at Oxford, and would certainly supply it with its first books of science, which of course he had imported from ‘Toledo, faculties: arts, Many historians today say that the blueprints ofthe earliest English universities like Oxford, came with these travelling, open-minded scholars and returning crusaders who, as well as visiting Muslim universities in places like Cordoba, brought back the translated books based on rational thought and not prophecy. Right: Notre Dame Cathedral, one of throe great schools in Paris that re: cvived and transmtted Muslin scienceItis a blessed act to plant a tree even if it be the day the world ends’ Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) narrated by Al Bukhari ond Ahmed —— Cotton signal rom Tai, war inirduced as maine sry Tn lly al al And Agricultural Revolution pay, we are more detached from our food sour thousand years ago. Few of us work the land or raise our own animals. We visit the local shops or supermarket to sample the delights of the world, and can devour mangoes from Pakistan, American strawberries, Dutch f from New Zealand or Argentina. No longer do we have to wait for summer apples or rely on pickled vegetables in winter; instead we just move along to the next shelf. But this concept of global food, not linked to local seasons and climates, is nat new. What is new is that itis flown in es than we were mushrooms and bee! nd not grown on our doorsteps. tn the 8 century, Muslim farmers were way;and promoting practical farming that making innovations: introducing new crops included individual land ownership. this all from all around the Muslim world; developing meant they could have a diversity of foot previously unavailable intensive irrigation systerns, us knowlege for local conditions The success of their farming also came from hard work. With their love ofthe land, no natural obstacle could stop Mustin farmers they tonnelled through the aquedttets went through deep ravines: and they levelled the rocky slopes of the Spanish sierra with infinite patience und labour, Global Knowledge and Scientific Methods Lieing frorn a civilization of travellers, Mustimis combed the known world or knowkalge and information, journeying in the harshest ments from the Sleppese! Asia to the Pyrenee produce hage ag were a'spectacular cultural union of sciemitic of envir detailing all they saw to jeultural manuals, These Knowledge from the past and the present, from, the Near Fast, the Maghrib, and Andalusia, said Antetican historian § P Seat in 1904 As Professor Andrew Watson from the { versity of Toronto says, the Muslim world way 1 large unified region which tor three or four centuries ... was unusually revepiive to all that was new, It was also unusually able todiffuse novelties... Attitudes, social structure, instit tions, intrasteucture, scientific progress and econo levelopment all played a part,,.. And not only ag culture but also other spheres of the economy and many areas of hfe that Lay outside the econonay—were touched by this capacity to absorlyand to transmit? With this vast array of knowledye coming froma diversity of yeographic areas, Muslims could rear the finest horses and sheep, and cultivate the best or ards and vegetable wens. They knew how to fight insect pests, use fertilizers, and were experts at gral Ing ves and crossing plants wo produce new varieties, New Crops tu the ancient Mediterranean world, generally speaking only winter craps were grown, and each That was before the Andalusian Muslims arrived with crop weld would give one harvest ¢ rotation techniques.as well as new crop India, These needled warn of hot weather, which was provid there were also dry months with fille rain, With tlhe Muslin by the lang summer days, although roduction of irrigation, though, four harvests each pear could now be produced Subtropical crops, like bananas, were grown in the coustal parts of the country and the wew erups included rice, citrus fruit, peaches, prunes, sill, apricots, cotlon. artichokes, aubergines, Cotto’ sallron and sugar cane, As well as introducing sugaren the cep thatthe Muslin braoht ty aad ‘ultivated in Harope ince froma Kf to right) cits ruts dates an tgs. cane to Spain where it had a huge impact, Muslims also took it into Ethiopia, while also making the East A famous for its high quality suger. ican island of Zanzibar Asilk industry flourished, flax was cultivated and lince exported. ’sparte grass, which grew wild in the more arid parts of Spain, was collected and turned into proxluets like baskets and floor coverings Al Masudi, 2 10° century Muslim traveller and historian, wrote about the introduction orange and citron trees: ‘The orange tree, shajar al-naranj, and the citron tree, al-utragj al-nunidaxewar, were brought from India around 300 AH (912 CE) and were first planted in Oman. Irom here they were carried via al-Basra into Iraq ard Syria, In a very short time they hecame numerous in the houses of the people of Iarsus and other Syrian frontier and coastal rowns. Very quickly the trees were sprouting up over Antioch, Palestine and Egypt where but a short time ago they were unknown! The transfer of such crops was often due to the enthusiasm of individual people, like ‘Abd al Rahman L who, out of nostalgia for his Syrian landscope, was personally responsible for the introduction of several species, including the date palm, to make himself feel more at home in this new lend of al-Andalus or Spain. A veriety of pomegranate was introduced fret Damascus by the chief judge of Cordoba, Mu‘awiya b Salib,and s Jordanian soldier named Safar took a fig cuttingand planted it con his estate in the Malaga region. This species, called safrofter the soli land pread over the The new crops were also successtl because the farmers could identify suitable soil types for each, and had mastered grafting techniques for planis and trees. The farmers also had access io the written works and oral traditions of ancicat peoples that had been painstakingly recorded In addition, exchanges between experts became increasingly frequent, so that in all gjor towns the libraries were full of works.on agriculture Irrigation As we've read, crops were graven in the hot summers, and some of the nev crops needed more water than was available, such as sugar cane, which had to be watered every four lly subnierged. Cotton was grown from the end of the L1* century and, according to the medieval to eight days. Rice had to be conti historian tbr Bassal, had to be watered every two weeks from the time it sprouted until ‘August. The Andalusis were sell sutlicient in cotten, and exported to Sijilmase (Algeria) andl as far south as Ifriqiya, Africa. Oranges and other citrus plants were alse irrigate many other fruit trees and dry- farming crops, So how were these water demands met? the same way as today, with widespread andintensive irrigation systems, made not with, dlectvie pumps and plastic pipes, but instead with the ingenious apparatuses of thetr time. Muslinas were experts in raising water by several metres, guaranteeing 3 constant flow by using both pumpsand walerwheels or rors. In the Valencia area alone around eight thousand norias were built to take water to the rice plantations Muslims also harnessed animals to power machinery, devived advanced gearing mechanisms, and dug underground canals or ganats to take water through harsh. barren deserts, like the Sahara, You can read more about ierigation and water practices in the “Water Management’ and “Raising Water sections in this chapter. Tor the water to make it to the fields, the level of the irrigation syste ccatculated, and Muslims had the advantage of the advances they had made in mathematics By using triangulation they could accurately make meastirements of height had to be correctly i wasnt only nnathematies that helped ageicaltore, because major advanees in astronomy in | "century Toledo, Spain were also having an impact, As reporter Rageh ‘Omar says in the BBC's An Islamic History of Europe... astronomical tables were used inagricultore.. the tables showed times for planting and harvesting’ New Landownership Approach “The last important factor for this boom in food production was the developinent of a neW vigorous system of ownership. Farmers could now work more for themselves and the community, rather than in misery, sulfermg exploitation at the whim of big landowners. It was a revolutionary social transformation in and ownership when labourers’ rights were introduced, Any individual had the right to buy, sell, morigage, inherit and farm the land, or have it farmed according to his preferences. Every important transaction concerning agriculture, industry, commerce and ‘employment of a servant involved the signing of contract and each party keepinys a copy. Those who physically worked the land reccived a reasonable proportion et the feuits of their labours, and detailed records of contracts between landlords and cultivators have survived, showing that the landlord retained anything up to one half, With these four major innovations - namely, global and scientific knowledge, new crops, icrigation and land ownership -agricultucs development erupted on a scale previously un- known. Before, people lived on a subsistence basis, but now the quality of hife increased dra matically, and an enriched diet for all was pos sible with the introduction of fresh fruit and vegetables. These were available all year round, with less needing to be dried for winter. Citrusané olive plantations became a ‘common sight, and market gardens and cerchards sprang up around every city. All this involved intensive cropping, which could ave led to decreased soil fertility, but the technique of intensive irrigation coupled with {crtilization techniques, using mainly pigeon dung, had been mastered Animal husbandry anc! selective breeding us ing animals from different areas meant horse The Spanish Muslims" agricultural system was “« the most complex, the most scientific, the most perfect, ever devised by the ingenuity of man: 19" cent American historiar SP Scotstocks improved! and strong camels could car ry the Saharan caravans. A available, ay wellas other animal products ike meat, now plentiful in places where in the past ithad been a lusty, and wool, The fine quality products from the Maghreb region af Tunisia, Algeria and Morvece soon became known throughout the werld, nal manare wats ne cotton were ally From India, ‘Not anly wool. but now sil being produced. Cotten, o became a maior crop ia Sicily and al-Andalus, making previously rare kasury goods available Within a relatively short period, people had access toa wider range of textiles for cloth- ing, which now came in a greater variety of Justas the Mustims af yesteryear wanted their people to have an increased quality of Hije, si the farmersaF toulay also strive for a similar level of suevess, They are also searching for concepts to revolutionize 21/-century practices to benelit all Innovative Most farmers in the? century were planting new crops developing sate of the art irigation echniguen, wing ‘organic fertilizers, harnessing whobal Knensledge ia eal anes, dan basing tele agrenonty on scenlit tedngs, Ubisall Jed to a ‘sala evaoton makin iesh tod asaableto mace peoplebalance between nurture and nature. ‘Ihe elements of soil, water and F OR A GARDEN OR CROP TO BLOOM there has to be an ecological human intervention have to be in distinctly proportional amounts to ensure a good flowering and harvest. In their bid to achieve maximum output without destroying the things they relied upon, namely the soil and plants, Spanish Muslims started a systematic study of agriculture, including soil chemistry and soil erosion, hundreds of years ago. Muslim agriculture was a sophisticated affair, which resulted in an ecologically friendly and very productive system. They had farming books that explained just about everything in detail, like how to encich the soil by ploughing, normal and deep. hoeing, digging and harrowing. Soil was classified, and so was water, according to its quality. Iba Bassal, gardener to the Emir of Toledo, wrote a Book of Agriculture in 1085, This classed ten types of soil, assigning each with ditierent life sustaining capabilities according to the season of the year. He insisted that fallow land shout be ploughed four times between January and May and, in certain cases, like for catton erops that were planted in heavy Mediterranean coastal soils, he recommended as many as ten ploughings 10° century Persian manuscript fom al birunis Claunetogy of Jincient Nations.Ibn al-Awwam, a 12"-century botanist from Seville in Muslim Spain, gathered together previous studies of Greek, Egyptian and Persian scholars into a Rook of Agriculture, which had thirty-four chapters on agriculture and animal husbandry, while abso giving farmers precise instructions. It included 585 plants, explained the cultivation of more than fitty fruit trees, made observations of grafiing, soil properties and preperation, manure, plant diseases and their treatments, gardening. irrigation, aflinities between trees and beekeeping, It covered all you wanted to know about olives, from how to grow the trees, the treatment of their diseases, grafting, harvesting olives, to the properties of olives. relining olive oil and their conditioning, Then there was a section on ploughing techniques their frequency, times for sowing and how to sow, watering after sowing and during growth, maintenance of plants, and harvesting. So, The (alone of Coma of ot had tsk ad timetables fo eat muni March ea that recs eame to bud aed with all this information an avid farmer quails appeared couldn't go wrong, and it was all published in Spanish end French between the end of the 18" and the middle of the 19" centuries Then there was the remarkeble techvical accuracy of the famous Calendar of Cordobe of 951. Each month of the year had tasks and timetables: for instance, March was when tig trces were grafied and early cereals began to rise, It was the time to plant sugarcane, andl when pre-season roses and lilacs began to bud, Quails appeared, silkworms hatched and mullet began to journey up rivers. This wasalso the time to plant cucumbers, and sow cotton, saffron and aubergines. During this month mail orders 1o purchase horses for the government were sent to provincial tax officials. Locusts began to appearand their destruction was ordered, It was the time to plant lime and marjoram and was also the mating season of many birdsop right Sorting rice arms. Rho Rass toe tom ie anal deyceb dt methods of gracing ibs inthe 11 cemtury, the prowedores and There was no agricultural stone (eft unturned even individual crops were ruthlessly scrutinized. Rice, for esample, bad fa Bessa advising the use of plots that faced the rising. sun; then the thorough preparation of the soil by adding manure was recommensted, Sowing ‘was advised! between February and March. Ibn al Awan gave the specific amount of rice that needed to be sown on any given surfiee and how that should be carried out, He alse spoke at length of the watering process, specifying that land should be submerged with, water up toa given height betore the rice wats planted. Once the soil had absorb! the water. the seeds were covered with earth, and the land submerged with water again. lice experts also facused on fighting parasites, leating weeds, and ways of harvesting and sale storage. Lhe use of rice asa food look many forms, and thn al-Awwam specified tbat the best way to cook ane! eat rice was with butter. oil fat and milk. An anonyments author of the Almohad dynasty abo wroie a recipe dpook called the Cookery Book of Maghrib and Andatusia, which included many recipe fiveof them with rice, all sounding most appetizing. A very important part of farming was ensuring field fertility toachteve a perfect balance. this was theraughly explored, ant interestingly has not changed! march in a thousand years as meilieval Muslims were also liberally applying manure to their fteids. Ibn al. Avewam slates that the best manure is trom pigeons, and by ys standaris it was de savironmentally friendly and ofPigeon dung was used estensivel and dotted across the land were pigeon large circular towers made from mud-bri with smaller turcets projecting from their summits. A foreigner travelling through the landscape might quite innocently mistake them for fortress homes of some wealthy land barons, as these towers stood at sixty toseventy feet in totol height. These pigeon towers were constructed for collecting manure and breeding more pigeons. Inside, the towers were maule up of small cel like compartments, like a honeycomb, The uano or dung accumulating ever time would ing fells acs ved once a year I then be spread on the sur the pigeon towe is said that at one time there were as many as three thousand of these pigeon towers outside Isfahan in Iran, collecting the manure from ids of pigeot only the ruins of these towers can be thousands and thous bearing testimony to the glorious past of this bird. seas believed thatthe best frganic fetes was manure son croppirgs and ‘With a deep love for nature, sed iliberal and a relaxed way of life, classical Islamic society sites achieved ecological balance, a successful average economy of operation, based ... on the acquired knowledge of many civilized traditions. A culmination more subtle than a simple accumulation of techniques, it has been an enduring ecological success, proven by the course of human history! Lucie Bolens, auth of The Use of Plants‘Do not with- hold the super- fluous water, for that will prevent people from grazing their cattle! Prophet Mohammad (phuh) narrated by Abu (Vol. 3 No. 543) L-shaped wells cennectet to each other. Poa wurdergecund tunel, called a guiat (these are neat Tk lean}, they hod man covers far ai irculaon, ad these lielped the law of the ‘water threagh the tanpel Water Management HETHER IT’S ANDALUSIA OR AFGHANISTAN, Chicago or iro, water is essential for agriculture, sustenance and is the source of all life, Over four hundred million acres of land are irrigated in the world today and each human should drink two litres daily to stay healthy. ‘Muslims inherited existing techniques of icrigation, preverving some while modifying, improving and constructing others, and you can read abot all this in the next sections. “Their engineering advances were partly down, to progress in mathematics, which meant hydrology and the machinery for building, irrigation devices were constantly being revolutionized. Eleventh-century rmathem al-Karaji talked about. the bringing to the surface of hidden waters... He also covered surveying instruments, methods of detec! sources of water and instructions for the ivation of underground conduits. jan and engineer Mu These underground conduits or tunnels were dug to prevent water los by evaporation Called qumats, the oldest were in Persia and with the development of ayeieuliare, ind sith more crops being planted, they became essen tial and qumu building hecamne a necessity es pecially in the dry environment of the Middle East. Later they came to Cordoba, Spain, mak ing water available for urban domestic use Persia and today’s Afghanistan had hundreds and thousand of wells, all connected by these underground ¢ to withstand problems of silting and roof ‘cavings, ensuring a comtinuous flow of water through muiles and miles of formidable deserts and hoxtile terrain. In some areas of solid rock the qanat appeared as an overland stream, and then disappeared again es the geology changed! In the Ale nals. They wens constructed in Sahara, there werealse netwurks of Fagguaras, Here fi a depyydra, to control water use for everyone in lergeound tunnels, called mersalso used a water clock, the area ay it cimied, the amount guing to each farmer In parts of Iran, despite the existence hydiro- electric damsand modern itt gat eons sre stills Lamers Hileline, Northeast of Shiraz, the precious commodity of water is still obtained from wells supplied by underground Given the scarcity of water in these hot environments, it had to be contiolled and regulated, just as itis today, The authorities of the tinve played racial role too. In Tray, hydraulic works of a vast nature, like dams, vere lefl tthe state, while the Local population fxcussed is etlorts on lesser ones, like local water raising machines In Pgypt, the nmanagement of the Nile wate was erucial fo every single aspect oflife, Both al-Nuwayri and al-Maqriai, early Egyptian 14%-century historians, steessed the role of dam and waterway maintenance of the Nile Itwas the responsibility of both sultan large land holders, under both Ayyubids and Mamluks, to dig and clean eanals and maintain dams, Av int fray, the sultan took over the larger structures and the people the lesser ones. Most distinguished amirs and officials were made chief supervisors of such works, Under the Mamluks there was even an officer called the Kashif al-Jusur whose job was to inspect dams for each province of Egypt. Water was not to be dripped away and was rege lated by string in Spain, water was taken from one canal to the other te be used more than once, All disputes ith wtrales, Waste was banned and and violations of the water laws were ds by acourt whose jualges were chosen by the farmers themselves, This court was called “The Tribunal of the Waters: which sat on Thursday's Thenilometer ia AKawsada tan at Frustat near € competed in Not 8 CH. thy octagonal columa imthecontets Used to measire the hoe of the water the Nile imeubits at the dour of the principal mosque. Ten centu- ‘es later, the same tribunal stil sits in Volencia 7 but now et the door of the cathedral t r Ibn al-Awwam. @ 12" century botanist, refers bert S toa drip irtigation technique in his Book of « Agriculture, sa prevents over-watering of some species. He partially buried water-filled! pots at the base of trees, with specific sized holes For controlling, ‘ the dripping rate. his technique is widely used g that it vonserves water and, around the world naw. As Muslims were accomplished civil and me- chanical engineers, nothing came in the way of their extracting water: Even if the water source was in a gorge, the use of sophisticated mach ery like water raising machines and pamps rev- olutionized the sniety. You can carry om read ing more about these these dams and irrigation techniques in the coming sections, and discover the beinnings of water on tap!oft right: Norias in Manas erring showin the Higgins incite MAGINE YOUR LIFE TODAY WITHOUT RUNNING Warn, where you have to walk for miles to a river or well and then contemplate how to it into your bucket as you couldn't get near the fast flow: This was the situation for Muslims before their groundbreaking inventions of water raising machines and pumps, introduced about eight hundred years ago. They devised new techniques to catch, Large waterwheels, oF novias, have raised channel, store and lift the water, and made wa from fast Mowing, waterways te higher ingenions combinations of available devices, drawing on their ewn knowledge and that of ther civilizations. The ancient Fyy ptians alr a simply but effective contraption that wook water from the river in ¢ bucket tied to a long, pivoted pole. The buc and it was all supported between two pillars on a wooden horizontal bar, is still used in had a counterweight, Egypt today idy had the shadeof, land since 100 RCE. Vitruvius, the Roman, writer, architect and engineer mentioned. this simple, yet powerful device. Like eny waterwhee) it was turned by the farce ol flowing water against paddle compartments on its rim, These tilled with water and took it to the top, where they emptied into-a head tank connected to ati aqueduct. Already used by the Romansand lersians, they were adapted and redeveloped by the Muslims,The the excavation ofa canal in the Basra region in the late 7" century. ‘The wheels at Hama, on the river Orontes in Syria, still exist, al though they are no longer in use. They were st Muslisn mention of norias refers to big wheels and the ka metres in diameter. with its rir being divided inty 120 compartments. The noria at Murcia in Spain La Nora, is till in operation, although est wats about twenty the original whee! has heen repluced by a steel cone, Apart from this, the Moorish sys otherwise vietually unchanged. ‘There are still lots of norias in varie parts othe world, andl they are often able to compete successfully with modern pumps ‘Many Muslim technologists recognized that harnessing power tram both water and animals could increase the amount of work. done, Two great innovators and Mustiny engineers were al Javari and Taj et Din, Both carried out a number of experiments building remarkable machines that have led to aulomated machinery, which bas le such pact on civilization today Ala fate 12" lived in South West Turkey in the early 13" centuries,and was eruployed by the Actugid hing of Diyarbakir around 1180, He was fascinated by the inyprovement and development of mechanical devices, just ike modern day engineers who seck optimization axa hey axpect in improving, perforn, about his water raising machines. go to Glock in the Home chapter to find out about his timekeeping devices, ce. When you've finished reading Asasskilled draftsman, he came up with ingenious device for lifting huge amounts of a finger, being the first ank in his crank-connect water without lifing person to use the ing rod system. the crank is considered one of the must important mechanical discoveries, made, because it translates rotary motion into Tinear motion. Today, cranks are in all kinds of things from toys to serious machinery like car engines and locomotives, Al Jazari used a machine powered by-an animal with a fume-beam, which was moved upand down by an intricate system involving gears and a crank known os a slider crank mechanism. The crank, as part of a machine, didvitappear in Europe until the [5° century when it started a revolution in engineering Let to right 19 connury tanusstipt vt water tas iy machines designe Aavati The water acne deve ya vader turbine uirusgh shafts, eich ert soho Cain buckets). AL wooden annul aud place it ‘oa the rotating disk, se that reap did mo think this Uamalte missin was deinen ly nag stacy thoushn was drive by aa: anional rating multiple gears uli of sith partial teeth peace a sequence of motion in Tour soups that too Sater Icom the river one scoop. at te This inclined the hist known appearance of 3 canal hich contcthed the micdaniste ‘It is impos- sible to over emphasize the importance of al-Jazari's work in the history of engineering. It provides a wealth of in- structions for design, manu- facture and assembly of machines. British chartered neer Donald HillLeft right: 3 rend of al ora rxipmocatin pparmps marci shew a aia recipaoeating [Pump See the crank ehere the gear the centre is centered into Fincae imation te drive the fe pistons. This the rst time a crank appears in manuscupts The piston toa (oppose papel counts the water to be piled Inthe pion lueer, at then pushed into the outer pine Al-Jazari's Reciprocating Pump Al Juzari designed five water raising machines “Two of them were improvements on the shedoof, and one replaced animal power with sears and water power. After the introduction fof the crank shal his other vadical breakthrough came when he made 9 water driven pump. This involved cogwheels, copper pistons, suction and delivery pipes, and one way clack valves. The pump sucked water, to be used in irrigation and sanitation, up twelve metres into the supply system. It isa very early example of the double-acting principle of one pision sucking while the other delivers, and al the one-way valve to nak portected the wals un the pistons and Lall work. {you ever fell ike making your own 13" century water raising machine with reciprocating puinp, here are details of how it worked, Similar toa water mill, it would be built next to. flowing river with half of its paddle in the forceful cur tent, This paddle wheel drove an internal gearing mechanism, powering pistons which moved with the motion of the lever arm, and a reciprocating pump was created, ‘Click valves hulped to draw and expel the water through the pipes. ‘the inlet pipe was submerged in water.and when the piston was pulled along the leagth of its ey would be sucked in through the inlet valve ‘The outlet valve remained closed during this, lime, because of gravity and the position ot its pivot point naler, water When the piston was on its push stroke, the water in the eylinder was torced throngh the outlet valveand through an outlet pipe that was narrower than the inlet pape. Th ed closed during this time se of gravity and the position of its pivot inlet valve rena beet point. This motion was alternated between either side of the device, and so when one side was on its push stroke, the other was om ity pall stroke. Therefore two ‘quantities’ of water were being raised per one complete revolution of the waterwheel, and this carried on ay Tongas there was lowing water to drive itAbove: Tagi al-Din six “tinder water pur, Note thecam shaft contrlling the imation of the cannesti rou to prokice a progr sive marion of the ls ps Tos stat wae is raed canting Opus page top: A view of samisall ind walerwheet. “Oppenite page bottom A sets a pits and cylinder Hack. Taqi al-Din’s Six-Cylinder Pump The other technological whiz. was 16"-century ‘Ottoman engineer agi al-Din al-Rasté, who wrote a book on mechanical engineering called ‘The Sublime Metheds of Spirituel Machines As well as talking about water pumps he also discussed the workings of a rudimentary steam engine, about a hundred years before the dis covery’ of sear power. His six-cylinder pump and water-raising ma- chine forms part of the study of the history of papermaking and metal works, as the pistons were similar to drop hammers, and they could have been used to either create wood pulp for paper or to beat long strips of metal in a single pass Taqi al-Din explained how the pump worked in his manuscript. The six-cylinder pump had 4 waterwheel attached to @ long horizontal axle, or camshaft, which had six cams spaced along its length. The river drove the ‘waterwheel, which rotated and turned the camshaft. Fach cam on the camstatt pushed a connecting rod downwards, and all connecting rods were pivoted at the centre. At the other end of the connecting rod was a lead weight, which lifted upwards and pulled a piston up with it, Now a vacuum was created, and water was sucked through a nion-return clack valve into 2 piston cylinder. After the camshafi had rotated through a certain angle, the cam re- leased the connecting red and the pistor’s stroke enced. Through gravity the lead weight pushed the piston down, forcing water against the clack valve, but the clack valve closed, so the waler had to go through another hole and into the de livery pipes. The beauty of the mechanism was in the synchronization and control sequence of all the pistons, which was provided by the angu lar arrangement of the cams eround the shalt In time before a dependence on machinery, when we weren't surrounded by cars, bicy cles, or electric pumps, these discoveries really changed society. These machines would not be mass manufactured in fictories, but many towns ‘would have 2 water pump and life, for some, was made immeasurably easier, No longer were peo- ple heaving water containers around, o waiting, their turn to use the shadoof. Instead they stood. by pumps oraqueducts, waiting to catch some of the precious liquid gathered by their water wheels, just as we today wait a split seeond for the water to flow fromIe rewerverr on the wad) tue al Lil near al-Qayrancan ait by the Agllabid the 9° contary sume of the oldest surviving reservoirs in the Masian woe Dams AMS ARE SOME OF THE LARGEST civil engineering structures ever built and they play a vital role in ci ilization. Without dams, more floods would ravage lands, irrigation wouldn't have been as large scale, and we wouldnt have hydroelectric plants pumping out power today. Without dams and their reservoirs, life as we know it wouldn't be the same because of the major impact they have had on economic and social life. For thousands of years, engineers have been, trying to control water with various types of dams that have to hold back raging torrents and provide waterin dry spells. There are arch dams, buttress dams, embankment dams, to name just a few, and where to put which depends on factors such as the shape of the valley and the bexlrock of the river. These considerations are nothing new. as Muslims built many dams in a rich variety of structures and forms centuries ago. From studying the river, its tlow and surrounding topography, these medieval ‘engineers decided whether a dam should he arched or straight, thick or thin, or have deep or shallow foundations, as all hese r= considerations influcnced the selection of the most etfivient water storage design “The design and aesthetics of the inapressive o these dan produced by the Aghlabie's of Tunisia near thetr capital, al Qoyrawan, in the 9 century, ‘heir remains my were are still preserved. attracting the curiosity thousands of tourists today. AF Bakri, an 11 century geographer and historian from southern Spain wrote about one of them. He sid it* sive, In the contre rises an octagonal tower covered by a pavilion with four doors. \ tong series of arcades of arche other ends the south side of the reservoir is cixeular in torm and of enormous estingzane upon theIn this region of Tunisia, there were over 250, reservairs, with (wo basins each, One was used for from the water, and the ather way a reserve scantation, the separating the sediment there was a Sometimes, on the kurger schem third one for drawing, water. In Iran is the Kebar dam, the oldest arched dam known, which is about seven hund years old. this dam, like many of its design, hal a core of rubble masonry set in mortar, The mortar wax made from lime: with theash of a lncal desert plant, making it strong, hard and impervious to cracking. Ihen. there was the impressively curved Qusaybah dam, which was thirty metres high and 205 rushed rneties Fong. I was built near Medina, now in Saudi Arabia, In today’s Aihanistan, three dams were completed by King Mahmoud of Ghaznah in the 11° century near his capital city. One, named alter him, was located 9 hundred Lilometies south west of Kabul, It was thirty two metres high and 220 metres long. Half of the dams constructed had a flood overflows at one end, and many had downstreant training wall to gutde the spilt water tua sale distance from the dams foot Dam construction in Muslim Spain was immense, and the masonry they used was a typeof cem itseli, so they needed hardly any repairs in a thousand years. Fach of the eight dams on the Turia River have foundations that go fitteen feet into the river bed, with further support provided by rows of wooden piles. The solid foundation was needed due to the rivers erratic behaviour: in times of flooding its flow was a hundred times greater than normal that was horder than stone ‘The dams had to be able to resist the battering of water, stones, rocks and trees, which they did, and now, over ten centuries later, they still continue to meet the icrigation needs of Valencia, requiring no addition to the syster ‘The dam on the River Segura, in the Murcia region of Spain, shows how the Muslims understood that location and the nature of Craig Gn Dam, Flan Valley, Wales, UK In Iran is the Kebar dam, the oldest arched dam known and about seven hundred years old.Rhaju Bridge, also 2 dan, fon the River Zayande in {slahan (un wets bul an the mid 17" centary by Shah Abbas ofthe satavid dynasty. Ue Drge was st fon a stone platorm and vided by aoce ehict regulated the tow ofthe the local environment mattered, The height of this dam was only twenty-five feet, but the thickness of its base was between 150 and 125 feot. This was necessary because of the softness.and weakness ofthe river’ bed, ard its design prevented the dam (rom sliding along. The water flowing over the crest initially fell vertically through a height of thirteen to seventeen feet onto a level platform, and then ran the length of the dam. This dissipated the energy of the water spilling over the crest, The overflow then ran to the Foot of the dam over flat or gently sloping sections of its face. In this way the whole dam acted as.a spillway, which reduced the risk of disturbing the downstream foundations. Ihe city of Cordoba, on the river Guadalquivir, probably has the oldest surviving Islamic dam in the country. According to the 12-century geographer al-ldrisi. it was built of qibtiyya stone and included marble pillars, ‘The dar follows « cig course across the river, a shape which shows that the builders were aireing al 2 long crest in order to increase its overflow capacity. Remains of the dam can still be seen today, a few feet above the river bed, although, in its prime, it would have been about seven or eight feet above high water level and eight fect thick, To build such immense structures, Muslim engineers used sophisticated land surveying slike astrolabes and also trigonometric calculations, They found the most suitable sites for the dams, and they methods and instrumey could also lay out complex canal systoms, Around Baghdad, water was diverted into the Nahwran canal, which was use Da joined together by iron dowels, whilst the holes in which the dowels ti «< were built of carefully cut stone blocks, ied were filled by pouring in molten lead. ‘Ihe level of craltsina ship and superiority of design attained means that a third of all 78~ and ¥ century dams are stil intact. The other twe thirds were destroyed by centuries of warfare, from the armies of Genghis Khan and the Mongols to laid waste many irrigation works and the ones imur’s hordes, ‘These contliets that survived did so because of their brilliant construction, andl because they were out of reach, Muslims were also investing in ‘green energy" when they used stored water for mill power. in Khuzistan, at the Pul-i-Buleith dam on the Ab- §-Gangars the mills were installed in tunnels cut through the rock on each side of the channel, constituting one of the earliest examples of yydropower dnt, and it was net the only the Muslim world, Another example was the bridge-dant at Dieful, which was use to provide power to operate a norte, a huge waterwheel, which wats filiy cubits in diameter, and supplied water to all the houses of the town. Many such hydraulic works can still be seen today.Dam in the Glen Canyon, USA,Aterpts one environmental trendy ort iis revived the call tw al wind poser Windmills © PRODUCE ANYTHING, energy is needed, and before oil powered machin . energy came from sustainable sources. Some nergy in the Islamic world over a thousand years ago came from water, and was harnessed in machines like the crank rod system which took water to higher levels and into aqueducts to quench the thirst of towns. Water drove mills to grind wheat, but in drier parts of the Islamic world there was not enough watel (One thing the vast deserts of Arabia had when the seasonal streams ran dry was wind, and these desert winds had 9 constant direction. So for about one hundred and twenty days the wind blew regularly trom the same place. The windmill was so simple, yet effective that it quick spread all over the workd from its century Persian origins, Most historians rat it was the crusaders who introduced windmills to Lurope in the 12" century, A Persian had come to the second Caliph Unnar, who reigned for ten years from 631 CE, and claimed he could build a mill operated by - so alternative power supplies were sought. wind, so the Caliph ordered him to have one built. After this, wind power hecante widely used to run millstones for grinding corn, and also to draw up water far irvigation, This was lone first in the Persian province of Sistan, and al-Masunli, an Arab geographer who lived in the 10° century, described the region asa “country of wind and sand He characteristic of the area is th wrote, 2 the power of the wind is used to drive pumps for watering gardens! Baily windmills were two-storey builelings ancl bhuilt on the tovsers of castes, hilltops oor their own plaifrms. Qn the upper storeywere the millstones, and in the lower one was, a wheel, driven by the six or twelve sails that were covered with fabric. These turned the upper millstone, ‘These lower chamber walls ‘vere picrevd by four vents, with the narrower enul towards the interior, which directed the wind onto the sails and increased its speed Windinills from thot time were described as containing a millstone attached to the end ofa ‘wooden cylinder. This was hal and three-and-a-half to four metres standing northeast side to catch the wind blowing from 1-metie wide, high, onthe tically wa tower op. this direction. ‘The eylinelor had saits made of bundles of bush oF palin leaves, attached to the tell wright 14° century manuscript bwal- Darna ota engl shove vertical anes tate arosindl 4 vertical shalt anol wind in ‘Atyhuaistan shofi of the asle ‘the wind, blowing into the tower, pushed the sailyane turned the shalt and millstone. “The introduction of the windmill and ‘mill had a great cffect on the science of mechanical engineering and meant that new trades were born, from the actual building cof mills o their maintenance, This job was srried out by the miller and his apprentices, and they were the predecessors of today’s mechanical engineers. ‘Behold! agiant am I! Aloft here in my tower, With my granite jaws | devour The maize, and the wheat, and the rye, And grind them into flour. I look down over the farms; In the fields of grain I see The harvest that is to be, And I fling to the air my arms, For | know it is all for me! Vacerpt fram the Windmill by Henry WadsworthTrade ITIES AND TOWNS SWELLED and hummed with transport, barter and selling. Peddlers cried their wares to latticed windows; stock dangled in shops while people haggled; and fairs, markets and bazaars gathered merchandise, merchants, buyers and poets from all aver the world ‘Trade has a long tradition in Islam and Prophet Mohammad (pbuh), and meny of his companions, were tradesmen. Life asa trader and merchant meant travelling and being independent from one's family and local community, so Islam proviced a spiritual basis for life ina new travelling dimension, Because it played a mejor part of Islamic life, trade was governed by a well developed body of legislation covering contracts, exchanges, loans anc! market conduct. ‘The vast network of trace stretched its arteries over an empite that coursed with an eclectic collection of merchants and goods. Gold and white gold, as salt was known, travelled north and east tron the Attican Sahaca into Morocco, Spain anit l'rance, with iesser quantities making thetr way into Greece, “Turkey, Egypt and Syria. Cowrie shells (they werea currency in the 14" century) went from the Maldives to West Africs. Pottery and paper money came west from China but the paper currency didnit catch on 4 Cairo, T-avellers also flowed along gold and melons, ivory and silk, sheibls and sultans, wise men and pilgrims the woo! and wax,The land teade passing om the Silk Route was the heartbeat of the Muslim economy, The sea ‘way mainly along the Mediterranean shores of Africaand Europe. The port of Malaga in southern, Spain was centre of immense trafic, visited by twaders from all countries, especially those from the mercantile republics of Italy, like the Genoese. Irwasiin this port that the enterprising Genoese were granted a suburb in theicname. Ibn Battuta sailed to Anatolia on a Genoese boat, because they dominated this part of the trade routes, and be said “The Christians treated us honourably and took no passage money from us ide ‘The Mustim merchants of the Adriatic took a larger share of world trace at that time and lined the crowded quays of Malaga, flying their eye. catching flags among the ensigns of the maritime nations. A constant passage of vas! and growing traffic came through the port of Malaga. Here traders bartered the commodities of every country fron silks, w pons, jewellery, and gilded pottery, to the delicious fruits of Spain. Alexanclria was another major port at the mouth, of the Nile delta spilling into the Mediterranean Sea. It was pulsating with life because the Spice Route passed through the city, making it the gateway into I arope for goods coming from the Indian Ocean, through the Red S the Nile. It hed two harbours, a Muslim one in the West and a Christian one in the Fast, which were separated by the Island of Phares and its enormous lighthouse, known at this time 28 a wonder of the world. nd down ‘One of the key instruments that Muslims devel oped to help trade was the construction of rest stations like hostels along the read, known as caravanserais. This building type was spread by the Seljuks. Caravanserais were charitable founda tions, providing travellers with three days of free shelter, food and, in some cases, entertainment, ‘This was part of the charitable work towards trav lets that was and still is emphasized by Islam. Caravanserais were set up at regular intervals of about thirty kilometres elong important trade routes, They had a courtyard bordered wit and, along the walls, rooms were arranged accord ing to their function for lodging, depots. guard rooms or stables. Today's equivalent would be service stations along most European motorways, Selah caravanserais Konys, Turkex, Caravansersis were charitable loon and provi ail 4 food and eter, to waved Tees fortree, They were the ct dhe time, but these sere iter bikesalow est ight: rade routes; wene fram a 13 century minature shewing a baraae Textile and ceramics salesmen sel their goods, wile a basher serves customers ‘As the merchants carried their wares across the world, they also took Islam with then. Up the Chinese coast in Khanfu, ‘now Canton, a colony of Musiin and Jewish merchants was ‘well established in the 8" century: IL was through the honesty and friendliness of these traders that Islam spread to China and Central Africa. Muslim merchants penetrated Africa, and itwas initially Berber merchants who carried Islam across the Sahara. All nomeds in North East Africa, where trade routes linked the Red Sea with the Nile, quickly became Muslims. Some centres in the (siamic world constituted thriving ‘communities due to their important place in commerctal exchanges. Al-Qayrawan in Tunisia and Sijilmasa in Morocco ‘were described by the 10””-century traveller Ibn Haweal in his Book of the Routes of the Kingdoms: Al-Qayrawan, the largest town in the Meghreb, surpasses all others in its commerce, its riches, and the beauty of its bazaars. | heard from Abu al-Hasa, the head of the public treasury that the income ofall provinces and localities of the Maghreb was between seven hundred, and cight hundred million dinars... Amongst the exports to the East are amber. silks, suits of very fine woallen fineries,, ‘woollen skirts, carpets, iron, lead, mercury...” Europe, Asia and Africe imported vast amounts from Islamic ands, including enamelled glassware, tooled leatherwork of all sorts, tiles, pottery, paper, carpets, carved ivories, illustrated manuscripis, metalwork including Damascene swords and vessels, fine cotton cloth and rich silk fabrics. ‘Muslim textiles, metal and glass pieces were highly prized, as were soeps. Mamiuk gilt and enamelled glass, a labour- ensive luxury product made using expensive materials, had a peculiar status, Archaeological fines uncovered Mamluk enamelied glass on the northern shores ofthe Black Sea, rom where they made their way up to Kiew in today’s Ukraine, and then into Byelorussia, Lithuania, and into Muscovy, They have also been found in Scandinavia, the Hanseatic ports, and ‘Maastricht in Holland. ‘The legacy of this vast trading world can be seen today. As 20. century American historian Will Durant said: "Ut left its mark upon many Huropean lenguages in such words as tari traffic, ‘magazine, caravan, and bazaar. The state left inéustry and, commerce free, and aided it with a relatively stable currency. (The word trafic is derived fiom the Arabic tarafjaga meaning to walk slowly together, and tariff comes fiom the Arabic word Tarif, meaning announcement or information.)Muslim caravans were luge processions of people, their goods and animals that travelled enormous distances and reached the furthest horizons. Their objective was either the pilgrimage or trade, and it was these tradesmen wha went as far as Chin in their caravans that bound this distant land to Indie, Persia, Syria and Egypt Ibn Buttuta was a 14 century traveller who crossed the Steppe, in Russia today, as part of the Sultan Muhammad Uzbak Khan's caravan, He said‘ setup my tent on a low hill ... fixed my flag in front of my tent, and drew my horses and wagons behind... en the Mahallah [Sultans caravan] came up .. and we saw a vast city on the move with its inhabitants, its mosques and bazaars in it, the smoke of its kitchens rising in the air (for they cook while on the march), and horse drawn wagons transporting the people.” They travelled int great nuembers because it was easier to share provisions anid for protection, and often the caravan would be paid for by the local sultan, Some of the camel caravans were so big that if you left your place you wouldn't be able to find it again because of the vast number of people. Food was cooked in great brass cauldrous and given to the poorer pilgrims, and the spare camels took those who couldn't walk, Sheep and goats went with the caravans, providing milk, cheese and meat. Camel milk and meat was also nan the dried dung of these animals was used as fuel for the campfires. Flat bread (or ‘pita bread?) was made along the way from flour, salt, and water. Water was carried in gout and buffalo skin bags and water points were welcome sights. The intense heat of the day in the deserts meant that caravans travelled by night with torches to light the way, making the desert glow with light, and turning night into day. ‘The Arabs, masters of an empire extending from the Gulf of Gascony to beyond the Indus, involved in commercial enterprises reaching into Africa and Baltic Europe, brought East and West together, as never before. Robert historian of the rial expansion of the late cor jieval perindBelow elt wo right: (oday’s symhol for acs. Many cheunalacids were Hist Intrecuevd by aba ba Hasyansan Ilamiclembie apparatac used (or distill tion in the 10 to 12" vent esya century mans= Scrip showing hemispherical woncl with rose and waler rixturerestingson # fire fal have). the vapours are callectedl and caoied ia the tight ven on ether side ertral colar. They feed into the eight, extemal alerbies which convey the ‘isilled cexeneater it eight external Masks. Commercial Chemistry HES TEMATIC APPROACH Of Muslim chemists over eleven hundred years ago led to the discovery of a process that today affects every person and every nation on earth, And a product of this process, after water, is now considered 2s one of life's biggest essentials. Who would have thought that the black sludge known in Arabic as najt, could have over four thousand us¢ es? Without the process of distillation, and in this case of crude oil, weld have no petrol, kerosene, asphalts or plastics. Distillation is a means of separating liquids through differences in their boiling points, and was known to Muslim chemists since the 8" century Its first an application was in the production of rose- water and ‘essential cils! Pure alcohol was also obtained from the distillation of wine, which was produced and consumed mainly by non-Muslim communities, like Christians living under the Muslim rule. Jabie ibn Hayyan most renowned described a cooling technique that could be applied for its distillation. This distilled alcohol and alcoholic mashes were then used in chemical processes for the production of acids, writing, as Islam prohibits the consumption of alcohol ane other toxic drinks. nedicines, perfumes and inks for Jabir was the first to develop the alembic still in the 8” century, which is still used today in distillation laboratories. It cooled and collected the necessary liquids in the distillation process. The word, alembic, ike much chemical terminology; comes from the Arabic al-cnbiq which means"the head of the still the alembic still has tivo retorts connected by a tube. It was in the alembic still that Jabir observed the flammable vapours coming fom, boiling wine and salt. [n his chemistry book he wrote: And fire which burns on the mouths of bottles due to boiled wine and salt, and similar things with nice characteristics, which are thought to be of little us significance in these scie these are of yreatslay veinery tw Malaysia cohol was The flammable property of used extensively from jabir's time, There are descriptions century of distilled old prape-wine becoming, an important ingredient i the production of military fires. Th itary treatises trom the 1" scripts alo came vwith warn igs that such distillates could ignite easily andl that they should therefore be siored sn contatners buried in sand. Al-Kindi was famous fir his perfume dlistillations, which he wrote about in the Book ofthe Chemistry of Perfume and Distiilarions in the 9® century. In this he deseribed a 4 wine using a water bath il comes out like rosewater in eblout, Also vinegar is distilled and it comes out like rasewaler in colour! nd soone ean distil Ibn Baslis trom Tianista, nine ce r Ueseribved how silver filings were pulverized with distilled wine to provide « means of writing with silver. He sail and tine! them with distilled wine for three yen dey them and grine! them ayain mtil they become like ve them with water silver fil with distilled wine ud, then sit As we have said, for Musliows alcoholic drinks are harwn or forbidden, but theit i and discovery of it through distillation was ended (0 use its beneficial and harualess elements Hs discovery has given ¥: ine worest huge in ind pharmaceuticals to cosmetics, Much of their work a thousand years ago had practical application andl with their research new items of produc etured, like ink, laequers, solders, cements and imitation pearls. As well as individual products, industries began ourish th could be mai nas well, Among the key experiments that marked the bepinning of synthetic chemistry were those bed how to obtain offal: Rari, when he des mercuric chloride as ‘corrosive sublis in On Alums and Saits. ‘this, coupled with the discovery of chloride of mercury, today used in pesticides, inspired the discovery of other syuthetic substances. The discovery of corrosive sublimate, and the fact that it was capable of eblorinat the unearthing of 1 sublimate today has important applicat caustic medicines as an astringeat, sti and antiseptic. In the field of industrial chemistry and heavy chemicals, one of the greatest advances of medieval times was the isolation and manufacture of alum from ‘aluminous' rocks, h artificial v \was used in papermaking, paint production and the production of sulphuric acid. ft was Jabie whe discovered acids like sulphucic and hydrochloric, The Muslims were also crystallizing ‘ammonia alum’ or ammonium aluminium sulphate ~athering of alunite, Alum ‘To reael more about these individual chemists mentioned here go to the School chapter and she section oa ‘Chemistry!Lott tonight: 19° century manuserp from the book Alltn: of Kashmir Trad showing a dyer a work dyeing cloth tanners applvingsatfoon dye to cow hiitein fer, Moracea, EXTILES DROVE MUCH OF THE MEDIEVAL TRADE, AND they were an exceptionally important part of the economy. It's estimated that textile manufacture and trade at this time would have kept the majority of the working population busy: By the mid 9 century the textile fabric of Muslim Spain had earned an international reputation, and even three centuries later Spanish silks with golden borders and ornamentation were used at the marriage of Queen Beatrix of Portugal ‘The Spanish Muslims bad as much delicacy and craftsmanship in their work as the famous Chinese artisans. In Cordoba alone, there were three thousand weavers making, carpets, cushions, sll curtains, shawls, divans and ‘Cordovan’ leather for the ‘cordwainers? (cordobanes) of Europe, all of which found eager buyers everywhere. They were alko producing superb woollen stufls, espectally rugs and tapestries, made in Chinchelia and Cuenca. These were used as prayer mats as well as table and floor decorations in their beautiful houses. In al-Andalus, the production of Eastern style cloth was concentrated in the towns of Malaga and Almeria, and because they were ports they were also the first to receive the new styles and techniques. From Muslim Spain the teatile industry spread widely up into Europe.Further east and alo: we Mediterranean ores, testiles were made into dothing and the women woue tent bands, sadidlebags, for thei Even in the urban centres and palaces, ull of houschold furnishings. Nomad rules, and other trappin mobile lives, were mainly of carpets, covers, curtains, and hangings of various kinds Instead of chairs, people sat on cushions and whose quality and richness reflected their Textiles were imps nit political tools as » bey made lavish diplomatic yifis, and it was ¥ to reward high officials and other fayoutites, al regular intervals and on special occasions, with rubex of honour, turbans, and other garments woven in the rulers own houses. 1 was also the caliphs’ prerogative, 1250 that of the Mamiluk sultans, to provide each year the new kiswa, the richly p y ted garment that veiled the Kalbah at he Kb it Mec ered D decotated with siden calligraphy This the place towards which Muslin llaver the word fs then they &o thet five daily payers. The Kabah is a four-valled ‘cen nuceally covered by 8 iw 'he entrance to the shown om the lef The Kata ‘originally built by Abraham (pbuh and Teal (pbuh) i the locatiod rship in history by Aaa (put, «2 Mohammad (pub), Arabs ted it ws house thee statue pods aside Its cleansed every he King al his peste cred nubudy eget allowed ina he lateis on the lft houses toctprint believed kobe tat ol Nahar (buh), As part ol the Fitual, Mastin cirle the Kabah The full array of textiles were available in the Islamic world. Wool and linen were produced in quantity from Iran to Spain, and aulditional supplies of linen were imported, it was So popular, Cotton, native to India, was probably rst produced on a large scale in Mediterranean alter the Muslim advance It grew in Syria and Palestine as well, and irom southern Spain it slipped into Furope gather was also an important industry and 10 the reign of al Mansur in the 12! Almohad dynasty in Pez, there were 86 . tanneries and 116 dye work Some towns and cities were internationally ecoynized for their products. Shiraz was famous far its woollen clothy; Baghdad for its baldachin hangings and tabby silks; Khuristar for fabrics of camel's or goat's hair; Khurasar for its sofa covers: Tyr ils carpets: ukhara for its prayer rugs; and Herat for its gold brocades. No samples of these products from this period have survived the wear and lear of time though, although textile piecesoll right: Miaqanat ot Isscnfte lH Showing 4 wie workin thoes pinning ‘2 spool winding wiochine Fbaghlad ag skort fon a mulberry branch ina Turkish carpet tactory ty sckia the 1620 King James tof Fuglnal was 90 Fascinated with Persian silk that he tie! testis ig own il industry, bight silkwerts and emloyed Aa manager of the royal silk works. toe from other periods can be found in Western. museums and collections of Eastern art, One of the most precious fr ofan Egyptian Mamlu: Sultan, on which was anseribed: the learned Sultan’ dating from sments is the silk cape the L1® century, This was found in St Mary's Church, Donzig. Europe’ fascination with Muslim textiles goes back to the Middle Ages, when they were imported by crusaders and traders. They were so valued that Pope Sylvester [1 was buried in luxurious Persian silk cloth, Queen Fleanor, the Castilian Bride of King Edward L, brought to England! Ani items of her dowry in 1255. sian carpets as precious By the 17% century, trade relations with Eng. land were booming, which coincided with the peak of Persian textiles. ln 1616, the Persian Shah credited England with three thousand bales to encourage trade, and after this Persian sill was years afler this, the ship Royal Anne brought aneleven bules of Persian silk, which carne he top af the list of imports. Three Surat to England. ‘The king at the time, James 1, was so fascinated with Persian silk that he considered establish land, He acquired silkwormsand ga silk industry in Eng ade special arrangements for their nursery at his country ‘estates and Whitehall gardens. He also ordcted Frenchman john Bonoeil, the manager ofthe royal sille works, to compile a treatise Uealing with wekniques of silk production, which was published in 1622 Around the same time, trade with [nda was prolific, thanks to the active role of the Fast India Company in introducing Indian chintz to England. with Muslim elements, whick provided a model for European cotton as well as wallpaper production is fabric was cotton painted By the were all the rage with the new bourgeois century, imported Muslim textiles European society, and local industry was threatened. Local silk weaver s complained in 1685, while French and British silk and wool mereliants sought b India Company, unwilling to put up with the ns on the East competition from the foreign textiles7 The British government reacted in 1700 by introducin mandatory act restricting the import ol Muslim silk, hich also prohibited the importation Indian chintz, Persian and Chinese fabrics. The merchants won cestrictions on the purchase of these items in their respective nations. Fine silk didn't only come from Persia, as the Turkish te ile industry produced it es well {uns found in outstanding quality in Burse, where silk weavers produced stunning pieces decorated with Tznik th read more about these in the ‘Pottery’ section. motifs, and you can 1m here sill and velvet reached the sultans households. and were used in the Ottoman household on sofas, divans and curtains, becoming essential for the interior décor. Lady Montagu, about wham you ean read in the Vaccination’ section of the Hospital chapter, snentions th mie of Turkish textiles and admired Turkish dress sense by weering it herself ish fabric and dress was the iniluential Swiss artist, Jean Another 18-ventury fan of Tur Etienne Liotard, who lived in Istanbul for five years and dressed like a native Terk. His nale portraits of ‘sitters en sultane’ greatly helped to spread the fashion of Turkish dress hroughout Lurope. We have products today that still bear their Muslim names, like muslin from the city of Mosul, where it was originally made; damask from Damascus; baldachin (made in Baghdad’); gauze from Gz2s,a seaport on the south Palestinian coast; cotton from Arabic quin’ meaning raw cotton; and setin from. Zaytuni, where Muslim traders imported rich fabric from the Chinese port of Tseutung To ead more about the impact of the textile industry see the section on ‘Carpets’ in the Home chapter Lett to right: Muslim sith wo 18 poplar wth the neve beurgeois Europear sodty that local dustry was threatened sai 1°00 the Urlish yowernment introduced a mandotery at restricting IS MPO. selt-portrait €one mn pastels by-fein Fienne Liotand. an inBlcntil Swiss actst who loved Turkish tbc and hessVaccination ACCINATION TODAY IS A CONTROVERSIAL ISSUE, and it was first rejected when it was first brought to England from the Turks nearly three hundred years ago. The Anatolian Ottoman Turks knew about methods of vaccination. Vaccination is a process where a person is given a weakened or inactive dose of a disease slates the immune causing organism. This stin system to produce antibodies to this specific disease. Today, the development of new vaccines takes eight to twelve years, and any sted belore new vaccine has to be rigorously « it can be accepted as safe The Turks had discovered that if they inoculated their children with cowpox taken from the breasts of cattle, they would not develop smallpox. This kind of vaccination and other forms of variolation were introduced into England by Lady Montagu, a famous English letter-writer and wife of ihe English ambassador at Istanbul between 1716 and 1718, She came across the Turkish methods of vaccination and became greatly interested in smallpox inoculation after consenting to have ber son inoculated by the Embasey surgeon, Charles Maitland. Whilst in Istanbul, Lady Montagu sent a series ofletters to England in which she described the process in detail. On her return to England she continued to spread the Turkish tradition of vaccination and had many of her relatives inoculated. She encountered fierce opposition, to the introduction of inoculation, not only from the Church authorities who used to oppose any intervention, but also from many physicians. Through her tenacity though, inoculation became increasingly widespread and achieved great success. They called vaccination Ashi, or engraiting, and they had inherited it from older Turkic tribes. Lady Mary Wortley Monta duced smalipox vaccination (ron Turkey imto Haglan es 1762, who iteo=Stamp issued hy the Turkish Postal Authority in 1967 picting the 299" anniversary oF the Hiyt smallpox snccination The breakthrough came when a scientific de- ‘For more than scription ofthe vaccination process was sub - two hundred mitted to the Royal Society in (724 by Dr Em ce: manual Timoni, who had been the Montag's 3 years, vaccines family physician in Istanbul, Iroculation was Zz, have made an then adopred beth in England and in France, = nearly half a century before Edward Jenner, to m unparalleled whom the discovery is attributed. 2 contribution to 11s curvently believed that in 1796 Edward ; Jecae berd at cotvp prossded ware =z public health... to smallpox when he sa the ese of ames z Considering the Phipps, an eight-year-old boy, who was " " " inibered th cghepux Front cxton thc aed 2. list of killer dis- ofa milkmaid, Sarah Nelmes a eases that once In 1967 Turkey commemorated the 250" = anniversary of the first smallpox vaccination. eae - held terror and ‘The stamp shows a child being inoculated. In ice ASISH ee 100 are now under the background isan Islamic dome and in the x Been ine Pos dn control, includ- ing polio, mea- the Cor: Pack (0 gna caene of cna ithe S Pancras sles, diphtheria, Sul ne hed chev De leet rosiatig patos pertussis, rubel- la, mumps, teta- nus, and Haemo- philus influenzae type b (Hib), one might expect vaccination to have achieved miracle status.. Richard Gallagher, edt tor of the international magazine and wHerbal Medicine were discovered and administered. This kind of herbal discovery has been made since the dawn of civilization. There are records trom Fg that reflect a tradition that existed before wwe discovered writing. In the West, the first ‘herbal (a book listing and explaining the properties of herbs) was Greek and written in the 3 century BCE by Diocles of Carystus, followed by Crateuas in the [" century Ck ‘The only work that has survived, De sMateria t, Mesopotamia, China and India ‘And in it, their drink is mixed with ginger. Quran (76:17) men tions ginger as one of the drinks of Para . Today ginger is used to relieve nausea and vomiting. Medica, was done in 65 CE by Divscorides. He remains the only known authority amongst the Greek and Koman herbalists. ‘As the Mustim lands grew, merchants and trav. ellers came across exotic plants, tees, seeds andl spices previously unknown to them. ‘They col- lected and brought back a huge number of sam- ples of raw ingredients, along with knowledge, and information about their use, combing the world anu its harshest of environments, going, as far afield as the Steppes of Asia and the Pyrenees. The discovery and wide use of paper also meant that on-the-spot de- tailed recording of their journeys and observa tions could be made. THOUSAND YEARS AGO GARDENS were also scientific “field” laboratories, looked after by eminent scientists who wrote manuals on the medical properties of plants. Herbal medicine wasn't seen as an alternative medicine but was very much part of medical practice, with many hospitals keeping gardens full of herbs, for use in medicines, and new drugs With this vast amount of data and material, coupled with theit scientific mettical knowledge, meny new traditional and herbal medicines became available, All these discoveries meant that a huge amount of information was built up and spilled out of colossal encyclopaedic works. Folio troma 15®-century Arabic betanica treatise) Left to right: Ancient meth bods of forming sicet paper canbe seen here as. watnan focinaa shee! of paper in ‘ashen, ta, 1917512" century manusirpt showing the papermaking prowess Paper iP roll and greetings cards. leven hundred yeats ago Muslims were manufacturing paper in Baghdad after the capture of Chinese prisoners in the battle of Tallas in 7S1CE. The secrets of the trade were passed to their captors and the Baghdad paper mills quickly caughton, with manufacturing, spreading west to Damascus, Tiberias, and Syrian Tripoli. As production increased, paper became cheaper and of better quality, and it was these milly in Damascus that were the ‘major sources supplying Europe Ihe Syrian factories benefited greatly from being able to grow hemp, a raw material whose fibre length and strength meant it prochced high quality paper. Today. hemp paper is, considered renewable and environmentally Friendly; it also costs less than half as much to process as wood-based paper APER SEEMS SUCH AN ORDINARY PRODUCT TODAY, butit’s fundamental to modern civilization. ‘Think of all the pieces of paper you use every day, from magazines, TV guides and newspapers to kitchen As well as using hemp, the Mustims also introduced finen as substitute to the bark ofthe malberry,a raw material used by the Chinese. ’the linen rags were broken up, soaked! with water and fermented. They were then boiled and cleared of alkaline residue and dirt. These cleaner rags were then beaten to a pulp by a trip hammer, a method pionoered by the Mustims. ‘They also experimented with raw materials, making cotton paper. A Muslim manuscript on this dating trom the EP century w discovered in the library of the Escorial in ‘MadridBy 800, peper production had reached Egypt, and possibly the earliest copy of the Quran on paper was recorded here in the 10" century. From Egypt, it travelled further west, inio North Africa and Morocco. Like much else, from there it crossed the straits into Muslim Spain around 950, where the Andalusians soon took it up, and the town of Jativa, near Valencia, becatne famed for is manufacture of thick, glossy paper, called Shatibi. Within two hundred years of it being produced in Baghdad's mills, paper was in general use throughout the Islamic world, ‘This meant that producing books became easier ancl more cost effective because paper replaced the expensive anc rare materials of papyrus and parchment, so mess book production was triggered. Before this, production had been complex and highly sophisticated: complex in that it was done through the labour of copyists, and sophisticated because af the skilled bands involved, The amount of labour in production decreased but the sophistication of the craftsmanship remained. so in the Muslim world hundreds, even thousands of copies of reference materials were mace available, stimulating a flourishing book trade and learning. ‘The expansion of paper manufacturing kich-sterted ‘other professions, like those of dyers, ink makers, manuscript craftsmen and calligraphists; the sciences also benefited, The pioneering ‘Tunisian, Ibn Becis fromm the 11° century, described this in his Staf of the Scribes, writing about the excellence of the pen, the preparation of types of coloured inks, colouring of dyes and mixtures, secret writing and the making of paper. “The first paper mill in Christian Europe was established in Bologna in 1293 CE. and by 1309 the first use of paper in England was recorded. With all this paper and more cheaply produced books, the diffusion of knowledge into Europe speeded up. Danish historian fohannes Pecersen said that by manufacturing paper on a large scale, the Muslims ‘accomplished a feat of crucial significance nat only to the history of the Islamic books but also to the whole ‘world of books: Muslims developed techniques for decorating paper that are still used for goo writing paper and in books today. One was marbling. which gave the paper a veined fabric look, and was used back then fo cover important manuscripts. The word for marbling in Turkish is ebru, which means cloud er cloudy, or abra, which means water face. Fore comes from one of the older Central Asia languages which means ‘veined fabrie or paper’. Its origin might ultimately go buck to China and it was through the Sitk Route that marbling came first to Iran and (hen moved towards Anatolia, picking up the ebru name, At the end of 16% century, tradesmen, diplomats and travellers coming jrom Anatolia brought the marbling art (o Burope and after the 1550s it was prized by European booklovers, becoming known as “Tierkish Paper’ or “Turkish marbled papermaking’. After, it was widely used in Italy, Germany. France and England, Texts about ebru, like Discourse on decorating paper in the Turkish manner, published in 1664 by Athanasius Kircher; a 17*-cemtury German scholar in ime, also spread the knowledge of marbling ar.ae 5 OR OVER A THOUSAND YEARS, Muslim lands produced some of the world’s finest ceramics and pottery. They were traded, bought as ornaments and used domestically in cooking, lighting and washing. A millennium Jater, these pots have been turning up in European archaeological digs. Pot-making was a serious business and trade. The late 14*-century historian al: Magrizi said in Cairo: “Daily there is thrown on to the refuse heaps... toa value of some thousand dinars ~ the discarded remains of the red bbaked clay in whicts milk-sellers put tbeie milk, cheese sellees their cheese, and the poor the rations they eat on the spot in the cook shops In the East, pottery centres developed at Baghdad and Samarra, Iraq, Excavations at Samarra, the residence of the caliphs from 838-883 CF, show us they had glazed and nped, and that unglazed pots, incised and there were three main types. One was white, decorated with spots or pseudo-calligraphic motifs in cobalt biue. Ihe second was decorated in polychrome, two-tone stripes, inspired by Chinese stonewares of the ang period in the 7 and 8 centuries. The third pot type had a special lusire,a decoration that Looked metallic. These pots were skilfully made, in a simitar way to the modern petter’s whee! today, then dried and fired in kilns. they became collectors’ itemsand icons of beauty and art, because what the Muslims did better than the Romans before the introduce new ways of glazing, colouring and decorating their pottery was to improve and Pottery hes continued to bean art1° contury earthenware jr Ih. Mamk str fatwa was found a Trapani in Sic. “They first improved ead glazes with relief designs The Romans hed spread mostly red earthenware with shiny green or yellowish brown glazes to Mediterranean countries including Egypt By adding more lead, the early Muslims produced a smoother, mote brilliant finish to the pot and made it impermeable so it could hold liquids The Abbasid potters then took the lead glaze and added tin onide to it, beceuse they were trying to find a way of making pure white porcelain, like the expensive Chinese variety ‘The raw materials of Iraq and China were totelly different, so the resourceful Mush potters introduced a dash of tin oxide instead. This caused greater opacity and the exact \white finish they were looking for, Not satisfied, the potters then made inneva- tions in the design, producing the ‘blue-on. white’ decoration, which wes later re-exported to China, where it became hugely popular and spread onto their porcelain too, The ‘blue-on white’ ceramics were @ source of pride for the Abbasid potters, who added their signature to much of their work. In one of these signatures, a potter, named Abawayh, referred to himself as “sani anur al-mucminen’ telling us that he was the craftsman of the caliph, a reference to the caliphal promotion and patronage of erafts and pottery in particular. ‘One of the most irnpressive decorations that appeared later were eager to develop this man attempt to produce a close version of the golden and silver vessels of Paradise described in the Qoran the lustre glaze. Muslims In the 8" century, potters working in Ireq developed a mysterious process called lustre “This was described as an ‘extraordinary ‘metallic sheen, which rivals even precious effects, all but turning objects of lay to gold’ explains TV Preventer Amani Zain in the BBC's What the Islamic World Did Jor Us metals in it Lustee provided the right ingredients for producing these in a cheap and acceptable way, as Islam prohibits the use of gold ant silver vessels “The technique involved mixing silver or copper ‘oxides with an earthy vehicle, such as ochte, and then vinegar or grape juice were added as a medium. The 8 century Iraqi potters dis covered that if they painted patterns with this mixture on the glazed coating vf the clay, then pput the wet pot into a kiln for ¢ smoky and subdued second firing, a thin layer of metal was left, After wiping off the ash and dust, an amazing iridescent glow came through. What was happening was that the copper and silver oxides separated out in the firing, leaving metal esa thin film on the surface of the tin glaze. Silver lefta paler yellow or golden and silvery effect. and copper produced a darker, redder, ruby colour. The iridescenice of these tones varied according to the fall ef light. Exquisite monochromes and polychromes, in gold, green, brown, yellow. and red, in a buncred almost fluid tints, were possible. Decorated tiles were slso made in this way. “The rich colours of these squares, and their harmonious combinations, gave the mosques and palaces a regel splendour. “We are all drawn to beauty and the Islamic empire was no exception. That's why the Arabs invented the technique that makes these clay pots into art. BRC presenter Amuni Zain talking about lustre ghaze on What the Islamic World Did for Us‘Along with the Chinese, the potters of the Arab world proluced some of the most sophisticated and beautiful pottery Anowiat to the medieval world. When these Arab wares managed to reach the Christian west, they were highly prized and regarded as luxury items! John Cotter, leading archacologist. talking about the Iskumic pottery found att the Lengmarket excavation in Canterbury, UR ‘This lustre techmque from Baghdad pessed through the Muslim world, and 9 contury Qayrawan in Tunisia starting producing lustre tiles as well. Another century later it reached Spain. Archaeological finds at Madinat al-Zahiea, the caliphate’ city near Cordoba, uncovered a huge amount of pottery with patterns that have been made with manganese brown for the painted lines end copper green for the coloured surfaces A few centuties later, al-Andalus had its own centres of production like Malaga, producing guld lustre dishes and lange jars like tne Alhambra Ja? BBC presenter Amani Zain, on What the Islamic World Did for Us. said that “These amazing vases [the Alhambra Jar were originally used for storing oil and grains. But in the pelaces of the Caliphs their designs took on an extraordinary beauty. And for those who saw them, they must have thought theyi! been made from precious metals. Ordinary people needed practical pots, and in Spain the most popular pot was a qadiis, which carried water on the noria, 2 waterwheel, which you can read about in the "Raising Water’ section of this chapter. It became the universal unglaved pot, and must have been the mainstay of the rural pottery industry until it was replaced by tin fairly recently As well as producing the necessary water carrying pots, Spanish Muslims at the beginning of the 12° century were replacing Byzantine mosaics with tiles and azulejes. These were beautiful tiles in blueand white, covered with geometric, floral and calligraphic patierns. ‘These glazed faience tiles of Malaga are still famous. We know thet the blue glaze of cobalt oxide, which the azulejos ave decorated with, came from the East to Malaga, from where it spread to Murcia, then to Christian Spain, and Valencia at beginning of the [4 century, and thence to Barcelona by its end. Present-day Turkey was also a thriving pottery centre because crafismen crowded here, to the city of Konya, as they fled from the invading Mongols. The collapse of the sultanate of Konya at the beginning of the 14" century brought the ceramic preduction of Anatolia to a standstill, but it was to have z brilliant revival when the Ottoman Turks made Bursa their capital in 1326. The city rose again, with fine buildings covered in ceramic ules Even busier in production than Bursa was Fznik, which was the real centre of the industry, and it flourished for two centuries from the end of the 14% century. & typical utk decoration was painted on slip ia cobalt blue, turquoise and green from coppes, which were outlined in black with an amazing tomzto ted in low relief. The patterns, made up from rectangular tiles, were all floral motives, with four flowers tradi tionally being used. These were the rose, jas carnation and tulip.‘Muslim potters monopolized the skills of glaze and lustre decoration for over ten centuries. and pottery of today is indebted to them. From the potters of Spain and Sicily, new modes and methods of pottery production, materials and colours entered Europe, Europe didn't knovr about tin glaze until the Muslims introduced it fo Spain inthe 9 century. ‘There is plenty of evidence today that Muslim pots did travel outside Spain, as Malagen pottery has been found in Pngland: forty-four pieces of Meor- ish lustre were discovered in Britain dating back tolate 15 and 14 centuries, and another twenty. two pieces were fiom the 15" century. More re- cently, in 1996, excevations in Longmarket in the centre of Canterbury uncovered a large amount of Islamic lustre and turquoise blue pottery, Nigel Macpherson-Grant, who worked on the nterbury lind, tells xs how Muslim pots came to be in England: ‘Some pots may have made their way back to Figland in the baggage of Crusaders returning from the Holy Land.... Another possibility is that medieval pilgrims either to the Holy Land o to the famous shrine of St James at Compostella in Spain might heve brought back the occasional Islamic pot asa souvenir! On rare oceasions the route was more direct. We know, {or instance, that in 1289 Eleanor of Castile, the Spanish wife of Edward I, ordered four thousand pois of ‘Malik’ for the royal household, In this case “Malik’ almost certainly refers to Malaga - the main centre for Andalusian lustrewares? (Malik refers to Malike which is the Arabic name of Malaga.) A159" contury hustre dish was found at site called Blossoms fon in Londen, and was decorated with the tree oflifeand Kufic inscriptions. These were popular in Andalusia and North Africa at that lume, and were copied everywhere in Europe. ‘Amezingly the dish’s entry into England was recorded in 1303 in the accounts of the New Custom on gouds imported and exported by aliens atthe port of Sandwich, Kent. The dish 1s now at the Guildhall Museura of London. ‘Andalusian geometric tie segments Another famous ceramic brand left to us by ‘Muslim potters is the so-called Maiolica ware. The story started at Majorca and other Balearic islands, which were under Muslim rule until 1230. Italian ships, mainly Genoese ané Venetians, often called there to collect tin glazed pottery and. recruit Moorish potters, who brought t0 Sicily lhe Majorcan poitery style. This was gradually established as a leading style, becoming renowned as Majolica’ or Maiolica: Since the 15! century, Majolica has reached an astonishing degree of perfection, using the same production and decorative techniques as the Andalusians and Egyptians, Later, Itlian artists developed it into new varieties, like Gubbio lustre, which came in gevenish yellow, strawberry pink and a ruby red. This Maiolica pattern has dominated the cerarnic industry in Jtaly till the present time. Muslim pots were seen as status symbol in Europe because of theic exquisite quality and decoration, so finding these pots tells us today what kind of people lived in places like Blossom Hill and Longmarker nearly five hundred years ago. Today theart of Muslim potters lives on inthe Andalusian tiles and mosaics that still edom modern cafés, as the designs have become apart ofthe Souths identity arly 10-century Serpent Dish made by Fanik potters tn Turkey.HAT WE KNOW TODAY ABOU'T GLASS in the past has come from archaeological digs and writings of travellers from the time. So we know that 13" and 14"-century Syria was a great centre of this fine material, in the cities of Aleppo and Damascus. Ibn Battuta described Damascus as a glassmaking centre when he tra elled through there in the 1300s. Not only Syria, but Egypt, Iraq and Andalusia were all producing it in vast quantities from the 8" century onwards, and it was either cut from crystal or blown in moulds. Muslims hed inherited the famous Roman glass industry based in Syria and Egypt, developing it with double stamping (in which a stamp with decorative designs was pressed onto hot glass); freeform glassblowing with thread decoration (continuing from Roman and Byzantine traditions); meuld-blowing (where the glassmeker blows the liquid glass into a prepared mould); and engraving and cutting glass either by hand or with a wheel They also perfected glass decoration and expanded the variety of products to include bot , flasks, vases and cups. By the 12" century, Syrian glass was so fine that merchants and buyers all over the world were after samples, and digging this century has uncovered seven-hundied-year-old Syrian enamelled glass in Swevien and southern Russia, and it even travelled as far as China. It was Samarra, Iraq, that was reelly famed for its glass. Amongst the mest stunning finds was millefiort, oF mosa which was different from earlier types in its peculiar colouring and design. Alongside this, beautiful finds at Samarra was a 9" century streight-sided bowl in whitish glass nother of the most Right: glass blower in Were, MalySamaras glassmakers were also renowned for making small bottles for things like perfumes, Some were pear-shaped, in blue and green hess, with four sides and a nearly cylindrical neck. These were heavier and Irequently decorated with cutting, At Samarra, fragments of century cut glass bowls have also been Found with strongly stylized decoration. and these are of outstanding beauty So niuch glass has been uncovered in exca- vation at al Fustat, (Old Caizol which was led in the Us CL, that from the 8 century to the later Middle Ages this town must have been a centre of production. The cauliest dated tems, from 708, are comn-like fs, stamped with the names of rulers oF government officials. They came in a variety of colours, trom dark green, bight green and tar quoise, to white and purple, Some of the most sophisticated Egyptian glass vessels were deco a shiny, sometimes metallic lect, made by painting copper or silver oxide con the surface of the object. which then was fired at a temperature of about 600°C (11 12°F). rated with luste The glass industry wasr't restricted to the Fast, because in al-Andalus the industry was in the same great demand as the pottery, Jars with two, four or eight handles. and bowls with handles and ribs have all been found, The chief centres tor glass works were in Almeria, Marcia and Malaga, and it was Almeria that had a worldwide reputation. Glass gobiets blown in Almerta, Malaga and Murcia imitating eastern wares were found on the Ubles of noblesin 10-ventury Leon. ‘The technique of cutting crystal was said to have been introduced by “Abbas ibn Fienas in 9 century Cordoba, al-Andalus. He wos 2 schelar anid inventor in the courts of Abd al-Rahmian tand Muhammad f, who could also decipher the most complex writing and attempted to fly by building, artiticial wings. With glass, he understood is 1S scentury gilded and enamelled glass battle from Feypt The insenp tion reads Glory to ear Master the Wise. the ast Ring scientific properties and contributed to the arly experimentation with lenses and the idea of magnifying scripts, after establishing Andalusia’ crystal industry based on mined rocks: So, glass had a colourful history as it travelled from the furnaces of Syria, Kpypt Iraq and Andalusia all round the world, edorning people's tables and houses asa status symbol ‘and practical necessity. From windows to wateh frunts, TVs to thermochromic phase, aquariums to incubators, glass continues to make our lives easier,entry gol pendant Toda. This gold pendant lal wait Pat cut Fun jets snd a large tae Sted diamond. snthe pattere fafa thyingird, asin a Beaty background ot rubies ‘The earth is like a beautiful bride who needs no manmade jewels to heighten her loveliness. Kahlil Gib Lebanese writer we Raw Jewels YOU'LL HAVE READ, the glass, textile, pottery and paper industries A formed the backbone to a success{ul empire whose goods were traded as far as China. Other vital industries included goods from mines and the sea, like jewels and pearls, Emeralds were extracted in upper Egypt, turquoises taken in Farghana, rubies reaped in Badakhshan, and cornelian and onyx obtained in Yemten and Spain. the cinnabar mines of Almaden in Spain had a workforce of somewhere near a thousand; some cutling the stone down in the pit, others transporting the wood for smelting, making, the vessels for melting and refining the mercury, and manning the furnaces. A surprisingly precious mined item was salt, ‘or white gold, at Hadrarnawt (in Yemen), Inlahon, Armenia and Nosth Africa, which was carried in great camel caravans. “Throughout the yreater part of Africa, writes Leo the Airican, a medieval historian and geographer who roared Africa and the Mediterranean lands in the 164 century, ‘salt is entirely of the mined variety, taken from underground workings like these for marble or gypsunn? Precious stones were dressed and polished with emery, found in Nubia and Ceylon, gyptand the Suxian both bad alum, ane parts of western Egypt, notably the famous desert of Nitro, had natron, which was used ‘or whitening copper, thread and linen, and also for curing leather. It wes in demand with dyers, ylasamakers and goldsmiths; bakers even mixed it in with their dough and meat- cooks used It as @ tenderizer From the sea came the beautifully smooth pearls that decorated inany necks across the world, Peal diving was carried out on both es of the Persian Gull, in the Arabian 5. in Ceylon, near Shirafand the island of Kish, along the Bahrain coast towards the island. 1! century Arabic manescript showing 4 Firnace tor rmahieg artical eubics rl spplires, the Aral text fon Une manuscript describes Hts i Obsigh top to tiem: Treasures tram the sea, stich & - PS = ition “ oe name a! Go au there are = of Daliiak, From the 14!" century, Iba Battuta refers to poarl-diving methods: The diver attaches a cord to his waist and dives, he says. "On the bottom, he finds shells embedded in the sand among small tones. He d 1 with his hand, ora knile brought down with him for the purpose, and calle them ina leather bag he tus holdingit in the boat w pull him up again the leather bag, th the shells, and cut out wit open up a knife pices There were coral reets lying off the of North Affica, near Sivily and Sardinia Al Adrisi, the 12" century geographer, n account of coral gathering: ‘Coral ac which has grown like trees and beinwen two very high mountains tt is fisied with a many looped hemp tackle, this is moved [ron high up in the ship; the threads catch the coral briaches as they meet them. and the fishermen then draw up the tackle and pick out from it the very cousiderable quantity of coral Coral was then used to decorate weapons, ith pearl, make prayer beads and jewellery. Today, like all jewellery, coral pins, but auty can be as ot beads to carved 208 ai prices for this marine b much as $50,000 for a fifty-snillimetre diamete ad as the coral reels are destroyed and goral asa jewel becomesCheckout N THE PAST MONEY WAS ALIVE, because camels, cattle or sheep were used to ‘pay’ for goods. In the time of Ibn Battuta, the 14"-century Muslim traveller, the Maldives used cowrie shells as currency as they were highly treasured and prized, and these reached distant regions like Mali in West Africa. Today we use plastic money, notes and coins but this is a small quantity compared to the amount of “invisible, intangible money shooting around the world as the financial markets make their electronic transfers. One day our coins and notes Dar al Islam or the Mustim world spread its ‘wings, even under separate rulers or sultans, Using golé and silver coins as its international currency. [F we are globetrotting today, we either take travellers cheques or risk having our purses full of different currencies. But in the 14" century, travellers in the Muslim world could scour every market nook and cranny and use dinars or dirhams. from capital cities, to the smallest village. Step outside the Muslim world and transactions were a different story. Again Ibn Raituta can tell usa lot about the world nearly seven hundred years agoas he had @ surprising francial experience in China. He said: * The people of China ... buy and sell with pieces ‘of paper the size of the palm of the hand, which are stamped with the sultar’s stamp. Ifanyone goes to the bazaar with a silver may be as useful as Ibn Battuta’s cowrie shells would be today. dirham or 8 dinar is disregarded. inis not accepted and he In the 7" and 8 centuries money was. mostly made of gold and silver, and Mustims made their coins according to the Quran, which said: When you measure, give aa. exact measure and weigh with an accurate scale (Sura 17:35). So, it was the caliphs responsibility to ensure the purity and werght of the coins, and the standard was established by the Sharia law as seven mithquls of gold to ten dirhams of silver. Any coins that didalt measure up, foreign curtency and old coins were brought to the mint along with gold and silver bullion to be refined, and struck into new currency. At the mint the bullion was first ‘examined to determine its purity before being, heated and made according to the established alloy standardsHoth dinarsand dirhams were used by different Muslim rulers. The first caliph to make his own coins was Gnutyyad Caliph Abd a Malik ibn Marwan, who ruled from 683 10.705 Cl. These dinars were the fist gold coins with an Arabic inscription, ay previously money had been silver Sass coins. By making his own coins in 691 ar 692. Gliplt Abd ah Malik could now keep fis rule independent from Byzantium and unity all coins, andl gold and copper Byzantine Muslims with one currency Lis new coin was copied from the Byzantine ‘currency, the solidus. It was similar in both size and weight, and on the face were three standing figures, like the Byzantine coin, which had the figures of Heracles, Heractias Constantine, and Heraclonas, A big diilerence was the Arabic testimony of Islam. surrounding the design on the reverse: ‘In the name of God, there is no deity but God: He is One; “Mohamad is the messenger of Ged? is with this The Byzantine emponsr was ari development, as Hew money meant competition sand he refused to accept it, responding with a new coin. Thisangered Caliph Abd.al Malik, eho made another coin with an upright Figure ofthe caliph, wearing an Arab headdress and folding a sword, ‘again with the testimony of Islam ov the reve where the coin was also dated. Only eight of these carly Arab-Byzantine dinars. «lated according to the new {slamie calendar have survived! “The coin throwing continued, anil true to orm the Byzantine emperor replied with yet another, and at this point in 697 the Caliph had! had enough, and introduced the first Islamic coin without any figures. On both sides of this new dinar were verses trom the Quran, which made each plece an individual message of the faith. He then issued a decree making it the enly currency to be used throughout Umayyad lands, All remaining Byzantine an Arab-Byrantine pieces had to be handed (0 the treasury, to be melted down and re~ struck. Thow who did not comply faced the death penalty. Clockwise from top lets Early Umayeatl coins, 691692. Ihe eean on the Botton tet show the column placed op thrvesteps topped with a sphere, replacing the Byzant rose: Andalusian coin: Sikee Nasi irkan: ot Mahsmated f eanadas ear ‘ons, AL Mahdiya, 949; Andalusian in: Gaokd Nasri lirlan ol ‘nace; poll ehnar of Caliph Abd al Maik trem the Unuayyad dynos There ure wo fabled Islamic voins, the One Thousand Muhurs anel the One Hundred Muhurs, ‘the first weighed in at liwelve kilos of pure gold und the second was a baby! in comparison being a mere 109 grams af pure gold. ‘Their estimated value today is about ten million and four million US dollars respectively. The coins were originally minted for the Mogud Einperors, Jahangir, son of Akbar the Great, in 1613 and his son Shah fabian, best known for building the Taj Mahal in 1639, and were presented to the highest dignitartes. The One Miotsand Mulurs was huge at eight inches in diameter, wad over the centuries four or five were mentioned as being reserved for the ambassadors of the powerfid rulers of Persia. Only one comparable coin is recorded from a plaster cust in the Rritish Museum, a Two Hundred Muchurs. last reported in India int 1820 and since lost. None of the legendary giant gold Muhuers are known to have survived (o this day: and its suspected they were melted down for their bullion value, But we know they diel exist because travellers mentioned seeing gigantic coins in the Treasury of Shalt hahar.7. . The neve gold dinars weighed a bit less than the solidus, and the state controlled the accuracy of their weight along with the purity of the gold gold coins were generally struck wl copper coins were used. Unayya in Damascus, while silvers minted elsewher Alter this first coin, more of different values were struck, and alter conquering North Africa and Spain, the Umayyads established new mints, each producing coins with the name of their city and date of minting, The dinar continued to be the main currency used until 762, when Caliph al-Mansur built Baghdad and the gold niint moved to the new capital. The names of persons responsible for ihe coins began to appear on silver coins called dirhams. But these bad a short life because the next caliph, Harun al-Rashid, abandoned them when he came to power in 780, He minted dinars with the names of governors of Egypt instead, using the two active mints we know about, on, Hayhhdad and the other in Fustat the seat of the governor of Egypt. The Fatimids, who ruled between 909 and 1171 used inars with Kufic scripts, andl these became the most widespread trace coins of the Mediter quali inean world because of their high and because there were so many of them When the crusaders captured Palestine, they copied these coins instead of striking their own, and thove ranged from excellent copies of the original to bad imitations. Ie was from Andalusia that gold dinars travelled into Europe from eround 711. Then, under the Nastid rule in Granada from (238 to L482. the dinar became the dirham. These coins were heavy, carefully struck and bore long leg- ends with passages from the Quran and the rulers family trees. None of the Nas- rid coins showed a date, but they are identi- fiable by their motto "None victorious save Goll? At the sane lime, in the Christian kingdoms of the north, Arab and French currencies were the only ones used for nearly four hundred years. Afier the 13! century, the Muslim Caliphate went from being ruled by one caliph to many small dynasties, each producing their awn coins, Like currencies today; they certied the names oi various lent states governors from the semi-indep. these were all minted independently, but still acknowledged the nominal leadership of the caliph, Like today, coins weren't the only ways of paying. Cheques were around centuries ago as well Cheque comes from the Arabic saya written vow to hunotr payment for merchandise when its destination is reached. In the tine of Harun al Rashid in the 9” century, undera highly developed “banking systema Muslitn businessman vould cash a chegue in Canton, China drawn on his bank account in Baghdad. The use of saugq was born, ut of the need to avoid having fo transport coin as legal tender due to the dangers and ditliculties this represented. Bankers (ook to the use of bills of exchange, letters of creditand promissory notes, often drawn up to be, in effect, cheques. In promoting the concept of the bill of exchange saga) oF cheque, Muslims made the linancing of commerce and inter- continental trade possible. IC be, Ue,Germany, Finland and Scandinavia An astounding coin was also discovered while digging in the Uk, and it is now in the collection at the British Museum, ‘Ihe Gold Mancus was equivalent to thirty silver pennies, and the Any »-Saxon King Ola, the king of Mercia and England, ordered it to be we in the 8" ¢ uty. Hlealso introduced silver coinage. What was extraordinary about the Gold Mancus was that it was a copy of gold dinar of the Abba dated IS7AH of 774 CL {Caliph al-Mansur lag Oa of Mercia and gaa mace 3 copy ot RCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES have hel ped us to redraw the international economic and trade relations of twelve hundred years ago, when thousands of Muslim coins were found across Lurope in tis over twelve hundred and thirty years old, and bay Arabic characters deckiring that “There is no Deity but Alla, Ihe One Without Fgu: eof engraved al. and Mohammad is the Apos and a further declaration ind the margin of the win say’. ‘Mobaniaad is the Apostle of Allah, Who ser him (Mohammad) with the doctrine and th true faith to prevail over every other religion A signiticant difference from the original dinar is that King Olfa starped his name on it withyA Lett wo right Ans century map othe UK at the time shin King Ota sled Fnand andl Mescss (Charlemagne. the founder of the Holy Roman Empire, bod acai called a denier from the Arabic dinar, which vas worth er thirds of the drain, the currency usc in Secale gh RS py ANGLIA the Main word Sate Ce yaa the inscription of OEEA REX. Scholars have puzaled about why an English king would have madea replica Arab coin, he had converted to Islam, but the mere likely story is, that it was produced for trade, or for pilgrims to useay they travelled through Arab lands. He coin most certainly wouldn't have been made by an Arab eraitsman because there ist any understanding of the Arabic texts ‘OME REN is upside down in relation to the Arabic ujie script, and the word ‘year is misspelled in Arabic. Ihe coin was probably copied by Anglo-Saxon crafismen ames ‘Much of the evidence of the impact of Islamic trade and currency on Europe is found in the ground. The coins found show that Ota also introduced the silver penny and it was ent in weight and content to half the Abbasid ctean. Charlemagne’ denier, or his reformed denarius, was worth two-thirds of the dshant and the Byzantine inifiaresion was increased to the same weight and quality as the Arab dishays, King Offa was not the only non-Muslim ruler to make an Arabic coin. An I1"-centuty Spanish Catholic prince, Alfonso VIL, ordered the minting of a decorative coin in which not only were the inscriptions written in Arabic, but abo he reterted t0 himself on the coin as the Ameer of the Catholics’ an! the Pope in Rome as the ‘Imam ef the Church of ChristCre a} ese mL) Pee learns the Ber gury Ura with respect to CE UC ER rian) Dem) Pa el uh uc) a eeeur| nu) Tarte Cua 10*-century Tbn Sina from his book Canon De eee er ee ey sophisticated. The hospitals of medieval Islam were hospitals in the modern sense of the word. In them was the best available medical knowledge, dispensed for freeto all who came. It could even be said that they were a forerunner to the Puen ae mn ee ee end who could construct the most magnificent. Some hospitals were huge, others were surrounded with gardens and orchards, and most offered advanced social welfare to patients including treatment by music. The facilities they used were custom designed and the surgical instruments were outstanding, Forceps are just one of the instruments stil used today, designed PCS eae na Ln ee mete Reco ce cataract operations, regular vaccinations, internal stitching and bone setting. were also part of standard practice, as was a rigorous medical education in 2 teaching hospital.al i Two perspectives of thn Tulun Mosque €airo, Evy pt the firs ergsnized hospital that provi eee ireatanets ‘and medicines for patients, Hospital Development HE IDEA BEHIND HOSPITALS A THOUSAND YEARS Al 20 was to provide a range of facilities from treatments to convalescence, asylum and retirement homes. They looked after all kinds of people, rich and poor, because Muslims are honour-bound to provide treatment for the sick, whoever they may be. From the excliest ti fund by charitable religious endowments called wagf, though some money trom the state coffers wes also uscd for the maintenance , these hospitals were of some hospitals. was partly due to this funding they became strongholds of scientific medicine and an integral part of city life in less than two centuries Before the Muslims, the Greeks had temples of healing, In these, health care wes based more on the idea of a mireculous cure rather then on scientific analysis and practice. A Ryzantine charitable institution, the xenodocheion (literally ‘places for strangers to lodge int), came closest to being a hospital wher was given to the sick, lepers, invalids, and the poor. Islamic hospitals began in century Baghclad and in some ways these resembled xeniodocheions as they also locked alter lepers, the invalid and the destitute. But the first ongenized ‘proper’ hospital was in Cairo built hetween 872 and 874. CF. The Ahmad ibn Tulun {ospital treated and gave medicine to all patients tree of charge. With two bath cone for men rich librery, anda section for the insane it was «an incredibly advanced institution. Entering patients deposited their street lothes and their valuables with the hospital authorities for ste keeping, before donning special ward clothes and being assigned to their bec nd one for women, 3‘Other important hospitals included a larger were all eduaired by waders and crusaders, “i i Baghdadi Hospitel, builtin 982, with @ who later eiped similar systems such It's [the hospi staff of twenty-four physicians, Twelfth- as the Hospitaliers, fighters of the hospital, tal's] duty is to century Damascus had an even larger established by the French fo treat their . hhespital, the Nuri Hospital. Here, medical countrymen, In Furope, Muslim physicians give care to the iatnicGin van gives and dniggias barbeik helped is enublishiang scorer of heepital, ill, poor, men and orthopaedists, as well a aculists and including the famous Salerno hospital wn plwsicians were, according to manuals southern Italy. and women aes a iene, ed by Muslims were effective administrators and until they re- nase inspectors on the basis of sone sl re aicncae hospitals were managed ic ently. For cover. It is at example, !bn Jubayr, a 12"-century traveller, the al Nuri Hospital the service of teats, Incall, Cairo had three immense hospitals; the praised the way in whi ‘most famous was the al Mansuri Hospital {probably the earliest ofits kind) manages! When the 13°-century Mamluk ruler of Egypt, the welfare of patients. He said “The new one the powerful ‘AL Mansur Qalawun, was still a prince, fe fell and the weak, ill with renal colic during w military expedition in Syria. The treatment he received in the Nuri Hospital of Damascus was so good that he vowed to found a similar institution as soon ashe came to the throne. True te his word, he built the al-Mansuri Hospital of Catto anul said," hereby devote these waals for the the poor and the rich, of the subject and the prince, of the benefit of my equals and my interiors, for the citizen and the soldier and the prince, the large and the small, . e the fee and the slave. for men and seamen’ brigand, with- “he 1284 al-Mansuri was built with four out demand entrances, ench having fountain in the for any form of centre. The king made sure it was properly statled with physicians and fully equipped for the careof the sick. Heuppointed male and femele altendants to serve male and female patients who were housed in separate wards feds Tad mattresses an! ypectalized areas are are leak aia ner spre the provider: inall sreas of the hospital. In one part of the Thc'aicstitution building the physiciaa-in-chief was given establishing the 2 room for teaching and lecturing. ‘there AEMdndaied Hospital ‘were no limits to the number of patients thet could be treatad, and the in-howse dispensary provided medicines for patients to take home payment, but only for the sake of God, Cairo From these carly institutions, hospitals spread allover the Muslim world, reaching Andalusia in Spain, Sicily and North Africa. theseBelow Jett: The schoo or Salen rom a 14 15° century Latur trafathon of the nianiscript Canon of Medicine by Tha Sina, ‘the 9"-century al-Qayrawan hospital was a state-of-the-art institute, with well organized halls including waiting rooms for visitors, female nurses from Sudan, a mosque for patients to pray cand study, regular physicians, aud teams of Fugahu al-Badan, a group of imams that practised medicine and whose medical services included bloodletting, bone setting and cauterization. It also had a special ward for lepers called Dar al-judhama, built near the al-Qayrawan hospital, at a time when elsewhere leprosy was deemed an untreatable sign of evil. It was financed by the state treasury, and by other people who gave generously to boost hospital income so that the best care could be provided. al Qagrovan bsp ~ [the Nuri Hospital] is the most frequented and largest of the bso [hospitals in Damascus), and tts daily budget isabout (3 dinar. I has an overseer in whose hands is the mai nance of registers giving the names ofthe patients and the expenditures for the requised medicaments, foodstutfs, and similar things. ‘The physicians come early in the mie: ‘examine the ill and to order the prepara beneficial drugs and foods asate suitable for each patient! Whilst travelling in the Near Bast he alse noted one or more hospitals in every city in the majority ofthe places he passed through, which prompted hin to say that hospitals were ‘one of the finest proofs of the ylary of Islan “These hospitals were also forward-thir tackling ailments not only uf the body. A 9? century Raghdad hospital. where al Ravi worked, had an exclusive ward for the cneentally ill or view ofthe present-day Salton ner conse. Fale tis ste lamsur Haspital in Caine Pgypt hhoweds ie part the al‘Who so ever treats people without knowledge of medicine, becomes liable’. Prophet Mohan (pbuh) narrated, by Al-Bukhari and Muslim. Teaching Hospitals hind a lofty surgeon is not an image new to the 21" century, as Muslims T HE SIGHT OF A STREAM OF YOUNG and eager potential doctors be- had university hospitals about eight hundred years ago. These teaching hospitals provided first hand practical and theoretical lessons for students. Teaching was done in both groups-and on one-to-one basis like today. Lectures were hold in large hall at the hospital and the subject matter was usually a reading from a medical manuscript by the so-called “Reading out Physician Affer the reading, the chief physician or surgeon asked and answered questions of the students Many students studied texts with well known physicians and, as paper was plentiful in the ‘Muslim world, manuscripts have been pre- served until today that have written on them: “for his oven us texts 2 In Burope the were scarce and seldom owned by the student Bedside teaching, another part of medical training, with groups of students following the attending physician or surgeon on his ward rounds, was seen as very important, More advanced students abserved the doctor taking the history of, and examining also making prescriptions for ther in the Qut Patient Department of the hospital paticnty und‘One of these medica al Nuvi hospital in Damas hools was in the cus. Under the direction of the physician Abu al-Mayic al- Bail the 12° century ruker Nur al-Din iba Zavgi founded the hospital. It was named afer him and he equipped it with supplies of food and medication, while also donating a large numbers of medical books, which were housed in special hal twas. place fora medical career to blossom. Farly in the J century, « physician called al Dakhwar first served in the Nuri hospital at alow salary then, ashe increased in fame, his income trom private practice brought him much wealth and he started @ medieal schoo! in the city. This career route will be familiar to many physicians today Below leit to right A miniiture showing an Ontoman physicians the entrance te the Nira Din Binns Pista oe Hospital an Damasedts, Spria. The hospital we hhauncs the museum uf Arab medicine and science ‘He who studies medicine with- out books sails Ee Ler an uncharted Rite sea, but he who studies medicine with- out patients does not go to sea at all.’ William Osler, n Physician (1819-1919) fany renowned physicians taught at the med practitione sultan, Nural- Ar other times they listened to the three-hour lectutes that Abu al-Majid, the director of the hospital, gave his pupils. Amiong the well Known Muslin physicists who graduated from the medical school were Ibn Abi Usay! 13° century medical historian, and Tbn Nafis, whose discovery of the lesser circulation of the blood, also ia the 13” century, marked school, and physicians and ometimes assembled before the to discuss medical subjects. fah,a a nev step in better understanding human physiology.A 1904 Serian comaycanorative Samp lists Surgeon.al Zahra Instruments of Perfection OU’ RE LN A ROOM and someone brings ina tray with a cloth draped over it. ‘This ps Jown the tray and carefully peels back the cover to reveal twenty, finely made but oddly shaped, metal tools. The person then says ‘these are surgical instruments from hospitals today and trom hospitals a thousand years ago. You have to separate them into two groups! Could you do it? Maybe you're thinking ‘Sure, that’ easy, The thousand-year- old ones will be rough, crude, unsophisticated butcher's knives’ ~ but read on SOM Sets before you decide, If we journeyed back to 10° century southern Spain we could look over the shoukler of a culting edge surgeon called Abul Qasian Khalafil al-Abbasal-Zahrawi, a man known in the West as Abuleasis. He would have alreacly written al Testi. his medical cencyclupaedia, which you can read more about in the ‘European Medicine’ section in this chapter, and the ‘Cleanliness’ section in Home. Included in al- usr was treatise called On Suigery, which introduced a staggering collec tion of over tyro hundred surgical looks, Using instruments for surgery was revalutionary concept because tt enabled science to change from being spectlative to experimental, ant this was the first treatise in the history of med icine to illustrate surgical instruments fn (act their design wats So accurate that they have had only a few changes in a millennia, and i as these illustrations hat la surgery in Furope. the foundations for ‘The constant search for the perfect instrument for the sake of extreme accuracy became the rule with Mastin science, and is the principal rule of moxlern science today. fn this searah al-Zalwawi illustrated the instrument using clear hand-drawn sketches and also provided detailed formation om how and when it vas used. For example. in cauterization he states that aeconling to the opinion of the early (physicians) cauterization using. gold is better than when using iron. In ou opinion the use of iron is quicker and more correct He wrote about the seraper (najruf) toa and its use when treating fistula in the nose: “Doctors give the name “fistula to what laymen call a quill: When you have treatedit with cautery or with caustic according to the instrue tients given previously, aul it healed, there sno clear method of except to cut down on the tumour al ts ripening. and let out all the humiity oF the bane, When pus therein, Gill you r blackness, scrape it with an instrument like this picture. Its called ‘rough-head” ancl is sls oF lida ion, Its heal is round like a button but is eng gs finely Sp. Place ton the site of the diseased bone sind spit it between your fingers, pressing down a Title with your hand, till you are sure afl the diseased bone as beet seraped aveay. Do this, s. Then let the place be dressed ygand stypttc remedies, And if the place heals and llesh is generated there and the low of s es [pas irom a wound] is stayed and there is no return ater lea days, and there is ne s¥elli emerges, you may know itis perfectly healed? the case of uretiiral stones was the subject ‘of nuany pages of stuely, AL-Zahrawi devised anvinstrument uunishiab (the drill) for crushing these, [fe said, take a steel rod with a iviangular sharp end... tie a thread proximal tw the stone lest it slips beck. Intioduce i tly ‘till t reaches the stone. turn it round to forate it... urme comes out immediately, press om the stone from outside anid crash it it breaks and comes out with Ifyou do not sueceed then do cutting? Commenting on this, Lewis and Spink, recent trandators of al Zahrawsi’ book, described the Originality of the fastrument: "This device of Abulcasis does seem to have been java manner ateuclithotiipter [a tosed to shatter kidney stents and Pe many centuries varher than the modern era and completely lost s mentioned by the great middle-era suygeons ‘Al-Zahrawi remains a leading scholar who trans- formed surgery into an independent science based on the knowledge of anatomy. His illustration and drawing of the tools is an innovation that keeps his contribution alive, reflected in its continuous influence on the works of those who came after him: L Leclere, 19"-century French medicat historian lng cauteication went casi a work by slso Knes nnave €b BV A incuntis praspone, Sepraponet pte honors eum, 3 honorabit reimc eum, | fa expats. ‘9 Abuleusta jn the Latin asta by Gerard o4aanco and Pare nor by Frere Cometh, doyen oF ito-urimary su Ibn Zubr. a 12"-century Seville physician | improved on this device by fixing a diamond at the end of thestecl rod. As well as drill Zalvrawi also ananuactured a knite to perfpem cystolithotomy. | Other instruments discussed by al Zahravet in- clude cauterization tools of various shapes and Sines; scalpels, very sharp knWes thaL are Used for aking a variety of incisions; hooks, usually with | a sharp or blunt hall circularend that are still used and named in the same way (blunt hooks were in| serted in the veins to dear blood clots, sharp hooks: | were used 10 hold an lift small pieces of jssue s0 that they could be extracted and to retract the edges of wounds); forceps. metal instrament with | fete: A manuscript two handles used in meatcal operations for picking | up, pulling and holding tissue (erusbing forceps used two jaws (or crushing and removiny bladder stones: delivery forceps hada smi tar end designed to pull the foetus from its mother / steument still used toclay). | an Remember what was asked earlier: The person | tien says “these are surgical instaumentstepxh hospitals teday and from hospitals a thousand years ago, You have to separate them into two groups” Could you do t? cs lobeBlows right aad ancl 15vemeuryammatures it Sereledalin Saban vost’ Tervabtyal ol Khuen sllstra ‘ot patents and how ‘rious snical procetes Setetehdun Sabu ws playset tom Amasya “Takes: Surgery ODERN SURGERY isa highly sophisticated culmination of centuries of innovation by dedicated peaple bent on savings lives. This lile- saving ethic was beating in the heart of Muslim southern Spain a thousand yea vascular, general and orthopaedic. One of the most famous Muslin surge atthis time lived in Gordeba at the height of Islamic civilization, Abul Qasim Khalat iba al Abbas al as Abuteasis and you ean read more abut his work throughout this Flospital chapter: He observed, thought, practised and reypondedt to alurawi, was Known in the Wes! cach of his patients with skill and ingenuity: Se muuch so that he was reengnized in his day’ as anv eniinent surgeon and was court physi to the ruler of al-Andalus, al-Mansur He revolutionized surgecy by introducing new procedures, over iso hundhed surgical giving d |. pharmaceutical, and s struments, a led accounts of a Sol PSSA AER | by Aba thsd Ag hs 5 ISS | Ha Bes See S: bt See at, ori, ace Sago, where the Muslims performed three types of surgery: disciplines of his time. His book, al Tasrif: also established the rules of practteal medkeine bby emphasizing the do and don every medical situation encountered Ab Zabravt hi resling bay 6 read, New procedures he intuoduced included Catgot lor internal stitching. which is still used in the simplest to the most complicated ry today. Cal alist of firsts to icubuin vitae i gems to be the only natural substance capable of dissolving and being accepted by the body. Although al Zaluraye was the first 10 wats al Ravi tehe was the lagonce dhpoaneee fe CAGE EOE | 5 eeuse animal (sheep) gut for sutures, and AL: Zabrewt also used twisted fibses front strings of musieal instruments for surgical purposes Resp to cach case with ingenuity, he evolu tionized medical procedures in many: ways like us ing bone replacement lor lost teeth: describing how to connect sour eet 0 those that were loose by gold or silver wire; introducing weatment the first to use cotton wy contro! bleeding: perlarming.a tracheotomy: regularly using plaster casts, and for calculus in the urethra, he introduced the technique of using a fine lel inserted through the urinary passage for sagging breasts; bei Hie also detailed how to remove a urinary bladder after crushing it with 9 self-designed instew sto at, He discussed simple surgery like nose polyp. removal and complicated procedures like the re- moval ot a dead baby using spectal forceps he de- vised hitnsell. Fle mentions eauterizing or burning the skin t rect shoulder lieve pain and hove to cor) dislocation. ‘With all his innovations he kept his patients in sninud and in order not ts lrighten theny in his sur: gical operations, he invent! a concealed Knite to open abscesses, In the case of tonsillectomies, he fheld the tongue with a tor emeved the swollen tonsil holding it with a book andl shipping if olf with a seissor ike instrument, This hud transverse blades which cut the gland and e depressor, andl then held it tnt removal from t didnt choke. c throat so the patient Al-Zahravsi like all Muslim surgeons, displayed a sensible and humane reluctance to undertake the riskiest and mest patnful operations Like all Muslim surgeons, as they were aware of the discomfort they inflicted on patients. This way a decisive breakt hr in the eelationship between the surgeon and the patient Al Zaheaivi devoted Chapters 60 and 61 of his suryery book to the topic of periorming a transvaginal cystolthotomiy, the retoval of stones On Surgery was only one of the thirty books 10 Mydern surgical wols and age det lifer mach wn thee verte by le Zahra make up al-lusrif, so this makes you appreciate the amount of work he did He also descrihed the operation to remeve blader stones, oF “the Lesser Operation, Apparatus Minor as it was called in the Middle Ages. and this was similar to the one in the Sushrute Samhita Hindu Medicine Both al Raz stressed that the inner incision should be smaller than the external one to prevent leakage of urine ‘The stones should not be pulled out but extracted by forceps, tien delivered out bit by bit. This demonstrates their core to avoid lam. bleeding and formation of any urinary fistula. AL Zahrawsi also said every piece should be removed because even iFone is left it will inerease in size This advice is still steessed nowadays. nd al-Zahrawi ind ig ones should be broken and se 10 the tissues, excessive“Surgeons must be very careful When they take the knife! Underneath their fine incisions Stirs the Culprit - Life!’ Emily Di Rights (3° century iiniattes an Seri Sahuneuegles arnt 4i-Khuanyat lkisraung the teatmentol patients sind sass earns raredures. Sereda Sabuneuogtu wus a physichan ‘ram Amasya, Tatkey. In gynaecology: his work, along with that of other Muslim surgeot He gave instructions for training midwives on how to perform «anusual deliveries and th. He also designed and al dieters was pioneering remove the afer introduced vag bn al- Quit, 13*-century Syrian physician, pointed out the difficulty of surgery in @ ‘woman ‘because she may bea virgin, or shy, nd a finger cannot be pushed into her vagina in search of the stone, or a big incision may be needed .., and that is dangerous, orshe n be pregnant and surgery will endanger her pregaancy! As well aval: Zahraw, there were many surgeons in Islam who carried out ground breaking work, including tbn Sina in the 11 century, who was from present-day Uabekistan. He wrote Carton which addressed the hreadth of medicine,and you can read more about him in “Bone Fractures Inthe opinion of Ibn Sina, cancer, al-saratan in Arabic, was a cold tumour that did not get inflamed, and was painless at first. Certain forms became painful and often incurable when they reached an advanced level. He said cancer grew out of the centre just like the legs ofa crab, from which it took its name. the internal cancers appeared without! the patient’ awareness, and despite their pain, patients could live quite long with them. The ouly forms of cancer upon which the surgeon coulel ited cancers! Here, the intervene were the li incision had to be perfect, so all of the tumour would be extracted. However, surgery was not always conclusive and detinite, far the cancer could often reappear Ibn Sina, in tact, advise against the amputation of the female breast, for it Favoured the spread of the disease. He then pointed out that oxide of copper or lead, although unable to cure the disease, could be efficient in stopping the spr ud of the cancer. {bn Sina, like al-Zahraw, spoke on many top explained: Ifthe patient lies on his hack and his buttocks are raised and fhe was shaken, the stone moves away from the passageway urine streams out, it may also be easy to push away the stone by a finger in the wetum... that does not work, use 4 catheter to push the stone back.. ‘On the retention of bladder stones he IFit was ditlicult tobe passed do not push hard! This i quite similar to how modern urologists handle an obstructing posterior urethral stone, They push it back cither by a catheter or endoscopically According to Ibn al-Quit, surgical treatment of large bladder stones was easter than that of small enes because the large ones either stopped in the orethra ar were m the cavity ofthe bladder, and here they could be more easily felt Fromall this evidence we can see that 2 thousand years ago ailing people were treated in hospitals and looked alter incredibly well Unlike today we do not have survival rates or statistics of success, butt we do have copious notes from the great surgeons of the time ‘These notes of practices and research changed surgery itreversibly, for the better ofall, eve usin the 21" century.* Aner re PORTA acl sakitoteataige | Sy siesta xii Sk ISSA er ee oMibidoess foam ain tps ee — Peak taacigs Pobesiatne oT Cty en peasants etic cal saatr pho Rach Si oes Bi SL AE ied TNT Sh hide Me bhai sie Ahir ties ETERL, Binioastitece Moan PF Sg eh Ra SpeLiaoatios fir Sh yah wich RE baiaipiuss REE AGATE tein en taloag Sesichia NSRISE A WPS CLG ae ee Bs @ ee ea eee Pic adenl e yong eligla: Tite page eam translate snk Latin ond Gireck an ate Blood Circulation HE HISTORY OF THE DIS! covery of how blood travelled round the body is as intricate as the veins and arteries carrying it. The ancient Greeks thought that the liver was the origin of the blood, believing food reached the liver from the intestines through the veins. In the liver, blood would be filled with ‘natural spirit before it continued the journey to the right heart ventricle, and then to the rest of the body parts. “Then Galen, a Greek physician and scholar in the 2"4-century CE, made further ‘ebservations. He said that the blood aching the night side of the heart went through wisible pores in the cardiac septum to the loll side of the heart, Here it mixed with air to create spirit and was then distributed to the body. According io his views, the venous, system was quite separate from th system, except when they caine in contact by sinall unseen ‘shunis' or channels rierial For centuries, this explanation was accepted asthe truth until the story of discovery reemerged in 16"-century Europe, when William Harvey made groundoreaking research into the circulation of the blood and Ue function af the heart, Harvey argued that the heart was at the centre ofthe circulatory system, and he was known as the person wha discovered how our bloud travels round our bodies Well, that’s one story, beeatise int 1924 a very important manuscript was unearthed and macle known to the world by an Egyptian physician, 1)t Muhyo al-Deen Altai, He discovered a seven-hundeed-year-old treative entitled, Commentary on the Anutonty of the Canon of Avicenna in the Prussian state libtary in Berlin, He was researching the history ot ‘Arab Medlicine at the medical faculty of Albert Ludwig University in Germany. ‘th revealed an important scientific fact, whieh up vo then had been ignored: the first description of the pulmonary circulation. The manuscript Commentary on thie Anaiony of the Canon of Avicentac was written by tha Nafisya Mastim scholar born in Damascus, Syria in 1210 CE-and eeiueaied at the laments Nutti Hospital, When he ‘gradaoted: Re was invited to Cairo by the sulian of Egyplio work as the Principal ofthe Nasist Hospital founded by Saladin in Cairo,As well as having a busy professional career as a physician and! legal authority, tn Natis wrote a number boobs on a variety of subjects with his encyclopaedic knowledge. hese books included Book of Selectet (healthy) Fool and Medical Enevelopacdia, but his big work was Conmutenten yon the Auutony’ of the Caer of Aviveana Commentary on the Anuony of the Canon of Aviveana was a discussion of the work of another intellectual giant, Iba Sina, otherwise Known as “Avicenna Aviecnna was born in 980. CH now southern Russia. Hewas a pal a chat is ac small village th ana ath who excelled in philosophy, law and medicine. Ibi Nafis own treatise was responding to Avivenn monumental werk, called Caron for short, whicl you can read more about in the section on ‘one Fractures se famous be- Iba Natiss commentary w cause he accurately studied and described the pulmonary circulation. In it he explained the Above els An 168 painting ‘1 Willams Harvey (578 role of the heart and lungs. in effect the res ‘Charles his theory piratory system, emphasizing that blood was sicuatin of the blood puritied in the lungs. where it was refined on sontact with the air inhaled from the outer atmosphere, in one paragraph, he Jescribes the anatomy, of the heart and di grees with Ibn Sina: The opinion of Ibn Sina that the heart has three veutricles is nox correct. The heart has only hwo ventricles ... and belvecen these two there is absolutely no opening, Also dissection gives this lie to what they said, as the septum. between these two cavities iy much thicker thas elsewhere, The benett of this blood [that is. im the right cavity] isto go up to the longs, mix with what is in the lungs of air, and then pass through the pulmonary vein te the left cavity of the two cavities of the heart, On how the Hood's pulmonary circulatory system worked, Ibn Nafis explained that the system was based on the movement of blood from one chamber of the heatt to the lungsvyoenated bloed The blood circulation syste, tithe 13° century fbn Nas exploined the pulenary Dood circutaton system, be. the system of oxygenation. ea bythe hang The it ventricle othe heart pains dewey seated blows to the ies the the pao terion whore His ana hn exacts 49 te et atviuny of the heat thaw the pulmanary veins. In the 12 Gontury Williom Harvey iscevered be tll ond et ‘latory system in which the oad retaris to the heat (db blue arr tote hart ‘onthe diagraan) ot oxygen por the buy extre and then back to a different chamber of the heart, According to him, nutritive blood pro- duced by the liver was distributed through the veins to all the organs and peripheral parts of the body, while blond! enhanced with vital pneuma (air from the lungs) flowed through the arteries to all parts of the body. His inno- vation was to say that the venous blood from, the right ventricle of the heart (to be enhanced with air from the lungs) hac! to pass through the lungs belore entering the lett ventricle, at vehich point it could ener the arteries as arte: rial blood. In his own words he said". the blood from the right chamber of the heart must arrive at the left chamber, but there is no direct path- way between them. the thick septum of the heart is not pertorated and does not have vis ible pores as some people thought or invisible pores as Galen thought, The blood from the right chamber musi flow through the pulma- nary artery to the lungs, spread through its substance, be mingled with air, pass through the pulmonary vein to reach the lefl chamber ofthe heart... In modeen language. this is translated as follows. Blood that has waste in it comes into the right atcium through the large vein called the vous cava. Filled with this waste rich blood, the right atrium then contracts, pushing the blood through a one-way valve into the right ventricle. In tur the right ventricle fillsand contracts, sending the hleod into the pulmonary artery which connects with the lungs. there, in the capillaries, the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen takes place. The blood is now oxygen-rich as it centers the pulmonary veins, returning to the heart via the left atrinm. The lett strivn fils ng oxygen-rich blood and contracts, pus through 2 one-way valve inte the let ventricte ‘The lett ventricle Contracts, forcing the bloed into the aorta from which its journey throughout the body begins T in Barope until three hundred yours hater, ese Important observations were nat known when Andrea Alpago of Belluno translated some of thn Natis' writings into Latin in 1547 Following this, a number of attempis were made te explain the phenomenon, including, by Michael Servetus in his book Christ Restitutio in 1553 and Realduss Colombo in his book De re Anatomica in 1559. Finally it was Sie William Harvey, in 1628, who was credited Natis remained as the pioneer of the “lesser: or with for the discovery ofthe, whilst Ib ‘pulmonary; circulation, Ie was only in 1957 that lb» Nats was credited with the discovery, He had died less than seven hundred years earlier in 128% CF alter donating his house and library to the recenily constructed al-Mansuri Hospital in CairoIbn Sina’s Bone Fractures I BN SINA, Known as avicenna in the west, was so highly regarded that he was compared to Galen, the ancient Greek physictan, and he was known as the ‘Galen of Islam. Because of his great celebrity, many nations competed, lo celebrate his anniversary with Turkey being the first in 1937. nine hundred years after his death To appreciate his contribution in developing mouis mectical textbook ever written. be the philosophical and medical sciences, all al umique reference full ofall mtelieal members of UNESCO celebrated a thousand knowledge, gethered from tnany eivilizations years alter his biet in 1980, ‘uni his Lime. He was born in Afshana, now in Uebekistan, and left aged twenty-one, spending the rest of his life in various sit torsns, becoming & renowned philosopher and medic. Through his life he composed 276 works, all written in Arabic, except fora fess small books written in his mother tongue, Persian. Unfortunately, ‘most of these works have been lest, but there sixty eight books or treatises available ‘Anyone who in eastern and western libraries, wants to be a He wrote in all branches ofscience, but hhe was most interested in philusop hy and good doctor reedicine/ wate canst eed must be an him a philosopher more than a physician, but s ae others say he was the ‘Prince of the Physicians’ Avicennist. during the Middle Ages, Old European ‘The majority of his work was in medicine. common saying Forty-three works were in this area; twenty: four in philosephys twenty-six in physics; thirty-one in theology; twenty-three in psychology: fifteen in mathematics: twenty two in fogie; anc’ five in Quran interpretation. He alse wrate on ascetic and he wrote some stories | love and music, Al-Qunun fi al Tbb oF Code of Laaws in Abvlicing at bis montimportaal verti ancl HT cf stot byl mie Known in Enylish as the Canon, It was written ijeisarth Gand and supycatan in Arabic, ad las been described as the must. ophet Schaal gu) ad a dese bs cconmpasions, ping page othe fest book oFjhe 12" century th Canon were conntensed to dhe ideas more readily accessible, and commentaries ere weilten to curily the contents. The mast popular short version was calles! Fe Concise Look in Medicine, written in Syria by Hu Natis, ssho died in 1288, The Canon was made up of live books. The first was concerned with general medical prin second with materia medica; ples the the third with diseases occurring in a particular patt of the body; the fourth with diseases not specific w ane bodily: part, ke fevers and also traumatic injuries such as uires and dislocations of bones and joints, Ihe fina book contained a formula giving recipes for compound remedies The fourth book about fractures had two Uueatisess one was called ‘Fracturesas a Whole, and the second was Tractures of Every Bone Separately Fractures as a Whole’ described the causes, d complications of fractures, talking about types, forms, methods of ti salen Fractures in general, while “Fractures of Every Bone Separately” looked at the special b bone. Ibn Sina. by using this form of explanation, was characteristics of fractures of 6 very close to following the furmat of modem medical textbooks. He drew attention to the necessity of not splinting the tracture immediately, advising postponing it beyond the fifi day: Today: thi is called the Theory of Delayed Splintage. and Perkins is considered now Protessor Geo! the pioneer of this theory Tbn Sina talked about what is now valled Bennet’ fracture 1882'a thousand years belore Bennet The arrangement, comprehensiveness and methods of explanation of the Canon were very close to the layout of modern medical textbooks with regard te classilication, causes of diseases, epidemiology, gymptoms and signs, and treatment and prognosis, ‘This made the Giaon the most widely used medical book in both Muslim and European countries, and it was known to Furepeans in the 12"-century Latin translations of Gerant of Cremona. It schools at Louvain remained in use in medica and Montpellier until the 17" century, and ull in-use al Brussels University until 1909, well into the age of 'mmoxlern medicine ny to the Journal of UNESCO it was Thiahiy zK H® ‘DVO: HV CK ZHVODS5 OoCcCVRKN Hoc RDS 3 KovR zoos vaunz oesKxo? Notebook of the Oculist PARLY EVERY MEDICAL BOOK by Muslims a thousand years age covered some aspect of eye dis es. Their studies were limited only because animal eyes were used instead of human eyes, because the dissection of the human budy was considered disrespecttul in principle. However, that didi b constructed. Muslim eye surgeons or ophthalmologists of the 10" jo the 13" centuries were performing, operations, dissecting, discovering and writing about their findings in texibooks. and monographs. According to Professor Hirschberg. an eminent 20" century German Protessor of Medicine, thirty ophthalmology texthonks were praduced, and fourteen o| them still exist today. ‘Modern terms were used like conjunctiva, comea, uvea and retina. Operations on diseases of the lids ike trachoma, a hardening of the inside of the lid, were also common practice, The trealment of glaucoma, an 't stop the oldest pictures of the anatonyy of the eye trom increase in the intraocular pressure oF the eye, under the name ofheadache of the pupil way popular, but the greatest single contribution in ophthalmology by the Muslims wats in the trealment of ealaracls ‘The term for cataract in Arabic is l-ma’ nacul jay. Ma’ means water or water descending, onto the eye. which ts the water accumulating in the lens, makin sy and cloudy To restore vision, al: Mawsili, from 10° century Trag, designed a hollow needle and inserted it through the limbus, where the cornea joins the conjunctiva, to remove thecataract by suction. This type of eataract operation, among others, is still carried out today with some added modern techniques, such as freezing the lens before suction from his study and practice he then wrote the Rook of Choices in the Treatment of Eve Diseases, which discussed forty cight diseases. This manuser pt (No. 894) can be found i Escorial Library in Madrid, Spain, Until the 20° century, alsMawisills work was nly available in Arabic and 2 13 century Hebrew translation. the German version was made as recently as 1905 by Professor who wrote that al-Mawsili was: cr eye surgeon of the whole A catemporary of al: Mawsili ard the most famous ofall the oculists of Isom wes Ali ibn Isa, also from 10" century Baghdad. Iraq. He wrote the Notebook of the Oculist and this was the mest complete text book on eye diseases which was translated into Latin, aed printed in Venice in 1497. Again Professor Hirschberg and bis fellow eye surgeon Lippert transisted it into German in 1904, and the English version, by American ecu peared in 1936. and academie Casey ook Notebook of the Oculisl, was the authoritative textbook on ophthalmology for centuries, describing 130 eye diseases, including several forms of trachomtia and oph Wis also the oldest Muslim work on ophthalmology that is complet in the original state. Dir Cyl century British medical histor first partis devoted to anatomy, the second to of the oye rors a 12 century manaseeps, thalmelogy by Hunaye, 9°-century Chistian from baghdad. Note stim civilization, Musing snd non-Masien worked side by sd, there vas mo peu, “During this total darkness in medieval Europe they [the Muslims] lighted and fed the lamps of our science [ophthalmology] - from the Guadalquivi [in Spain] to the Nile [in Egypt] and to the river Oxus [in Russia]. They were the only masters of ophthalmology in medieval Europe.’ Professor | Hirschberg concludes his address to the American Medical n, July 1905 AssocialMuhammad ibn Qassum ibn Aslam al-Ghafiqi’s book, ‘The Right Guide in Ophthalmic Drug’ ... is not just confined to the eye but gives details of the head and diseases of the brain. ‘Muslim physicians have been in the forefront of the efjort to prevent blindness since 1000 CE, when al-Razi became the first doctor to describe the reflex action of the pupil. At about the same time, ... al-Mawsili invented the technique of suction-removal of cataracts by the use of a hollow needle? Optomeiry Today, publication of the Association of Optometrists, England, March 28, 1987 the external diseases of the eve, and the third part 10 internal diseases of the eye which are not visible upon inspection. approach that Ali makes to the modern, conception of eye disease as a manifestation ‘of general disease is when he urges the practitioner to realize that defective vision may be due to a disease of the stomach or brain just as much 2s to an incipient cataract? ‘The nearest In Isa was not the only eye surgeon to urge that diseases of the eye were a sign of other ailments. Abu Ruh Muhammad iba Mansur ibn Abdullah, known as ¢l-Jurjani, from Persia around 1088, wrate a book called The Light of the Eyes. One chapter dealt with diseases that lay hidden, but whose signs were clear in the eyes and vision, like third nerve paralysis, blood disorders and toxicity. An oculist who hes been immortalized ina bust in Cordoba, southern Spain, is Muhar- ‘mad ibn Qassum ibn Aslam al-Ghafiqi. He lived and practised in Cordoba, writing a book called The Right Guide in Ophthalmic Drug. VA “The book is not just confined to the eye but gives details ofthe head and diseases of the brain. Reporter Rageh Omar said in the BIC An Islamic History of Europe that al-Ghafiqis treatment of the eye disease trachoma was carried out until World War I. His bust isin the municipal hospital of Cordoba and was erected in 1965 to commemorate the 800" an. niversary of his death. In the United Kingdom today, cataracts ate the most common cause of blindness in people ‘over fify, but there good news trom the Royal College of Ophthalmologists who sey that: ‘Cataract surgery has excellent outcomes ard makes an enormous difference to patients lives. Over three hundred thousand cataract ‘operations were undertaken by NiIS statf in England last year [2005]; making it the most commonly performed elective operation in the country’ Who would have thought that al- Mavsilis work in the 10" century would have laid the foundations for an incredibly popular 21 century surgery?ey Pen ton Perenria eelIbn Samajun, who died in 1002, wrote Collection of Simples, Medicinal Plants and Resulting Medicines. This was a classification of plants anid their medical properties based oon the work of his predecessors. Also in the 11" century, Ibn Sina in his Canon listed 142 properties af herbal remedies. Botany, the scientific study of plants, and the use of plants in medicine went hand in hand, While men like Abu Hania al-Dinawari, called ‘the father of modern botany, were compiling vast lists of plants in books like his A Treatise on Plants, others, like al-Re2i, a 10. century medical scholar, used colchicum as a drug for the treatment of gout. As botany became an acacemie science, chemistry was advancing at an incredible rate, and both these developments helped to propel herbal medicine into the mainstream. Coupled eM Oe pS SORA Regine aperipreetses © ‘with the appearance of improved water raising machines end new irrigation techniques in the 10 century, experimental gardens sprouted and berbs were cultivated. Al-Andalus or Muslim Spain was a springboard for herbal development. In 11 century Toledo, Spain, and iater in Seville, the first royal botanical gardens of Europe made their appearance. Initially they were pleasure gardens, but they also functioned as trial grounds for the acclimatization of plants brought from the Near and Middle East You can read about Ibn al-Baytar of Malaga in the ‘Pharmacy’ section, but the basis for his ‘work Dictionary of Siniple Remedies and Food, an enormous pharmacological encyclopaedia, reflects his botanical skills; in this he studied three thousand different plants and their medical properties. & Left: Dillevent botnoical specks fom treatise By fon al-Baytarof Malaya. 1" cer tury, qiving the physiology ‘of plants and descriptions of thelr sowing envionment as well astherr mainte nance. The lefts from the manusript al Kaf ond the right from the manuscript, al-Filahe, ‘and the leaves of the tree were for the healing and the restoration of the nations. ‘The Bible, Revelation Chapter 22 verse 21 herbalists preparing rem Opposite clockwise: Vine from 15 Mrahic botanical Dioscerides lsd student & mandrake 100, deal as aah ee tve anecine (irom a translation Of Discoriles De Matera Move epics ithe catty 1° century). Without early ‘Ab Molin selibars spe swouid have no knowledge Of the Greek coatrbatians, See also how Dinscurides has buen clothed aya revered scholar by the autor of thus manascept, Yuset a Muesli rem Biyhdad. to stones espe! te the Crack physician by also placing Is fet so they are notin contac wth the wreath hetanieal species oan 9 Uuaatise bh ol Bay ta DF Mags te Epping OF a alsan trees shows ina [¥ventuey Persian ‘One of the best herbal medicine books was produced by al-Ghafigi, who died in 1165. This was called The Book of Simple Drugs. It was exceptionally accurate and was republished by Max Meyethof in Egypt in 1932, In the (0 century, Ibp Juljul wrote a commentary on Dioscori nine-hundred year ld bouk De Materia Medica and translated it into Arabic, adding many new substances such as tamarind, camphor, sandahwoe ar ified many new plants and their properties along with their medicinal values for teeating various damom, He also id iseases. A very simple but major breakthrough that Mustims made in herbal medicine was watching how the herb aftecwed the patient Now this seoms quite an obvious thing to do, but they were the only ones using and relying on scientific methods of experimentation and observation at that time Elsewhere in medieval Europe, books on herbs ‘were rare and known only amongst a small uriber of scholars, and until the end ofthe 15® century many Europeans were using the Arabic texts and Arabic versions of Greek texts translated into Latin, So between 1500 and 1600 there were about seventy-eight editions of Dioscorides, the Greek scholar The success of the Eurupean scholars was measured by what they borrowed fiom Muslim botanists and how they made Dioscorides more prominent, but things were not going well. Ihe once great Salerno school was in decline because of a lack of ability in Latin, Greek and Arabic, and they did not fully Understand the Greck texts as mest of the time they were second-hand translations. European herbs ignorance, malpractice. fas in earlier bad Greek translations and also from not being able to correctly identify ingredients because dialects, AU this h 1 scholar, to inform his readers ding from the id that they gave ‘no little profyte ts were frustrated by they were described in lo. led Sir Thomas Elyot,a 16 century ng! diplomat that he derived no under ancients concernynge myne owne helthe, Fortunately, herbal medicine hes done away with using mother's blood, which was some. tumes added in certain medieval European recipes, Today, iu the United Singdom, one Briton in five uses complementary inedicine and, according to a recent survey, one in ten uses herbalism or homeopathy. Around £180 every year in Britain, and the complementary and nillion is spent on oils, potions and pil aliernative medicine industry 1s estimated to be worth E1.6 billion annually For Muslinss today herbal medicine is regaining its importance as many hetbal physicia in village ns have started to emerge, although and rural areas herbal medicine has persisted through the centuries, as an integrated part of tradition,[here is no ment for vhich God has jot created a ure! Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) narrated by Sahih al-Bukhari sr right: Arabic version Dicseorides De Materia eda showing 2 pharmacy ith chemists preparing dictions, Pharmacy chemist can be found. Their hours vary but one will always be open and it’ I N NEARLY EVERY HIGH STREET and supermarket, a pharmacy or hard to imagine life without the ease of popping down to the local chemist to buy all those everyday life essentials. But they arent modern day concepts, as pharmacies were springing up in Baghdad, Iraq, eleven hundred years ago. At the beginning of the 9" century pharmacists were independent professionals running their own pharmacies, with the skills of compounding, storing and preserving drugs being handed down From father to son ‘These family-run businesses operating in the markets were periodically (especially in the 12 and 13% centuries) inspected by a government appointed official, aMuhtastb, and his aides. They checked the accuracy of weights and measures, as well athe ee a “es leities Sihies PICK-UP & DELIVERY purity of the drugs used, stopping the use of any bad and deteriorating drugs as well as getting rid of impostors and charlatans. So all pharmacists had to satisfy the rigorous inspection of the ‘Health and Safety Executive, andl were threatened with humiliating corporal punishment ifthey adultereted drugs. Pharmacies were not only found in markets, Just like the hospitals and clinics of today, those of a thousend years ago had their own dispensaries and manufacturing units like primitive laboratories, producing various drugs like syrups, electuaties, ointments, and other pharmaceutical preparations. ata loneSo the practical side of pharmacology was vvell developed and supported by scholars like Sabur ibn Sahl in the 9 century, who was the first physician to deseribe a large variety of drugs and remecies for ailments; al-Razi, who promoted chemical compounds in medicine; Ibn Sina describing seven hundred preparations, their properties, actions and their indications; ané al-Kindi determining and applying the correct drug dosage, which formed the basis of medical formulary. In the 10 century, al-Biruni wrote one of the most valuable works in the field called The Book of Pharmacology, giving detailed knowledge of the properties of drugs, ané ‘outlining the cole of pharmacy and the lunetions and duties of the pharmacist. Other influential scholars included al-Zahrawi of Spain who pioneered the preparation of medicines by sublimetion and distillation, which meant a whole range of new drugs could now be produced, He didnt stop there, because ashe had already used cotgut for internal stitching, he took this @ step further and also administered drugs by storing them in catgut parcels which were ready for swallowing, So when you teke a drug capsule today remember that its forerunner is over a thousand years old. Al-Zahrawis work ul: fasrif was translated into Latin as Liber Servitoris and told the reader how to prepare ‘simples, and from these, to compound complex drugs. He also gave methods of preparing substances like litharge orlead monoxide, white lead, lead sulphide (burnt lead), burnt copper, cadmia, marcaside yellow arsenic and lime, and numerous vitriols and salts Abu al-Mansur Muwaffag broke new ground when he wrote The Foundations of the True Properties of Remedies in the 10" century. This described arsenious oxide and he knew about silicic acid. One use of this today isin pills that help form a protective membrane in easily irritated stonvachs. He made a dear distinetion between sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate, and drew attention to the poisonous nature of copper compounds, especially copper vitriol, and also leed compounds, He also mentioned the cistilletion of seawater for drinking, A primery aim of the pharmacists wes that their work had to be expertly organized, making it of maximum practical value to the apothecary and medical practitioner. This meant thet they listed drugs alphabetically in tables for easy referencing and quick usage, and medical encyclopaedias were available as full works or sections on medical specialities. ‘These early drug treatises passed into Europe with all this vital pharmaceutical information, influencing 13"-century European pharmacists like Johannes of St Amand and Pietro @Abbano, a professor in Padua, Italy from 1306 to 1316. Works that took this European journey included books by Ibn al: Wafid of Spain who was published in Latin more than fifty times. His main work was called The Rook of Simple Drugs and ran to five hundred pages, taking twenty-five years to compile, The Latin translation, De medicamentis sinaplicibus, is only a fragment of al his work. Whilst trensloting Arabic lexis, Amerkan historian, Martin Levey, found intor pound drags. pill, poses, syrups le toothpastes Persian pharmacy jar, 12° century This cartherware jar was Used by apothecaries to sore dried herbs, minerals and ether medicines The {loved surfece of pottery ‘rug jas, suchas this one, could be easily deaned,A thousand years ago. 4- Zabrawiadminisieted mised powder drugs by storing thee in calut parcls which were ready oe sallwing, a Forerunner for ioday sdeug cepsvle Right: Arabic manuscript swith pltarmacological tks verified to 19 century Ton al-Baytar showing dese rip- tions et symptom, locating, the slment and applications ‘of the medicine, and what Aossje shun be used, As well as investigating the action of drugs, sleep and bathing, [bn al-Wafid also wrote on farming, because agriculture, plant cultivation, botany, chemistry and medicine were closely linked. The 13"-century Malaga Muslim [bn al Baytar was a leading botanist as well as the author of the largest pharmacological encyclopaedia that has survived to our time. Dictionary of Simple Remedies and Food is an inclusive work on simple drugs and describes ‘over three thousand botanical simples listed in alphabetical order. He took information from over one hundred and fifty authors and interweaved this with his own observations. A Latin version of the book was published in 1738, and its complete translation appeared in 1842, Evropean pharmacists were truly inspired by these works, so Compendium aromatariorum, written by well known 15" century physic Saladin of Ascolo, was divided into seven parts, It follows, exactly, the earlier Muslim categorization of subjects examination of the pharmacist, the qualities desired for the pharmacist, substitute drugs, and care of simple and compound drugs. indluding A Florence physician, Ludovive dal Povz0 ‘Toscanelli, worked at the Florentine College of Physicians which produced a 17% century edition of the London Dispensatory. This listed botanicals, minerals, simple and compound drugs for exte and cataplasms, all showing 2 Muslim mark. and internal uses, oils, pills ‘Muslim pharmacy was recently revived by an American historian, Martin Levey. Before hhe died in 1977 he had translated Arabic texts and unearthed huge lists of therapeutic treatments, books on poisons, preparations of the drugs and descriptions of their use, and substitute drugs (in case one drug for whatever reason was not avaitable, a substitute could be provided). He found information on compound drugs, pills, pastilles, powders, syrups, oils, lotions and toothpastes. All this {information is another remincler that those fe thousand years ago were not sullering horribly, but benefiting trom sophisticated medicines and researchIt pleat SAUL patsiey C2 Maks 2b! aaah tae. a 9 3G yl!The 9century Great Mosque of al Quyrawan in Tunisia was v compl ensiting ofa howpitol seul European Medicine USLIM MEDICS OF A THOUSAND YEARS AGO would be happy M to learn that a few decades, sometimes centuries, after their deaths their works were being translated into Latin, making them accessible to the whole of Europe. Even more people would benefit from their studies and as they wanted to better society, and in medical terms this meant relieving human suffering, this was an excellent development, not only for them, but also for their Christian counterparts. ‘Tunisia was a hotbed of medical knowledge because of pioneering hespital called al- Qeyrawan that was built in 830 CE. You can read about this in the ‘Hospital Development? section, As well as being a practising hospital, al-Qayrawan had medical scholars producing ‘enormous medical tomes of knowledge and these were taken toa Europe by people like Constantine ‘the Africent In the 11" century, this Tunisian (Muslin and later Christian) scholar translated medical encyclopedias so they were available to Latin speaking Europeans, ‘This revolutionized the whole of medical study in Burope, while also creating a generation of pronunent medical teachers, Constantine’ best known translation is of The Koyal Book by LU"-century physician Alt ibn Abbas al-Majusi, known in Latin as the Panteyni. It was printed in lyons (France) in 1515and in Basel (Switzerland) in 1336. ‘This is amonga the best of classical works on ‘Muslin medicine, reck science, which we think of as the source of everything, was already reformed, already critiqued, and alternative science was built in the Islamic world hence a Renaissance person would have thought about Arabic science being the latest state of the art. Dr George Saliba, Arabic and Islamic Science, Columbia University speaking with Rugel Omar on the BBC8 An Islamic History of EuropeConstantine must have had a heaé bursting with information because he also translated several works on subjects like dicts, the stomach, melancholy, forgetfulness, sextal 1d most importantly The Guide ler Going to Distant Countries intercours Jor the Tr This was a very accessible introduction to pathology, the study of diseases. ‘Tue Cui for the Traveller Going to Distant Countries or Traveller’ Provision vas a medieval bestseller written by the physician Iba al-Jazzar who practised and studied at al Qayrawan hospital ‘there he died in 955, over eighty years old, leaving 24,000 dinars and twenty-five quintars (one quintar is forty-five kilograms) of bocks on medicine and other subjects. His legacy also included a treatise fon womenis diseases and their treatment. According to this, reastruation pla central role in maint: as well as in writing him very influential in medieval westera Europe. Constantine transtated ‘Traveller’ Provision into Latin as Viaticuns peregrinantis and Synesios translated it into Greek and Hebrew as Zedat ha-derachims, which propelled it to infernational bestseller and most read status. Just as travellers today seek advice on how to handle all kindy of ailments on the road, iavellers in medieval times also needed a reference book to sce them through the bad times, Not only for travellers, Travellers Provision wasa systematic and comprehensive 1] work accepted into the so-called Articella or Ars medicinae,a compendium of medical textbooks widely used in medical schools and universities at Salerno, Montpellicr; Bologna, Paris and Oxford. It cal remarkable descriptions of smallpox medi cont and measles. The cover ofa 16*- >‘The European medical system is Arabian not only in origin but also in its structure. The Arabs are the intellectual forebears of the Europeans.’ Dr Donald Campbell, 20" century historian Medicine Cover of Kite al-Matt ut The Geok ef Winer, wnitin by {ho al-thalabi and recently published in Oman. Constantine was not alone, as his translation work was continued by his popil, a Muslim called Joannes Afflacius, also known as Joanines Saracens or Jolin the Sarecen, who died in 1103. He was also a physician at the Salerno hospital, and avthored treatises on urology and fevers ‘The translated Arabic works soon became popular in al centres of learning, including Salerno, a major centre of learning in Europe with its medical school. Other translated medical works that had a ‘mejor impact on Europe included those by fbn Sina, known as the ‘Prince of Physicians’ in the West. His 11 -centory Canon was another enormous medical encyclopaedia which remained the supteme authority in the world, dominating the medical sciences for around six centuries, describing over seven hundred and sixty drugs. You can read more about him and bis work in the ‘Bone Fractures’ section, His scientific, philosophical and theological views left their mark upon many important figures such as Albertus Magnus, St Thonas. Duns Seotus and Royer Bacon Ihe first known alphabetical classification of medical terms, listing the names of allnesses, medicines, physiological processes or treatments was called Kitab al-Maia or The Book of Water. Weiter: by al-Azdi, also known as Ibo al Thahabi, it was called Kitub al Mais because the word a-Mui, the water, appears as the first entry. The author, who di 1033, in Valencia, Mush Spai hundred page manuscript for the benefit ofhis contemporaries and future geverations. lia loti this nine Al-Raai’s twonty-volume ‘Comprehensive Book’ covered every branch of medicine. Translated into Latin ay Liber Continens, it ‘was probably the most highly respected and frequently used! medica} textbook in the ‘Western world for several centuries, It was one of the nine books that composed the whole library ofthe medical faculky at the University of Paris in 1395. Then there was the work of el-Zahrawi, an ‘outstanding physician in Cordoba, southern Spain around the year 1000. is weighty tome ‘of medical knowledge was known a al- sf is complete name was Al-Tasrifli-mant iajisn ‘an al-iaalif. In English it was known as The Arrangement of Medicine, although the literal translation was “the book of enabling him to manage who cannot cope with the compila- tions, which is very explanatory ast itscon- tents, So this was a very practical guide, re- markable for its eyewitness, personal accounts The whale work made up a compendium of thirty volumes compiled from miedical data thet he accumulated ina full medical cueer and practice. He apparently travelie very litle but had wide experience in treating accident victims.What was outstanding about the book was that it established the rules of practical medicine by emphasizing the dos and don'ts in almost every medical situation encountered, Then i went on (ogive the solutions and treatments al had sliscovered! and finely tuned during this long, experience, aravsi Ab asrif vemained the single best medieval source on surgical instruments until modern, times. ‘The volume ‘On Sanger due to the illustrations af over two hundred surgical instruments, which you car: readl more about in the “Instruments of Perfection’ section. {is surgical techniques were also revolutionary, andl the surgieal part of al-Tasrif was translated » Latin by Gerard of Cremona, sith various editions being published at Venice in 1497, at Basel in 1541 and Oxford in 1778, Now all his knowledge and painstaking operat accessible to Furopeans and al Tasrif became a reference book and manual of surgery for most European medical schools, like Salerno and Montpelies, playing a central part in the medical curriculum for centuries Practitioners also used itand 1 Leclerc, 19 century French physician and medical historian, summarized the impact of al-Fusrifby writing: The Translation (of ul-Fasrif played a signif cant cole in the development uf medieval sur- gery in Europe: Al-Tusrif can be found today in many libraries including the Library of Congress in the United States of America, Lastly, we stop by the work of bn Nafis, a Syrian physician who died in 1288, He has felt us The Complete Rook on Medicine, which was compiled in eighty volumes, Manuscripts of portions of this huge work are now available incolleetionsin Damascus, Aleppo, Baghdad, and Oxford, as well as Palo Alto in €: which has large fragment in Ibn Nafiss own, handwriting ifrnis Frederick Il, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily, « very modern ruler for his time (the 13" century), was interested in the work of the Muslims, He was a patron of science and learning and sent the medieval scholar Michael Scott to Cordoba to obtain works by 11% century physician Ibn Sina, whom you can read more about in ‘thn Sina’ Bone Fractures’. Copies were then distributed to existing schools, A lo’ of medical knowledge, techniques, drugs and remedies were received through translation but some came through direct contact with Muslim physic superiority, and even Richard the Lionheart was treated by the personal physician of Saladin. ns as they treated crusaders: They were renowned for thei medical “The hard work and tenacity of Muslim medics was quite astounding. The pages they covered spread standards of hygiene and preventative medicine, and they were responsible for the i nent of the general health of the masses in the so-called ‘dark? oges. int published in 1888 “GRAYS, Hes ANATOMY = WW illustrationsO05 TOWN ‘The archnever _ Life incities ike 9" end 10”-century Cordoba in Spain and Baghdad in raq was = Cee eM SRN aan eee eae Rd ee Pee eee ares See Meu arate) ‘Arabic Proverb Streets, lit at night. Rubbish was collected on a regular basis by donkey cart and Cee eo oti] Neighbourhoods were peaceful, with houses off main thoroughfares, connected De Uc er eee ee | Deu eo eeu ee Laer io} Gardens, both public and private, were an imitation of Paradise with attention Ea c ey eer Saco anes ta aerl ee means fields and to the cities. The fountains of the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, still use the six-hundred-and-fifty-year-old water systems devised by Muslim Sores ‘Advances in architecture, particularly in arch and vault buildings, saw huge mosques and crevice spanning bridges. Domes and minarets dominated the Pe oe re tee eee ee Oe) See eee ene ue ek Cee soilBelow left to right 16 century manuscript aheasing the 1own plan of Diyarbakir ‘South East Turkey: aerial View of an Anéalisian villege, Zcher0s, Cordoba, Spain, Town Planning UST AS TRADITIONAL EUROPEAN TOWNS have certain features like market squares, churches and parks, Muslim towns were also designed according to the local populations’ needs, based on four main criteria Weather and landscape, religious and cultural beliefs, Sharia “Musliny law, and social and ethnic groupings Many of these cities were in fercely hot climes, So a lot of shade was needed. To provide this, towns were planned with narrow covered streets, inner courtyards, terraces and gardens Religion was vital to cultural life, so the mosque, like a church, had a central position. Around this mosque grew narrow, winding, quiet streets that led away from the public places into private life and cul-de-sacs. Any economic activity, buying or selling wes strictly in publicareas and mein streets, leaving the residential and private houses in peace. Social and legal issues were handled by the religious din central places clese to the elite, whe main mosque, the main public institution. ‘The city had to stick to the rules of Sharia {{slemic Lav) in terms of physical and social relations between public and private realms, and between neighbours and sacial groups. So the law, for example, set the height of the wall above the height of a camel rider, soa passer by coulde't see into a property. How and where people lived was based on families and groups of people from the same families and tribes with similar ethic origins and cultural views. Separate quarters, called Ahyaa, developed for each xroup, so there were quartets for Arabs, Moors, fews and other groups such as Andalusiens, ‘Tinks, and Berbers in cities of the Maghreb, North Africa Some North African cities were divided into ‘quarters for Muslins, Christians ane fews and this was often voluntary and not exclusive ‘Within these quacters they had kinship soli- danity, defence, social order and similar rel gious practiceshese quarters did not arevent the society being socially cohesive, as the general trend was to follow the teachings and instructions of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh), who had sai that “Ihere is no ditlerence between an Arab ‘and a non-Arab except by the extent of their righteousness (narrated by Ahmad b Hanbal, Musnad), “These exiended family structures, the need for privacy, sex separation and strong community interaction could all be catered tor by the courtyard houses, and the neighbourhoods they created then took on the feeling of @ semi-private space. This was because the houses were inward-looking with lattice work ‘on windows, private doors and passageways, “There wasn't any real ventrally administered city planning. Administrative centnes like schools, hespitals and mesques were sup- ported by private religious endowments called A quiet and narrow Cordoba street, whieh isa typical Feature of old Muslin town planning wags, and property laws were left to custom acy law on the local level. So the four criteria of town development, weather and landscape, religious and cultural beliefs, Sharia ‘Muslim’ law, and social and ‘ethnic groupings, meant that urban areas grew in rones, The main mosque was at the centre, with a souk or market next, then a citadel nearan outer defensive wall surrounding residential quarters, all joined by an intricate street network to the outer wal, Then there was life outside the wall. “The souk was split into areas for spices, gold, lish, perfume and other goods, with items such as candles and incense being sold close to the mosque. There would also be booksellers and bincers nearby too. In the souk ard near the mosque was a central area for social gatherings, administration, ade, arts and crafes, heanmann baths and hotels,Theal- Azhar Mosque, Csiro, Egypt founded in 972, and pletured here in IB3L. The mosque played a central role fn the everyday Hie of ‘Muslim, twas located arthe heat af the city, with homes and businesses branching cout from tin eifecent directions. ‘The citadel, like @ western castle, was the palace of the governor, surrounded by its own walls. It was a district on its own, with its own mosque, guards, offices and residence. {t was usually in a high part of the town near the outer wall Neighbourhoods clustered around mosques and couldnt be further than the muezzin’s call to prayer: Even though the residential quarters seemed quiet, they were hives of activity and had a quality of life based on closeness from Personal ties, common interests and shared moral unity, Being densely packed, each had its own mosque, school, bakery and shops. They even had their own gates, which were usually closed at night after last prayers and opened every morning at carly prayer time. All this was surrounded by a well defended wall with a number of gates, and outside the wall were Muslim and Jewish cemeteries. A weekly market was also just outside the main gate with most animal souks, as were more private gardens anc! fields. The most elaborate city of its day, the New York of the 5" century, was Cordoba, The physical sides [of Cordoba] reveal an ingenious and inventive Muslim culture. They were clearly driven to iraprove on the past, to modernize the city and make ita berter place to live in, net just for the rulers but for everyone... There were dozens of libraries, free schools, and houses had running water, and what's more, the streets were paved and they were lit, the kind of amenities London and Paris wouldn't have for seven hundred years, said reporter Rageh Omar presenting the BBC’ An Isluruic History of Europe The streetlights were oil burners and lanterns, lit at sunset, and each city district employed people to maintain them. Litter was also collected on the back of donkey it outside the city walls 10 special dumps The streets were drained by a sysiem of great sewers and deaned daily, and! the sews was in a network of canals which mostly ran immediately below the ground, A few were ‘open and located in the middle ofthe street for quick cleaning and draining who took During thi Muddy’ because pedestrians were blocked by heaps of steaming offal and garbage, with pigs scavenging through courtyards and streets. time Paris was known as “The In southern Spain today, cities like Seville ancl Cordoba still have miles of winding streets and fabulous houses that, from the outside, seer plain, but if you'r lucky enough to be invited in, a spacious splendour will greet you, as tiled and courtyard gardens boast fine taste and cool shade, perfect ointments for suramers that can reach forty degrees centigrade.Architecture ANY EUROPEAN BUILDINGS TODAY have distinct characteristics M and features like domes and rose windows on cathedrals, the arches of train stations and vaults in churches. It may surprise you to learn that many of these were developed and perfected in architectural terms by Muslims, and flowed into Europe a thousand years ago via southern Spain and Sicily. Building designs and ideas were also taken home by scholars, crusaders and pilgrims visiting Jerusalem as they travelled overlend through Muslim countries and cities like Cordoba, Cairo and Damascus. For Muslims, architecture hac! to get across a number of ideas, like Allehis or Gods infinite power, which was shown in repeated geometric patterns and arabesque designs. Human and animal forms were rare in decorations because Allah’ work was matchless. So instead, highly stylized foliage and flower motifs were used. Calligraphy then added a final touch of beauty to the building, by quoting from the Quran, while large domes, towers and courtyards gave a feeling of space and majestic pow between architecture and landscape, a concept which did not surface in Europe until the 16" century. His Turkish designs revolutionized the dome, allowing for for greater height and size ~ an outstanding advance in civil engincering which later became his trademark, ‘The decoration of these buildings really concentrated on visual zestheties, because although Istam opposes unnecessary spending, it doesn't oppese having a comtortable Tie or enjoying it. as long.as people live within the boundary of God's law and guidance. This al means Muslims dont have to live miserably. ‘The Muslim wisdom ‘Strive for your earthly life as you live forever and strive for your hereafter as you will die tomorrow’ really sums up the Muslim attitude to architecture tox if you're going to meke it beautifully nake it modestly and ‘The Selimiye Mosque in Edirne possesses the highest, earthquake-defying minarets in the whole of Turkey. ft It is the work of master architect Sinan, who was the architect for the Ottoman Empire, He designed and built a staggering 477 buildings during his long career in the service of three sultans in Turkey during the 15" century, acknowledging the importance of harmonyhe circular window at Khir al M nog tw be ths argin of the se wi Rose windows are a good esample of this, Looking at the facades of most European cathedrals and churches you can't help notici their imposing beauty and how they decorate the is above the main entrance. You'll he surprised to. learn that historians related the origin of these hu circular windows to Islan, and the six-lobed elles and octagon yad Palace of Khiebat al Matjar. This was built in Jorcian between 740 and 750, window on the outer wall of the Um the erusad churehe ries), in lers saw this and introduced it into their European re (11 to 12" cent wedral, and later in Gothicar Fuuciton of leting both I anesaque archite, + like Durham ca chitecture, The rove window had @ 1 and sun in, while supposedly mboliring the eye of the Lord. Others, though, elaimn the idea is from the Roman veulus, circular window in the dome ofthe Pantheon in Rome, but this, was more like a circular opening pierced in the root This example is just a taster of what you will discover in the fol lowin ied world of Muslim architecture and how it influenced global building styles over the centuries tions about the ¥ Muslim architecture olten has environmentally friendly Features, ‘To reduce smoke pollution from the tho candles and oil lamas, Sinan d sof The nine window in Durhorn cathe Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul so that the soot was channelled by air circulation into a filter room before bein the city, Ihe collected soot was conveyed into a it was mixed and stirred to produce high quality ink was usr in calligraphy. This ink also repelled bugs and bookworms, which prolonged the life of the manuscripts.Laltte right: Port of th ‘neat elevation of the Gieeat mosque at Cordobs ater the fourth enlargement (G61 976) showing all the fellowing in brickwork: a fla arch (intel) imamedtely fexeular horseshoe relieving arch above it blind ers arches above the panel 10 the doorway. and fire-lebed (or cing) arch above the window: the clock tower Of Big Ben of the Palace of ‘Westminster, London (1859) showing the adoption of 2 series arches the tive ! Iebed torn, Arches RCHES ARE ESSENTIAL IN ARCHITECTURE because they span large spaces while also bearing huge loads. Being strong and fiexible, they have been made bigger and wider, and today we can see them in buildings from shopping centres to bridges. They are so common nowadays that it's easy to forget how advanced arches were for their time a thousand years ago. In the simplest arch the thrust comes from the weight of the masonry on top of the arch, and sideways from the cumulative wedge action of the voussoirs or the arch bricks. This gives the arch ‘elasticity’ and it can be compared to a hanging loed chains ‘the arch stands as the load chain hangs: This silent dynamism of the arch was known in the Muslim world through the saying ‘the arch never sleeps. Muslims were the masters of the arch, and they loved this motif as much as they loved pelm trees, imitating the curve of its graceful branches in their constructions, ‘The spherical nature of the universe was an inspiration for its development too. Knowledge of geometry and the laws of statics meant that various types of arches were dreamt up. What Muslims ¢id structurally was to reduce the thrust of the arch to a few points, the top and sides. These could then be easily reinforced, leaving other areas free from support, so lighter walls end vaults could be built, saving materials in building. “The Egyptians and the Greeks use¢ lintels, while the Romans, and later the Byzantines, built semi-circular arches. Ihe Romans used an odd number of arch bricks with a capstone or keystone being the topmost stone in the arch. this shape was simple to build but not very stcong. The sides would bulge outwanls, so they had to be supported by masonry pushing them back 1 All these predecessors of the arch were inherited by Muslims, who had grand plans for their mosques anc palaces. For these, they needed strong arches spanning great distances, which looked good as well. So they developed new forms like the horseshoe, rmulti-foil, pointed and ogee arch, all crucial for architectural advancement.Horseshce arch atthe «ineut Masque of Cordoba Spain. The Horseshoe Arch The horseshoe arch wias based on the seri- circular arch, but it was extended slightly beyond the semi-circle. It wasn't so strong but looked impressive, and was the first Muslim arch adaptation, used in the Umayyad Great Mosque of Damascus, which was built between 706 and 715 CE. In Istam, the horseshoe is a symbol of sainthood and holiness, and not luck like other cultures. Structurally, the horseshoe arch gave more height than the classical semi-circular arch. ‘The first time it appeared on European seil was in the Great Mosque of Cortoba, whose building started in 756 and lasted forty years. The arch then travelled north with the Morarabs, the Christian Spanish living in Andalusia. They were artists, schofars, builders and architects, moving between the southern and northern Christian parts of Spain. ‘These arc designs could be found in great illustrated manuscripts, the architect’s master plans, drawn by the Mozarabs. One was called Beatus of Lebana and its author, named Magins, worked at the monastery of St Miguel de Fsacalda, near Leon. This was large religious building in the Moorish style with horseshoe arches, and was built by monks arriving trom Cordoba in 913 CE. The horseshoe arch is known in Britain as the Moorish arch. It was popular in Victorian times, and used in large buildings like the railway station entrances in Liverpool and Manchester. These were designed by Joho Foster in 1830, and the arches of these two buildings are like those in the Gate of Cairo. ‘Today, you can see the horseshoe arch in the Front gate of Cheetham Hill Synogogue in Manchester (1870), Intersecting Arches Muslims were so confident of their mastery of the arch that they carried out some spectaculer experiments with forms and techniques of its construction. One of these was the introduction of intersecting arches, which provided an additional structural bonus. It ‘meant they could build bigger and higher, and add a second arch arcade on top of frst, lower level. This can be seen best in the Great Mosque of Cordoba. L () Ponted Ach (\ pee Ach Left top to bottom: Intecsectry aiches at Bab Marcum Mosque (new called Church of Cristo de In Le) built berween 998 and 1000CE tn ‘Toledo, Spain; decorative intersecting arches at Bolton Abbey, UK builtin the 12 ventaryeft eo right; In Harape the pitted arch was fst used Inthe porch af the Abbey ‘of Moate Casing ia the fecomsiructin of 1071 CE, and then passed north int the Chueh of Cluny. daring, the revonstrustion of 108% (Che the atch snes foun Duilding ike Hoon Abbey, CK. bual in the 12" century The pointed arch came to {eutepe tron the Ibn Tula Mesgue nf Catra (below), boil in 876 CE. via Sicily swith Amaltan more The Pointed Arch The main advantage of the pointed arch .was that it concentrated the thrust of the vault on ical ares that could be supported by a flying buttress, a major feature of European Gothic architecture. this ‘meant that architects could lighten the walls and buttresses which had previously been massive to support semi-circular arches. Other advantages included a reduction ofthe lateral ust on the foundations, and allowing for level crowns in the arches of the vault, making it suitable for any pround plan Many people think that the pointed arch, on which Gothic architecture is based, was an invention of European architects trying to ‘overcome problems in Romanesque vaulting, but it came to Eurepe from Caito via Sicily with Amalfitan merchants. They were trading with Fgypt in 1000, and it was here that the beautiful (ba Tulun mosque of Caito displayed its mighty pointed arches. In Europe, it was first used in the porch of the Abbey of Monte Cassino in 1071, which Amalfitan merchants generously financed. Atthis time in the late 1!" century, Monte Cassino became the retiring place for the Tunisian Christian scholar, Constantine the African, whom you can read about in the “translating Krowledge’ section in the School chapter. A physician, translator and a distinguished scho and theology, he also had a great deal of eaperience of Muslim building techniques, gained from the Muslim Fatimid of North Africa. Constantine would have undoubtedly given his opinion during the building process in Monte Cassino, The poinied arch was then passed norti when St lugh, the Abbot of Cluny in southern France, visited Monte Cassino in 1083. Five years later work on the third Church of Cluny started and it eventually had 150 pointed arches in its aisles. This was destroyed in 1810. But the journey of the arch did not stop there, as the next person in its travel chain was Abbot Suger who visited Cluny between 1135 and 1144, He and his engineers went on to build S! Denis, the first Gothic building The adoption of pointed arches and other Muslim motifs in Cluny and Monte Cassino, the two mest influential churches in Europe, encouraged the rest of Christia take them on, Like any new fashion it rapidly spread across much of France, especially in the south, then to Germany in the mid 12" century, and eventually to the rest of Europe. Ln Britain there were many buildings which hhad these arches, elmost all uf them religious buildings rope toThe Multi-oil Arch It was in Samara in Iraq that the first mult foil ch was designed before passing into the FFthe Muslims lands including Spain and Sicily, and then to Europe. Its frst appearance was in the windows of al-Mutawakkil Mosque, Samarra. These windows were on the enclosure and spanned by cingfotl arches. built between 818 and 849 is “The multi-oil arch reached North Africa and ‘Andalusia, where it became very popular, decorating most Moorish buildings, especially Cordoba Mesque. From the 10° century, Europeans fell in love with it and adopted it in their buildings, plans, and arts. Its most popular use was in the trefoil form which suited the concept of Trinity in Christianity. Like many of these arches, those seen in the Cordoba mosque were the main inspiration Vac lelt. fname verstor of tour pointed arch at the tomb of Humayun outside ct, bt in the Above: Inside the Great Mongue of Cordabe with super imposed atches on the Feit and sali arches to the ight These were bitin succession between the # andl 10" century. eit te right: Multi ach at Tankers Abbey, UK. builtin the 12° century; iyptesl ogee anc known. asa Gothic arch in Earope. Ogee Arch After the semi-circular arch entered Europe, cone of the most important arches was the ogee arch, otherwise known as the Gothic arch in Europe. This isan elepant arch, a stylized evelopment of the pointed arch, The ar curve is constructed in the form of two's shapes facing each other and was used mostly for decoration, sometimes with a stone knot at the top. The arch was éeveleped in Maslin: India, and later reached Europe in the 14" century, becoming particularly popular in late Gothic, 16 century architecture in Venice, Englane and France. You can sec it everywhere in England, because almost all churches anc cathedrals have a full ‘ogee arch, or use it in the torm of an ogee moulding, They are both used in decorative screens, entrances, and later Gothic styles.Vaults N ARCHITECTURAL VAULT isa stone arch that makes a ceiling or pace made of bricks, stone blocks or rubble. Until metal girders and trusses were introduced in the 19" century, the only alternative to stone vaults were long wooden rafters or stone lintels. These were much simpler materials to use but werent as sophisticated and were more expensive, while building was also li limited by the length of the wood. canopy, making it possible to have a roof over a large Vaults, like arches, were used by the Romat - but Muslin's refined them so they could build bigger and higher. They made vaults that were as strong, but finer, with thin so more light was let in. Until the 11° ee curtain walls, tury, Europe used thick Roman vaults, which needed robust (as thick as two metres) and short walls to carry them, but when they savr the Maslirs vaults of Cordoba, they ienitated their design and techniques. So, these became typical of the Romanesque period (10! to 12 centuries) in Europe and they were first se in England. Lett: catacomb ot an ole in great cathedrals, like Dusham castleRib Vaulting “The Great Mosque of Cordoba, called the Mesquita, was the springbeard for much of Eu- ropean architecture. Its vast hall of polychrome, horseshoe and intersecting arches, ribbed vaults and domes all made their way north, and it is ‘worth noting that ribbed vaults do not appear 1n chatches that existed then, such as those in the Leon region, because they were built before the Great Mosque of Cordoba. ‘A ribbed vault was ¢ ceiling or canopy of stone that was strengthened by single semi-circular arches added beneath the vault to provide extra support. These added arches looked like ribs, and they supported the crown. This meant a lerge amount of the thrust of the vault was con- centrated on these tibs, relieving the pressure on the walls. enabling the builder to make therm thinner and higher. Instead of using the old rubble mix or the large massive pieces of stone used by the Romans, ‘Muslim architects introduced small stones or bricks between the ribs, arranging them like the building of a wall in the early stages of con- struction. “The earliest Form of rib vaulting was traced to the §".century Abbasid Palace of Ukhaydar in frag. This architecturally rich desert palace contains eight transverse arches and ribbed vaults. This system of ribs is also found in many of the tunnel vaults of the Ribat of Sus, built in 821-822, and these greatly influenced the cross vaults of the nave of St Philibert at Tournous, built at the end of the 11" century, of St Mary la Madeleine at Vezelay (1 104~ 1132) and of Fontenay Abbey (1139-1147). “The idee of building vaults like this came from contact with North Africa, especially the town of Sus in Tunisia “The cistern of Ramla in Palestine is made of pointed arches standing on cruciform piers ‘of masonry, which were covered with six barrel vaults reinforced with walls, It was built by Harun al-Rashid in 789, A similar vault was built in Susa, Tunisia, in the two main mosques of Banu Fatata (834-841) and the Great Mosque (850-851). This idea then appears in the Notre Dame ¢'Orcival cathedral, builtin the 12% century in Puy-de- Déme in Auvergne, France. LLeftte right: Rib vauling inthe maysura dame ofthe Great Mosque ot Cordoba, added in the 10" century: ibbed, tone vaults at 12 century Saimie Madeleine in ‘Veveli rane resembling those of Sus, builtin 81-802 Ribs ofthe tunnel vaul the Pabat of Susa, ull in 21-122 CE.Lett right: Gothic pe si eaulting at Fab Baru Masque built atthe end of the 10" century in Toledo, ‘Spas esatupies of Gothic Rib Vaulting As you've already read, ribbed vaults were known to the Muslims more than one hundred. and Jiffy years belore they appeared in Christian cathedrals and churches. A second typeof nb, which became known in Europe as the Gothic rib, was more complex, and it first appeared in the great mosques of Muslim ‘Toledo and Cordoba, “The ribs of Cordoba inspired European architects and their patrons to adept them in the Romanesque and Gothic movements, and. really the history of Gothic architecture is also the history of the rib and flying butteesses. To read more about the origin of the Gothic style read the Sir Christopher Wren’ section in this, chapter. Rab Mardum Mosque in Toledo has a unique form of rib vaulting that later developed into the quadripartite vault — a vault with supporting ribs in the form of diagonal and intersecting arches, which is accepted to be the of the Gothic style This Toledo mosque was built by Muslim, architects, Musa ibn Ali and Saila, between 998-1000 CE. tt was in the shape of a square made up ofr covered with nine different ribbed cupolas or domes. atch dome is a littie vault supported by intersecting arches that look like ribs thrown in the most fantastic way across each other. small compartments, and Hrench art historian Elie Lambert said that “The Arab architects... knew and employed it their vaults, since the end of the 10 century, not only the same principle of the rib, but also the system of crossed arches, a system which became later known in France as the quadnipattite vaulting? Similar vaulting wes used in another mosque which was later transformed into a house named Las Tornerias in 980. I alko had nine ribbed domes combining 2 variety of ribs that dominaced the central vault, making it an impressive looking house because i also used polychrome horseshoe and trefoil archesSimilar ribbed domes can be seen i a large umber of Spanish buildings especially those built by the Mararabs. they can also be seem in churches built along the route of te pilgrimage to St Jacques. also knoven as Compostella, where these ribs decorate the domes ot buildings of the Almazan church in Castille, Torres del Rio in Navarre, and in the Pyrenees in Saint Croix d'Oforon and the hospital of Saint Blaise. Ribs are alse found at the lemplar church at Segonia and the 12" century chapter house at Salamanca, the travelling othe ribs was down to the im provement of reiations between Murarabs and ‘Muslims a the time of Abd al-Rabman I], as wall as the great cultural and artistic achieve ign. In this time tolerance, art He the capture of"Toledan mosg menisot his peace and shred, [ness cal times, including Bab Mardum, must have given Fucopean artists and architects valuable lessons, the French. in particular, benetited because they were closely connected te the town atter it was taken by the Spanish Christians, Mugarnas The last vault well vieit here isthe stalactite vault or mugarnas. They are 3-1) forms made from geometcical shapes and carved into vaults, domes, niches. arches and wall corners, Developed in Itt centu was later spread by the Scliuks, a Turkish dynasty that ruled across Persia, Anatolia and “Turkey hetween 1038 anc! 1327. By the late 11® century, the muganses became a common architectural feature all over the Muslim world. Persia, the idea One of the be the honeycomb of the Alhambra Palace in Granada, designed over seven hundred years, ago. This honeycomb vault of the Hall of the Abencorages was organized in an eight pointed st examples of @ rasiqarnas is ‘number of interlocked made ofa larg sinall squinches of lozenge shapes, projecting from the walls in cells very like the honey- comb, These symbolized the honey juice which the gond believer is promised in Paradise. It was also designed with sixteen windows, 0 foreach side of the star, which allowed in a0 usamount of light. Uhisall helped to the Alhambra Palace @ vision of the promised Paradise and its eternality, which would reward these who strove to reach it Felon: Honeycomb dome onngatrnast at Nasa Pahice in Ganda, Spain Bottom Anpurinas woul a theentianceat Louolan ‘Mosque Isfahan, ira. Fa 5 ares BESSY FIEME OUISGAI)| LRA GOAN es AEJn to left the dome ofthe Cathedral (1913) in he Byzantine syle im Kronstadt; the dome of Yekaterinksy Paliwe a Inarlene Soh (Pushkin) tn Russia (1717), The Dome HE DOME IS A 3-D ARCH and in Muslim (sometimes referred to as Islamic) architecture, it had two main symbolic meanings: to represent the vault of heaven and the divine dominance engulling the emotional and physical being of the faithful. It also had a functional use, which was to emphasize particular areas, such as the nave or the Mihirab, while also lightening the inside of the building. The development of domes ha to overcome the problem of how to make a square bay form a domed, arched shape. Ihe Byzantines and Persians managed this a cunsiderable time before Muslims by using pendentives, triangular seyments of a sphere placed al the corners to establish the continuous circular orell base needed for the dome. These pendentives took the wei br of the dome, concentrating it atthe four corners where it could be supported by the piers beneath Muslims us other ideas they developed and perfected the pendentive Eventually though, they squiaches that threw arches at the corners, J them for a while, but like many they borrowed or inherited, ferred! to use ng small niches. ‘Thy use of these culminated in impressive stakactite squinches Cor vaults known as reagurmes that decorawed the inside of the domes. You can read more about mugarnas in the section on ‘Vaults! in this chapter,Semi circular domes. a the Hue Menge te unbul, Parke: Semi-circular Dome The most common form of the dome is the semi-circular, which isthe oldest and most ‘widespread. Larly domes were small and built on the erussing belore the Miltrad, like in the moses of Quytawan (670-675), and the ues in. Damascus (705-707) 99) Over the centuries few in size and aumber, and were later Umayyad mos and Cordoba (756- domes used in the centre and sometiones covering the entire rool af ‘mausoleum’ — fonibs of foundersor of holy men, Under the Ottor the size of domes grew to cover entire sanctuaries, surrounded by smaller domes like those in Suleymaniye Mosque Traditionally, domes had been made using a miature of mortar, small stones and debris Lins way all poured inlo timber mould that hheld the mortar in place umtit dry. A downside to this technique was that it required a let of wood, which was not always available in arid regions. Abo the masons had to wait forit to dry before moving the mould to another part of the building, so building was ti consuming Changes had to be made to make the building process easier: replaced with brick coursing and the tse of four squinches made of radiating semi-circles to produce «circular base lor the dome. This brick coursing was constructed by laying an arch of bricks on edge, leaning al an angle against an end wall Subsequent arches were [sid parallel, and cemented with mortar to the tlat brick faces of the previous arch untit'a vault or ceiling was produced The M them to construct th ribbed vaulting. rst the wooden centring was also used ribs, which enabled dome in a similar way to Seni circulir dames atthe Selon squint TurkeyAbewe feito right: Bulbous ontes at the Kussan er Sox chun he St Pauls Cathe destin Laren shone Claisples Ween a dono: the Islam inspired arcitecture ofthe dusty al ame ad toners, The Bulbous Dome ‘The bulbous dome, or onion shaped dome, was lavoured particularly by the Mughals who spread it in Persta, the Indian sub- continent and Asia, So famuliar todey in Moscow; Russia, bulbous domes first appeared in Europe in Venice where they were used to decorate the lanterns of the dames of St Mark's Cathedral. The domes themselves were made cof wooden shells ina stilted semi-circular form, supporting the lanterns and the bulbous cupoles, and all were built in the middle of the 15° century. The domes correspond ta the ogee arch or Gothic arch as a new architectu fashion after its widespread use in the Muslim ‘world, especially Asia and Persia in the 14" century. Ihe bulbous cupolas fit aesthetically perfectly with this form of arch. Ihe bulbous dome was gradually introduce to eastern Europe, firstly in wooden architecture before being built in stone, and this probably came fiom the Mosque of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, as well as from Syria where illustrations in Umayyad mosaics have been found showing the early development of these domes, The Duality of Dome and Minaret Impressive mosques impose their cloud reaching minaretson our minds, counter posing the central dome on the landscape and shyline. his duality of the dome and minaret created an aesthetic appeal that was imitated Sir by many western architects. inclu Christopher Wren, Sir Christopher Ween’ Lather was the Dean of Windsor and his uncle, Mathew Wren, was the Rishop of Nerwich. Wren himself graduated from Oxtord io 1653, and later became Professor of Astronomy at Gresham Colleye, London. Sir Christopher was an important mathertatician, an expert in natural science theories, and a renowned architect with great respect for Muslim architecture. ‘This he displayed by adapting numerous Muslim architectural sofutions within his designs. In his grestest ever project, St Pauls Cathedral in London, this Muslim influence ca the structure of the domes, in the aish asin the use of the combination of dome and be seon in aswellLol to right’ Sie Christophe Wren’ painted by Sir Goalrey Krsller in 1711 Sir Chrbtopher Wiens nuasterpiece ~$t Pauls Cathestal ia London, Sir Chistapler Wren ant salieer of the betty ff Ottoman and Moceish Sir Christopher Wren HERE HAS HEEN A GREAT DEBATE about the origin of the Gothi style of architecture in Europe. Muslim architects say it came north from their designs. They are bi ked up by one of Britain’s most famous architects, Sir Christopher Wren, who carried out over eighty architectural projects, and is renowned f After studying and thoroughly researching, the architecture in Ottoman and Moorish mosques, Sir Christopher Wren became a great appreciator of the beauty of this architecture. Hle investigate various structural and decorative elements of Muslim and Gothic art, and became convinced of the Mustim roots of Gothic architecture, establishing the “Saracenic ‘Theory’ He explains this theory himsel This we now call the Gothic manner of (so the Italians called what was notalter the Roman style), though the Gaths were rather destroyers than builders: I think it hould with more reason be called the Saracen architectu his academi integrity and professionalism. style; for those people (the Goths) wanted neither arts nor learning: and stter we in the West had lost both, we borrowed again from them, out of their Arabic books, shat they with great diligence had translated {rom the Greeks. They were zealots in their religion and wherever they conquered (which was with amazing rapidity) erected mosques and caravanserais in haste, which obliged them to fall into: another way of building; for they built their mosques round, disliking the Christian form of a cross. Tre od quarries, whence the ancients took theit large blocks of marble for whole culumns and arciitraves, were neglected; and they thought both impertinent,Their carriage was by camels; therefore their buildings were fitted for small stones, and columns ol their own fancy, consisting of many pieces: and jey-stones, which they thought too heavy. The reasons were the same incur northera climates, abounding in frcestone, but wanting marble. their arches puxinted withow Modlern Gothic, as itis calle, is eataed from a different quarter; itis distinguished by the lightness ofits work, by the excessive boldness of id of its sections; by the delicacy, profusion, and extravagant fancy of its ornaments, Ihe pillars of this kine areas slender as these of its elevations, the aneiont Gothic are massive: such productions, so airy, cantot admit the heavy Goths for their author; how can be attributed to them a style of architecture, which was only introduced in the te h conury of ovr era? Several years afler the destruction of all those kingdoms which the Gotlis had raised upon the ruins of the Roman ceinpire, and a time when the very name of Goth ‘was entirely forgotten: from all the marks of the new architecture it ean only be attributed to the Moors; or wht is the same thing, to the Arabian oF Saracens; who have expre architecture the Sime tastes in thelr poetry: both the one and the ather falsely delicate, crowded, with superfluvus ornaments, and often very unnatural: the imagination is highly worked up in both; but it is an extravagant imagination; and it thas rendered the edifices of the Arabians (we may inclade the other Orientals) as extraordinary as theie thoughts. Hany one doubts of this assertion, let usappeal to any one who has seen the mesques, and palaces of lez, or some of the eathedtrals in Spain, built by the Moors: one model of this sort is Hin their the church of Burgos; and even in this island there are not wanting several examples of the same: such buildings have been vulgarly called Modern Gothic, but their true appellation is Arabic, Saracentc, or Moresque. “This mariner was introduced into Europe through Spain learning flourished! among the Arabian all Cathedral anal barcelona, the time that their dominion was in full poser: they studied philosoph and poetry. Ihe love of learning was at once excited, in all places that were not at too great distance Irom Spain, these authors were read, and stich of the Greek authors as they had translated into Arabic, were from thence turned inte Latin, Ihe physics and philusepiy of the Arabians spread themselves in Europe, and with these their mathematics, physics, architecture: many churches were built after the Saracenic mode; and others with a heavy and light pruportions: the alteration that ixture of the diflerence of the climate might requite was little, if at all, considered. In most southern parts of Europe and in Africa, the w ndows [before the use uf glass] made with narrow apertures. and placed very high in the walls of the building, oveasioned a shade and darkness within side were all contrived to guard against the fierce of the sun, yet were ill suited to those latitudes, where that glorious luminary shades is fevbler influences, and is rarely seen but through a watery clouc!, Discussion of the Islamic Origin of the Gothic Style taken from Parentalia: or, Memoirs of the family of the Weeus, viz. by Mathew Bishop in 1750{Qual ern (Haman the earliest surviving Muslin ro ts Kin, bu 1007 in Algeria Features it splayed ri decoration and atch slesigus ofthe up 1 tun! nthe Romans we econ were The Spire Tower INARET COMES FROM THE ARABIC WORD MANARATE which means ‘lighthouse, but not in the meaning of sea lighthouse writers thought. It has rather a symbolic significance some referring to the light of Islam which radiates from the mosque and ils minaret. By the 8® century, in the Great Mosque of Damascus the minaret had become au essential feature of Musinn religious architecture, Minarets have two main parts: the lower part has. strong blind base with little or no decoration at all, and the higher partis very graceful and richly decorated. This se ning of the tower is seen in many English towers like Mary be Bow tower, ¢ Christopher Ween’ St “The earliest alt of Boru Hammad, which was builtin 1007 in eastern Algeria, With its huge size expressing the prnvero/ enu Hammad, the tower was used aya minaret. It was richly decorated, with, viving Muslim tower is the a watchtower as well ‘openings providing light and reducing the weight of the strecture, Various types of arches were usec! on the frames of these windows, including trefoil, cingloil, semi-ciseular and polylobedl arches, Tt wes features like these that later formed the characterof the Romanesque and Gothic towers of the West, Gand examples of this are ‘Church of St Abbondio, Conta, Italy (1068 1095), Church af St Ltienne, Abbaye ous Hommes at Caen, France (1066~ 1160). and St Edmund at Bury in England (1120), inal cases, the influence of Qutat Bent Hammad ts ionable, and the European trade links unque swith North Africa must have h for its transies. responsibleIn Europe the tower first appeared in the 1>-century Romanesque period, bul became associated with Gothic architecture, Some people believed the tower came from the minaret, as it began appearing in European castles and gatchouses as the crusaders came h Spites were never used! until the minaret was built, and in England there was no spire before 1206, the first being that of St Puls Cathedral in London, finished in 1221. (Lhis was later destroyed by lightning in 1561 and by the Creat Fire of London in 1006, to be rebuilt by Wren in 1710.) The minarets of al Jeyushi Mosque in Cairo, built in L083, were particulady influential in [aly ancl Enghand Square shaped minarets continued to influence Furopean towers, as seen in Palarz0, Vecchio at Piazza la Signora (1299-1514) in ltaly, Piazza Ducale in Taly iy particularly striking when it is compared to the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. Ihe ftalian tower has the same gradual progress of the square- shaped tower and the same bulbous dome at the top end. "The arcaele of the cloister whick the tower emerges from shows a similar visual and structural combination to the one used in the Umayyad Mosque. ‘This graceful, circular form of minaret was also imitated in Germany in buildings like the Holy Aposties Church in Colegee (1190). in Amins Cathedral (1009-1239), and in Worms Cathectral (L140 13" centuries) in Rhineland The Cologne tower bas particularly breakneck, proportions as it sears into the air. Abowe lec Chueh of 9 Abbondia, Como, aly 013), Lott: Minret atthe Umayyad Mosque in Damascus (706.713), Some people believed the tower came from the minaret, as it began appearing in European castles and gate houses as the crusaders came home.‘The 12""- century Norman king Roger Il of Sicily was particularly passionate about Muslim architecture. He was also fluent in Arabic. Rageh Omar from the BCS An Istarnic History of Europe ‘iy slesgned ai decorate by Mastin artsis inthe eign af Norman King Rog my u Muslim Architecture in the World artists, and the fully Romanesque style appeared at the same time as A LOT OF MUSLIM ARCHITECTURE reached Europe through captured the first counter-campaign against the Muslim Holy Land. One who was taken prisoner was Laly: s in Spain and in the nd his new master was Richard de Grandville of England, who had Lalys design the abbey of Neath in South Wales in 1129, Lalys then became the architect of Henry L The Normens brought a lot to English architecture in their 1006 invasion after saveeping across Kurope in a conquering wave. They also occupied Sicily where they made contact with Muslims, It was here that their barbarity abated and they became great builders instead of destroyers. In fact, as Rageh Omar from the BBC's An Islamic History of Europe says: Architecturally little remains ia Sivily from the Muslim time and. the buildings that look Islamic orerit. They ‘were buill in the 1! century by the Norman conquerors who were fascinated by Arabic culture, The 12" century Norman king Roger I of Sicily was particularly passionate about ‘Muslin architecture, He was also fluent in Arabic! It was these, architecturally “Islamized Normans sho later played a leading part in building Europe: Gothie style architecture also developed under these Norman kings, Edward I sent ambassadorial exchang missions to Persia to make allies of the Mongols, who had (aken the region and were the enemies of the Muslims, This mission was led by Geolltey Langley in [292 and lasted a year, ILinclauded Robertus Sculptor, who isthoughe w have brought back with him a number of ideas, like the ogee arch, which, were then introduced to English architecture at the end of the L¥® century,Later, Eelward {1 had good contacts with Persia, and his crusading experience plus his mariage to Eleanor of Castille provided further contact with, Muslim Spain, Ihese contsels ate commemorated in English folklore by Morris dancing, first known, ay Morisco. ‘Tire Muslin contacts also fed to Tudor architecture, such as the star polygon plan, at Windsor. in the tower of Henry VIT and in the windows ot his chapel, and the turrets uf Wolsey’ great Ontord, now galled Tou Tower. Others to take ba and artists Pgypt, like Simon Simeon and Hugh the Wluninator, Both were Irishmen who visited the Holy Land in 1223, and who would have passed through Fgypt and seen the Mausoleum of Mustapha Pasha (1269-1273) in Cairo, Ins had Muslim perpendicular decoration that became a A iuleas were pilsrim visit common feature of Gothie architecture in the UK The chapels ofthe Knights emplar Ordes, founded by nine French knights in Jerusalem in LU 1Salter the first erusade, were built with a izing Form, which was derived from the city’s Dome of the Rock Mosque. this form of church later spread west and ean be seen in the circular Tounple Chueh uf 1185 in London, The rotunda, which is tate Norman, and the Gothic choir, builtin 1240, havea number ofcommon features, and they are both subject to the same incLonden, originally busi the same centring style asthe Dome ofthe Rock moggu in Jerusatenn bat in dhe 7 cen the Fa) Maal built in 1630 Agra, fi me western scholars insist ¢ to Eucope and France fiom geometric system. § that tis system can the Grecks, especially Plato and Vitruvius, but we have to wonder at this perfect timing, Why didn’t the French rediscover Plato earlier or later? Ut seers a real coincidence that the features rope ata time when they were very appeared in evident in Iskimic structures visible to crusaders, other travellers and traders Another famous buil which many do not realize is Islamic is the ‘laj Mahal, in India, built by the Mughal sultan Shab Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtar Mahal who died while giving birth to their fourteenth child. ‘This is called the “teardrop on eternity’ and was finished in 1048, after using precious and semi-precious stones ‘as inlay and huge amounts of white marble that y bankrupted the empire. The Tai Mahal is completely symmetric ~ except for the tomb of the sultan which is off-centie tn the crypt room below the main floor: More really amaring Islamic architecture mclucles the Cathedral Mosque in Cordoba, Spain and the Alhambra Palace in Granada, All of these still fascinate people texlay, and the Taj Mahal just pips the Alhambra at the post for the most visitors with 3 million year, while the Alhambra draws 2.2 millicns oF 7,700 people a day.Inthe pastsbookshops Dal up sims tv ateaet Bookshops \ B16 BOOKSHOP having a coffeeshop and regular HE IDEA OF speakers is not new. The celebrated bookshop of Ibn al-Nadim, the 10"-century bibliophile and bookseller, was s: to be on an upper story of a large building where buyers came to examine manuscripts, enjoy refreshments nd exchange ideas. In the Muslim world, a thousand years ago, as well as there being massive public and private libraries, there were also bookshops. An average bookshop contained several hundred titles, but larger bookshops had many more on offer. AL Fibtrist, th Nadim sold. listed more than sixty thousand we catalogue of books that Lbn al titles on an ulimited range of subjects. The first section of the first chapter of al Frist was devoted to va including Chinese. qualities of paper. and “exvellericies of penmanship’ and ‘excellencies of the book! After this way whole range of topics inclading language and calligeaphy: Christian and Jewish and commentaries; linguis ious styles of writing, ures: the Quran, rorks: histories and genealogies; allicial government works court accounts: pre-Islamic and Iskamic poetry; works by various schools of Musbin thought; biographies of numerous men of learning; Greck and Islamic philosophy; mathematics: astronomy: Greek and Ishumic medicine; literature; popular fiction: travel (India, China and Indochina); m miscellaneous subjects and fables! ‘With poper, waragyin Arabic, came the protession of Wiarray, The ttle WareThe vast book publishing indust in the Western world is truly awesome and certainly cannot be praised enough. But this... cannot eclipse an equally awesome, sophisticated and wide-ranging publication industry that first grew in the Muslim civilization around the middle of the 8 century, almost one thousand years before books appeared in the same quantity and quality in the West. Ziauddin Sardar, British writer, broadcaster and columnist has heen used for paper dealers, writers, translators, copiers, Book sellers, librarians and illuminators. the profession of the Waraycen is generally believed to have started shortly after the introduction of the art of papermaking in the Mushm world, which you can read more about in the Market chapter. Baghdad was probably the first major city where the wurnagi bookshops first appeared, andas the manufacture of paper spread, the nunbee of these bookshops i dramatically throughout the Muslim world. xeased Kutubiyyin isa Moroccan tiame for buokbinders or book merchants, who set up thvir bookshops. libraries and copyists and scribes ina district of 12*-century Marrakech, Morocco. his district was a street with a hundred bookshops and libraries, fifty on each, ty reached iis venith during the reign of Yagub al-Mansur, who constantly | the spread of book printing and side Such act ence promoted general reading activity. Theres 4a story that tells how one day a celebrated sate man named Tha al-Sage who, during, the cight months siege of Marrakech, left his house to buy sone food for his hungry family, but ended up spending all his money on buying a book instead. ‘To read more about the importance of books ang learning. sce the “Libraey’ section in the School chapter. ‘Buy books, and write down knowledge, for weather is transitory, but knowledge lasting. Arabic Proverb‘Indeed, God loves those who turn to Him constantly, and He loves those who keep themselves pure and clean. Quran (2:22) Public Baths PAS AND HEALTH CLUBS have sprung up over the world today, letting all luxu ate in their steam and fine soaps, but this was not always the case. In the so-called ‘dark ages’ of Europe, the bath was particularly unfashionable. After the collapse of Rome, the Romans and most of their mod cons disappeared. Lor the Romans, the bath was in au elaborate building complex, complete with a medium heated roam or Tepidarium, a hot steacn room or Caldari, and a coom with a cold plunge larger pool or Frigitariwm. In some of th baths there were other sections with changing rooms called Apudyierium, a readiny room and sports area, But these treatment centres wexe for the rich and political elite only. While these baths fell into disrepair as the Roman Empire lay in tatters, on the other side of the Medlterranean the Arabs, wher had been under Roman rule in countries lke syria, inherited the tradition of using the bath Instead ofthe waters becoming stagnant asthe Romans left the Arabsand then Muslims gave them special promotion because of Ilanvs emphasis on cleanliness, hygiene and good health, Reporter Rach Omar presenting the HBCS An Islamic History of Europe said that there were thousanuls of humans in acity of quarter ofa million. the bath house, oF heannieen, wea a social place and it ranked! high on the list of lifes Mea reas inside Cagologis Hagnarits Lurkish bath in i Isxanbul built around 1690.essentials the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) aid ‘cleantiness is half th Faith Hkinrnanns then were elaborate aflairs with elegant esigns, decor and omamentation. Under the Mamluk and Ottoman rule, they were espectally sumptuous buildings in their rich dlesign and luxurious decorations. furnished with beautitu! fountains and decorative pools, Ihe hammmam was, and sill isa unique social setting for Muslim communities, playing an portant role in the social activities ofthe community. Asan intimate space of inter action for various social groups, it brought Trietds, neighbours, relatives and workers together regularly to undertake the washing ritual in a partying atmosphere. Group bonds strengthened, friendships rekindled and gossip ‘wes swapped. this therapeutic ritual was car ried out by both men and women at separate times, with the women usually bathing in day- light and men in the evening and night “The intrigue and sociability at the hamenan didn't just stop at scrubbing and gossip, as tea- ditionally the seuing played a signilicant role in matchmeking, [n conservative communities such as those of North Afriea, w ‘were looking for suitable bridles or their sons would go to the hanunut, Here they bad the who perfect opportunity to have a closer look at the bride to be and select the most physically fit However, this tradition is gradually losing its popularity as arranged m these soci ties are becoming increasingly rare. riage Itisalso customary in many parts of the ‘Muslim world for the new bride to be taken with her friends to the hamman, where she 1s prepared, groomed and adurned in stylized ny with hevmnc,the herbal paste that a reddish/brown colour on the heir, leav. hands and feet. The groom is also escorted there the night before he meets his bride. “The art of bathing in huunansarus in geile! by many rules. such as: men must always be covered in Tower’ garments, and women ate forbidden to enter itmen are prevent. Quite a few books have been written sbout this, ike Baghdad bathhouses were’ the most sumptuous of baths ... that ... appear to the spectator to be black marble... Inside each cubicle is a marble basin fitted with two pipes, one flowing with hot water and the other with cold.’ Ibn Batata, 14" century trav Loft Exterior of public bath tw Thils, GeorgiaTurhish bath inthe city of Londen, UR, In the shadow of Sir Norman Fete renowned uilding pepularly known a the" London (hers stands the exterior of Sad Tir sh fare The building is now a pinser Al-Flamunant and its Manners froma the 9° century by Abu shag Ibrahim iba Ishaq al-Hexbi. the sophistication of the bathing provessin 14" century, Baghdad involved private chambers and three towels, causing Ibn Battuta to say T have never seen such an elaboration as all this in any city other than Bagh¢ad ‘As we have said, the bath was known to Eucope in Roman times, but it fell out of use-as Rome fell. In Right; 1@-centney Turkish manuncspt showing 4 public hw whe ds part ol pression on erations th parade in Seon of Seltun Marae Fi a the castes othe clacumcision ot his son, the 1529 work by sir John Tretfy, Grete herbal, we can read about bathing attitudes: ‘imaay lotke that hath bathed them in colde water have dy’ during the Crusades when the crusaders dreds of years later, baths were rediscovered This rediscovery was brief, though.as the church banned their use, partly because tl ! Muslim baths in Jerusalem and Syria ey belonged tothe culture of Muslims, the infidels’ and partly because of the spread of adultery and bad sexual d disease’ following their immoral use because the manners of the amma were not habits a followed by the Europeans. By the 17 when Europeans met ‘Turkish baths, ‘(his was at the same time that it became fashionable to century, hanpnams were rediscovered uuse oriental baths and Levantine flowers. In England, in places such as London, Manchester and Leeds, this was a aval craze “the first Turkish bath or bagnio! was opened as early us 1679 ot Newgate Strect, now Path Street, in London and was built by Turkish merchants, ‘Turkish bats h, where were also built ip Scotlang, in Edinbur the famous Drumsheugh Baths were designed by John Burnet in 1882, the elaborate nature of the bath was recreated in all its ory, as this contained a suite of Turkish baths with a dome supported on a brick and stone structure, with geometrical lattice windows in frames of horsesho Meanwhile, the fagade was decorated with an elegant Moorish areade with iron grilles ina geometric pattern. arches. So, its believed that the hammam is the origin of most ofthe heelth and fitress clubs and centres spread over the modern world. Sweat- ing flushes out impurities andl helps us to lose fat Steam and het water reat crease blood circulation and raise the pulse and metabolic rate. The relaxa tion in the al-Rarrani (translated asthe Exterior’), the equivalent (0 the res! room or Roman Apady’ rerium, lets the body rest and benefit (rom all the previous encreises, while the social interaction ancl the frienclly atmosphere benefits allFar right: This Ottoman manuscript isa memoir of the ritary movement ducieg an expedition of Suleyman the Magnificent ‘aginst Hurgary. the tents of diferent colours possibly tefer to different regiments patched around Rive Ibe ‘of Mitrovica, cated in the Leporavie municipakty of Kosova. The writing insets give usa snapshot oF the «amp on 23" Safar 950 AH Cor 24 May 1549), and tells us they moved six miles in two day, The Tent ENTS THESE DAYS conjure up images of rain-drenched campsites or beautiful wedding marquees. They have a practical and social function, are large or small, and so remain true to their roots from the time when Muslims and Bedouin Arabs used them asa shelters and meeting places. ‘They could be elaborately decorated royal structures in sultan’ Ceremonies, which were beautifully coloured effairs with sill crowns and a raised section to add extra splendour and majesty, Inside were comfortable seats ancl canopies, colourful carpets, plus some of the sultan’ favourite weapons and toiletries, The tent followed the sultan in his travels: for war hunting trips and other visits and ceremonies. Europeans fell in love with the Ottoman tent the first time they set eyes on it. In the beginning it was reserved for royalsand the rich, for grand parties andl reyal ceremonies. ‘The French king, Louis XIV, was its greatest admirer and he had many ceremonial tents, Gla Turque. These usually accompanied extravagant processions and royal parties with firework displays. His fashion statements caught on with the rest of the royal households, of Europe who didr't want to be left out of the Intest craze and the tent dominated most of the 17 century, Louis had a real intetest in the Islamic world, and he gathered knowledge about it through travellers like Francois de la Boullaye-le-Gouz and Jean Baptiste Tavernier: La Boulleye even arrived at the Royal court wearing Persian ress, Louis also had in his service two renowned Arab linguists, Laurent ¢Arvieux and Antoine Galland,tn Yaushall Gardens, England, one of these teats was built in 17-4, and it had a dining area with fourteen tables. "The two most famous Jurktsh tentsim England were buill around 1 by the Honnrary Chaeles Hamilton, and Stour 1 the gardens of Painshill, Surrey, owned head. Wiltshire, owned hy Henry Colt Hoare. John Parnell did a watercolour illustration of the tent at Painshill after he visited it in 1763, The ste of the tent at Stourhead was origi nully (ora mosque with minarets, hut the idea changes! inter tent that was dismantled in the 179s, A third Turkish tent was built at Delga~ fy, Wicklow, Ireland by David la Tourche in the ¢ 18" century, but tents never really caught ton there because of the weather: European imitation of Turkish tents also took ton a lot ofthe tslamic architectural styles, and in the U8! century architect John Nasi pro- duced «total exatic exterior ellect’ of a Royal Pavilion, which greatly pleased his Reyal pa- trons. He wed the oriental scenery described by 18% century landscape painter Thomas Daniell Danvell Secnery, and was hired as @ consuitant to help design 4 British residence with such features as also the author of Oriental asa bulbous dome with corner chattrisand overhanging eaves, cusped arches and pin nacles, It was Daniell who inspired Nash, who was commissioned by Gorge LY’ to remodel an unfinished structure at the Royal B: Brighton. So he combined bulbous domes with concave shaped roofs, imitating the Turkish caliphis ents that covered the banqueting and music rooms of the building, He also used min- arel-like structures to dispuise the chimneys this type of tent still exerts a strong influence, one still survives at Canterbury Parle in Hampshire. the roof of the Rotunda in Vaux: hall Gardens way a tent with blue and yellow aliernating stripes, supported by twenty pillars. English writer Nathaniel Whittock in 1827 de. scribed it as a Persian Pavilion. Other famous people 1 enjoy and own tents included the Empress Josephine, who hi King Gearge IV olten dined there. Lhen the Marquess of Hertford. nicknamed ‘the Caliph, hada tent 1oom made for him by Decinwss Burton at St Dunstan House ‘This burned down in £930 and was rebuilt in a different design. Meslimn tent room at Malmaison, and A 16 century oviniture From the Fhanevnine by Mehmed Barsevi showing the ascension to the thrane of sitan Seti Fe Note the aries unifornts laste ranks an the goverment, & ‘eior alcer fyleaning to bs the hy ta Sultans lah, nt his fact as this 8 tunseceptabe i Iskn, Kiss ing the hem tan Orteanan, Tradition to demunctrate loyalty aul obedience.. European monarchs brought it to Europe. Turley mamed the Bagh sad Kosbk. (builtin 1039), by Sultan Mara TV ater his eoiquest of Beghad. I ‘contains s miectng hall ov: cred by adome with alang chienney for expelling sno fram the From Kiosk to Conservatory HAT WE NOW THINK ofas a garden summerhouse and the bandstand in the local park or town square came from what was called a Turkish kiosk or Koshk. This was a domed hall with open and arched sides, attached to the main mosque under the Seljuks, Gradually it evolved into the summerhouses used by Ottoman sultans. The most famous of these kiosks were the ii Koshk and Baghdad Koshk. The Ginili Koshk was built at the Tupkapi Palace, Istanbul, in 1473 by Mukammad al-Fatih and had two storeys topped with a dome. with open sides overlooking the gardens of the Palace, The Beghdad Koshk was also built at the Topkapi Palace in 1635-39, by Sultan Murad IV. This also had a dame, and the view it gave onto the gardens and park of the palace, as well as he architecture ofthe ety of Istanbul, was amszing Lady Wortley Mont the wife of the English antinople, wrote a letter on | April 1717 to Anne ‘thistlethwayte mentioning a dhiosk, describing il 2s" ambassador t Con: raised by nine or ten steps.and enclosed with gilded lattices, but it was European monarchs who brought it to Europe, The ki particularly like! it, as did the of Louis XV, Stanilsas of Lorraine. who built Liosks tir himself haved on nis memories ot ther-in- Law his captivity in ‘Turkey, ‘these hiesks were usest as garden pavilions for serving cotfee andA Je catury minianare of Sultan iia Vee Shshtesho ret by Megs Ali Hacernba cit beverages, but later were converted into the band: decorating many European gardens, parks and high streets, and tourist information stands All good designs evolve, and tn this case | into what we now call lass rooms built in gardens or on the sides of many European houses. The earliest cons -s were those made by Humphrey Repton for the Royal Pavilion at Brighton. ‘these were sumptuous affairs, with corridors connecting the Pavilion to the passage of lowers covering ined the orangery, greenhouse, an aviary, an enclosure for heasants and hethouses. The ph uutry area was particularly Muslim in concept, and it was an adaptation of the kiosks on the roof of the paliee in the Fort of Allahabad in India,‘Gardens under which rivers flow to dwell therein and beautiful mansions in gardens of everlasting bliss. m4 Quran (9: Gardens rain tuo much, again. Insects are dealt with, moles are moved on and birds are made to feel welcome. Lawns, with their herbaceous borders, domi. S UNNY DAYS ARE SPENT CUTTING THE GRASS while hoping it doesnt nate many gardens in Europe, especially in the UK. Back in the Middle Ages though, gardens in Europe were limited to the courts of nobles or monasteries, and their main use was for herbs, vegetables and some fruits for seli-sustenance. Tor Muslims. gardens have always been a constant source of wonder and enchantment, because plants, trees, animals, insects and all of nature are a blessed! gift of Allah and a sign of His Greatness. [slam permits usto use, enjoy and change nature, but only in ethical ways, so Islamic gardens were designed (o be sympathetic to nature, and gardens to this day enjoy an elevated status in @ Muslims mind. Gardens such as Eden were repeatedly deseribed in the Quran as places of great beauty and serenity, and as ideal places for contemplation and reflection. These heavenly paradises were recreated and ypread acmoss the Muslim world, from Spain te India, mainly feom the 8" century onwarels. About one hundred years later, the Abbasids innovated designs of their own, From then on, sirens with geometrical flowerbeds, shallow canals and fountains were built everywhere in INamic Persia, Spain, Sicily and India to provide peaceful seclusion from the outside world, just look at the Alhambra in Granada, Spain or the aj Mahal in India proves thisRight: L7°-century manuscript showing Sultan Habar holding 3 plan, watching his yardeners measuring Below lef: te? ceatury oi the Magnificent, Hhe Seri Soleyman the Magoiticient culivated tulip tre showing Suey ayer Gardens were not only for meditation; many had a practical function, and Arab rulers collected plants. these kitchen only supplied food, they also gave rise to-a ty of Arabic poe garden poem, which conjured up the image of dens not known as the rawdtya, the the Garden of Paradise Iewas in Toledo ins 11-century Muslim Spain and later in Seville, that the first royal botan) gardens of Furope made their appearance They wer pleasure gardens, and also trial grounds for the acclimatization of plants brought from the Near and Middle East. In the rest of Europe these gardens appeared about five centuries later in the university towns of aly, Today, the influence of the Muslin garden can be seen all over Europe, from the Stibbert garden in Florence to the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, Englanc. Ir wasnt just the concept of gerdens that spread with the Mustims, because they also brought flowers fi the Fast that you can now buy down at the local gardening centre, Such travellers include the carnation, tulip and ieis. Some people believe the word! ‘tulip’ comes from Dulbanel which means turban, as people used to wear it on their turban, Others say the word ‘tulip is an anglicized version of dulab, which is Farsi for tulip. From Persia, the tulip ceached Constantinople throug nbassadorial gift exchange, where it was Jargely planted in the Serail gardens, especially in the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul The tulips voyage into Europe has been like a well-thought out in colow asion of perfume and first stepped out in 1554 with Count Ogier ce Busbecq, the Hapsburg [Austrian/ Hungarian) ambassador to Suleyman the ‘Magnificient, when he took one with him, About ten years later, it reached its now famous *home’ in Holland. The Duke of Sermoneta,‘Early Muslims everywhere made earthly gardens that gave glimpses of the heavenly garden to come. Long indeed would be the list of early Islamic cities which could boast huge expanses of gardens. To give only a few examples, Basra is described by the early geographers as a veritable Venice, with mile after mile of canals criss-crossing the gardens and orchards; Nisbin, a city in Mesopotamia, was said to have 40,000 gardens of fruit trees, and Damascus 110,000.’ Watson AM 1983: Agricultteral Innovation in the Early Islamic World, Cambridge University Press Francisco Caetant, was tulip collector and had 15.147 in his talian garden in the 16lls. ‘The Huguenots, France's persecuted Protestants, took the tulip with them into itferent countries as they ran away. Finally, in the 1680s an Englishiwan called Sie George Wheler brought it to Britain trom the Serail gardens of Constantinople ‘The cornation and iris were less well travelled as flowers but popular in decorating Persian and Turkish ceramics, With its tin shape, the carnation was a successful cormbination with the tulip in fanik pottery: This design was copied in Furopean decoration and app in a number of Lambeth chargers, ceramics produced at Lambeth, Pngland, dating front 1660-1700. ‘The iris was used in horizontal and circular forms by Persian potters, particularly under the Safavid dynasties in the I6* and 17" centuries. These then went on. like the camation, to influence European designs like the Brisio! delftware ceramics. ‘The British love gardening and still cultivate these tlowets, and flower shows ate booming. One of the biggest of these shows is Chelsea. and if these figures ate anything to go by, then szardening and gardens are fer trom fading: each show costs about £3 million ant over show week 60,000 picees of cake, 110,000 cups of tea and coties, and aver 28,000 rounds of sandwiches are sold as the k sustain their appetites forall things green, cirdeners‘Surely the God- fearing shall be among gardens and fountains.’ Quran (51: 15) Fabulous Fountains They provide a calming atmosphere and screen out urban noises like F OUNTAINS SOOTHE THE TWO SENSES of sight and sound at once. traffic, road drills and barking dogs in today’s ever noisier world. They also provide privacy, with quietly spoken words not reachii vicinity, and area bath for birds. Water features are an integral part of ya Today, justas they were a thousand years ago in the Islamic world. ‘Ihen they were a display ‘of ultimate wealth, as water was scarce, and a water display was regarded as a thing of wonder, Fountains became cornerstones of {Islamic art and architecture and one of the best the Lion Gardens fof the Alhambra, Spain, which is nearly a thousand years old. Itwas commissioned by Sultan Mohammed V for the Court of Lions, and built between 1354 and 1359, examples is the fountai q a round basin, encircled by twelve lions carved from marble that originally would have been richly painted, mostly in gold. The lions represent the twelve signs of the zodiac anu the twelve months. Water wwas carried to them by aqueduels from the surrounding mountains, and it flowed! tion their mouths v of chan an elaborately timed system sin the floor Bach hour one lion would produce water from its mouth, giving the impression of twelve months elapsing as though they were twelve ntshours, ‘The serise of timelessness created was palice was con and time in paradise is non existent as the lwvellety live n eternal lrappines. At the edye of this great fountain isa poem written by his praises the beauty ofthe fountains and the power of the lions, butital wes th hey: ed all those whe saw wenious hydraulic ually worked, which fo this day the the same. [tis jast tem hats rer sravily and wate he AMonuhea Pal Mow, ‘« are there not in this garden wonders that God has made incomparable in their beauty, and a sculpture of pearls with transparent light, the borders of which are trimmed with seed pearl? Melted silver flows through the pearls, to which it resembles in its pure dawn beauty. Apparently, water and marble seem to be one, without letting us know which of them is flowing’ Part of the Lion Fountain poem by Ibn ZamrakA modera dexcuy tion of the Banu Musa Brother's navel valve sbi they built for ing shape of fountains, As the water mens the propeller the warns and ‘shed turn the sale ate cual io the nian 9a ter pine thus allowin water to lone onteene spout ata spout genecstes ts own fountain shape. giving the impression oF a sell: thaging outs. ToSpout One / —s The Banu Musa Brothers’ Fountains ‘Muslin engineers spent a lot of time and effort inventing various ways of representing water and controlling the way it flowed, because water is connected with Paradise, Some of the most ingenious people to do this were the Banus Musa bbroxhers in the early 9 century. These brothers, Jafar Muhammad, Ahmed and al Hasan, wrote 2 Book of Ingenious Devices, which included fountains that continuously changed their shape. For the 9 century, and even today, these fountains produced a sense of mysticism and amazement because of their splendour and variety of watery shapes, The brothers talked about six designs. The first ran through basic styles foun in all fountains, and the other five discussed how the fountains could be used together to form more intricate, shape changing fountains. The Banu Musa brothers’ fountain designs were {ull of fine technology, like worm gecring, valves, balance arms, and water and wind turbines. All this showed thetr competence as designers, and as craftsmen they hed a great understanding of manufactucing techniques and fluid mechanics to be able to make devices like navel valves. Ihe mest breathtaking fountains were those that could change shape, from say a spear to a shicld =f ToSpout Te They could do and back again at certain intervals this because each had what was described as a bud where the water spurted out. It was this bud, and the pipes that led to it, that dictated which shape appeared. Ihe three basic shapes were shield, spear and lily, ane all three could emerge from the same fountein. But first a large vemel of water hasl to be placed high abeve the fountain and out o! sight, to give it sufficient pressure to obtain the desired water shape. Some fountains used worm gears and a clever hollow ‘navel’ valve, called so as it is shaped like a person's navel, It was this valve that directed where the water would go to produce which spouting. shape. ‘The use of the worm and wheel to tran mit motion from the flowing water to the revolving pipe was a major leap forward in the inventions of control systems engineering, which were essential fr the invention of automatic machines during the industrial revolution, Fountains today are carrying on this tradition of incorporating the latest fine technology, but now this involves light and music in time with jets of water, A millennium later and! water, plus human ingenuity is still amazing us.The Three Basic Styles of Fountain by the Banu Musa Brothers Ihe balance was a pipe that carried the waler from the main reservoir anal had two positions; horizontal (red) and raised (green) in the figure. When horizontal, ler went from the reservoir to the left tank which fed pipes that went through to the bud making a spear-shaped fountain, As this was happening, small containers attached to the arm of the balance slowly filled with water, These eventually tipped the balance arm to its raised position. When raised, water from the main reservoir was channelled into the tank on the right, feeding the shield shaped bud. ‘The small containers on the side slowly emptied, until the balance returned to its horizontal position and the process repeated over and over as long as there was water in the main reservoir. Sear showingghow the 1 worked For Ban Musa brothers fountain design. Vessel to Shiels06 Ia) es isa despite what FMEA believed ... the aR UE AUR EN ORD reels a ee Tae Sesser) Orme) oan ail WORLD Today everyone can experience a different country and cuisine for the price of anair ticket, but globetrotting is not a modern concept. Even though they didn't Pee ee ae Ma aR ca oC MCE pilgrims on the annual hajj to Mecca, to gain knowledge and for trade. They were renowned for discovering their world as eyewitnesses. From their experiences Raa ee uu ei Share Cm CE au eR o) eee cy Nee Res ask ees eee ae eu eke et about their surroundings to make sense and give order to this environment. AF Biruni discussed the theory of the Earth rotating around its own axis six hundred years before Galileo, while also explaining the ebb and flow of tides. Others noted why the sky was blue, the causes of rainbows, and the size of the Earth's res Communications were improving and the desire of one sultan a thousand years ago to eat fresh cherries initiated the birth of pigeon post. The previous century saw al-Kindi laying the foundations for code breaking which led to secret messages passing in times of war. Open this chapter to let the sense of wonder of the world and the global vision emer eeeeft to right; Claudias Polen 2 contury CE was one ofthe fst astronomers to calculate the precision of the equinoxes, observing the sessons ofthe year led Mus lim scholars to sty and cal ‘ulate the ult ofthe earth Planet Earth WERE WAS A TIME when the idea of the world asa tilting, wobbling, land and sea covered molten globe spinning on its own axis, while tracing an elliptical path around a fiery orb, would have been an absurd suggestion, Only through centuries of observation and experimentation by succeeding civilizations can we now be sure that this is really the ease and it is called planet Earth, Ptolemy in 127-151 CE was the one to begin the great debates. Asa great astronomer and mathematician of antiquity, he estimated the change in longitude of the fixed stars to be about 1° per century, or 36 seconds annually, when he described the then supposed Earth centred system of the universe. Today this movement is known as the precession of the equinoxes, and is understood as the Earth slow ly wobbling on its rotation axis through its or it. caused by the gravitational pulls of the Sun \d the Moon on the Earth's equatorial bulge. What we also know today is that over a cyclical period of 25,787 years, this wobble influences the time at which the Earth is closest to and farthest from the Sun, and ultimate italso affects the timing of the seasons. This also means the stars and constellations slowly drift westward, Muslim astronomers obtained increasingly accurate figures about the precession of the equinoxes than Ptolemy had. The renowned L("-century Baghdad astronomer, Muhammad al-Battani said vias 1° in sixty i years, oF 54.55 seconds per annum, or '41 years for a complete rotation. [bn Yunus, who died in 1009, said it was 1° seventy years, or 51.43 seconds per annum, 25,175 years. This compares amazingly well with the present-day figure of about 50.27 seconds per a ora rotation 1, or about 25,787 years for a complete rotation, /AUTUMNALEQUINOXis the Earthi titted axis to the plane of the liptical orbit that is the main cause of the seasons, $0, for example, when the northern hemisphere is tilting towards the Sun, we are in summer, As the Muslims discussed the phenomenon of seasons, they were also studying and calculating the tilt of the Farth. Discovering the exact degree of til became a matter for tense deliberation amongst astronomers and mathematicians in the centuries follewing Piolemy. In the late 10" century, a Tajikistan mathematician and astronomer named al-Khujandi built « huge Iran, to cebservatory in Rayy, near Tebrat ‘observe a series of meridian transits of the Sun. These let him calculate, with a high degree of precision, the till of the Earth's axis relative to the Sun. Toda 23°34; and al-Khujandi measured it as being 23°32'18", so he was pretty close, Using this information, he also compiled a list of latitudes and longitudes of major cities. we know this tilts approximately A century before this discovery, the enlight ened ¥*-century Caliph, al-Ma'mun, engaged a group of Muslim astronomers to measure the Earth’ circumference. They did it by measur ing the length of the terrestrial degree, which they found to be 56,666 Arabian miles or 111,812 km, which brought the circumference to 40,2534 km. Today we know the exact fig. ure of the Earthis circumference is 40,0680 km through the equator, and 40,0006 km through the poles, so they weren't far out either. AL-Biruni, an 11"-century poly said, with a touch of dry humour: ‘Here is another method for the deter circu part, It does not require walking in deserts? He calculated the figure by using a highly complex geodesic equation and ination of the ference of the wrote it all up in his book On the Determination of the Coordinates of Cities. Len Berggren, a contemporary write, says: ‘It doubtless gladdened al-Biruni heart to show that a simple mathematical argument combined with a measurement could do 2s well as two teams of surveyors tramping about in the des AL Biruni’s book also made a systematic and detailed study of the measurements of the Earth surface. Fe measured latitudes and longitudes, and the roundness of the Earth, He was a man genuinely ahead of his time, and even discussed the theory of the Earth rotating about is own aais six hundred years before xd determined the antipodes Galileo, ‘Many educated Muslims, including al-Biruni, at this time took it for granted that the Earth was round. Ibn Harm, a 10!-century man of letters irom Cordoba, said, ‘the Earth is spherical despite what is populatly believed the proof is that the Sun is always vertical toa particular spot on Farth? This is another example of where Muslims scientists were carrying out groundbreaking research that was based on observation and experimentation rather than hearsay and myth.Surveying URVEYING 18 THE MEASURING of angles and distances on the ground so that they can be accurately plotted on maps. It’s used for laying out roads, buildings and land plots for construction, as well as when marking borders between properties and countries, ‘The Romans had used simple surveying techniques to ‘balance or equalize the land, and these were taken on. by Muslim and Christian Spain, They included a simple triangular level with a plumb line. What the Romans didn’t have was triangula- tion, which is @ method used today in ying. It was introduced from the East in the astrolabe treatises of two Muslim Spanish scholars, Maslanta and Ibn al-Saffar, and Maslama's work was translated into Latin by John of Seville in the 124 century. survey There are a variety of triangulation procedures that can be done with the astrolabe, including, the measuring of height and distance by right-angled triangles and squares. Using this instrument, alongside Roman surveying procedures, meant that simple triangulation could be practised with an alidade (a rule with sights at either end) by Muslim surveyors. A 10?-century book called Geometria was a compilation of Spanish Muslim inspirations, and used by the Monastery of Ripoll in Spain. ‘his gave details of a variety of triangulation procedures that could be used with an astrolabe, especially for producing straight boundaries to large areas of land, There were even teams of surveyors to carry cout the challenging projects (just like todzy), such as surveying irrigation canals, In al- Andalus and in eastern Spain they were known as soguejador. these teams were called riuhandis, ‘Today, triangulation is still used to determine the location of an unknown paint by using the avis of plane trigonometry, but with the help of advanced technology, such as the Global Positioning System. Rights The beck of the astolabe i engraved with a shadow square, which could be used for surveying ‘purposes. This astrolabe was made in 1641/2 by Mukammad Magirn ibn Nalla'sa in Lahore Pakistan. ‘Modern surveying ne longer depends on astrolaber.Earth Science represents mineralogis INERALOGY 1S THE SCIENCE of studying minerals, and today there is the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) which in individual countries. The subject has come a long way since Muslim mineralogists began studying this area a thousand years ago. Today, over four thousand species of mineral have been recognized by the IMA. A mineral isa naturally occurring substance that has a definite chemical composition and crystalline structure, In other words, a mineral isa crystalline, chemically pure. natural material. Things hike gold, like diamond, ‘quartz, calcite, sapphire and peatl are all examples of minerals. ‘Gems and precious stones are special types of minerals. They are rare, beautiful (in colour, transparency and lustre), and hard enough to resist physical and chemical changes for some time, Diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds all have these properties. The importance of gems to emperors, kings and the wealthy has possibly been the driving force behind their discovery since the dawn of human civilization. “The ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Indians, Greeks and Romans knew of certain varieties of mineral, precious stones and gems. Most of the lands of these people became part of the Islamic State or Caliphate. ‘Consequently, their writings on gems and minerals, ike other subjects, were translated into Arabic in the first three hundred years of the Islamic world. So, tS not surprising to find the best contributions by Muslim scientists to mineralogy and gemmology occurring a hundred years after these translations, when the work of the ancients was absorbed and zeady for the new Muslim scientists and explorers to carry on the work and research.Meanwhile, the enormous area that the Islamic world covered meant that Muslims could study and develop earth sciences not only in the Mediterranean worl, like the Greeks had done, but also in Europe, Asia and Africa. Knowledge of minerals, plants and animals was gathered from areas as far away as the Malay islands and brought together in books such as 11-century scholar Ibn Sina’s The Book of Cure, which was essentially an encyclopaedia of philosophy and natural sciences, This by and influenced European scientists during the Renaissance because of the valuable information it contained. every famous Ibn Si a true product of Muslim civilization at the nown as Avicenna in the West, was height of its scientific growth, but he is better known today in medicine and philosophy than earth science. However, in his Book of Cure there is an important chapter on mineralogy and meteorology, where he presented a complete coverage of the knowledge of his day regarding what happens on the Earth. It was composed of six sections: on the formation of mountains, the advantages of mountains in the formation of clouds, sources of water the origin of earthquakes, the formation of ity of the earths in. Many of these findings are now rals,and the d ten ascribed to James Hutton, who lived in the 18" century, ‘These fundamental principles of geology ‘were put forward many centuries before the Renaissance in Europe, where earth science \was frst called geology. Historians have acknowledged Avicenna’ contribution in the field of geology, and said that in the LI" century he was already suggesting a hypothesis about the origin of moun ranges which, in the Christian world, would still have been considered quite radical eight hundred years later. ‘.. [bought some raw pebbles brought from India. [heated some of them, they became more red. ‘There were two very dark pieces, one was with reddish colour, the other was less red. I put both pieces ina crucible and directed the flame at them for a period sufficient to melt fifty mithgal of ‘gold. took the pieces after they cooled. I noticed that the less red piece became purer with a rose red colour: The other, deep red piece lost its colour and became like Sarandib [now Sri Lanka] quartz. I then examined this latter piece and found that it was softer than the yaqut [ruby] ... concluded: ‘when redness is lost with heating, the heated material is not yaqut. ‘This conclusion cannot be reversed; i.e. if the heated material stays red it is not necessarily yaghut, because iron stays red after heating? 11"-century scientist al-Biruni investigating rubies, from his book ‘Treatises on how to recognize gems Tho Sits work on Farth science preceded that of Tames Hutton (1726-1787) Portrait by Abner Lowe Many of these findings are now ascribed to James Hutton who lived in the 18" century ... but... the fundamental principles of geology were put forward many centuries before.Hyderabad Rights Ganges river celia, early 11"-century scholar I-Biruni spent most of his ime stadying in India, where secrecy Wentified the sedimentary nature ofthe anges basin Bangalore el. ag Trivandrum: 4Colombo 3 BENGAL {Chennai \SRI LANKA Ibn Sina’s Rook of Cure was known in Renaissance Europe through its Latin translation, It was source of inspiration to the founders of geological thought in Europe, men such as 15'-century Leonardo da Vinci, Steno in the 17 century and james Hutton in the 18" century. Ibn Sina wasn't the only Muslim scholar pushing the boundaries of knowledge. Another big name in the field of earth science was al- Biruni, who was a contemporary of tbo Sina. AL-Biruni was born in what today is Like many southeast Turkey in 97: of his contemporaries, one label alone cannot be assigned to him professionally, because he wrote prolifically in many areas, dicine, including mathematics, astronomy, philosophy; history, pharmacy, and earth science or mineralogy A great deal of his time was spent in Indio, where he learnt the language and studied the people, religion and places. ‘This he wrote up in his vast book called Chronicles of tndia. As swell as speaking Hindi, he also knew Greek, Sanskrit and Syriac, although he wrote all his books in Persian and Arabic. His time in India meant he looked intensely at its natural history and geology, and he correctly described the sedimentary nature of the Ganges basin. His great mineralogical work was called Treatises ‘on How to Recognize Gems, and it made him a leading scientist in this area. Of course Ibn Sina and al-Biruni were not the only two tobe producing important works onmineralogy. Here are a few more with thett achievements: Yahya ibn Masawayh (died 857), who wrote Gems and Their Properties al-Kindi (died about 873), wrote three monographs, the best of which was Gems and the Likes, but which is now lost; al-Hamdani, a 10"-century scholar, wrote three books on Arabia in which he described methods of exploration for gold, silver and other minerals and gems, their properties and locations; and the 10" century group of schol Ikhwan al-Safa’ (the Brothers of Purity), wrote an encyclopaedic work that included a part on minerals, € cially their classification, Unfortunately, most of what was written on the subject of minerals, stones and gems has been lost, but @ few works survived and are now in print. Muslim civilization was outstanding, its natural outlook towards the universe, humanity and life. Muslim scientists thought and wondered about the origin of minerals, earthquakes and water. This rocks, mountai isthe nature of earth science itself, or what wwe now know as geology, and the history of geology reflects human thought upon the nature of our Earth.Below middle to right: The gravatiensl pail ofthe Moon causes the rise and bb of ides as described by al-Biruni inthe early 11" fentury; at around the same time as al-Birun, Ibn of Huaitham was descnbing the Phenomenon of rainbows. - Natural Phenomena TIS CHILDREN WHO USUALLY ASK us the di ult questions like ‘why is the sky blue?, ‘where does the rainbow end?’ and ‘why does the sea lap at the sand?’ Today we take many things from the natural werld around us for granted, but Muslim minds of the 9" century were thinking deeply about these questions out of a curios creation motivated them Before and at the time of Ibn Hazan, who was a 10*-cent astrologers believed that stars and planets had souls and minds and that they influenced people. Ibn Hazm took a more pragmatic view an of letters from Cordoba, and said that the stars are celestial bodies \with no mind or soul. They neither know the future noraifect people. Their effect on people however can be through their physical characteristics, such as the effect of the Sun's heat and rays on the planets and the effect of the Moon on the tides of seas. Another scholar of the 11" century, al-Biruni, explained that the increase and decrease in the height of the ebbs of tides occurred in cycles on the basis of changes in the phases of the M tide at Somnath, a city in India, and on. He gave a very vivid description of the aced it to the Moon, Neoptide C Sor ies y to understand their surroundings, and Allabi’s As they studied the heavens, some schelars, like al-Kindi, commented on the blueness of the sky. He did this in a short treatise with a Jong title: Treatise on the azure colour which is seen ir the air i the direction of the heavens and is thought to be the colour of the heavens! More simply. he was telling people why the sky was blue. AL-Kindi said that it was due to the “mixture of the darkness oF the sky with the light of the atoms of dust and vapour in the ai illuminated by the light of the Sun? His words, like the length of the title, explain it fully: “The dark air above usis visible by there be mingled with it from the ight of the Earth the light of the stars a colour midway between darkness and light, which is the biue colour Ieisevident then that this colour is not the colour of the sky, but merely something which, supervenes upon our sight when light anddarkness encounter it, This is just like what super yenes upon our sight when we look from behind ansparent coloured terrestrial body at bright ‘objects, as in the sunrise, for we see them with of the ok from behind a piece of glass, for we see what is beyond their own colours mingled with the colo transparent abject, as we find when ofa colour between that of the glass and that of the object regarded? Al-Kindi was on the right lines, for the sky isn’t really blue, in spite of the confused and impossible jews which passed for knowledge, even in highly ated circles, in his time. He could compete with these views because he was a widely read man and excelled in science, mathematics and music, and was a physician in 9*-century Baghdad Ibn al: Haitham also went against the conventional wisdom of his day. [twas a thousand years ago Cairo that he was placed under house arrest be wuse he couldn't regulate the flow of the Nile as the caliph had asked him too. He knew that if the Ancient Egyptians hadnt been able to do it then neither would he. To save his skin and continue his studies, he pretended to be mad, The house arrest suited Urate all his time on obsery 1m because it meant that he could concen: ng the rays of light that ‘ame through holes in his window shutters. The time he had for observation and experimentation meant he could explain phenomena like rainbows, halo effects, and why the Sun and Moon seem to ‘grow in size when they are near the horizon. He said it was the effect of the atmosphere that increased the apparent size of Sun or Moon as they neared the ho. rizon, adding that the increased size was a vistal trick played by the brain, He showed that i! was through atmospheric refraction that the light of the San reaches us, even when the Sun is as many as nineteen degrees below the horizon, and on this basis he cal: culated the height of the atmosphere at ten miles. K and improved on Ibn al-Haitham’s work by observing al al-Din al-Farisi, who died in 1319, repeated the path of the rays in the interior of a glass sphere He hoped to determine the refraction of solar light through raindrops, and his findings enabled him to explain the formation of primary and secondary rain. .ews, Which is essentially the splitting up of white light by a prism, So next time child asks you ‘why.,.?, maybe tell ing them about the work of these medieval Muslims would bea good starting peint, which would lesd them on their own journey of discovery. bn I -Heitham alco stud and explained the halo and the visual est of w the Moon appears larger than itis. Karnal a-Die a Faris later carried on al: Haithams work splitiing of white ight. theGeography CCORDING TO THE WORLD RENOWNED MAGAZINE National Geographic, geography i ‘the science of space and place that brings together Earth's physical and human dimensions in the integrated study of people, places, and environments’ In schools today we study the course of a river in one lesson and the tribes of Kenya in the next, to learn about and understand the fantastic places and people that surround us. Muslims have always been outward looking, observing and recording their surround: wand far. They were explorers and merchants, and this practical awareness of the world inspired scholars to make great studies of places and people. ings ni reat travellers, Their interest in geography was partly due to the environment in which they lived. They had to move, along with their precious flocks and herds, in search of fresh and better pastures, so knowledge of their surroundings including that of plants and wild animals, was vital. In these circumstances the science of geography developed as a practical necessity. The holy pilgrimage or the fuaj was also-a valuable source of material. Men used word of mouth ‘Mecca and Medina, as they came from distant regions. These were later put in written form, pilgrims counts of routes 10 so travel guides passed on to others, helping ygand difficult journey of their holy pilgrimage from all corners of the empire. them on the lo Then the orientation of the mosques towards ‘Mecca was another impetus to study geogra phy, as was the need to know the direction of the Kalbah in Mecca for daily prayers. Finally, ‘wars and invasion and the political and ad ministrative requirements of the expanding ‘Muslim world, created another dimensio the search for geographical knowledge. in With the development of more accurate astronomy and mathematics, giant steps were made in the progress of geographical study, ‘as map plotting became one of its respected bra century Persian scholar, was one of the earliest scientific descriptive geographers, and a highly talented tnathematician, His famous book, Te Form of the Earth, inspired a generation of writers in Baghdad and Muslim Spain or al-Andalus, to unearth, analyse and record geographical data es. Al-Khwarizmi,Another geographer named Suhrab, a the beginning of the 10 century, wrote a book describing various seas, islands, lakes, mountains and rivers of the world. His notes on the Euphrates, ‘Tigris and Nile are very significant, while his account of the canals of Baghdad is the main basi for the reconstruction of the medieval plan of that ity. This reconstruction was done in 1895 by Guy Le Strange, who incorrectly read Suhrabs name as that of a well known physician named Ibn Sarabiyun (or in Latin, tbn Serapion). Le Strange also used work by al-Ya'qubi, who was. from the 9" century, in his reconstruction. The two texts, Suhrab’s account of the water system network and al-Yaqubis description of the highways coming from Baghdad, complemented each other very well. Al-Muga geographer. He travelled throughout the Mu: weighing and s idasi was a 10-century Muslim im world, observing, corroboratin, ing evidence, taking notes and writing. The outcome of years a travel was Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions, completed in 985. ltappealed toa variety of people while also being an entertaining read. Like many before and afer n. his reasons for scholarly research ppiration, What he produced would be a way of getting to know God better, and he would also receive just reward for his endeavour. His great book created the systematic foundation of Muslim geography, ashe int duced geogt aphic terminology, the various methods of division of the earth and the value of empirical observation. iest Te One of the ‘Mahmud al-Kashgharli, who was also a well Known lexicographer, He drew a world map h geographers was which looked unusual and circular, on a linguistic basis. It appears in his masterpiece ‘work, a treatise on grammar called Compendium of Turkish Dialects, completed in 1073. A considerable portion of Central Asia as well as China and North Aftica were le beyond the Vol also included, but fi in the West. This is perhaps because it was drawr before the Turks began to move west Sr are In the 11 ond 12 centuries, two Muslim a" ers, al-Bakri and Ibn Jubayr, collected and collated the information assembled by their predecessors into an easily digestible format. The first of them was the son of the Governor of the province of Huelua and Saltes in Spain, Al-Bakri himself was an important minister at the court of Seville who undertook several diplomatic missions. a Es Despite his busy official duties, he was an seer ast. He wrote showing 2 map of od Baghdad (surrounded by a circular wall) as described by AL Yalgubi (9 century) and bc accomplished scholar and ess: the water syste recounted by Suh century), AL-Mugaddasi was a 10-century Muslim geo this bock of rpher and produceda hoping si the court Roper ofc with saver Ble tat eet to thow tat he arth was ‘phen an important geographical work devoted to the Arabian Peninsula, including the names of various places. The Hadith and Histories was alphabetically arranged, including the names of villages, towns, valleys and monuments, His other major work was an encyclopaedic treatment of the entire world, Ibn Jubayr of Valencia, who was secretary to the Governor of Gi pain, was one of these who habitually recorded his hajj journeys to Mecca. These seven-hundred-year-old travel books, ving a detailed account of the nada, were journals, eastern Mediterranean world. His itineraries and. road books all went well beyond the branch of geography to include botany, culinary information and travel advice. In Muslim Spain, the passion for keeping travelogues thrived, and this inspired the compilation of the most comprehensive world atlas of the time, by the highly celebrated scholar al ldrisi. He was commissioned by the Norman king. of Sicily, Roger I, in 1139 10 come frum: Cordoba to Sicily and make a map for the king, He spent fifieen years on this, enjeying exalted status at the King’s Palermo court, interviewing thousands of travellers and producing seventy accurate maps, including some territories previously uncharted. Reporter Rageh Omar presenting the BBC An Islamic History of Europe says al-1dr A Recreation jor the Person who Longs to Traverse the Horizons, is'widely recognized as being the preatest single work of geography in the medieval cra? The Book of Roger, as it was also known, was anatlas and showed that the earth was round. Al drisi even made a silver globe to stress the point. is work, called Al Idrisi was a European Muslim living in a Christian country, outside the Mustim Caliphate, and was fully accepted, greatly adding value to this society, He depicted the entire continents of Europe and and Atrica north of the equater, twe centuries hefore Marco Polo,Thisis the Idris map of awn foe King Roger Note the Arabic is ups down because people in these days Inoked up South, His upside-down map Of tke “0 century shows India, Arabi, 1¢ Mediterranean, Sicily and Cyprus. ‘Arab scientists had long known this [that the earth was round] but Europeans still clung to the belief that it was flat.... He [al-Idrisi] also included a travel guide and map, surprisingly accurate for three hundred and fifty years before Columbus. It described England as gripped in perpetual winter’. It is an essential ingredient in this Islamic scholarship that helped shape European civilization. Rageh Omar in the BBC An Islamic History of Europe on 12"-century ‘geographer al-Idrisi His work was based on that deme by previous nearly all medieval knowledge ofthe globe uthorsas well ason information he gathered including archaeology, ethnography. history in Sicily, Sicily was the place to be at this time, anthropology, natural sciences and geography, * because it was the great crossroads on the and gave coordinates for every place. He pacers Mediterrancan,a.real melting petof global described and named every town and city fore trends, ideas and information, giving details of their every monument, WORTEREVEN aswel aretrting the fact thet hearth es their economy history, population, and a globe, he calculated it was 22.900 milesin leading figures citcurnference, which isn't bad given that itis Like many areas of science, technology and - — actually 24,902 at the equator, He also said that art, the list of personalities dedicated to the the earth remained stable in space like the yolk study of geography is immense. Many of ther ofan egg while givingaaccounts ofthe hemi- struck out into the world to gather information spheres, climates, seas and gulfs. His work spe t-hand, to quench a thirst for knowl ‘i Gifically contained a mine of excellent infor and understanding, to sate their curiosity, and ~