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And the same as the house of wisdom in Baghdad functioned, ten libraries were through endowments (awqaf). He interestingly expressed his admiration for about the lending policies of the libraries there, he noted that libraries in Merv were being liberal enough to lend him more than 200 volumes he could use in his room at the same time. The historical approach has determined the research framework of gathering relevant information about the House of Wisdom and its administrative and intellectual impact on emergence of new public and private libraries. The heyday of Baghdad was 1,200 years ago when it was the thriving capital of the Muslim world.
Center of learning (8th–9th centuries)
Following his predecessors, al-Ma'mun would send expeditions of scholars from the House of Wisdom to collect texts from foreign lands. Hunayn ibn Ishaq (809–873), an Arab Nestorian Christian physician and scientist, was the most productive translator, producing 116 works for the Arabs. As "Sheikh of the translators," he was placed in charge of the translation work by the caliph. Hunayn ibn Ishaq translated the entire collection of Greek medical books, including famous pieces by Galen and Hippocrates.[28] The Sabian Thābit ibn Qurra (826–901) also translated great works by Apollonius, Archimedes, Euclid and Ptolemy. Maktabs soon began to develop in the city from the 9th century on and, in the 11th century, Nizam al-Mulk founded the Al-Nizamiyya of Baghdad, one of the first institutions of higher education in Iraq. There has been different opinions on the identity of the founder of the Abbasids' House of Wisdom.
Notable intellectuals
Long ago, brilliant scholars in this booming city studied geography, astronomy and mathematics-and made advances that are still relevant today. Great minds from many lands gathered at a Baghdad library called the House of Wisdom, one of many centers of learning in an era know as the Islamic Golden Age. The Bab al-Sharji district in the centre of Baghdad derives its name, which means east gate, from the medieval fortifications of the city.
Arabic in the Sky: Astronomy a thousand years ago
The translators would have had scribes recording their work and producing multiple copies of each text. By the middle of the ninth century, Baghdad had become the centre of the civilised world, attracting the very best of Arab and Persian philosophers and scientists for several centuries to come. The House of Wisdom was originally created in order to house translators and preserve their works but it soon included additional research activities in the areas of medicine, science and astronomy. Two of the most important Caliphs, al-Rashid and al-Ma’mun, had personal interests in scientific works. This library was remarkably well organized, having separate rooms for copiers, binders, librarians, and an astronomical observatory.
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Modern era
Besides that, this mathematician is responsible for the introduction of the Hindu decimal system to the Arab world, and through it to Europe. In al-Khwarizmi’s early career, he proposed ideas towards the Hindu astronomical tables known as Sindhind. As a result, Caliph Al-Ma’mun sought al-Khwarizmi out to work on the science of equations. The study highlights the development that marked the house of wisdom in the time of the Abbasids.
Islam has it’s terrible followers too, and we cannot afford to be blind to the writings they follow !!! The foundation of Bayt al-Hikmah coincided with the rise of Baghdad as the capital of the Islamic world and the subsequent reception of Persian culture into the Arab court of the Abbasids. The site of Baghdad was chosen by the second Abbasid caliph, al-Manṣūr (reigned 754–775), to replace Damascus, whose status as the Umayyad capital had made it difficult for the new dynasty to fully uproot the one that it had overthrown in 750 ce. But Baghdad, located near the former Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon, was also in the heart of a predominantly Persian populace.
Tradition of Learning
A substantial Persian-speaking population departed for Iran in the 1970s and ’80s under pressure from the Baʿathist regime. There are several Eastern-rite Christian communities, notably the Chaldeans and Assyrians. There was once a vigorous and large Jewish community with ancient roots in Mesopotamia; however, ethnic persecution drove most Jews out of the country beginning in the 1950s, and by the end of the century virtually none remained. Baghdad's location made it ideal for paper production, which lowered the cost of creating books, making them more prevalent and accessible to more people.[11] As more texts began to be produced, a new market for book vendors opened, and libraries and bookstores appeared in the city. The city saw relative revival in the latter part of the 18th century, under Mamluk government. From 1851 to 1852 and from 1861 to 1867, Baghdad was governed, under the Ottoman Empire by Mehmed Namık Pasha.[76] The Nuttall Encyclopedia reports the 1907 population of Baghdad as 185,000.
By the thirteenth century, Baghdad had thirty-six libraries and a 100 book dealers, some of whom were also publishers. The concept of a library catalog dates back to this period; books in these libraries were organized under specific genres and categories. Additionally, each of the translations was annotated by scholars from the field in an effort to explain the sciences to the general public. The Abbasid caliphs’ appetite for knowledge was such that an entire body of classical scientific literature - including works by Aristotle, the Greek physician Galen and the Indian surgeon Sushruta - was translated into Arabic, thanks to the House of Wisdom. Caliph al-Mamun was also himself adept in the branches of knowledge taught at the House of Wisdom, including medicine, philosophy and astrology, and often visited the scholars there to discuss their research.
The goal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe. It should not come as a surprise the implementation of new technological developments since the House of Wisdom was open to a great diversity of cultures and ideas. Brought from China, paper became a new and cheaper material for writing, which was previously done on parchment from the skin of animals, a much more time consuming and expensive process. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and such (and all) material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. A wide range of languages including Arabic, Farsi, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Greek and Latin were spoken and read at the House of Wisdom.
Works including those by Plato, Aristotle, Ptolemy, Hippocrates and Euclid were requested from libraries in the West, such as the library at Constantinople, and brought back to Baghdad to translate. Under Caliph al-Mamun ( ), who was an enthusiastic promoter of the House, it was greatly extended to include separate galleries for each branch of science. Among the notable features of Baghdad during this period were its exceptional libraries.
The family of the last Abbasid Caliph Al-Musta’sim, as well as thousands of the city’s inhabitants, were slaughtered, and the extensive collection of books and manuscripts at the House of Wisdom were thrown into the Tigris. It is said that for days afterwards the river ran black with the ink of books and red with the blood of scholars. It was a tragic ending for one of the most advanced, diverse and progressive cities of the age, and an ending from which it would take Baghdad centuries to recover. Following his predecessors, al-Ma’mun would send expeditions of scholars from the House of Wisdom to collect texts from foreign lands. In fact, one of the directors of the House was sent to Constantinople with this purpose.
Its demise as a gathering place was principally the result of its location directly across the river from the main presidential palace, which led to it being placed off-limits to the public because of security concerns. Traditionally on weekends the city’s restaurants, cafés, and public parks have been filled with people. Recreational centres include two islands in the Tigris that have swimming pools and cafés, the Lunar Amusement Park, and Al-Zawrāʾ Public Park and Zoo.
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