The Islamic Golden Age
The Islamic Golden Age [762-1258, C.E.]: How a Thirst for Knowledge, the Emergence of Paper, and a Translation Movement Sparked a Scientific Revolution that Reshaped Human Innovation
In today's global arena, scientific advancement is a critical driving factor behind much of the world's economy and national prosperity. But when and where did the foundation for the advancement of science originate? Many of today's scientific advancements can be traced back to the dawn of Islam and the Islamic Golden Age (8th century – 13th century). Islam's value of knowledge and education, combined with the ability to preserve it through the import/use of paper in the Middle East, came during the translation movement and the formation of the House of Wisdom in Baghdad; an institution that was a prime foundation for the Islamic Golden Age and its concomitant explosion of scientific advancement. This series of events ultimately culminated in an outburst of scientific progress that sculpted human advancement globally. Had any of these elements been missing, the history of human innovation would be vastly different.
Islam placed great value on education, and, in the course of expansion and conquest, it imported/adopted (via China) the use of paper. A thirst for knowledge paired with the ability to better preserve and transfer it made a significant impact. These events came during the translation movement, at the opportune time when it was shifting from an individual endeavor to that of a nation. The adoption/use of paper in the Islamic world and its intersection with the translation movement's shift from an individual endeavor to that of a nation birthed the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. Thus, during the last half of the eighth century, the Islamic Golden Age was born, and, over the next 400 years, the work of its Islamic scholars changed the world.
Three key Islamic principles were of significant influence and contributed to the rise of scientific advancement:
Islam's value of knowledge
Islam's expansion and conquest model
The merger or absorption of cultures
Mustafa Necati Baris, an Assistant Professor at Bozok University in the Department of Islamic History, detailed that the Quran and hadiths, the two primary sources of guidance within Islam, contain a plethora of wisdom-promoting recommendations.[1] He goes on to say that, "according to these ayahs and hadiths, the role of knowledge or science are considered to be a fundamental motive for the religion and hence for the entire life of humans." [2] Further, science was so encouraged due to hadith verses that emphasized its potential power in religion as well as life.[3] This love for knowledge and science proved to be a very influential factor in Islamic history between the 8th and 11th centuries and can be categorized into three periods; "acquisition of the information, systematization of the information, and production of original information" [4] particularly regarding scientific and technological advancement.
This zeal for knowledge is also important because it colored Islamic expansion and conquest strategy. Muslims were highly encouraged during conquests to "encounter different civilizations" to "make use of the works of these civilizations and to begin translation activities…" [5]. As Islam expanded and conquered, it absorbed much of the conquered peoples' culture rather than eradicating it. That worked to improve the lives of Muslims as they acquired new knowledge and then expanded on that knowledge for their own benefit and use. In this vein, as Islam spread and cultures merged, paper was introduced to Muslims by way of battles fought in Central Asia.
Paper was a revolutionary invention that birthed the ability to preserve and transmit knowledge. It originated (circa 100 BCE) in the semi-tropical southern region of China and was made from local flora fiber. Jonathan M. Bloom, a University Professor of Islamic and Asian Art at Boston College, stated that "In the warm and humid regions of China where paper was invented, papermakers made their product principally from bast fibers collected directly from semi-tropical plants and shrubs…" [6] Central Asia perfected the papermaking craft, introduced via the Buddhists, by manufacturing it from rags rather than within the limitations of the indigenous plant life. This created a paper more conducive to use in harsher arid regions, thus increasing its applicability, and it was then "used by local merchants and bureaucrats." [7] This adaptation of papermaking techniques suitable to drier and harsher climates made it highly compatible with Middle Eastern environments, and when in the late seventh century, Muslims conquered Central Asia, they quickly seized on the opportunity that papermaking technology brought as a cost-efficient and plentiful tool for record-keeping; one conducive to editing in a discreet manner.[8]
Prior to Muslim exposure to paper, other less convenient substrates such as parchment and papyrus were primarily used. Papyrus was made from a reed most abundant in Egypt's Nile River banks, but due to its limited growth potential elsewhere, it had remained a largely Egyptian monopoly. Parchment held its own restrictions being made from animal skin, thus abhorred by Buddhists to the East and deemed inferior to papyrus by others.[9] But paper was a game-changer, and eventually, papyrus was long forgotten, even in Egypt.
Muslims acquired paper and papermaking skills in the late 8th century and spread them throughout the region, an event that enabled a revolution of ideas. As Bloom explained, "Muslims then carried this new way of making paper to Iraq, Syria, Egypt, North Africa, Sicily, and finally Spain, developing and improving the techniques of manufacture as they went." [10] Bloom further explained, "The widespread availability of paper encouraged an extraordinary culture of book-learning throughout the Muslim lands that was unparalleled in contemporary Christendom, which continued to rely on relatively expensive parchment, thereby restricting the number of writers and readers." [11] That created a solid foundation for advancement in areas such as literature, mathematics, mapping and military strategy, and many others. Bloom goes on to explain, "Like the introduction of printing with movable type to fifteenth-century Europe, the introduction of paper to the Islamic lands spurred a conceptual revolution whose effects are still being felt today." [12] Fast-forward to late-eighth century Baghdad, and paper was manufactured in the central Abbasid capital city and quickly disseminated across the broader empire.[13]
Paper entered the Islamic world during a significant time because of the translation movement. The Umayyad era (661–750 CE) marked the beginning of the translation movement. As Islam expanded and conquered and the diversity of Muslims grew, Arabic became the common language and overcame the various languages of the native peoples.[14] That was important because it deepened the unity of both religion and civilization, and thus, the translation of knowledge into Arabic began. However, during the Umayyad era, translation efforts were largely based on individual endeavors, personal taste and ended with the translator's death. But the Abbasid era (750–1258 CE) marked the transition from individual translation efforts to the translation efforts of a nation.[15] That marked a significant point in history because it led to the establishment of a large building where the collective translation efforts of many peoples and origins took place. This building that housed the collection of translated knowledge was called the House of Wisdom, also known as bayt al-hikma, located in Baghdad.
There are mixed reports as to its exact nature; some labeled it a translation school and others a library. However, this debate does not diminish the significant role it played. Baris indicated that it served as a library to house translated works when they proved too expansive for a previous smaller building, both buildings mentioned by the same name of bayt al-hikma.[16] The Abbasid Caliph al-Maʾmūn (Abu al-Abbas Abdallah ibn Harun al-Rashid, r. Sep 813 – Aug 833, C.E.) founded the imperial House of Wisdom, and it was during his reign that the major developments of the translation movement came to fruition.[17] The House of Wisdom served as a melting pot of translated works, knowledge, ideas, and scientific contributions. As Baris detailed, "The interpreters in this period are reputed to have been backed by the leaders, rich science devotees and scholars and they were even occasionally rewarded with gold as heavy as the works they translated." [18] These efforts are responsible for creating books of translated knowledge from the Greek, Persian, and Syriac languages that created a foundation for the explosion of scientific knowledge and advancement.
Some of the most notable areas of scientific advancement came in the fields of astronomy, mathematics, medicine, chemistry, and philosophy. The Arabs borrowed and expanded on the knowledge from an expansive list of cultures. From Greek knowledge, they learned and advanced in the areas of music, philosophy, astronomy, medicine, and engineering. Literature, law, and the study of stars came from the Indians. Agricultural knowledge was gained from Chaldeans and Nabataeans. Knowledge of chemistry and anatomy came from the Egyptians.[19] Works from Aristotle, Plato, Theophrastus, Ammonius, Proculus, and Galen were translated, and Islamic geometry was formed on the basis of Euclid's Elements[20] to name just a sliver of the translated works of significance.
John Freely, a physics professor at Bosporus University in Istanbul, highlighted that "The translation program at the bayt al-hikma would not have been possible without the paper-mills of Baghdad, which were also the source of the profusion of manuscripts produced in the tenth-century Islamic renaissance." [21] Because of the availability of paper; books, their publishers and their sellers flourished. By the turn of the ninth century, books were made at more than a hundred locations in Baghdad, and an estimated thirty-six libraries flourished throughout the city by 1258 CE.[22]
Unfortunately, the great bayt al-hikma met a violent end when the Mongols occupied Baghdad in February 1258, C.E.[23] On February 13, a devastating six-day destruction of Baghdad began at the hands of the Mongols. It is believed that some 90,000 people lost their lives, buildings across the city were destroyed, and mosques were completely gutted. The House of Wisdom endured the worst of the destruction, and the literary loss that accompanied it was in a similar vein to the losses suffered at Egypt's great library of Alexandria.[24] The destruction was so extensive, and "so many books were thrown into the Tigris that the river, previously red with blood, now turned black with ink and remained that way for several days." [25] Many of the elite, along with their families, were beheaded, and the canals and elaborate irrigation system was completely destroyed. Because agricultural endeavors were no longer possible, the city faded economically, politically, and otherwise; and the suburbs of Baghdad were deserted by the end of the 13th century.[26] This fateful event marked the end of the Islamic Golden Age, and Baghdad joined the long list of other cities destroyed at the hands of the Mongols.
In conclusion, Islam's values of knowledge, education, and science were deeply promoted and encouraged through the Quran and hadiths, the two primary sources of guidance within Islam. That led to a unique method of expansion strategy not previously seen, whereby Muslims absorbed the knowledge and culture of many of the peoples they encountered and conquered, unlike other conquering armies in world history. That led to the acquisition of vast amounts of information and coupled with the translation movement, during which works and knowledge were translated from Greek, Persian, and Syriac into Arabic. In conjunction with the import/use of papermaking skills through Central Asia (via China), these accomplishments created a sound platform for translation and acquired knowledge to be preserved, dispersed, and built upon. The House of Wisdom provided a physical space to house and promoted these efforts and the works they produced. While Baghdad was sacked and the invasion of the Mongols eventually destroyed the House of Wisdom, the progress made during the Islamic Golden Age was not entirely wiped out. The collection and translation of works into Arabic from vast regions ultimately sparked a previously unprecedented advancement in the sciences, which changed the world and the history of human innovation.
The common theme throughout all of this is Islam. Had any of these key elements/events differed, science and the history of human innovation would look vastly different. Many of the scientific advancements of today have the Islamic Golden Age to thank. In a modern Western world where ignorance, stereotypes, and a general lack of historical understanding about the Middle East and Islam, abound; it is of critical importance to study the history of the region and give credit where credit is due. Scientific advancement (in the fields of astronomy, mathematics, medicine, chemistry, and philosophy, to name some) certainly has the Middle East, and Islam in particular, to thank for its initial explosion of progress.
Notes:
[1] Mustafa Barış, “First Translation Activities in Islamic Science History and Their Contribution to Knowledge Production,” Cumhuriyet Ilahiyat Dergisi22, no. 1 (2018): 709, accessed April 12, 2019, https://doi.org/10.18505/cuid.420326.
[2] Ibid., 709.
[3] Ibid., 707.
[4] Ibid., 706.
[5] Ibid., 707.
[6] Jonathan M. Bloom, “Papermaking: The Historical Diffusion of an Ancient Technique,” in Mobilities of Knowledge, ed. Heike Jöns, Peter Meusburger, and Michael Heffernan, Knowledge and Space. (Springer International Publishing, 2017). 52. accessed April 12, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44654-7_3.
[7] Ibid., 52.
[8] Ibid., 52.
[9] Ibid., 52-53.
[10] Jonathan Bloom,Paper before Print the History and Impact of Paper in the Islamic World, ACLS Humanities E-Book (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), 9.
[11] Bloom, “Papermaking,” 53.
[12] Bloom, Paper before Print the History and Impact of Paper in the Islamic World, 10.
[13] Bloom, “Papermaking,” 52.
[14] Hala Khalidi and Basma Ahmad Sedki Dajani, “Facets from the Translation Movement in Classic Arab Culture,” Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 205 (2015): 570, accessed April 12, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.09.080.
[15] Ibid., 571.
[16] Barış, “First Translation Activities in Islamic Science History and Their Contribution to Knowledge Production,” 715.
[17] Ibid., 715.
[18] Ibid., 717.
[19] Khalidi and Dajani, “Facets from the Translation Movement in Classic Arab Culture,” 572.
[20] Barış, “First Translation Activities in Islamic Science History and Their Contribution to Knowledge Production,” 717.
[21] John Freely, Light from the East: How the Science of Medieval Islam Helped to Shape the Western World(London, UNITED KINGDOM: I. B. Tauris & Company, Limited, 2010), 47, accessed April 12, 2019, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/apus/detail.action?docID=830124.
[22] Ibid., 47.
[23] Khalidi and Dajani, “Facets from the Translation Movement in Classic Arab Culture,”571.
[24] Frank McLynn, “Mongols at the Gate,” Military History 32, no. 3 (September 2015): 42, accessed April 15, 2019, http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip&db=tsh&AN=103291578&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
[25] Ibid., 43.
[26] Ibid., 43.
Bibliography:
Barış, Mustafa Necati. "First Translation Activities in Islamic Science History and their Contribution to Knowledge Production." Cumhuriyet Ilahiyat Dergisi22, no. 1 (06, 2018): 705-730. Accessed April 12, 2019. https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/docview/2059610173?accountid=8289.
Bloom, Jonathan. Paper before Print the History and Impact of Paper in the Islamic World. ACLS Humanities E-Book. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001.
------. “Papermaking: The Historical Diffusion of an Ancient Technique.” In Mobilities of Knowledge, edited by Heike Jöns, Peter Meusburger, and Michael Heffernan, 51–66. Knowledge and Space. Springer International Publishing, 2017. Accessed April 12, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44654-7_3.
Freely, John. Light from the East: How the Science of Medieval Islam Helped to Shape the Western World.London, United Kingdom: I. B. Tauris & Company, Limited, 2010.
Khalidi, Hala, and Basma Ahmad Sedki Dajani. “Facets from the Translation Movement in Classic Arab Culture.” Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences205 (2015): 569–576. Accessed April 12, 2019. https://ac.els-cdn.com/S1877042815050983/1-s2.0-S1877042815050983-main.pdf?_tid=06c004f7-0156-4059-ad40-1c3de89a452f&acdnat=1552924972_8b519eaba67a5ce3bcabea429eaf25ef.
McLynn, Frank. “Mongols at the Gate.” Military History32, no. 3 (September 2015): 36–43. Accessed April 15, 2019. http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip&db=tsh&AN=103291578&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
