Islamic Golden Age

• Islamic scholarship is responsible for perfume, mapping, coffee, and the use of digits from 0-9.
• Scholars gathered at Baghdad's House of Wisdom to preserve classical knowledge and advance academic disciplines when Europe was in the Dark Ages.
• This House of Wisdom was one of many learning centers during Islam’s Golden Age.
• Islam began in the Arabian Peninsula in 610 CE.
• It spread quickly through conquest and conversion, and within a century, Muslims controlled an empire from Spain to China.
• The Abbasid caliphate gained control in 750 and moved the empire's capitol to Baghdad.
• During this dynasty, trade and ideas flowed freely across the empire.
• The Abbasids formed an advanced Islamic culture by appropriating ideas from conquered lands and Late Antiquity with contributions from various ethnicities and religions.
• The Arab world promoted both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars.
• These scholars significantly contributed to art, literature, science, medicine, and mathematics.
• Islam's Golden Age began with the Abbasid caliphate in 750 CE and lasted until the Mongol invasion in 1258.

Arts & Literature

• Islamic religious tradition discourages the depiction of human figures in religious art, so Muslim artists developed unique decorative elements.
• The art of glass blowing was perfected during this period.
• Miniature paintings adorned glass, silver, brass, and ivory objects.
• Manuscripts were written in calligraphy and meticulously illuminated.
• Royal robes and textiles featured lavish embroidery.
• Architecture combines many of these art forms.
• Islamic buildings borrowed domes and arches from the Byzantine Empire.
• They are adorned with calligraphy, geometric designs, and arabesques.
• The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem was built in 691 CE on Judaism’s holiest site.
• The Dome of the Rock represents a political statement, religious monument, and display of grandeur.
• Its outer walls were originally tiled and the exterior of the dome, after being made of lead, is now covered in gold leaf.
• The interior of the dome is decorated with mosaics and calligraphy.
• The Golden Age produced many literary achievements, beginning with the House of Wisdom's opening under the fifth Abbasid ruler.
• Islamic scholars gathered and translated the world's knowledge into Arabic after learning Chinese papermaking.
• This effort preserved classical works from China, India, and Greece, including Aristotle and Plato.
• Muslim writers made commentaries, adapted folk tales, and composed original literature.
• "One Thousand and One Nights," also known as "The Arabian Nights," includes stories like Aladdin, Sinbad, and Ali-Baba.
• Libraries and bookstores were common in Baghdad, indicating a high literacy rate.

Science & Medicine

• Scholars contributed to the scientific world, including chemistry, alchemy, astronomy, and medicine.
• They improved scientific instruments like the astrolabe.
• They refined methods for recording scientific observations, leading to accurate calculations for the movements of the sun, moon, and planets.
• Islamic scholars analyzed Ptolemy's model of the universe, studied eclipses, and calculated the Earth's circumference.
• Pursuing the philosophy that Allah provided a cure for every disease, Islamic scientists made significant achievements in medical practice, education, and pharmacology.
• Specialists in ophthalmology, dentistry, psychiatry, and orthopedics treated injuries and illnesses.
• Hospitals had emergency rooms and surgical facilities with attention paid to hygiene and sanitary conditions.
• Islamic scientists experimented with cardiology and neurology.
• Avicenna compiled "The Canon of Medicine," which became Europe's authoritative medical textbook for over 500 years.
• Physicians attended medical school and had to pass exams before getting licenses.
• Pharmacology emerged as a separate discipline by the 12th century.
• Achievements included mixing sweet syrup with bitter medicine and anesthesia.

Mathematics

• Islamic contribution to the West was in mathematics.
• The digits 0-9, commonly called Arabic numerals, were adapted from India.
• An Italian scholar introduced the digit system to Europe after studying in a Muslim library.
• His publication in 1202 led to the widespread acceptance of Arabic numerals across Europe.
• Islamic scholars pioneered the study of algebra
• Islamic scholars wrote influential textbooks on the subject.
• Mathematicians pursued geometry, trigonometry, and used the decimal system.

The Islamic Golden Age began in 610 CE and expanded rapidly into an empire from Spain to China. Baghdad's House of Wisdom became a center for preserving knowledge and advancing academic disciplines. Islamic scholars made significant contributions to art, lit, science, medicine, and math.