Achievements of The Islamic Empires in Medieval times
By: Nathan S.
Science and Philosophy: Islamic empire contributed to the achievements of the Islamic culture. Some of the advancements for the Muslim Scholars was in math, astronomy, geography, and science. Scholars at Baghdad and Cordoba translated many different ancient writing into Arabic. Having all one language helped Scholars share what they learned even though they had different languages.
Astronomy: In the Muslim world there were places to study astronomy the stars moon and the sun. The pint in studying the sky was to better understand time. The Muslim scientist even improved the astrolabe with is a device that the Greeks invented to chart the point the stars are in the sky. Muslim scientist used the astrolabe to locate them on the earth and it helped Muslims find the direction they face to pray to Mecca. The astrolabe would later become a very important factor in exploring the seas.
Geography: Studying astronomy helped merchants and explorers travel far away. An example would be, Ibn Battuta traveled to China, Spain, Africa and India in 1320s. Muslim geographers made more reliable maps to travel with. They even found a accurate was to calculate distance. A Muslim geographer named al-Idrisi in the mid-1100s gather information from Arab travelers because he was writing a book a wanted it to be as accurate as possible. When he had a question about a mountain or valley he would send trained geographers to find the exact location. With the information that the geographers brought back he made some very important discoveries. He proved that land did not go all the way around the Indian ocean.
Math: Muslims also made advancements in math to because what they did was combine the Indian number system including the zero with the Greek science of mathematics. A man named al-Khwarizmi who used both of these math system to write a new math book that he called al-jabr, or “algebra”. It is the foundation of what we call algebra today. When the Muslims brought the math to the Europeans in 1500s the Europeans called the new numbers “Arabic” numerals.
Medicine: Muslims greatest scientific advancement was the Medicine. They studied Greek and Indian to have more knowledge on the subject with discoveries of the own. Muslim doctors improved medicine in Baghdad as early as 800s. Some of the things that the Muslims created was (created tests for doctors to pass before they could treat people)( made encyclopedias of drugs with descriptions of each drug’s effects)( wrote descriptions of diseases)( started the first pharmacy school to teach people how to make medicines) The first hospital that was ever opened to the public was in Baghdad. In the first public hospital had a doctor named Ar-Razi who found a way to treat a disease called smallpox. Another doctor that was known in the west as Avicenna was really called Ibn-Sina made an encyclopedia for medicine. The encyclopedia that Ibn-Sina was translated into latin and used through all of Europe until 1600s. It was later the is one of most famous medicine book.
Philosophy: Many of the Muslim doctors and scientist would study the ancient Greek philosophy of rational thought and reason. Some of the other Muslims developed new philosophy. Their attention was mainly on spiritual problems. Many Muslims lived a simple based around God. With their focus on spiritual issues led to a movement called Sufism. It means that people can find God's love by having a personal relationship with God. They would call God their Beloved and focused on loving him. The impact the Sufism was very big.
Literature: Two types of literature that were very popular in the Muslim world were short stories and poems. Sufism influenced Poetry. Some of the sufism poetry was about how strong and close their relationship is with God. Sufism spread through the poetry to other Muslims. Omar Khayyam was one of the most famous Sufi poet. In a book that is called the Rubaiyat Omar wrote about faith hope and other emotions. Some of the poems by Omar express deep sadness and despair others like this one show of happier scenes. “ A book of verse,underneath the bough, a jug of wine, a loaf of bread--and thou,Beside me singing in the wilderness--Ah,wilderness were paradise enow(enough)!” Another thing that Muslims liked to read was short stories. A famous collection of short stories is The Thousand and One Nights. It contains stories of legendary heroes and characters. A European compiler added some famous short stories later. Some of the famous stories were “Sinbad the Sailor,” “Aladdin.” and “Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves.” Many of these very famous short stories came from India, Egypt and other places that were influenced by the Muslims.
Architecture: One of most important forms of art to the Muslims was architecture. Some would argue that the greatest architectural achievements were the Muslim empires mosques. The first mosques were very simple because they were built to look like the courtyard of Muhammad house where he led community prayer. When the wealth of the Muslim grew rulers became very good sponsors of architecture. The main part of any mosque is the main hall where people would pray many mosques had domes on the center and a minaret. Minaret means a narrow tower where Muslims are called to prayer. Some mosques have many domes and minaret like the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. The great mosques were built in major cities like Cordoba, Cairo, Mecca and Baghdad. Muslim architectures also built palaces, libraries and marketplaces. These buildings have very complicated arches and domes, decorated tiles and colored bricks. Muslims is know for all of these incredible features.
Art: Although most of the walls and ceilings are painted with art the art is not of humans or animals. Muslims think that only Allah can only create humans and animals. So most Muslims artist do not include animals or humans in their art. Muslims artist turned to calligraphy which is decorative writing instead of drawing humans or animals. These used calligraphy to make sayings from the Qur’an into amazing works of art and would decorate mosques and other buildings. They also painted the calligraphy into tiles, wove it into carpet and decorated swords with it. Islamic beliefs influenced Muslims art and literature. When Muslims conquered an area they would practice the areas traditions. This mix with Islamic cultures Africa, Asia and Europe made a very interesting way of art and literature for the Muslims.
All of the advancements, achievements and inventions by the Muslims would be considered to be very light. When we call the middle ages “dark” we need to think about other places then Europe? Also, why do we call the middles ages “dark” when there were more “light” than “dark?” So still why do we call the middle ages “dark.” We need to think about what good came out of the middle ages not just the bad things.
Astronomy: In the Muslim world there were places to study astronomy the stars moon and the sun. The pint in studying the sky was to better understand time. The Muslim scientist even improved the astrolabe with is a device that the Greeks invented to chart the point the stars are in the sky. Muslim scientist used the astrolabe to locate them on the earth and it helped Muslims find the direction they face to pray to Mecca. The astrolabe would later become a very important factor in exploring the seas.
Geography: Studying astronomy helped merchants and explorers travel far away. An example would be, Ibn Battuta traveled to China, Spain, Africa and India in 1320s. Muslim geographers made more reliable maps to travel with. They even found a accurate was to calculate distance. A Muslim geographer named al-Idrisi in the mid-1100s gather information from Arab travelers because he was writing a book a wanted it to be as accurate as possible. When he had a question about a mountain or valley he would send trained geographers to find the exact location. With the information that the geographers brought back he made some very important discoveries. He proved that land did not go all the way around the Indian ocean.
Math: Muslims also made advancements in math to because what they did was combine the Indian number system including the zero with the Greek science of mathematics. A man named al-Khwarizmi who used both of these math system to write a new math book that he called al-jabr, or “algebra”. It is the foundation of what we call algebra today. When the Muslims brought the math to the Europeans in 1500s the Europeans called the new numbers “Arabic” numerals.
Medicine: Muslims greatest scientific advancement was the Medicine. They studied Greek and Indian to have more knowledge on the subject with discoveries of the own. Muslim doctors improved medicine in Baghdad as early as 800s. Some of the things that the Muslims created was (created tests for doctors to pass before they could treat people)( made encyclopedias of drugs with descriptions of each drug’s effects)( wrote descriptions of diseases)( started the first pharmacy school to teach people how to make medicines) The first hospital that was ever opened to the public was in Baghdad. In the first public hospital had a doctor named Ar-Razi who found a way to treat a disease called smallpox. Another doctor that was known in the west as Avicenna was really called Ibn-Sina made an encyclopedia for medicine. The encyclopedia that Ibn-Sina was translated into latin and used through all of Europe until 1600s. It was later the is one of most famous medicine book.
Philosophy: Many of the Muslim doctors and scientist would study the ancient Greek philosophy of rational thought and reason. Some of the other Muslims developed new philosophy. Their attention was mainly on spiritual problems. Many Muslims lived a simple based around God. With their focus on spiritual issues led to a movement called Sufism. It means that people can find God's love by having a personal relationship with God. They would call God their Beloved and focused on loving him. The impact the Sufism was very big.
Literature: Two types of literature that were very popular in the Muslim world were short stories and poems. Sufism influenced Poetry. Some of the sufism poetry was about how strong and close their relationship is with God. Sufism spread through the poetry to other Muslims. Omar Khayyam was one of the most famous Sufi poet. In a book that is called the Rubaiyat Omar wrote about faith hope and other emotions. Some of the poems by Omar express deep sadness and despair others like this one show of happier scenes. “ A book of verse,underneath the bough, a jug of wine, a loaf of bread--and thou,Beside me singing in the wilderness--Ah,wilderness were paradise enow(enough)!” Another thing that Muslims liked to read was short stories. A famous collection of short stories is The Thousand and One Nights. It contains stories of legendary heroes and characters. A European compiler added some famous short stories later. Some of the famous stories were “Sinbad the Sailor,” “Aladdin.” and “Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves.” Many of these very famous short stories came from India, Egypt and other places that were influenced by the Muslims.
Architecture: One of most important forms of art to the Muslims was architecture. Some would argue that the greatest architectural achievements were the Muslim empires mosques. The first mosques were very simple because they were built to look like the courtyard of Muhammad house where he led community prayer. When the wealth of the Muslim grew rulers became very good sponsors of architecture. The main part of any mosque is the main hall where people would pray many mosques had domes on the center and a minaret. Minaret means a narrow tower where Muslims are called to prayer. Some mosques have many domes and minaret like the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. The great mosques were built in major cities like Cordoba, Cairo, Mecca and Baghdad. Muslim architectures also built palaces, libraries and marketplaces. These buildings have very complicated arches and domes, decorated tiles and colored bricks. Muslims is know for all of these incredible features.
Art: Although most of the walls and ceilings are painted with art the art is not of humans or animals. Muslims think that only Allah can only create humans and animals. So most Muslims artist do not include animals or humans in their art. Muslims artist turned to calligraphy which is decorative writing instead of drawing humans or animals. These used calligraphy to make sayings from the Qur’an into amazing works of art and would decorate mosques and other buildings. They also painted the calligraphy into tiles, wove it into carpet and decorated swords with it. Islamic beliefs influenced Muslims art and literature. When Muslims conquered an area they would practice the areas traditions. This mix with Islamic cultures Africa, Asia and Europe made a very interesting way of art and literature for the Muslims.
All of the advancements, achievements and inventions by the Muslims would be considered to be very light. When we call the middle ages “dark” we need to think about other places then Europe? Also, why do we call the middles ages “dark” when there were more “light” than “dark?” So still why do we call the middle ages “dark.” We need to think about what good came out of the middle ages not just the bad things.