Western Civilization

established a caliphate in Egypt in 973, and an inde-

pendent dynasty also operated in North Africa. Despite

the political disunity of the Islamic world, however, the

underlying Islamic civilization was unified by two com-

mon bonds: the Qur’an and the Arabic language.

Islamic Civilization

From the beginning of their empire, Muslim Arabs had

demonstrated a willingness to absorb the culture of

their conquered territories. The Arabs were truly heirs

to the remaining Greco-Roman culture of the Roman

Empire. Just as readily, they assimilated Byzantine and

Persian culture. In the eighth and ninth centuries,

numerous Greek, Syrian, and Persian scientific and

philosophical works were translated into Arabic. As the

chief language in the southern Mediterranean and the

Near East and the required language of Muslims, Ara-

bic became a truly international tongue.

The Muslims created a brilliant urban culture at a

time when western Europe was predominantly a world

of small rural villages. This can be seen in such new

cities as Baghdad and Cairo, but also in Cordoba, the

capital of the Umayyad caliphate in Spain. With a pop-

ulation of possibly 100,000, Cordoba was Europe’s

largest city after Constantinople. It had seventy public

libraries, and the number of manuscripts in the caliph’s

private library reached 400,000. Schools were also

established, and the Great Mosque of Cordoba became

a center for scholars from all over the Islamic world.

Large numbers of women served as teachers and librar-

ians in Cordoba.

During the first few centuries of the Arab empire, it

was the Islamic world that saved and spread the scien-

tific and philosophical works of ancient civilizations. At

a time when the ancient Greek philosophers were

largely unknown in Europe, key works by Plato and Ar-

istotle were translated into Arabic. They were put in a

library called the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, where

they were read and studied by Muslim scholars. Texts

on mathematics were also brought from India. This

process was aided by the use of paper. In the eighth

century, the making of paper was introduced from

China, and by the end of the century paper factories

had been established in Baghdad. Booksellers and

libraries soon followed. European universities later

benefited from this scholarship when these works

were translated from Arabic into Latin.

Although Islamic scholars are rightly praised for pre-

serving much of classical knowledge for the West, they

also made considerable advances of their own.

Nowhere is this more evident than in their contribu-

tions to mathematics and the natural sciences. The

Muslims adopted and passed on the numerical system

Preserving Greek Literature.

After the collapse of the

Western Roman Empire, the

philosophical works of ancient

Greece were virtually forgotten

in Europe. It was thanks to

Muslim scholars, who stored

copies and translations in

libraries in the Arab world, that

many classical Greek writings

survived. Here young Muslim

scholars are being trained in the

Greek language so that they can

translate classical Greek

literature into Arabic. Later the

works were translated back into

Latin and served as a catalyst

for an intellectual revival in

medieval and Renaissance

Europe.

Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul/The Bridgeman Art Library

194 Chapter 8European Civilization in the Early Middle Ages, 750–1000

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