The History and Achievements of the Islamic Golden Age

228 Pages·2017·12 MB·English

by  Eamonn Gearon

Topic Subtopic
History Civilization & Culture
The History and
Achievements of the
Islamic Golden Age
Course Guidebook
Professorial Lecturer Eamonn Gearon
Johns Hopkins University
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The Teaching Company.
Eamonn Gearon, M.A.
Professorial Lecturer
Johns Hopkins University,
School of Advanced
International Studies
Eamonn Gearon is a
Professorial Lecturer in
African Studies at Johns
Hopkins University, School of
Advanced International Studies,
in Washington DC. Having
graduated with an undergraduate
degree in Theology from the
University of Southampton,
England, Mr. Gearon moved to
Egypt, where he taught at the
American University in Cairo.
He received his M.A. in Near
and Middle Eastern Studies and
Arabic from the School of Oriental
and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London.
Mr. Gearon is the cofounder and managing director of The Siwa Group,
a specialist consultancy firm that works with both the U.S. government
and the private sector. Mr. Gearon is responsible for training U.S.
Department of State officials, Department of Defense workers, and other
U.S. government employees whose work takes them to or is concerned
with North Africa and the Middle East. He is a noted analyst and
ii
researcher into military affairs and Islamist-inspired terrorism across the
Middle East for organizations such as Jane’s.
A camel expert, Mr. Gearon also spent years living in, traveling, and
exploring the Sahara, both with the Bedu people and on a number of
solo, camel-powered expeditions. These days, he enjoys his role as a
public speaker; his presentations combine elements of Middle Eastern
history and contemporary affairs. He is a distinguished speaker on
Cunard’s flagship Queen Mary 2 and other vessels.
Mr. Gearon has published extensively on Middle Eastern history, culture,
and contemporary politics. A regular reviewer for The Times Literary
Supplement and other prestigious publications, he is also the author of
The Sahara: A Cultural History. He has contributed to numerous other
titles, including the Encyclopedia of African History (edited by Kevin
Shillington), Meetings with Remarkable Muslims: A Collection of Travel
Writing (edited by Barnaby Rogerson and Rose Baring), and Sahara
Overland: A Route and Planning Guide.
Mr. Gearon has taught one other Great Course: Turning Points in Middle
Eastern History. ■
ii The History and Achievements of the Islamic Golden Age
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
Professor Biography ..................................... i
Course Scope .......................................... 1
LECTURE GUIDES
Lecture 1
From Camels to Stars in the Middle East .................... 3
Lecture 2
Ibn Battuta’s Search for Knowledge ....................... 12
Lecture 3
Arabian Nights Caliph: Harun al-Rashid .................... 20
Lecture 4
The Arab World’s Greatest Writer: al-Jahiz .................. 29
Lecture 5
Algebra, Algorithms, and al-Khwarizmi ..................... 37
Lecture 6
Baghdad’s House of Wisdom ............................ 46
Lecture 7
Muhammad, the Hadith, and Imam Bukhari ................. 55
Lecture 8
Interpreting and Defending the Quran ..................... 63
iii
Lecture 9
The Arab Herodotus: al-Masudi .......................... 72
Lecture 10
Cairo, al-Haytham, and the Book of Optics .................. 80
Lecture 11
Master Muslim Scholar: al-Biruni .......................... 88
Lecture 12
Astronomy in the Islamic Golden Age ...................... 94
Lecture 13
Medieval Muslim Medicine and Hospitals .................. 103
Lecture 14
Alchemistry and Chemistry in Early Baghdad ............... 111
Lecture 15
The Fertile Crescent, Water, and al-Jazari ................. 119
Lecture 16
Jewish Scholar in Cairo: Moses Maimonides ............... 128
Lecture 17
The Banu Musa’s Inventions and Automatons .............. 137
Lecture 18
Mosques, Architecture, and Gothic Revival ................ 144
Lecture 19
Arabic Verse, Love Poetry, and Wine Songs ................ 153
Lecture 20
Medieval Mastermind: Avicenna (Ibn Sina) ................. 161
Lecture 21
Entertaining in the Time of the Abbasids ................... 169
iv The History and Achievements of the Islamic Golden Age
Lecture 22
Calligraphy, Carpets, and the Arabic Arts ................. 178
Lecture 23
When Did the Islamic Golden Age End? ................... 185
Lecture 24
Ibn Khaldun on the Rise and Fall of Empire ................ 193
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
List of Arabic Places and People ........................ 200
Bibliography ........................................ 202
Image Credits ....................................... 218
Table of Contents v
vi The History and Achievements of the Islamic Golden Age
The History and
Achievements of the
Islamic Golden Age
Scope
The Islamic Golden Age was one of the most remarkable periods
of scholarly achievement and cultural flourishing in human history.
Covering the years from approximately 750–1250, the advancements
made during this period are akin to the blossoming of wisdom in ancient
Greece, or the later European Renaissance. Like ancient Greece and
the European Renaissance, the Islamic Golden Age was made possible
by a happy coincidence of politics, patronage, and great minds.
In addition to covering a 500-year period, your journey through this
booming era of cultural flourishing and scientific discovery also covers a
vast geographical area. Ranging over three continents—Asia, Africa, and
Europe—you will explore events from Cordoba, in modern-day Spain, to
Egypt’s ancient capital of Cairo, examining such famous centers of trade
as Samarqand, in central Asia, and Timbuktu, in the heart of the Sahara.
The city of Baghdad, now the capital of Iraq, also plays a central role in
the story of the Islamic Golden Age: The period begins in 750 with the
rise of the Abbasid caliphate and the Abbasids’ decision to establish
Baghdad as their new capital, while the sack of Baghdad in 1258 by
Mongol hordes marks the story’s tragic closing chapter.
As you will learn, one of the more remarkable features of this period,
in contrast with ancient Greece and the European Renaissance, is that
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although it’s called the Islamic Golden Age, its greatest successes came
about when Muslim, Jewish, and Christian scholars lived and studied
side by side. Conversely, whenever individual rulers abandoned this
generally enlightened atmosphere of mutual tolerance and respect, their
regimes soon suffered an attendant loss of status and greatness. You
will meet giants of philosophy and theology such as al-Kindi, Ibn Sina
(known in the West as Avicenna), Ibn Rushd (aka Averroes), and Moses
Maimonides, one of the greatest Talmudic scholars who ever lived.
Individual lectures will cover such different fields of study as astronomy
and astrology, alchemy and chemistry, water management and
agriculture, food, music and storytelling, and major advances in medical
theory and practice. You will also meet a man called al-Khwarizmi,
from whose name we take the English word “algorithm,” and who
single-handedly developed a new field of mathematics dealing with
“connections”—or, as he called it in Arabic, al-gebr—that we know today
as algebra. Advances in sacred and secular architecture that took place
across the Greater Middle East are also considered, including the rise
of the arch, dome, and spire. Although Islam has a general prohibition
on drinking alcohol, it was during the Islamic Golden Age that Muslim
scientists first worked out the process of distillation.
In the more domestic setting, you will meet a man called Ziryab, who
was responsible for introducing Europe to the three-course meal and
numerous other enduring and everyday fashions. Taken together, these
24 lectures offer a remarkable journey through one of the most brilliant,
and all too often overlooked, periods of achievement in all of human
intellectual, scientific, and cultural history. ■
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