House of Wisdom: Symbol of Scientific Imperial Glory of the Early Islamic Period

The Golden Age

One of the largest and richest cities in the world at the time, Baghdad was founded in 762 AD by the Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur. Great minds from many countries gathered at the Baghdad Library, known as the House of Wisdom or Bayt al-Hikma. From mathematics and astronomy to zoology, the Academy was a major centre of research, thought and debate in the Muslim civilization that later became known as the Islamic Golden Age.

Some of Baghdad's most famous caliphs, including al-Rashid and al-Ma'mun, took a personal interest in collecting global, ground-breaking scientific works. As well as collecting books from East and West, he brought together scholars from all corners of the Muslim lands to form one of the greatest intellectual academies in history.

The House of Wisdom was initially built by Caliph Harun al-Rashid (reigned 786 – 809 AD) as a magnificent library called the Khijanat al-Hikma (Library of Wisdom), which housed works collected by his father and grandfather on a variety of subjects works were kept, manuscripts and books were included arts and sciences and in different languages.

In the House of Wisdom, translators, scientists, scribes, authors, litterateurs, scribes, copyists and others met every day for translation, reading, writing, discourse, dialogue and discussion. Many manuscripts and books on different scientific subjects and philosophical concepts and ideas and in different languages were translated there.

People from all over Muslim civilization came to the House of Wisdom - both men and women of many religions and castes. Among the principal luminaries of the Academy were al-Kindi, who ordered the translation of Aristotle, and Hunayan ibn Ishaq, who translated Hippocrates.

Other names associated with the House of Wisdom include: Banu Musa bin Shakir al-Munajjim (the astronomer); Yahya bin Abi Mansur al-Munajjim al-Ma'mouni (Ma'mouni the Astronomer); Muhammad bin Musa al-Khwarizmi; Bin Haroon al-Kateeb (the author) said; Hunayn bin Ishaq (Ishaq) al-Ibadi, and his son Ishaq; Thabit bin Qurra; and Umar bin Farrukhan al-Tibar.

Several languages were spoken and studied at the House of Wisdom, including Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, and Latin.

Experts continually worked to translate older texts into Arabic to allow scholars to understand, debate, and build on them. Among the famous translators was Yohanna bin al-Batrik al-Turjuman (the translator Jonah, son of the patriarch), who translated the Book of Animals (Kitab al-Haywan) by Hunain bin Ishaq.

Caliph al-Ma'mun is said to have encouraged translators and scholars to add to the library at the House of Wisdom by giving each completed book its weight in gold.

The successful transfer of knowledge and the creation of a centre of learning in Baghdad echoed in many other cities of the Muslim civilization. The Dar al-Hikma in Cairo was built by Caliph al-Hakim in 1005 and lasted 165 years. Other cities in the eastern provinces of the Muslim civilization also established the House of Science (Dar al-Ilm), or more precisely the House of Knowledge, in the 9th and 10th centuries to emulate Baghdad.

Then in the 12th century, Toledo in Andalusia (Muslim Spain) became the centre of another major translation effort – this time from Arabic to Latin. Arabic works and translations of important ancient Greek texts came to light, and Christian, Jewish and Muslim scholars flocked to the city to translate ancient Greek and Arabic texts into Latin and then into European languages.