The period when the Muslim world was ruled by the Caliphate is called the Golden Age of Islam. This era lasted from the VIII to XIII century AD. It began with the grand opening of the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. There, scientists from different parts of the world sought to collect all the knowledge available at that time and translate them into Arabic. The culture of the Caliphate countries during this period was experiencing an unprecedented heyday. The Golden Age ended during the Mongol invasion and fall of Baghdad in 1258.
Reasons for Cultural Rise
In the 8th century, a new invention, paper, penetrated from China to territories inhabited by Arabs. It was much cheaper and easier to manufacture than parchment, more convenient and more durable than papyrus. She also absorbed ink better, making it easier to make copies of manuscripts. Thanks to the advent of paper, books have become much cheaper and more affordable.
The ruling dynasty of the Caliphate, the Abbasids, supported the accumulation and transfer of knowledge. She referred to the saying of the Prophet Muhammad, which read: "The ink of a scientist is a greater shrine than the blood of a martyr."
The culture of the countries of the Arab Caliphate did not arise from scratch. It was based on the achievements of earlier civilizations. Many classical works of antiquity were translated into Arabic and Persian, and later into Turkish, Hebrew and Latin. Arabs assimilated, rethought and expanded knowledge gained from ancient Greek, Roman, Persian, Indian, Chinese and other sources.
Science and philosophy
The culture of the Caliphate combined Islamic traditions with the ideas of ancient thinkers, primarily Aristotle and Plato. Arabic philosophical literature was also translated into Latin, contributing to the development of European science.
Based on Greek predecessors such as Euclid and Archimedes, the mathematicians of the Caliphate were the first to systematize the study of algebra. Arabs introduced Europeans to Indian numbers, the decimal system .
In the Moroccan city of Fez, a university was founded in 859. Later similar establishments opened in Cairo and Baghdad. Universities have studied theology, law, and Islamic history. The culture of the Caliphate was open to outside influence. Among the teachers and students were not only Arabs, but also foreigners, including non-Muslims.
The medicine
In the IX century, a system of medicine based on scientific analysis began to develop on the territory of the Caliphate. The thinkers of this time Ar-Razi and Ibn Sina (Avicenna) systematized his modern knowledge of the treatment of diseases and set them out in books, which later became widely known in medieval Europe. Thanks to the Arabs, the Christian world rediscovered the ancient Greek physicians of Hippocrates and Galen.
The culture of the countries of the Caliphate included the traditions of helping the poor, based on Islamic precepts. Therefore, in large cities, there were free hospitals that provided assistance to all patients who applied. They were funded by religious foundations - waqfs. The world's first institutions for the care of the mentally ill appeared on the territory of the Caliphate.
art
Features of the culture of the Arab Caliphate were especially pronounced in decorative art. Islamic ornaments cannot be confused with the fine arts of other civilizations. Carpets, clothes, furniture, utensils, facades and the interior of buildings were decorated with characteristic patterns.
The use of ornamentation is associated with a religious ban on the image of animated creatures. But it was not always strictly enforced. In book illustrations, images of people were widespread. And in Persia, which was also part of the Caliphate, similar murals were painted on the walls of buildings.
Glassware
Egypt and Syria in ancient times were centers of glass production. On the territory of the Caliphate, this type of craft was preserved and improved. In the early Middle Ages , the world's best glass products were made in the Middle East and Persia. The highest technical culture of the Caliphate was appreciated by Italians. Later, the Venetians, using the achievements of Islamic masters, created their glass industry.
Calligraphy
The desire for perfection and beauty of inscriptions permeated the entire culture of the Arab Caliphate. A brief religious instruction or passage from the Qur'an was applied to a wide variety of objects: coins, ceramic tiles, metal gratings, walls of houses, etc. Masters who knew the art of calligraphy had a higher status in the Arab world than other artists.
Literature and Poetry
At the initial stage, the culture of the Caliphate countries was characterized by a concentration on religious subjects and a desire to supplant regional languages with Arabic. But later there was a liberalization of many areas of public life. This in particular led to a revival of Persian literature.
Of greatest interest is the poetry of that period. Poems are found in almost every Persian book. Even if it is a work in philosophy, astronomy or mathematics. For example, almost half of the text of Avicenna's book on medicine is written in verse. Widespread panegyrics. Epic poetry also developed. The peak of this trend is the poem "Shahname."
The famous tales of the Thousand and One Nights are also of Persian origin. But for the first time they were collected in one book and recorded in Arabic in the 13th century in Baghdad.
Architecture
The culture of the countries of the Caliphate was formed under the influence of both ancient pre-Islamic civilizations and peoples neighboring with the Arabs. Most clearly, this synthesis manifested itself in architecture. Buildings in the Byzantine and Syrian style are characteristic of early Muslim architecture. The architects and designers of many structures built on the territory of the Caliphate were natives of Christian countries.
The great mosque in Damascus was built on the site of the Basilica of John the Baptist and almost exactly repeated its shape. But soon the actual Islamic architectural style appeared. The Grand Mosque of Keyruan in Tunisia became a model for all subsequent Muslim religious buildings. It has a square shape and consists of a minaret, a large courtyard surrounded by porticoes, and a huge prayer hall with two domes.
The culture of the countries of the Arab Caliphate had pronounced regional features. So, for Persian architecture, lancet and horseshoe-shaped arches were typical, for Ottoman - buildings with many domes, for Maghreb - the use of columns.
The caliphate had extensive trade and political ties with other countries. Therefore, his culture had a great influence on many peoples and civilizations.