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Music of Muslim Spain

The music of Muslim Spain, which combined musical stylesfrom all over the world, was an important achievement during theGolden Age of Muslims. Europe's first music conservatory(school) was established in Cordoba by an Arab named Ziryad, aslave liberated from Baghdad. Musicians from all over CentralAsia and Africa were hired by royal courts to entertain royalty andimportant visitors, such as wealthy merchants. These musiciansdeveloped a distinct style of music from the patterns and rhythmsof poetry that combined the styles of classical Arab and nativeSpanish cultures. In fact, poets and musicians worked together tocreate songs about love, nature, and glorious achievements of theempire. By the eleventh century, this music was so popular thatthe courts of the caliphs and other rulers competed to see whosemusicians produced the most pleasing songs. The instrumentsmost often used in this music included: the oud, a short-neckedstring instrument that is the ancestor of the guitar; the rebab, aninstrument brought to Spain by Middle Eastern musicians thatresembles a violin; the ney, a simple wood flute; and the darbuka, agoblet-shaped drum made of pottery. The origins of manyinstruments, including the oboe, trumpet, violin, guitar, harp, and

. percussion instruments can be traced to this music of MuslimSpain.

The City of Baghdad

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Baghdad, now the capital city of Iraq, was chosen by theAbbasid ruler, Caliphal-Mansur, to be the center of his empire inthe eighth century. Baghdad was an ideal choice because it laybetween two rivers and was at the crossroads of great trade routes.The city was built in concentric circles (each inside the other), witha deep moat surrounding three circular walls. The citizens ofBaghdad lived in houses outside the walls. The space between theouter and middle walls was left clear for defense. Between themiddle and inner walls were the houses of army officers. Behindthe innermost wall were the residences of the Caliph's family andthe highest officials. At the very hub of the city was the Caliph'spalace of marble and stone. The Caliph chose this spot because hewanted to live at the very center of his empire .

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Polo

The game ?f polo was introduced to the Muslim world by thePersians. Polo is a ball and goal game played on horseback by twoteams of four on a grass field with goal posts at either end. Playersuse a wooden mallet to strike the ball into the goal. The gamebecame a great favorite among the wealthy classes because of itsuse of horses. The Abbasid rulers loved the game and valuedraising fast-moving, champion Arabian horses to improve polo.The Muslims adapted and improved the game, which was thenintroduced to Europeans. Today it is played all over the world .

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Irrigation Techniques and Underground Wells

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Because water was so scarce in the desert regions of theIslamic Empire, Muslims developed ingenious irrigationtechniques and utilized underground wells. Dams, reservoirs, andaqueducts were constructed throughout the Islamic Empire as earlyas the tenth century. Muslims also perfected the water wheel, atechnique that could be operated by man, animals, or the wind.When an upright pole connected to a series of geared wheels wasturned, four water scoops, rising one after another, emptied theircontents into a canaL Both the Umayyad and Abbasid rulerspreserved and improved the series of underground wells used toirrigate fields. Underground wells were placed as much as 50 feetdeep in order to tap underground water sources and to keep waterloss through evaporation (change from a liquid to a vapor) to aminimum. Much of the agriculture of the Islamic Empire wasdependent on irrigation techniques-and underground-wells, as weremost of the Muslim people .

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Mosques

Muslims created distinctive forms of architecture. A particularlyimportant type of building was the mosque, the Muslim house ofworship.

Mosques usually had a minaret (tower) with a small balconywhere the muezzin chanted the call to prayer. In the walled courtyardstood a fountain for washing before prayers.

Inside the mosque was the prayer room. Worshipers sat on matsand carpets on the floor. The imam, or prayer leader, gave his sermonfrom raised pulpit called a minbar. Next to the minbar was the mihrab,the niche that indicated the direction of Mecca {Makkah}.

Many design styles and materials went into the building ofmosques, reflecting the great diversity of Muslim lands. Like thecathedrals of Europe, mosques expressed the religious faith and theartistic heritage of their builders.

HOSPITALS AND MEDICINE

An interest in treating illness can be traced back to the beginning of Islamic history whenMuhammad himself stated that Allah had provided a cure for every illness. It was in theMuslim world that hospitals were first established. An early hospital that became a model forthe future was founded in Damascus, Syria. By the io" century} Baghdad had at least 5hospitals. Most cities and towns also had one or two. Many hospitals served as teachingcenters for doctors in training. Anyone who needed treatment could get it, because thegovernment paid all expenses. There were even hospital caravans that brought medical careto people in remote villages.

Muslim hospitals had separate wards for men and women} surgical patients} and peoplewith diseases that others could catch. Doctors treated ailments through drugs} diet} andexercise. They gave patients remedies made from herbs} plants, animals} and minerals.Pharmacists made hundreds of medications. Some drugs dulled patients} pain. Antiseptics(medications that fight infection) were used to clean wounds. Ointments helped the woundsheal.

For some problems} surgeons performed delicate operations as a last resort. Drugs suchas opium and hemlock put patients to sleep before operations. Muslim surgeons amputated(cut off) limbs, took out tumors} and removed cataracts (cloudy spots) from the eye. Aftersurgery, doctors used animal gut to stitch up wounds.

Muslim doctors made many discoveries and helped spread medical knowledge. Forexample} al-Razi, a Persian doctor} realized that infections were caused by bacteria. He alsostudied smallpox and measles. His work helped other doctors diagnose and treat these deadlydiseases.

The Persian philosopher Ibn Sina (Avicenna) was also a great doctor. In fact, he hasbeen called" the prince of phvslcians." His most important medical work} The Canon ofMedicine} explored the treatment of diseases. It is one of the classics in the history ofmedicine.

Europeans later translated Ibn Slna's book and many other Muslim works into Latin.Medical schools then used these texts to teach their students. In this way} Muslim doctors hada major impact on European medicine.

TEXTILES

Manufactured cloths, or textiles, had long been important to the Arabpeople as practical items and as trade goods. Muslims in medieval times broughtgreat artistry to the making of textiles. Weavers wove wool, linen, silk, andcotton into cloth, which then might be dyed with vivid colors. Valuable clothssometimes featured long bands of inscriptions or designs showing importantevents. Fabrics were also embroidered, sometimes with gold thread.

Clothes showed rank and served as status symbols in the Muslim world.The caliph and his court wore robes made of the most valuable materials. Finetextiles served as awnings and carpets in the royal palace during festivals or whendistinguished guests visited.

C£N1T£RS OF SCHOLARSHIP AND LEARNING

The House of Wisdom was an educational institution founded inBaghdad by the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun, in A.D. 830. At the House of Wisdom,scholars from many parts of the world translated in Arabic, Greek, Persian, andIndian texts on such topics as mathematics, astronomy, and logic. Scholars whocame to the House of Wisdom translated Greek classics in philosophy and scienceinto Arabic. These scholars helped preserve Greek classicsthat might haveotherwise have been lost or destroyed. The results of their work also assisted inencouraging openness to new ways of thinking. In addition, the House ofWisdom's extensive library, which was open to the public, contained Qur'ans andcollections of Hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) and books on law,poetry, history, and the like. The library was model for other large librariesthroughout the Islamic world.

In the eighth century a new and independent Muslim kingdom wasestablished by the Umayyads in Spain. Its capital city, Cordoba, became a centerof learning and intellectual life and was widely known as a city of bibliophiles(people who love books). The most celebrated library in Cordoba was run byCaliph al-Hakam II al-Mustansir ( A.D. 961-976). AI-Hakam, who was anaccomplished scholar, sent book buyers all over the Muslim Empire to find booksfor his library. Library clerks, many of them women, carefully hand-copied thebooks while calligraphers and bookbinders created beautiful text and coverdesigns. AI-Hakam's library was said to have contained more than 400,000 books,whose titles filled a 44 -volume catalog. The people of Cordoba also collectedbooks for their homes. Those who owned large, personal libraries were regardedas important figures in Cordovan society.

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Astronomy

Astronomy-the scientific study of the skies-was an area inwhich Islamic scientists made great achievements. For centuries,astronomers relied on the belief, put forward by the Alexandrianastronomer Ptolemy, that the earth was the center of the universeand that the sun, stars,and other planets rotated around the earth.Muslim astronomers studied Ptolemy's tables, made their ownobservations, and gradually found and corrected many mistakesPtolemy had made. An instrument used by astronomers thathelped them make new discoveries was the astrolabe, a deviceadapted from the Greeks. This was a small, flat, brass disc markedoff in degrees. By lining up the pointer with the sun.the usercould measure latitude, tell the time of day, and determine theposition or movement of the stars and planets. Some astronomers,who already knew the earth was a sphere (globe), began to believethe earth rotated on its own axis and that the sun was the center ofthe universe. These same ideas were eventually discovered inWestern Europe centuries later.

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Algebra

Muslim scholars of the Abbasid period were very interested infurthering the developments of the ancient Greeks in mathematics.They spent hours trying to stump one another with difficultmathematical puzzles. For fun, they also made "magic boxes" thatwere grids containing numbers that added up to the same sumhorizontally, vertically, and diagonally, The science of algebra aswe know it today was introduced by Muslims. The most famousmath scholar, AI Khwarazmi (al KWAH rihz mee), introducedalgebra to civilization. Algebra comes from the word "al jabr,"which means "the bringing together of separate parts." In algebra,a mathematician substitutes symbols such as x, Y, or z for numbers

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Geometric and Floral Design

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Muslim art was mostly abstract, which meant that the picturesdid not represent real subjects like humans or animals. It wasbelieved that human images would distract worshipers frompraying to Allah. As a result, Muslim artists turned to plantpatterns or geometric designs as art subjects. During the GoldenAge of Muslims, these arts flourished throughout the Islamicworld. The most common was the arabesque, which was awinding stem of leaves and flowers that formed a spiraling design.The arabesque decorated everything from small objects-metalboxes, ceramic bowls, tiles-to carpets and entire walls. The useof geometry in Islamic art was an expression of the idea that unityand order exists everywhere and at all times. Interlacement, whichwas another type of arabesque, was made of geometrical patternsdrawn inside a circle and repeated several times. Despite thereligious guidelines, however, paintings of both humans andanimals did exist. They could be found in private places likebathhouses, women's apartments, and the living quarters of theruling classes.

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Bookmaking

During the rule of the Abbasids, Chinese soldiers capturedduring a battle in central Asia were discovered to be artisansskilled in paper making. These Chinese prisoners taught theircaptors how to make paper, and this new skill spread throughoutthe empire. As a result, books became more available andcontributed to interest in all kinds of learning. Furthermore, sinceboth designs and calligraphy were used to decorate books, it.became a status symbol to own them. Indeed, a sign of a wealthyperson was a well-stocked library.

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Calligraphy

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Calligraphy, which means beautiful writing, is the art ofelegant handwriting. Calligraphy was first used by Muslims whenthe Arabs began preparing copies of the Qur' an (the Muslim holybook). The words of the Qur' an were written in calligraphybecause only calligraphy was considered worthy of the word ofGod. As a result, the calligrapher was honored above other artists,,~d calligraphy was considered the highest form of decoration.Verses from the Qur'an adorned the walls of mosques. Calligraphywas also used to decorate textiles, ceramics, and metal works withinscriptions of worldly wisdom. In Muslim art, the words writtenin calligraphy are admired for their beauty. The art of calligraphywas taken to such a height because in the early period of Islam, theuse of visual images to depict humans or animals was prohibited.

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Zoology

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Muslim scholars made great advances in zoology, thescientific study of animals, during the Golden Age. Because foryears Muslims' lifestyle and economy were dependent onanimals-for trade and travel-there was interest in the study ofanimals. AI-J ahiz was one of the foremost scholars to explorezoology. Born about the year A.D. 776 in the town of Basra, AI-Jahiz's greatest contribution was to popularize (to make popular)science. During his life, al-Jahiz composed some 200 works, themost famous of which was the Book of Animals. This bookcontained a large collection of lore (knowledge) about animalsfrom the Koran, the Hadith, pre-Islamic poetry, proverbs,storytellers, sailors, personal observation, and Greek writing.While the Book of Animals was full of anecdotes (short,entertaining stories), it also contained important scientific theoriesand information. Al-Jahiz's work was a model for later scholarslike Ibn Bakhtishu, a doctor, who wrote The Uses of Animals, anaccount of the medicines that could be extracted from animals inthe eleventh century. In the fourteenth century Al-Damiri used al-Jahiz's scientific information to write an encyclopedia of animalscalled The Lives of the Animals.

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Chess

The game of chess was introduced to the Muslim world bythe Persians, who had imported it first from India. The gamebecame widely popular among men and women because of itsdifficulty and intellectual challenge. Caliphs (rulers) would invitechampions of the game to chess matches at their palaces. TheMuslims continued to adapt and improve the game. Eventuallythey introduced chess to Europeans, who played it widely from thethirteenth century on.

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Geography and Navigation

Another subject of study for Muslim scholars was geography.Muslims geographers examined plants and animals in different regions.

They also divided the world into climate zones. Most people in medieval

times believed that the Earth is flat. Muslim scientists realized that it wasround, like a ball. The even calculated Earth's circumference within nine

miles of its correct value.

Some Muslims studied geography simply out of curiosity. But

geography had practical uses, too. For example, Muslims created

extremely accurate maps. A scholar in Muslim Spain produced a world

atlas with dozens of maps of lands in Europe, Africa, and Asia. A work

called The Book of Roads and Provinces provided maps and descriptions

of the main Muslim trade routes. From this book, travelers could getinformation such as a region's physical features and water resources.

Travelers were another source of knowledge. Some travelers wrote

guidebooks to help pilgrims make the journey to Mecca (Makkah). Others

explored and described foreign lands, like China and Scandinavia. One

traveler wrote a 3D-volume encyclopedia about all the places he hadseen.

To aid in their travels, Muslims used navigational instruments.

Muslim scientists adapted and perfected the compass and the astrolabe.

Muslims probably learned about the compass from the Chinese.

Compasses allowed people to identify the direction in which they were

traveling. The astrolabe was probably invented by the Greeks. With this

instrument, sailors at sea could use the position of objects in the sky topinpoint location.