Islam literally woke up the world spiritually during its appearance 1400 years ago, but it also changed the scientific and technological face of the world, defining the vectors of civilization development for centuries.
Universities
The founder of the first higher educational institution in 859 was the Muslim princess Fatima al-Fihri. Like many other educational institutions of the Islamic world, the Moroccan University of Al-Karaouine was located on the territory of the mosque. Thanks to the patronage of the sultans, it expanded all the time, here for men and women they taught not only theology, but also medicine, mathematics, chemistry, history, geography and other disciplines.
Many scientific centers of that time were also organized by Muslims: one of the most famous of them - the House of Wisdom - was built in the 920s.
The medicine
Of course, this industry could develop without the contribution of Muslims to it, but it is difficult to predict at what stage of development it would now be. The fact is that it was in the Arab Caliphate that the first hospital appeared back in 707 (now it would be called “budgetary”, since it was financed by the state). Hospitals with nurses were invented here, medical institutes began to function. For many centuries, it was Muslim doctors who were considered experts in the field of research and treatment of eye diseases.
The famous medieval physician Avicenna was actually called Ibn Sine. He first drew attention to the fact that some diseases can be contagious, described leprosy, discovered anesthesia. His work "The Canon of Medicine" was a reference book for physicians of that time, it, among other things, described medicines and how they are made and used. This textbook was used in leading European medical institutes until the 18th century.
It was Muslim doctors who performed the oncology surgery and came up with the technology that gets rid of cataracts, which is still used today. In addition, the Arab physician Abul-Qasim al-Zahrawi invented many complex surgical instruments such as the scalpel, syringes and forceps and described their use in operations.
Soaps and perfumes
The Islamic religion requires a person to take care of both internal and external cleanliness. And already in the 10th century, in the bathrooms in the homes of Muslims, there were many of the hygiene products that people still use today - for example, soap. Of course, it existed in ancient times in Egypt and the Roman Empire, but it was the Arabs who came up with its recipe, which is still used today - a mixture of vegetable oils, caustic alkali and flavorings. In addition, shampoo came to Europe precisely thanks to Muslims. And the Arab scientist al-Kindi, back in the 9th century, described more than a hundred methods and recipes for creating perfumes.
Camera
The Arab scientist Alhazen (Ibn al-Khaytham) revolutionized optics in the 10th century by questioning the claims of Plato and Euclid that light is rays that are emitted by the eye to “feel” objects. He proved his theory that vision is the result of the perception of light reflected from an object by the eye - not with the help of philosophy, but experimentally.
The scientist used a camera obscura: in a special tent with a small hole in the canopy canopy. On the opposite side, according to the principle of straightness of light propagation, the rays created an inverted image. For example, this method made it possible to observe a solar eclipse without harm to vision.
Fountain pen
Back in 974, by order of the fourth Caliph of the Fatimid Caliphate al-Muizz Lidinillah, a writing device was created that did not stain clothes and hands. A small reservoir in the pen held the ink. Not a single such device has survived to this day, but there are historical texts that mention this first fountain pen.
Coffee
Despite the fact that Ethiopia is considered the birthplace of coffee, it gained its popularity in the Arabian Peninsula in the 19th century, from where the whole world later learned about it. The Arabs for a long time went to the preparation of coffee through brewing, then they began to add milk and various spices like ginger and cinnamon. Only in the 17th century Turkish coffee came to Great Britain, in Venice the first coffee house appeared in 1645, and in Germany the drink became known only in 1683.
Map
Maps existed 3500 years ago when they were depicted on clay tablets. With the advent of paper, images of the area began to be transferred to it. As a result, in the 8th century, the first maps and guides for travelers appeared in Baghdad.
Clocks, combination locks and robots
The mechanic Al-Jazari is known as the Da Vinci of the Islamic world - it was he who was the founder of cybernetics. The scientist independently built many mechanisms, which at the beginning of the 13th century were considered breakthrough technologies.
Among his inventions were water clocks and water-lifting machines, fountains and valve pumps, combination locks and metal doors. In addition, he came up with a simple technology that made human figures play musical instruments. Music was extracted by "robots" under the action of various levers that controlled drums and cymbals.
Maths
It is believed that the number system comes from India, but the numbers we use today are Arabic. Their Muslim mathematicians used them as early as the beginning of the 9th century. The mathematics of the Islamic Middle Ages was considered very advanced. Religion played a significant role in this: Muslims needed calculations lunar calendar to correctly determine the direction to Mecca and the time for prayer.
Even the word "algebra" itself comes from the name of the first book on this discipline, which was written by the great Muslim mathematician al-Khwarizmi. His name is also associated with the introduction of the decimal system of counting, fractions and the basics of trigonometry.
Aircraft
For the first time, an apparatus resembling an airplane in design was built in 880 by the scientist Ibn Firnanas. During the tests of the device, he managed to soar in the air for a long time, however, an unsuccessful landing led to a serious back injury. Six centuries later, this design was developed in the works of Leonardo Da Vinci.
Olga Bibikova
From the book "Arabs". Historical and ethnographic essays»
Trying to give a comprehensive portrait of the people is not an easy task. It becomes triple complicated when the subject of study is the Arabs, whose history developed in a territory that has long been inhabited by various peoples. We can judge the existence of some of them only according to archeological data. Here, in the Middle East, over a long period, states appeared and disappeared, and here the main religions of the world arose. Naturally, the dynamic history of the region had an impact on the historical appearance of the Arabs, their traditions and culture. Today in the Middle East and North Africa there are 19 states where Arabs live. Ethnic processes in these countries are particularly complex and have not yet been completed.
The first mention of the Arabs (or those who are identified with them) scientists found in the Assyrian and Babylonian chronicles. More specific instructions are found in the Bible. It is the biblical historical traditions that report the appearance in the XIV century BC. in Transjordan, and then in Palestine, Aramaic pastoral tribes from the southern Arabian oases. Initially, these tribes were designated as ‘ibri, that is, “cross-river” or “passed over the river”. Scientists have found that we are talking about the Euphrates and, therefore, the tribes that came out of Arabia, first moved north into Mesopotamia, and then turned south. It is curious that the word “‘ibri” is identified with the name of Abraham (or the name of his legendary ancestor Eber), the biblical patriarch, from whom Jews and Arabs descend. Naturally, the question of the reliability of this plot continues to cause controversy among historians of antiquity. Archaeologist L. Woolley, conducting excavations in the city of Ur, even made an attempt to find the house of Abraham. Let me remind you that the biblical traditions, written down after no less than 12-15 unwritten generations, became the means of the later ideological struggle. The probability that Abraham (even according to biblical data, twenty generations away from the time of recording the traditions about him) is a historical person is close to zero.
Homeland of the Arabs
The Arabs call Arabia their homeland - Jazirat al-Arab, that is, the “Island of the Arabs”. Indeed, from the west, the Arabian Peninsula is washed by the waters of the Red Sea, from the south - by the Gulf of Aden, from the east - by the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf. The rugged Syrian Desert stretches to the north. Naturally, with such a geographical position, the ancient Arabs felt isolated, that is, "living on an island."
Speaking about the origin of the Arabs, they usually single out historical and ethnographic areas that have their own characteristics. The allocation of these areas is based on the specifics of socio-economic, cultural and ethnic development. The Arabian historical and ethnographic region is considered to be the cradle of the Arab world, the borders of which by no means coincide with the modern states of the Arabian Peninsula. This includes, for example, the eastern regions of Syria and Jordan. The second historical and ethnographic zone (or region) includes the rest of Syria, Jordan, as well as Lebanon and Palestine. Iraq is considered a separate historical and ethnographic zone. Egypt, Northern Sudan and Libya are united into one zone. And finally, the Maghrebino-Mauritanian zone, which includes the countries of the Maghreb - Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, as well as Mauritania and Western Sahara. This division is by no means universally recognized, since the border regions, as a rule, have features characteristic of both neighboring zones.
Economic activity
The agricultural culture of Arabia developed quite early, although only some parts of the peninsula were suitable for land use. These are, first of all, those territories on which the state of Yemen is now located, as well as some parts of the coast and oases. St. Petersburg orientalist O. Bolshakov believes that "in terms of the intensity of agriculture, Yemen can be put on a par with such ancient civilizations as Mesopotamia and Egypt." The physical and geographical conditions of Arabia predetermined the division of the population into two groups - settled farmers and nomadic pastoralists. There was no clear division of the inhabitants of Arabia into settled and nomads, for there were different types mixed economy, relations between which were maintained not only through the exchange of goods, but also through family ties.
In the last quarter of the II millennium BC. the cattle breeders of the Syrian desert had a domesticated dromedary camel (dromedary). The number of camels was still small, but this already allowed part of the tribes to move on to a truly nomadic way of life. This circumstance forced pastoralists to lead a more mobile lifestyle and make many kilometers of transitions to remote areas, for example, from Syria to Mesopotamia, directly through the desert.
First state formations
On the territory of modern Yemen, several states arose, which in the 4th century AD. were united by one of them - the Himyarite kingdom. The South Arabian society of antiquity is characterized by the same features that are inherent in other societies of the Ancient East: a slave-owning system was born here, on which the wealth of the ruling class was based. The state carried out the construction and repair of large irrigation systems, without which it was impossible to develop agriculture. The population of the cities was mainly represented by artisans who skillfully made high-quality products, including agricultural implements, weapons, household utensils, leather goods, fabrics, and decorations from sea shells. Gold was mined in Yemen, and fragrant resins were also collected, including frankincense, myrrh. Later, the interest of Christians in this product constantly stimulated transit trade, due to which the interchange of goods between the Arabian Arabs and the population of the Christian regions of the Middle East expanded.
With the conquest of the Himyarite kingdom at the end of the 6th century by Sasanian Iran, horses appeared in Arabia. It was during this period that the state fell into decline, which affected primarily the urban population.
As for the nomads, such collisions affected them to a lesser extent. The life of the nomads was determined by the tribal structure, where there were dominant and subordinate tribes. Within the tribe, relations were regulated depending on the degree of kinship. The material existence of the tribe depended solely on the harvest in the oases, where there were cultivated plots of land and wells, as well as on the offspring of the herds. The main factor influencing the patriarchal life of nomads, in addition to attacks by unfriendly tribes, were natural disasters - drought, epidemics and earthquakes, which are mentioned in Arab legends.
The nomads of central and northern Arabia have long been raising sheep, cattle, and camels. Characteristically, the nomadic world of Arabia was surrounded by economically more developed regions, so there is no need to talk about the cultural isolation of Arabia. In particular, this is evidenced by the excavation data. For example, in the construction of dams and reservoirs, the inhabitants of southern Arabia used cement mortar, which was invented in Syria around 1200 BC. The presence of links that existed between the inhabitants of the Mediterranean coast and southern Arabia as early as the 10th century BC confirms the story of the trip of the ruler of Saba (“Queen of Sheba”) to King Solomon.
Advance of Semites from Arabia
Approximately in the III millennium BC. Arabian Semites began to settle in Mesopotamia and Syria. Already from the middle of the 1st millennium BC. began an intensive movement of Arabs outside the "Jazirat al-Arab". However, those Arabian tribes that appeared in Mesopotamia in the 3rd-2nd millennium BC were soon assimilated by the Akkadians living there. Later, in the XIII century BC, a new advancement of the Semitic tribes began, who spoke Aramaic dialects. Already in the 7th-6th centuries BC. Aramaic becomes the spoken language of Syria, replacing Akkadian.
As we have already noted, there are quite detailed archaeological data, as well as historical legends, about the advancement of pastoral tribes moving from the trans-Jordanian steppes. However, they were recorded 400-500 years later. It is generally accepted that the biblical stories about the patriarchs are a reflection of the Semitic nomadic tales, which are based on traditionally memorized genealogies. Naturally, legends about real events are interspersed with folklore legends, which reflects the ideological situation at the time of recording ancient legends. Thus, the legend of the sacrifice of Abraham has its own version in the Bible and, somewhat different from it, in the Koran. However, the common origin of both peoples - Israelis and Arabs - can be traced both in language, religious traditions, and in customs.
Back to top new era significant masses of Arabs moved to Mesopotamia, settled in southern Palestine and the Sinai Peninsula. Some tribes even managed to create state formations. So, the Nabataeans founded their kingdom on the border of Arabia and Palestine, which lasted until the 2nd century AD. Along the lower reaches of the Euphrates, the Lakhmid state arose, but its rulers were forced to recognize vassal dependence on the Persian Sassanids. The Arabs who settled in Syria, Transjordan and southern Palestine united in the 6th century under the rule of representatives of the Ghassanid tribe. They also had to recognize themselves as vassals of the stronger Byzantium. It is characteristic that both the Lakhmid state (in 602) and the Ghassanid state (in 582) were destroyed by their own suzerains, who feared the strengthening and growing independence of their vassals. Nevertheless, the presence of Arab tribes in the Syrian-Palestinian region was a factor that subsequently contributed to softening the new, more massive invasion of the Arabs. Then they began to penetrate into Egypt. Thus, the city of Koptos in Upper Egypt, even before the Muslim conquest, was half inhabited by Arabs.
Naturally, the newcomers quickly joined the local customs. Caravan trade allowed them to maintain ties with kindred tribes and clans within the Arabian Peninsula, which gradually contributed to the convergence of urban and nomadic cultures.
Prerequisites for the unification of the Arabs
In the tribes living near the borders of Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia, the process of decomposition of primitive communal relations developed faster than among the population of the interior regions of Arabia. In the 5th-7th centuries, there was an underdevelopment of the internal organization of the tribes, which, combined with the remnants of the maternal account and polyandry, testified that, due to the specifics of the nomadic economy, the decomposition of the tribal system in Central and Northern Arabia developed more slowly than in neighboring regions of Western Asia.
Periodically, kindred tribes united in unions. Sometimes there was a fragmentation of tribes or their absorption by strong tribes. Over time, it became obvious that large formations are more viable. It was in tribal unions or confederations of tribes that the preconditions for the emergence of a class society began to take shape. The process of its formation was accompanied by the creation of primitive state formations. As early as the 2nd-6th centuries, large tribal unions began to take shape (Mazhidj, Kinda, Maad, etc.), but none of them could become the core of a single pan-Arab state. The prerequisite for the political unification of Arabia was the desire of the tribal elite to secure the right to land, livestock and income from caravan trade. An additional factor was the need to join forces to resist external expansion. As we have already pointed out, at the turn of the 6th-7th centuries, the Persians captured Yemen and liquidated the Lakhmid state, which was in vassal dependence. As a result, in the south and north, Arabia was under the threat of absorption by the Persian state. Naturally, the situation had a negative impact on Arabian trade. The merchants of a number of Arabian cities suffered significant material damage. The only way out of this situation could be the unification of kindred tribes.
The Hejaz region, located in the west of the Arabian Peninsula, became the center of the unification of the Arabs. This area has long been famous for its relatively developed agriculture, handicrafts, but most importantly - trade. The local cities - Mecca, Yasrib (later Medina), Taif - had strong contacts with the surrounding tribes of nomads who visited them, exchanging their goods for the products of urban artisans.
However, the religious situation prevented the unification of the Arabian tribes. The ancient Arabs were pagans. Each tribe revered its patron god, although some of them can be considered pan-Arab - Allah, al-Uzza, al-Lat. Even in the first centuries in Arabia it was known about Christianity. Moreover, in Yemen, these two religions have practically supplanted pagan cults. On the eve of the Persian conquest, Yemenite Jews fought with Yemenite Christians, while the Jews focused on Sasanian Persia (which subsequently facilitated the conquest of the Himyarite kingdom by the Persians), and the Christians on Byzantium. Under these conditions, its own form of Arabian monotheism arose, which (especially at an early stage) to a large extent, but in a peculiar way, reflected some of the postulates of Christianity. Its adherents, the Hanifs, became bearers of the idea of a single god. In turn, this form of monotheism set the stage for the emergence of Islam.
The religious beliefs of the Arabs of the pre-Islamic period are a conglomeration of various beliefs, among which were female and male deities, the veneration of stones, springs, trees, various spirits, genies and shaitans, who were intermediaries between people and gods, was also widespread. Naturally, the absence of clear dogmatic ideas opened up wide opportunities for the ideas of more developed religions to penetrate into this amorphous worldview and contributed to religious and philosophical reflections.
By that time, writing began to become more and more widespread, which subsequently played a huge role in the formation of medieval Arab culture, and at the stage of the birth of Islam contributed to the accumulation and transmission of information. The need for this was colossal, as evidenced by the practice of oral memorization and reproduction of ancient genealogies, historical chronicles, poetic narratives, common among the Arabs.
As noted by the St. Petersburg scholar A. Khalidov, "most likely, the language developed as a result of a long development based on the selection of different dialectal forms and their artistic comprehension" . In the end, it was the use of the same language of poetry that became one of the most important factors that contributed to the formation of the Arab community. Naturally, the process of mastering the Arabic language did not occur at the same time. This process took place most rapidly in those areas where the inhabitants spoke the related languages of the Semitic group. In other areas, this process took several centuries, but a number of peoples, once under the rule of the Arab Caliphate, managed to maintain their linguistic independence.
Ethnic history of the Arabs
As we have already noted, the Arabs are the original inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula. The lack of historical evidence of any major invasions of other ethnicities in historical time is indicative of a relatively homogeneous origin of the region's native inhabitants. The ethnonym "Arab" itself is probably not a self-name. Most likely, this term was used by the inhabitants of Mesopotamia and Western Asia, calling people from Arabia like that. Subsequently, when the Arabian tribes began to unite under the rule of Muhammad and his successors, it was this term that was assigned to those who became part of the tribes united by his preaching. Thus, we are talking about a group of related tribes, for which not only the habitat, religious beliefs, but above all the language (Koine) was common, which distinguished them from those who spoke Aramaic, Greek or Hebrew. Oral (poetic) literature was formed on the basis of this language already in the 4th-5th centuries. In general, the Arabs are part of a group of Semitic peoples, whose name is associated with the name of the biblical character Shem, one of the sons of Noah (Book of Genesis, 10).
The ethnogenesis of the inhabitants of modern Arab states has been poorly studied. The turbulent history of almost every Arab state is replete with facts of invasions and adaptations of various tribes and peoples. It can be said that the ethnogenesis of the Syrian does not coincide with the ethnogenesis of the Egyptian or the Moroccan. But we can talk about the basic substrates, which in ancient times became the basis for the formation of modern Arab peoples.
Anthropologists distinguish different anthropological types within the Arab community. This indicates that in the process of settlement, the Arabs absorbed and Arabized smaller or disappearing groups. Thus, with the greatest distribution of the Mediterranean anthropological type in Iraq and eastern Arabia, there is an Armenoid type, and in southern Arabia, an Ethiopian anthropological type. Naturally, in the border regions one can always detect the anthropological influence of the neighboring ethnic group.
To a large extent, the spread of Islam contributed to the formation of the pan-Arab ethnos. It should be noted that these two processes - Arabization and Islamization - did not develop synchronously. As a rule, Islamization was ahead of the process of Arabization (assimilation) of the conquered population. The fact is that for a number of peoples, the adoption of Islam meant recognition of the patronage of the Arabs. In addition, new converts became members of the ummah (community), which eased the tax burden. It can be said that it was Islam that became the common denominator for the peoples who subsequently made up the population of the Arab Caliphate.
However, the process of Arabization was carried out slowly. It is worth recalling that during the reign of Caliph Umar (632-644), the Arabs made up only a quarter of the population of the caliphate. Characteristically, the process of Arabization of its population took place in different ways in the Middle East and North Africa. The autochthonous population of the Middle East was mostly Semitic (Arameans, Phoenicians), so Arabization and Islamization took place more calmly here. Conquest campaigns also contributed to this, thanks to which cities and large settlements developed.
Most of the population North Africa(for example, Egypt, where the indigenous population is the Copts, as well as the Libyan and Berber tribes) belonged to the Hamitic group. Therefore, here the process of gradual assimilation of the local population by the Arab conquerors was the displacement of local dialects by the Arabic language. At the same time, Arab culture also conquered the territory.
The situation developed quite differently in those countries where there were few Arabs. The farther to the east, the less the influence of the Arabic language was felt, which did not interfere with the process of Islamization. However, here Islam acquired features characteristic only of this area. In this context, it is interesting to compare the elements of ethnic culture, especially since, despite the unifying Muslim influence, almost every region has its own cultural substratum.
As an example, let us cite the Iranian interpretation of the image of Ali, one of the main characters of early Islam. Here the image of Ali acquired features characteristic of ancient Persian cultural heroes and features of earlier deities. Ignatius Goldzier noted that in Persia "the attributes of the thunder god are associated with Ali." In Iran, the local cultural substratum turned out to be so powerful that Arabization was not successful here. One gets the impression that Islam was forced to submit to local cultural traditions, thanks to which its Shiite branch arose, competing with the original and mainstream Sunni. Nevertheless, attempts to transfer Shiism to the West (for example, during the reign of the Abbasids, who came to power relying on Shiites) failed, although various Shiite communities still exist in a number of countries.
Almost the entire history of the Arab Caliphate indicates that the process of Arabization was carried out naturally, because the rulers did not set themselves the task of total Arabization of the population. This was due to the economic policy pursued by the caliphs and governors of the provinces. The economic privileges set for converts gave advantages to converts and made Islam attractive to this part of the population.
It should be noted that from the very beginning, the Muslim administration did not interfere with the process of adapting the traditions of the conquered peoples. This was primarily due to the fact that the process of formation of the Arab state took place simultaneously with the transition of former nomads to a settled way of life. Yesterday's Bedouins were introduced to agriculture, and later to urban life. This circumstance had an impact on the formation of the Muslim worldview, as well as on the nature of religious ideology. At the same time, this predetermined the long and controversial process of the formation of the Arab nation.
An important (but little studied) factor was the conversion of part of the Christians, mainly the inhabitants of the Mediterranean coast of Europe, to Islam. The reason for the mass conversion to Islam F. Braudel calls the economic conditions and overpopulation of European territories. “A sign of the overpopulation of Mediterranean Europe from the end of the 15th century was the repeated persecution of Jews ... this is also evidenced by the numerous transitions from Christianity to the Islamic faith, which were of a balancing nature in a demographic sense” . In the 16th century, the process of voluntary conversion to Islam accelerated: "Christians in multitudes are flowing into Islam, which attracts them with the prospect of advancement and earnings - and their services are really paid." Moreover, Islam attracts Europeans with its tolerance for non-Christians. Here is what the French researcher Fernand Braudel wrote about this: “The Turks opened their doors, and the Christians locked theirs, perhaps acting unconsciously. Christian intolerance, the child of overcrowding, repels rather than attracts new adherents. All those whom the Christians expel from their possessions—the Jews in 1492, the Moriscos in the sixteenth century and in 1609-1614—join the crowd of voluntary defectors to the side of Islam in search of work and jobs. Thus, cross-cultural contact between Islam and Christianity, European peoples and Arabs has a long history, in which there have been periods of ups and downs.
Naturally, Islamization was accompanied by the unification of religious life, and also had an impact on the formation of stereotypes of social life, as well as on the system of family and social relations, ethics, law, etc. all denominations living in the Muslim world.
Being under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, and subsequently under the yoke of the colonial domination of European powers, the population of the Arab countries felt like a single community. It was in the last quarter of the 19th century that the slogans of pan-Arab unity became relevant, on the wave of which public organizations were created that rocked the colonial regime. In an attempt to strengthen its power, the colonial administration sought to rely on the local Christian population, attracting its representatives to the government apparatus. Subsequently, this circumstance became the cause of mistrust between the Christian and Muslim populations, and also provoked a number of conflicts.
By the middle of the 20th century, the process of formation of politically independent states began, in which the national elite, representing the interests of the most powerful tribal clans, occupied the main place. Naturally, at this stage, representatives of the most educated ethnic groups and clans received an advantage, regardless of the specific weight of the ethnic group in this society.
Thus, the Arabs, the Arabic language, Arab culture and Arab statehood have played a significant role in the formation of that common area, which we conventionally call the "Arab world" today. This world arose and was formed during the conquests of the Arabs and under the influence of Islam in the Middle Ages. Over the subsequent time, in the space from Iran to the Atlantic Ocean, the basic principles and norms of being, forms of relations and hierarchies of cultural values were formed and developed, which arose under the influence of the Muslim religion and Arab cultural traditions closely related to it.
Usually, Muslims paid tithe as a tax, while the non-Muslim population paid kharaj, the size of which ranged from one to two thirds of the crop. In addition, Muslims were exempted from paying the jizya, the poll tax. In trade, Muslims paid a duty of 2.5%, and non-Muslims - 5%.
Braudel F. The Mediterranean Sea and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip I. M., 2003. Part 2, p. 88.
Braudel F. The Mediterranean Sea and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. M., 2003. Part 2, p. 641.
Arab inventors have given a lot to this world. They influenced social progress in an amazing way and created inventions that we still use today. The time has come to shed light on how the unsung heroes of the Islamic world have contributed to world civilization and modern development.
The treatment of smallpox would not have been possible without the discovery of Indian Muslims. If it were not for the ancient Muslims of Babylon (modern Iraq), we would not have soap. Just imagine a world without this product.
1. Few people know that the Muslim poet was an aviation pioneer. Even before the Wright brothers, Ibn Abbas Firas created a flying machine in 852. In 852, he jumped from the minaret of the great mosque in Córdoba using a cape fastened with wooden slats. In 875, at the age of 70, having perfected an apparatus made of silk and eagle feathers, he repeats the experiment, this time jumping off a mountain. He flew to a considerable height and remained in the air for ten minutes, but crashed on landing, which is logical, since he did not give his device a tail. Baghdad International Airport and a crater on the Moon are named after him.
3. The Islamic world is known for its amazing calligraphy, no wonder the fountain pen was invented in the Arab world. The demanding Sultan of Egypt, Al-Muizz Li-Din, insisted that his henchmen create a pen that would not leave ink stains. Thus, the fountain pen was still invented by the Arabs in 953 AD.
4. Modern checks are derived from the Arabic "sak", written promises to pay for goods when they are delivered, to avoid moving money through dangerous terrain. In the 9th century, a Muslim businessman can cash a check in China drawn at a bank in Baghdad.
5. No wonder the soap we use was invented in the Arab world. The Arabs mixed vegetable oils with sodium hydroxide and aromatics. The Arabs were struck by the fact that the crusaders did not bathe. Shampoo was brought to England by a Muslim who opened Mahomed's Indian Vapor Baths on Brighton's waterfront in 1759 and was appointed as the head soaper of King George IV and William IV. Perhaps one of the most useful inventions of all time.
7. Although the Chinese credit themselves with the invention of saltpeter gunpowder, the Arabs realized that saltpeter gunpowder could be refined using potassium nitrate. In the 15th century, the Arabs invented the rocket, which they called the "self-propelled egg" and the torpedo they called the "self-propelled pear-shaped bomb."
8. Islamic architecture was the first to introduce lancet arches into the style. Later, Gothic architecture in Europe borrowed this Islamic element for its cathedrals. Also, the Europeans adopted from the Muslims the design ideas of ribbed vaults and round rose windows. European castles have become a copy of Muslim ones with their loopholes, parapets, barbicans and square towers. For example, the architect of the castle of Henry V was a Muslim.
9. The first windmill appeared in Arabia in 634 AD. Windmills were originally made for the Persian Caliph, who lived in the endless deserts of Arabia where there was plenty of hot air. In the vast deserts of Arabia, where seasonal flows dried up, the only source of energy was the wind, which blew constantly in one direction for several months.
10. Ibn al-Haytham is the "father of optics", as he was the first person who studied the permeability of light and created the first camera obscura - the simplest type of device that allows you to obtain an optical image of objects, which made it possible to invent the modern camera. Ibn al-Haytham put forward his own theory, according to which "natural light and colored rays affect the eye", and "a visual image is obtained with the help of rays that are emitted by visible bodies and enter the eye."
If you ask the average European to describe the Arabs in the most general terms, he will almost certainly draw the image of a hashish-smoked terrorist with a Kalashnikov assault rifle or a Saudi sheikh with three billion dollars in petty expenses. We are accustomed to consider the Western world the "cornerstone" of scientific progress. Aristotle, da Vinci, Einstein ... And the Arabs are, in best case, astronomy, mathematics and alcohol.
There is no national science, just like there is no national multiplication table. If someone claims to be the leader in fundamental disciplines, it means that he knows nothing about the achievements of Arabic science. After all, once these people were so ahead of their time that, if history had turned out differently, a green flag with a crescent would have stood on the moon for a long time.
The Science of Miracles
The Christian world is confidently moving away from ignorance. Progress is evident: today the clergy consecrate spaceships, although once they put Galileo on his knees and sang hymns around the fire of Giordano Bruno. In Islam, the reverse process took place. His traditionalism, sometimes crossing the border of obscurantism, has nothing to do with the relationship between science and religion a thousand years ago. Then science was a natural form of human activity. It was believed that the only source of knowledge is Allah, and no blasphemy was seen in the activities of scientists. That is why, when the whole of Europe was immersed in hopeless religious darkness, the East became the main intellectual center of the planet.
European libraries huddled in monasteries and specialized mainly in religious texts. In the Baghdad "House of Wisdom" alone, several million scientific manuscripts were kept. European doctors sawed off the arms and legs of wounded knights, using a large wooden mallet instead of anesthesia. Arab doctors made complex medicines in pills and solutions, and also treated the population for free at the expense of the caliph.
The place for the construction of hospitals was chosen by hanging pieces of meat on trees. Where it spoiled last turn and a hospital was built. At that time they did not know about microbes, bacteria and nutrient media for them, but, apparently, they guessed.
The discoveries of nitroglycerin, nitric and sulfuric acids, potassium, ammonium salt, ammonia, metallurgy or the method of desalination did not prevent Islamic scholars from being deeply pious people. They did not follow in the footsteps of their European colleagues and did not try to prove that the laws of nature contradict God's miracles. For Islam, all nature is a miracle. At least the fact that in the 9th century, Arabophobes complained about the cultural dominance of the Muslim world, that all young and gifted Christians want to learn only Arabic, read only Arabic books and find them delightful, speaks of the cultural dominance of the Muslim world.
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In Search of the Philosopher's Stone
Speaking of alchemy, we usually "jump over" the Islamic period and immediately think of Bacon, Flamel, Agrippa and Paracelsus. The role of Islamic scientists in the development of this craft is usually underestimated - and very in vain, because it was they who invented the main tools (alembic, retort), received and described acids, alkalis, in other words - turned the scattered successes of the ancient Greeks and Egyptians into scientific practice.
The first "superstar" of Islamic alchemists was an Iranian Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan(721-815), known in Europe as Geber. He developed the basic chemical operations: distillation, sublimation, crystallization, dissolution, while pursuing absolutely fantastic goals. Geber tried to create "life in a test tube", leaving behind vague instructions for laboratory production of scorpions, snakes, and even humans.
The search for life led him to obtain (for the first time in the history of mankind) pure alcohol. They called him al cogol, "intoxicating". Mass production of alcohol began in the 10th century. Because of the religious prohibition on drunkenness, Muslims used it only in medical purposes, which was quickly adopted by the crusaders. From their submission, alcohol was nicknamed "living water" (aqua vitae). It had to be taken in doses of 2-3 drops, which had a short-term invigorating effect on the person.
The East is traditionally famous for spices and incense. Islamic norms prescribe strict monitoring of hygiene, so the Arabs set up mass production in the 7th century soap. Once in the bathroom of that period, you would be amazed - the soap was almost no different from today. There was a choice of scented colored bars, liquid soap in jars, or special shaving soap.
Do I need to say that the Arabs also invented the shampoo? Dean Mohammed brought it to England under the guise of medicine and opened a special "shampoo" hospital, where he treated shabby patients by washing their hair.
The discovery of distillation allowed the Arabs in the 9th century to isolate aromatic oils and essences used in perfumery, in cooking (for flavoring products), and actively sold to the West "to combat miasma". According to the testament of the Prophet Muhammad, the faithful brushed their teeth with split branches of the arak tree containing triclosan (an antibacterial component of modern toothpastes).
In the 8th century, Baghdad scientists thought of distilling oil and obtained from it kerosene. The latter successfully replaced the oil in the lamps. distilled water used desert caravans: unlike the usual, it did not deteriorate in the heat. Geber also invented "royal vodka"- a mixture of acids in which even noble metals were dissolved.
Arab chefs invented "sharab", he sherbet- a soft drink made from a mixture of fruit juices, spices or flowers. He was credited with healing properties. Sherbet is still given to boys after circumcision and to women after childbirth. The Arabs also used various syrups to make drinks, because they could be stored for a long time in the heat.
Advances in alchemy allowed the Arabs to increase production glass well known in Egypt to a whole new level. They not only learned how to melt high-quality colored glass, but also carved artificial gems from it. The Arabs first received colorless glass, and in the 11th century they learned how to make mirrors familiar to us from it.
Closer to Allah
Do you still think that the glider and helicopter are the brainchild of Leonardo da Vinci? In vain. The Arabs began to take their first steps in aviation even when many Europeans worshiped pagan gods.
Meet - Abbas ibn Firnas(810-887). Berber, born in Spain. Like most other Islamic sages, he did not limit himself to one branch of knowledge. At first, Abbas studied mathematics and music (considered a branch of mathematics), designed a metronome for musical needs, made glass from sand (after that, Spain stopped buying glass in Egypt and began to make it herself), and also surprised people with a mechanical “virtual reality” room, where stars shone on the ceiling, clouds floated, thunder rumbled and lightning flashed.
But he entered world history not with these achievements. In 852, Ibn Firnas pulled a cloth over a wooden frame and jumped safely from the minaret in Córdoba with only minor injuries. By that time, half a million people lived in the city, which was called the "decoration of the world", most of whom were literate (there were 70 libraries at the service of the population). The residents were not particularly impressed with this trick, so the scientist sat down to the project of full-fledged wings.
Monument to Abbas ibn Firnas in Baghdad. |
It took many years to create them. At the age of 65, he put on a suicide show: he climbed a mountain near Córdoba, strapped himself into a glider designed by him and jumped down. A crowd of thousands watched the event. To the surprise of those present, "artificial wings" picked up an elderly scientist and carried him with decent speed. The flight went “normally”, but Ibn Firnas did not think over the landing. He gained altitude and tried to return to the starting point, but his glider did not have braking mechanisms, so the inventor met the ground at full speed, injuring his back.
The feat of ibn Firnas was repeated only a century and a half later - in England, and with a similar result. Friar Eylmer jumped off the roof of the abbey, flew over 200 meters on artificial wings and broke his leg on landing.
The first controlled flight with a safe landing was also carried out by Muslims. In the 1630s, the inventor Ahmet Celebi Khezafren jumped from the Galata Tower in Istanbul (61 meters high) on leather wings and flew over the Bosphorus, in fact, making the world's first flight from Europe to Asia. The impressed Sultan Murad IV rewarded Akhmet with a robe embroidered with gold and immediately exiled him to a remote province. Just in case, so as not to fly anywhere.
The Islamic world also holds the lead in human flight on a jet-powered ship. This happened in 1633. To celebrate the birthday of the daughter of Murad IV, the inventor Lagari Hassan Celebi built a passenger rocket - a conical projectile with powder chambers and a cage for the pilot. With a large gathering of people, Lagari saddled this device, set fire to the fuse and soared into the sky with a roar. The flight allegedly lasted about 20 seconds. Fuel ran out at an altitude of 300 meters.
The audience expected the madman Celebi to fall down and break to death, but he suddenly opened the wings attached to his body and glided into the waters of the Bosphorus. The Sultan rewarded the scientist with a bag of gold and made him the chief inventor of the palace.
Jihad tools
It is well known that the Chinese set off powder fireworks, and the Greeks burned enemy ships with a secret composition of oil and saltpeter. The latter could even be obtained from manure, but it was not suitable for creating normal explosives. In the 10-11 centuries, the Arabs learned how to get chemically pure saltpeter and developed the best recipe gunpowder(75% saltpeter, 10% sulfur, 15% coal). Explosives did not become a "miracle weapon" that saved the Arab world from the crusaders, but made a lot of noise in ancient wars.
In 1168 the knights laid siege to Cairo. The Arabs decided to burn the city so that the enemy would not get it. For this, they applied "karaz shami"- ceramic grenades with an incendiary composition. According to historians, the city burned for 54 days. Arabs used similar devices against the French army at the Battle of Al Mansur (1250). Witnesses reported that the Saracens threw pots of gunpowder, causing serious damage to the Europeans, after which they were scattered, and Louis IX was captured. Finally, in 1291, the Arabs broke the back of the crusaders by taking Acre. During the siege, powder mines were planted under the walls, trebuchet throwing machines bombarded the city, and compact "explosive packs" were tied to the arrows of archers.
A little later, the Arabs for the first time began to massively apply guns, borrowed from the Chinese and Mongols, and during the siege of Constantinople in 1453 they used the Basilica, a huge bombard weighing 32 tons. She destroyed the city wall, but after a few weeks of operation, it simply tore apart.
In the battle of Al-Jalut (1260), the Mongols experienced several more "devil machines". The Mamluks repulsed the invincible Mongol cavalry with the help of "portable guns" midfa with interchangeable charges (cartridges) and spears with firecrackers. At the same time, the fighters were dressed in fireproof clothes and sprinkled their hands with talcum powder so as not to get burned when firing.
Syrian scientist Hasan al-Ramma in 1275 created drawings of the world's first rocket torpedo. It was a conventional bomb on two floating guides, to which a jet engine was attached. The idea was developed only after 500 years. Sultan Tipu (southern India, late 18th century) used against the British, who were trying to capture the principality of Mysore, something like our Katyushas, which fired explosive missiles in metal cases. Their length was 2.5 meters, flight range - up to 1.5 kilometers.
Popular Mechanics
Arab scientists excelled in mechanics. Number one was the engineer Ismail ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari(1136-1202), who is called "the da Vinci of the Arab world". It was he who invented crankshaft- probably the second most important mechanical part after the wheel. According to his drawings, two-stroke valve pumps, dams and water-lifting machines were built. Al-Jazari designed a water clock that struck the time every half hour, fountains, jukeboxes, and in 1206 he revealed to the public a humanoid robot. Actually, even four.
The robots were figures of musicians in a boat. The design was launched into the lake during royal parties. The robots played drums and cymbals, tapping out the musical rhythm. This pleased the nobles, but did not surprise them, because back in 915, at the court of the Baghdad caliph al-Muktadir, there was a golden tree with golden birds that could chirp and flap their wings.
Al-Jazari owns dozens of others modern technologies: laminating wood, using scale models (the scientist made them out of paper), grinding moving parts with corundum, metal doors, combination locks, a compass hybrid with a universal sundial for any latitudes ...
Arab engineers at different times invented such familiar things as windmills, switches (9th century), fans (at the beginning of the 13th century, travelers reported that there were fans in almost every Cairo house), water and steam turbines (in the drawings of the 16th century) and windproof lamps.
Do no harm
Arabic medicine preceded European medicine by about 1000 years. The Cairo hospital alone could take 8,000 patients, and the labors Abu Ali ibn Sina(Avicenna) were used by Western physicians until the 18th century. The starting point for the Arabs was the work of the ancient Greeks, however, Islamic healers quickly translated the pseudo-philosophical reasoning of the Hellenes into scientific terms, refuting, for example, Galen's theory that female body can produce sperm.
Medical knowledge of the East bordered on fantasy. "Father of Surgery" Abu al Qasim invented about 200 instruments that are still used today: a scalpel, tweezers (originally used to remove dead embryos), a ligature for ligation of blood vessels, a surgical needle and catgut (absorbable suture thread), plaster bandages, a bone saw, and even ... a syringe. The latter had a thin glass needle and was used in ophthalmology to remove cataracts.
About 2,000 ingredients (mostly of plant origin) were used to formulate medicines. Aromatherapy was widely practiced. The Arabs were the first to practice anesthesia, “turning off” patients with breathing masks with opiates: a drug-soaked sponge was placed on the face, and the person quickly lost touch with reality.
During operations, antiseptics were mandatory. At first, harmful mercury preparations were used for disinfection, then doctors switched to alcohol. Scabies mites were poisoned with sulfur. When blockade respiratory tract tracheotomy was used. Finally, Turkish doctors for the first time began to vaccinate people against smallpox.
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Astronomy, evolutionary theory, anthropology, psychiatry, optics, navigation, geology, architecture, market economy - the Arabs excelled in all branches of science. Suffice it to recall that most of the major stars are still known by their Arabic names. Why didn't the name of the first man in space begin with the prefix "al"? What happened to the most advanced and dynamically developing civilization on the planet?
The reasons for the decline are simple: inefficient public administration (since the 11th century) and a series of destructive wars (Crusaders, Mongols, Reconquista). The Mongols dealt the most severe blow to Islamic science, burning Baghdad to the ground and throwing the books of the "House of Wisdom" into the Tigris. They say that for six months after this, the waters of the river remained black from book ink.
Then the Turks took over the East, establishing the vast Ottoman Empire. Former liberalism has sunk into oblivion, religion has become much less tolerant of advanced scientific ideas. In Africa and Asia, many small Islamic states arose that did not have the opportunity to develop on the fragments of the great caliphates of antiquity. With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, fragmentation, poverty and political stupor became the main characteristics of the Arab world - a state from which the East cannot get out to this day.
