As previously mentioned, my interest in learning about my religion, culture, and their history led me to explore and utilizes resources to gain knowledge about this period of history. For instance, I purchased numerous books and watched various videos online. I have added a link to the book on Amazon below. Furthermore, I have also linked a group of videos available on YouTube which touch on this remarkable era and the scientists mentioned in my article as well.
Links to Additional Videos:. Works Cited. Com , ,. Accessed 24 Mar Accessed The breakdown of barriers also meant that people and knowledge could flow much more seamlessly across the empire. The caliphate was open to people of all cultures and religions, particularly people who brought intellectual prowess. Both internal and external factors also played a role in ending the Islamic Golden Age, even while the invasion of the Middle East by the Mongol armies was the defining event in the collapse of the Abbasid caliphate.
These breakaway entities engaged in almost continuous warfare; the resulting instability had a devastating effect on their economies. By the 12 th century, Islamic orthodoxy began to negatively impact free-thinking philosophy; i. In all states and empires, governments change. In a number of cases, narrow minded, conservative and intolerant leaders succeeded the more open minded progressive caliphs who had ushered in the Islamic Golden Age.
These new leaders did not value the multicultural, multiracial, interreligious environment of the caliphate and persecuted non-Muslims and intellectuals forcing them to flee.
The hubris of these self-centered, corrupt new leaders led to political and financial mismanagement and resulted in accelerated decline. This tale of the rise and fall of a great empire offers pertinent lessons for the United States. The caliphs of this period in most cases had the view that an Islamic society should be one in which knowledge and technology progresses and science, philosophy and culture flourish along with and as part of Islam.
Aided by generally liberal interpretations of the Koran's verses on People of the Book non-Muslim monotheists , they welcomed the vibrant participation of Jews, Christians, freethinkers and others as well as Muslims in the society of great cities such as Baghdad and Cairo and produced a civilization that was the most advanced in the world for several hundred years, during a time now called the Middle Ages in Christian Europe. The succeeding Abbasid Caliphate ruled much of this territory from to , becoming a patron of the arts and scholarship, with increasing inclusion of Christians, Jews and other non-Muslims.
Islamic kingdoms and the Christian realms of Medieval Europe had both peaceful trade and cultural exchange and conflicts, including the Crusades.
The Ottoman Empire , founded right around the turn of the 14th century, conquered most of the Middle East, North Africa and large areas of Southern and Eastern Europe by , and proclaimed itself to be an Islamic caliphate in its own right. The Ottoman Empire collapsed at the end of World War I , and the concept of an Islamic caliphate went dormant until it was revived in the 21st century by an organization called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant whose concept of Islamic rule is very different from the tolerance that had been commonplace during the Golden Age.
Arabesque in Islamic art is often used to symbolize the transcendent, indivisible, and infinite nature of God. The traditional instrument of the Arabic calligrapher is the qalam, a pen made of dried reed or bamboo. Qalam ink is often in color, and chosen such that its intensity can vary greatly, so that the greater strokes of the compositions can be very dynamic in their effect.
Islamic calligraphy is applied on a wide range of decorative mediums other than paper, such as tiles, vessels, carpets, and inscriptions. Before the advent of paper, papyrus and parchment were used for writing. Coins were another support for calligraphy. Beginning in , the Islamic caliphate reformed the coinage of the Near East by replacing visual depiction with words.
This was especially true for dinars, or gold coins of high value, which were inscribed with quotes from the Quran. By the 10th century, the Persians, who had converted to Islam, began weaving inscriptions on elaborately patterned silks. These calligraphic-inscribed textiles were so precious that Crusaders brought them to Europe as prized possessions. A notable example is the Suaire de Saint-Josse, used to wrap the bones of St.
Josse in the abbey of St. Josse-sur-Mer near Caen in northwestern France. There were many advances in architectural construction, and mosques, tombs, palaces, and forts were inspired by Persian and Byzantine architecture. Islamic mosaic art anticipated principles of quasicrystalline geometry, which would not be discovered for more years.
This art used symmetric polygonal shapes to create patterns that can continue indefinitely without repeating. These patterns have even helped modern scientists understand quasicrystals at the atomic levels.
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