House of Wisdom
The House of Wisdom (Arabic: بَيْت الْحِكْمَة Bayt al-Ḥikmah), also known as the Grand Library of Baghdad, was believed to be a major Abbasid-era public academy and intellectual center in Baghdad. In popular reference, it acted as one of the world's largest public libraries during the Islamic Golden Age,[1][2][3] and was founded either as a library for the collections of the fifth Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809) in the late 8th century or as a private collection of the second Abbasid caliph al-Mansur (r. 754–775) to house rare books and collections of poetry in the Arabic and Persian language. During the reign of the seventh Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun (r. 813 – 833 AD), it was turned into a public academy and a library.[1][4]
This article is about the Abbasid library in Baghdad, Iraq. For the Fatimid library in Cairo, Egypt, see House of Knowledge.House of Wisdom
Finally, it was destroyed in 1258 during the Mongol siege of Baghdad.[4] The primary sources behind the House of Wisdom narrative date between the late eight centuries and thirteenth centuries, and most importantly include the references in Ibn al-Nadim's (d. 995) al-Fihrist.[5]
More recently, the narrative of the Abbasid House of Wisdom acting as a major intellectual center, university, and playing a sizable role during the translation movement has been understood by some historians to be a myth, constructed originally over the course of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by Orientalists and, through their works, propagated its way into scholarship and nationally-oriented works until more recent re-investigations of the evidence.[6][7][8]
Background[edit]
Greco-Arabic translation movement[edit]
The House of Wisdom existed as a part of the major Translation Movement taking place during the Abbasid Era, translating works from Greek and Syriac to Arabic, but it is unlikely that the House of Wisdom existed as the sole center of such work, as major translation efforts arose in Cairo and Damascus even earlier than the proposed establishment of the House of Wisdom.[9] This translation movement lent momentum to a great deal of original research occurring in the Muslim world, which had access to texts from Greek, Persian, and Indian sources. The rise of advanced research into mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, and medicine was the beginning of Arab science, and drove demand for more and updated translations.[10]
Influx of scholars[edit]
The House of Wisdom was made possible by the consistent flow of Arab, Persian, and other scholars of the Islamic world to Baghdad, owing to the city's position as capital of the Abbasid Caliphate.[11] This is evidenced by the large number of scholars known to have studied in Baghdad between the 8th and 13th centuries, such as al-Jahiz, al-Kindi, and al-Ghazali among others, all of whom would have contributed to a vibrant academic community in Baghdad, producing a great number of notable works, regardless of the existence of a formal academy.[11][9] The fields to which scholars associated with the House of Wisdom contributed include, but are not limited to, philosophy, mathematics, medicine, astronomy, and optics.[12][11] The early name of the library, Khizanat al-Hikma (literally, "Storehouse of Wisdom"), derives from its function as a place for the preservation of rare books and poetry, a primary function of the House of Wisdom until its destruction.[1] Inside the House of Wisdom, writers, translators, authors, scientists, scribes, and others would meet daily for translation, writing, conversation, reading, and dialogue.[13] Numerous books and documents covering several scientific concepts and philosophical subjects in different languages were translated in this house.[14]
This is a list of notable people related to the House of Wisdom.[11]
A major contribution from the House of Wisdom in Baghdad is the influence it had on other libraries in the Islamic world. It has been recognised as a factor that connected many different people and empires because of its educational and research components. The House of Wisdom has been accredited and respected throughout Islamic history and was the model for many libraries during and following its time of function. A large number of libraries emerged during and after this time and it was evident that these libraries were based on the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. These libraries had the intention of reproducing the advantageous and beneficial characteristics that are known throughout the world because of the House of Wisdom.[55]
Some other places have also been called House of Wisdom, which should not be confused with Baghdad's Bayt al-Hikma: