Greek books in Arabic hands

These two expectations ask you to describe how classical philosophy and science influenced later cultures, and how learning about them helps you understand later developments. The museum offers one thread: Greek books in Arabic, the house that gathered them in Baghdad, and the way some Arabic writers read Aristotle. Influence on other cultures, and on religion, is for your class to bring. ¹

Ask who gathered the books, who translated them, and what the readers did with them: copy them, comment on them, or disagree. Look for the places where a reader questions the author, and say what that shows about how knowledge travels.

See what went on in this house. The record of Bayt al-Hikma says that al-Rashid appointed Yuhanna ibn Masawayh to translate the old medical books found in the lands of Rum, and assigned skilled scribes to write under his direction. ² In its library Abu Sahl al-Fadl ibn Nawbakht translated books of wisdom from Persian into Arabic, and Allan al-Shu'ubi copied for al-Rashid, al-Mamun and the Barmakids. ² In this record the house is a place of translating and copying, with books from Persian alongside books from the lands of Rum.

The record preserves no statement by al-Rashid or al-Mamun on why the house was built up. It reports what was done: al-Mamun developed and strengthened it, sent to the king of Rum asking permission to send for whatever ancient sciences he chose, sent for them through al-Hajjaj ibn Matar, Ibn al-Batriq and Salm, the head of the House of Wisdom, and made Sahl ibn Harun keeper of its treasures. ² That shows what he asked for, not why.

The name "House of Wisdom" can suggest a well-known building. Ahmad Amin, as the record reports, calls it the greatest library whose report survives from the early Abbasid period, not the greatest library without qualification. ² The source states that its system and its exact location both remain shrouded in uncertainty. ²

Three kinds of witness stand behind this lesson. For the house, Ahmad Amin in Duha al-Islam, and the record holds only what he passed on. ² For Aristotle in Arabic, Ibn al-Nadim says his books on logic, natural science and theology were translated into Arabic and interpreted by Alexander of Aphrodisias, Themistius, Yahya al-Nahwi, al-Farabi, al-Kindi and others. ³ Zirikli's al-A'lam says Ibn Rushd devoted himself to the words of Aristotle, translated him into Arabic, and wrote about fifty books on him. ⁴ The record of Philosophy gives only two examples from al-A'lam, Ibn Bajja and Ibn Rushd, and says the subject needs a further source to define philosophy and its history. ⁵

Ahmad Amin calls the House of Wisdom the greatest library whose report survives, and the source says its location and system are uncertain. What would you need to see before accepting that description, and why would a report be weaker or stronger evidence than a surviving building?

• Bayt al-Hikma: who worked there under al-Rashid and al-Mamun, and what remains unclear.
• Aristutalis (Aristotle): his books and commentators in the Fihrist.
• Philosophy: Ibn Bajja and Ibn Rushd as Zirikli lists them.
• The Abbasid Translation Movement: Ibn al-Nadim's account, which the record says comes from him alone.

Read Bayt al-Hikma, Aristutalis and Philosophy. Write one sentence saying what each one shows about how Greek learning was received.