I hate to burst people's buble who whorship Arabs and Arabic people,but Arabs really don't have a great civlization. The only civlization that existed on the Arabian peninsula was the Sabeans[which we can debate was not even Arab],and most of the great accomplishments of the Arabs during the Middle Ages was due to the reserch of Greco-Roman classics.
Arabs should indeed be given credit for introducing Asiatic technology[the compass,sugar refinering,irrigation,paper,and Hindu numerals],but they did not develop these things originally. Most of the Greco-Roman texts were preserved by Syriac Christians and other Christian groups across the entire so-called Middle East.
The only exceptional Arab scholars were Ibn Khaldan considered to some to be the father of Sociology. Al-Hazen is an exception mention to except most of his works are based on Claudius Ptolomey[who some believe to be an Upper Egyptian].
The other part that came from Caliph Al-Ma'mun translated Hindu and Chinese texts into Arabic. When Arabs were bedouin Barbarians living in the deserts of Arabis, Hindus and Chinese were experiancing a zenith of scientific inquiry. The oldest Universities in the world are in Taxitila,Pakistan,and Nalanda India. Both these insitutions were Buddahist.
830 al-Ma'mun established Bayt al-Hikimah[House of wisdom]
873 Abu al-Husayn dies three years after Muhammed Ibn Ishmali al-Bukhari. Both men gathered authenic hadith of the Phophet,including those encouraging travel for the sake os knowleadge. Their collections are central to the Muslim tradition.
985 Abu Abdullah al-Muqaddin writes Ahsan al-Taqasim fi Marifat al Aqalim which includes maps of fourteen regions within the Islamic empire
1030 Al-Biruni writes tahqiq al-Hind [Facts about India]
1085 the city of toledo , a mjor scientific center in Muslim Spain, falls into the hands of the Christian king Alfonson Vi of Castile. Beginning in the twelfth century, scientists from England,Germany,Italy,France and other parts of Europe flock fo toledo to partispate in the translation of many Arabic scientific works into Latin
1274 Nasir al-din al-Tusi dies
A prolific writer, he prepared critical commentaries on Greek works and wrote new works in Persian, such as the Zij-i Ilkhani[The Ilkhansid tablet for computing the positions of planets. He developed a new theory of linear motion based on the sun of two circular motions, known as the Tusi couple, a mjor breakthrough in explaining eliptical orbits
The Muslims,especially after the establishment of the Abbasid caliph in 750, acclerated their effots with royal support , to bring to light Greek,Persian, and Indian scholarship through translations of texts into Arabic.
The Persian influence is mainly identified with pre-Islamic activity in Jundi-Shapur, a great center ot learning and research.
Several works were translated into Arabic, such as A'in-nama[Book of Customs], which combined astronomical knowleadge information with geographical information and were related to the limits and divisions of the Sasanian empire of Persia.
The Persian influence on Arab through is maily evidenced in maritine literatture and cartography.
The Indian influence on Arab thought came through translations of the sanskrit astronomical treastie Surya-siddhanta during al-Mansur's reign[754-775].
Other Indian works that were translated include the aryabhatiya[ with astronomical calculations] and the Khandakhadyaka[on lunar and solar eclipses and planetary alignments], both of which belong to the Gupta period [fourth-seventh centuries]
page 72
World Eras Volume 2
Rise and Spread of Islam
622-1500 AD
quote:
Originally posted by ausar:
I hate to burst people's buble who whorship Arabs and Arabic people,but Arabs really don't have a great civlization. The only civlization that existed on the Arabian peninsula was the Sabeans[which we can debate was not even Arab],and most of the great accomplishments of the Arabs during the Middle Ages was due to the reserch of Greco-Roman classics.Arabs should indeed be given credit for introducing Asiatic technology[the compass,sugar refinering,irrigation,paper,and Hindu numerals],but they did not develop these things originally. Most of the Greco-Roman texts were preserved by Syriac Christians and other Christian groups across the entire so-called Middle East.
The only exceptional Arab scholars were Ibn Khaldan considered to some to be the father of Sociology. Al-Hazen is an exception mention to except most of his works are based on Claudius Ptolomey[who some believe to be an Upper Egyptian].
The other part that came from Caliph Al-Ma'mun translated Hindu and Chinese texts into Arabic. When Arabs were bedouin Barbarians living in the deserts of Arabis, Hindus and Chinese were experiancing a zenith of scientific inquiry. The oldest Universities in the world are in Taxitila,Pakistan,and Nalanda India. Both these insitutions were Buddahist.
I totally agree that most of the folks associated with the Arab world during the Arabic influence of the Middle Ages, came from diverse backgrounds, and not even necessarily Muslims. However, to downplay Arabic impact during this period, would be misleading.
"Kruisciunas then points that during the Middle Ages the principal astronomers were Muslims, Jews, and some Christians, and what they had in common was that they wrote in Arabic. This was the principal language of astronomy of the 9th through 11th centuries, just as English is today."...
"…[b]amongst the Muslims, only a number of such scientists were Arabs; most were instead Turks, Iranians, Spanish Muslims, Berbers, Kurds...thus a myriad of people and origins brought under the mantel of Islam, a religion open to all who sought to, and excelled in learning. And that was the first, and by far, the most multienthnic culture and civilisation that had ever existed, and not equalled in many respects, even today, not even in countires and institutions which keep adverstising their equal opportunity status. .."
Originally posted here: http://www.egyptsearch.com/forums/Forum8/HTML/001869.html
1ARM cannot get this to his mixed-up mind!!
Many semetic people moved to the levant and into Egypt during the great migration of humans around 10000 years ago.
quote:
Originally posted by AMR1:
i never said that arabs has anything to do with ancient Egypt, there was no arabs in the woprld yet 8000 years ago, but there was semetic people.
In case you are harboring the notion that 'semitic' somehow denotes a 'race', think again. There are indigenous 'semitic' Africans in the African Horn.
[This message has been edited by Super car (edited 21 June 2005).]
quote:
Originally posted by Super car:
In case you are harboring the notion that 'semitic' somehow denotes a 'race', think again. There are indigenous 'semitic' Africans in the African Horn.
Correct semitic is language, not race. And ancient Egypt is not semitic.
And the Arabs have nothing to do with ancient Km.t or Nubian civilisation, other than helping to destroy them.
[This message has been edited by rasol (edited 21 June 2005).]
quote:
Originally posted by AMR1:
i never said that arabs has anything to do with ancient Egypt, there was no arabs in the woprld yet 8000 years ago, but there was semetic people.
quote:
Many semetic people moved to the levant and into Egypt during the great migration of humans around 10000 years ago.
What the heck is this "great migration of humans 10000 years ago"?!!
What evidence shows that Semites moved into Egypt at this time?!! Even Ausar has shown that the Delta didn't even exist back then, so how can people from the Levant move into Egypt?!!
You are right. Here is a better messageboard,Kiafaru. I split the categories to talk about various aspects of Egyptology:
http://phpbb-host.com/phpbb/index.php?mforum=thenile&sid=9c4e5975386aede6d65d8cd7d63ff2ed
Look, Semitic, like Arabic, is often interchangeably used to describe race of people or language.
The original context of Semitic is derived from Judaic belief in the 3 races of men: Ham, Jeph, Shem.
Semitic is the language of the people of Shem and these people are often referred to as Semitic people.
Of course most people here in this forum don't use religious text as proof that Semitic people are a race and have a particular lineage, etc. But that is where the term is derived so it is no less appropriate to call people Semitic or Arabic.
Egyptians were not Semitic people. You may argue that Semitic people migrated into Egypt and brought Mesopatamian crafts and some cultural ideals but in general Egyptians are Hamitic people (or more appropriately: Cushitic).
One thing I don't understand, why do we use religious terms to describe people and languages if we don't believe in the religious historical accounts?