Founded under the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid around 800 as a library and expanded by his son al-Ma'mun in the 820s and 830s, the House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma) in Baghdad was the centre of a movement to translate the works of Greek, Persian, Indian and Syriac scholars into Arabic, paid for by the caliphs. Translators such as Hunayn ibn Ishaq rendered Aristotle, Euclid, Ptolemy and Galen, and scholars like al-Khwarizmi, al-Kindi and the Banu Musa brothers added new work in mathematics, astronomy, optics and medicine. Paper made the books cheap. Much of ancient learning was saved, and passed to Europe in the Middle Ages.
Before and after
- from 821 CE to 873 CETahirid dynasty
- 823 CEOrigins of Shingon Buddhism
- 13 June 823 CEBirth of Charles the Bald
- 828 CEConstruction of St Mark's Basilica
- c. 830sThe House of Wisdom flourishes in Baghdad
- from 833 CE to 907 CEGreat Moravia
- 834 CEOrigins of Sarkel
- c. 841 CEOrigins of Dublin
- from 843 CE to 962 CEEast Francia
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The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 9th century.