CIV 101-03

March 23, 2015Class 24

Islam and the West

9-2

The World of Islam, 622–750Esp.: the influences and the spread

The Early Medieval West

The Byzantine Empire

Breakup of Church, West v East: 1014Crusades: 1095-1285

The World of Islam: 630–1517As things get real rough in theWest (East and West West),Islam rises

Islam/Arabia Making us Western(a partial list—WAY more than one expects)

• Medicine (esp. surgery… for about 1,000 years)• Math (esp. algebra & trig.)– Arabic Numbers (can’t really do our math without `em)

• Science (esp. Physics)– Astrolabes (without these, probably no voyages to the new

world)– Greek astronomy (with added mathematical insights)

• Hydraulics (pumps and all things water)• Distilled spirits (`nuf said)– suppressed/lost after Greece/Rome

Islam/Arabia Making us Western

• Musical instruments– Rebec=Violin– Quitara=Guitar

• The troubadour (remembered in the west as western/medieval)

• Writing in “script”– Calligraphy that gives us

• Illustrated manuscripts • Numerous font styles• The west mistook Arabic calligraphy for ancient writing

stylistics and adopted it both for that and for its beauty.

• Fabric industries– Huge advances in all woven arts and all ornamentation arts

• Trade, including/esp. all things from the far east, but also from everywhere else.– Spices– Food varieties

• Financial services advances (“the check” as a kind of mobile credit)

• Steel and tempering (improvements/advances)• The pointed arch

Islam/Arabia Making us Western

Arches of the Great Mosque

• A LOT of translation/preservation work– Translations from Greek/Latin to Arabic– Translations from Arabic BACK INTO Greek/Latin– Esp. philosophy and such that the

Christian/Catholic West suppressed • Greek classics

– Esp. Aristotle

• Roman classics

– Work done, esp. in Spain, Palestine, Bagdad, Sicily.

– Divides Reason from Faith (Averroes)

Islam/Arabia Making us Western

• A common enemy– Unified enemies for the Christian/Catholic Church

& Muslims/Islam to fight• On theological grounds• Over the Holy Land (the Crusades)

– For the West to fight as a state/against empire• A common cause– Evangelical faiths with messianic missions, both

willing to fight and die over religion and efforts to convert/control/dominate

Islam/Arabia Making us Western