The ziggurat, the windmill, the first “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” are all contributions made to modern civilization by the Persian Empire.1 In general, Eastern contributions to modern civilization are often overlooked in history. While Medieval Europe produced many notable alchemists commonly referred to, it was Persia that produced the most influential early alchemist. In fact, the word “alchemy” comes from the Persian word “kimya.”2 The Eastern world is to thank for Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan, or Jabir, who can be argued to be one the most influential and understated early alchemists in history. Background on Jabir Jabir was said to be a natural philosopher, alchemist, and most likely a physician, among other things, who lived during the eighth century in Tus, Khorasan, in Persia.3 Though his ethnic background and early life are not thoroughly documented, he is said to be Persian and to have fled to Arabia during political unrest.4 At the time, Persia was ruled by monarchies and at the court of Caliph Harun al-Rashid, Jabir wrote “The Book of Venus.”5 He was greatly praised in the court and held …show more content…
with very high esteem.3 By earning a trusted role in the courts, Jabir was given freedom to study and write with many resources. Though almost 3,000 articles are attributed to Jabir, it is believed that many were written by his followers and later attributed to him, the “father of early chemistry.”3 The collection of his texts contains a wide variety of topics including both sciences, such as medicine and biology, and humanities, such as grammar and music.5 His teacher, Imam Ja’far to whom he regards highly in his texts, heavily influenced him.3 When Alexander the Great achieved successful conquests in the East, a more fluid transfer of knowledge between the Eastern and Western world was developed.2 While the Eastern hemisphere was heavily involved in religious texts that were shared with the Western world, the Western hemisphere enhanced philosophical discussions in the Eastern world, especially through Aristotle’s early works.2 Communication between the hemispheres was further heightened by the spread of Islam. The spread of religion allowed for a further influence of Eastern alchemical techniques on the West. After the Arabs conquered Egypt, where alchemy is said to have originated, Jabir began to build off available ideas.2 His Works and Ideas
Among Jabir’s works, a few collections of texts are most notable: “The 112 Books” which included the Emerald Tablet, “The Ten Books on Rectification” which had descriptions of other earlier alchemists such as Plato and Aristotle, and “The Books on Balance” which included Jabir’s most famous work, “Theory of the Balance on Nature.”5 The Emerald Tablet was likely written by Hermes Trismegistus, built upon by Jabir, and then was translated into Latin and was made available to many earlier European alchemists.4 It is often sourced as the foundation of alchemical art and Jabir is cited to have a very early form of it.4 The Emerald Tablet was a summary of alchemical principles and it was thought that the secret to the “philosopher’s stone,” a substance capable of transforming metals into gold, was revealed in it.4 Sir Isaac Newton did the most famous
translation.4 Jabir’s experiments were attempts to attain his ultimate goal of “takwin,” or the artificial creation of life.3 In his texts, he has recipes for how certain creatures, including humans, can be created, but the meaning of such recipes is unknown.3 In fact, his alchemical writings are so complex and misunderstood, that they gave rise to the term “gibberish.”4 Others, however, cite that he “explained the practical details of chemistry more clearly than had been done previously.”6 He included very detailed notes and directions as to how to carry out experiments.6Above all, his quantification of sciences set him apart as a more modern thinker. He attempted to achieve perfect balances of substances.4 The idea of equivalents, or amounts of acid needed to neutralize a base, is attributed to him.4 His emphasis on experimentation and analysis of data is what Jabir is most known for. Jabir’s work was heavily involved in analyzing Aristotle’s four qualities of elements: hotness, coldness, dryness, and moistness.7 Fire is hot and dry, earth is cold and dry, air is moist and hot, and water is moist and cold.7 Jabir believed that each metal contained two interior qualities and two exterior qualities.7 For example, gold is externally hot and moist, but internally cold and dry.7 Upon this, he developed what is called the “Mercury-Sulfur Theory.”7 This theory says that metals differ from each other in that they have different compositions and amounts of mercury (cold and moist) and sulfur (hot and dry) when formed in the Earth.7 According to his theory, gold would be a perfect combination of mercury and sulfur and other metals could be altered by such combinations in order to create gold.4 However, common mercury and sulfur could not achieve this; therefore, rare forms of the metals would be necessary to create a perfect combination.4 Based on this theory and the Emerald Tablet, European alchemists hypothesized that a philosopher’s stone existed.4 Jabir also developed an intricate numerology in which the root letter of a material's name held correspondences to its physical properties.4 This numerology was called “the method of balance.”4 The idea remains the most original idea Jabir contributed to alchemy. In this, the quantity of the four natures, including hotness, coldness, dryness, and moistness, could be told by the name of a substance.4 Each letter in the alphabet was given a number and corresponded with different natures.4 Jabir contested that everything had a “hidden nature” and a “manifest” one.4 Anything with a hidden nature either added up to 17 or was a multiple of it.4 Jabir also classified metals and non-metals into three categories: “spirits” such as arsenic and camphor because they are able to vaporize upon heating, “metals” such as gold and copper, and “non-malleables” including stones because they can be converted into powders.2 He was also able to complete the “spirits” through sal ammoniac, something the Greeks before him were unable to do.2 Because the Arabic word for ammonia has Persian roots, it is thought that ammonia was discovered during the Sassanid Kingdom.2 His Influence The Jabirian corpus, or Jabir’s body of work, is well known for experimentation and its contributions to alchemy. Though the works attributed to Jabir are thought to be written by many people, he is still notable in that he catalyzed many works of the medieval, European alchemists.8 For the most part, he justified their search for the philosopher’s stone.8 Many of his texts were translated into Latin and became standard texts for European alchemists.8 Additionally, a lot of the alchemy jargon that is known today came from the translation of Geber’s texts. Even the word “alkali,” which was coined by him, is still used today.2 Jabir’s name was Latinized to “Geber” to make his works more accessible.2 Then in the thirteenth century, an anonymous European alchemist, now known as “pseudo-Geber” wrote alchemical findings under Geber’s name in Latin.9 Though the true identity pseudo-Geber is still unknown, it is likely that works were penned under his name due to his widespread reputation as a knowledgeable alchemist.8 It is argued that the most famous alchemical collection is “Summa perfectionis magisterii”, or “Summa,” which was written by him.9 Like Geber’s works, the pseudo-Geber corpus was widely read and accepted. It wasn’t until six centuries later that the author of the works was questioned when styles of the writing seemed inconsistent with earlier collections.3 Many historians attempt to link the writings to an identity, but have been unsuccessful.3 Nevertheless, many of Jabir’s ideas, such as the sulfur-mercury theory were further developed in the late works, which added to Jabir’s influence in the medieval world.3 The two most influential ideas that came out of “Summa” was the “mercury-alone theory” and the idea of medicinal orders.9 The theory stated that mercury was a “pure” metal and sulfur was a “corruptor” metal.9 Thus, pseudo-Geber works urged followers to use mercury as a transmuational device rather than other organic ingredients like blood and hair previously used by Jabir.9 Additionally, the work stated that there exist three levels of medicine.3 Each order would lead up to the next: the first order would lead to the second, and the third order was the “purest,” producing pure silver or gold.3 This correlated with the introduced “theory of corpuscular matter.”3 As the matter decreased in size, the medicine became purer. Such could be achieved through processes such as distillation, sublimation, and the like.4 This became extremely influential on the leading seventeenth century scientists and their scientific procedures. Erik John Holmyard, a chemistry historian, claims that Jabir made alchemy an experimental process.2 He even compares him to Robert Boyle and Antoine Lavoisier and says that Jabir is as influential to chemistry as such giants in the field.2 Lawrence Principe, in his article “Alchemy Restored,” explains that because alchemy and early chemistry were both the study, analysis, and production of substances at the time, the genre of Jabir’s work is left to semantics.10 This suggests the notion that Jabir truly was one of the first chemists even though he often does not get recognized as such. Conclusion Though Jabir ibn Hayyan was not the first practical alchemist, he was one of the most influential. His works catalyzed a series of early chemistry techniques and his influence reaches even to this day. Despite his achievements and advancements in alchemy, Jabir is rarely cited as one of the “founding fathers of early chemistry.” Great alchemists such as Roger Bacon, Elias Ashmole, and the great scientist Sir Isaac Newton who are often cited as being some of the most masterful alchemists and early chemists of their time followed Jabir and his works.3 More credit must be attributed to the great early
It is approximated that the Australopithecus, a hominid, lived approximately four to one million years ago. From that point in time, the world history of humans has been an exhaustive, arduous task to document. With that in mind, world historians attempt to capture the events most important to the development of contemporary humanity. In fact, Tamim Ansary states that “World history, after all, is not a chronological list of every damn thing that ever happened; it’s a chain of only the most consequential events, selected to reveal the arc of the story-it’s the arc that counts.” Some have taken a European approach to the restrictions, but in response to such thought, Tamim Ansary’s Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes presents a sequential restating of history through an Islamic viewpoint. From the beginning of Islam with Muhammad to recent happenings, like 9/11, Ansary presents Islamic history in a larger context to commendably combine said history with world history. Furthermore, Ansary claims that Islamic history has often been seen as a side to Western history, as Western history has “prevailed and churned” Islamic history, although it has it is crucially significant in the larger context of world history. In the larger sense, Ansary proves his argument that Islamic history has developed independently and is important, but he does not project the importance of the Islamic history over European history.
Lewis, Bernard. The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years. New York: Scribner,
Ibn Fadlan and al-Andalusi both travelled much of the same land. During their travels, they wrote down their experiences with other cultures. Despite the fact that their journeys were two centuries apart, they had many similarities as well as differences in their style of writing, interests, and religious interactions. The most prominent similarity is their relationship with Islam; both of them tried to convert the people they met to their religion and their religious customs. They also share similarities in what they choose to write down about a culture. However, Ibn Fadlan was far more interested in the rituals and customs of other cultures, whereas al-Andalusi chose to primarily focus on food, animals, and the resources of other civilizations. They also have distinct differences in how they interact with others and the style of their writing. Ibn Fadlan is far more active in his writing because he describes his judgments and writes more about himself. Conversely, al-Andalusi is more passive, and writes less about himself or his opinions.
During the 16th and 17th century, the Middle East saw the rise of the “Gunpowder Dynasties”. This included the Ottoman Empire, the Safavids of Persia, and the Mughals. Simply put, these civilizations were the first in the Mediterranean to use gunpowder weapons including guns and cannons. However, it did not stop there, with the use of gunpowder came the rise of new technologies in metallurgy, mining, and weapon design. The use of gunpowder had arrived in the Middle East due to the Mongols who first witnessed its use in China. The only other empires which used gunpowder at the time were Britain and the Netherlands. The use of gunpowder allowed the three empires of the Muslim world to achieve things they previously could not and led to many advances and dominance in the region. At the same time however, it also fragmented the Mediterranean. As well, contrary to what some may assume, all of the gunpowder empires were not Arab, they consisted of newcomers to the Middle East. With all this in mind, an examination of the similarities and differences between the empires and the difference they made in the Muslim world for centuries to come is vital.
Expansion into Central Asia begins as early as the year 637 during the time of the Muslim Caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab. At the time, the Muslim army leader Al-Ahnaf Ibn Qays (1) in the battles with the Persian empire had pushed the last king of the Sasanian Empire Yazdegerd III all the way back to Amu River near Balkh at the Battle of Oxus River (4). The Amu River is in todays’ Turkmenistan and so is in the western side of Central Asia. The expans...
Ultimately, European influence played a fundamental role in the shaping of the Ottoman Empire and Egypt during the 18th and early 19th century. It’s influence was most significant through government, economic, and military influence but its effects reverberated throughout society. Western influence was much less significant in Iran, primarily due to the fragmented nature of governorship in the region.
Though the Arabs aren’t known for inventing world and life altering machines, they maintained a consistency of development which we often take for granted. They were able to maintain this consistency because they lived in a dynasty where they were allowed intellectual freedom. Not only were they so advanced in fields such as science, but they were also clearly advanced in the subjects of humanism and equality. It was one of the only early civilizations where men and women had the same rights and could work in the same environment. With all the tools they acquired through intellectual freedom they were able to better understand the world.
"Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West." Publishers Weekly 20 Mar. 2006
Before 850 A.D, the most advanced achievements in weaponry and technology included the sword and shield. Chinese alchemists however, would change the world forever through their invention. In an early strive to find an elixir that sustained life, Chinese alchemists mixed sulfur and charcoal creating what is known as salt-pepper. When burned it was said that "smoke and flames result, so that the scientists' hands and faces have been burnt, and even the whole house where they were working burned down" (Whipps). This invention was later known as gunpowder, a creation that would revolutionize and create a new world. The effects that the creation of gunpowder in 850 A.D had on the world can be shown through the advancements in weaponry, technology, and the impact on culture.
There are many ways to examine the subject of alchemy, including alchemy as a source of symbolism, psychology, and mysticism. It has also been an influence on the world view of various writers, artist, and musicians. The focus of this report is alchemy as a pre-chemistry, which gave a new impulse towards the preparation of medicinal remedies and also was a major influence on today's scientific investigations.Alchemy is an ancient art, practiced in the Middle Ages. The fundamental concept of alchemy stemmed from Aristotle's doctrine that all things tend to reach perfection.
The discovery of oil reserves in the Persian Gulf marked the beginning of the evolution of Iran to a modern industrial nation. (Document A) As the demand for crude oil skyrocketed, the wealth generated by Iran soared. The distribution of this wealth became a matter of contention. Additionally, with the transformation of Iran to an industrial nation, the introduction of western culture posed a problem for the strict Islamic community. The Iranian Revolution was a result of the economic, political, cultural and religious conflict that occurred within its borders.
There are many terms used to describe the period after the fall of Rome and before the Renaissance, three main terms being the Middle, Medieval, and Dark Ages. In general, these terms are used interchangeably, but are these fair substitutions? In recent years the term “Dark Ages” is becoming less and less acceptable as a phrase which describes the span of years it is meant to refer to. The use of the term “dark” implies a period of stagnation, which is becoming a questionable concept. In particular, the span of time referred to in this paper is 530-1452 BCE, with specific attention paid to the scientific discoveries and innovations rather than art or literature. These dates are significant because in 529 the Academy and Lyceum in Athens were shutdown by the Byzantine emperor, thus ending the Greek intellectual influence. The date of 1453 is chosen because many Greek texts arrived in Europe in 1453 after the fall of Constantinople at the hands of the Turks, thereby reviving the struggling European scientific fields (Bunch 93). This essay will show that the medieval period was not a so-called “dark age” because of scientific innovation in the Islamic world, and is only referred to as such because of the popular bias in the West of focusing on Europe. In order to make this clear, firstly, two objections to this proposition will be analyzed and clearly refuted. Following these counter arguments, the main weight of historical facts and events in the identification and explanation of Islamic scientific innovation will be presented, showing the inaccuracy of referring to the medieval period as dark. Finally, I will show that the misleading perception of the medieval era as stagnant is due to the modern bias for the superiority of Western...
Ibn Khaldun was the first historian and sociologist to write about Middle Eastern culture and thought. He was successfully able to do this by pointing out other historians’ flaws and recognizing his own references, discussing the rise and fall of civilizations, how Greek thought was incorporated or not incorporated within his work, and finally how jurisprudence brought the people together. His ideas set an example for many historians at the time and many of them correct. Even though some of his work doesn’t apply to today’s standard (one can only successfully live in a certain climate), but his theory on the rise and fall of a generational dynasty can apply to business techniques of today.
Ibn al Haytham was a Muslim innovator born in 965 in Basra. He is also known as Alhazen and The First Scientist. In his time, Alhazen was able to invent the first pinhole camera and a camera obscura. Before Alhazen, scientists believed that they did not have to scientifically prove their findings, however, he knew better. Every experiment or hypothesis Alhazen came up with, he submitted it to a physical test and/or proof using mathematic equations. (“Arab Inventors”)
Roberts, Gareth. The Mirror of Alchemy: Alchemical Ideas and Images in Manuscripts and Books: From Antiquity to the Seventeenth Century. Buffalo: U. of Toronto, 1994.