Underground Rivers - University of New Mexico

822 .
Ninth and
tenth
centuries
981-1037
1060-1087
Mid 11th
century
1096-1099
1125-1200
1126-1298
1187
1453
1492
Chapter 5 -- The Crescent
Crusaders conquer Jerusalem and
establish principalities along the
eastern Mediterranean.
Crusaders defeated near Jerusalem
and Crusader enclaves begin to
crumble.
Ottoman Empire captures
Constantinople, renaming it Istanbul,
and continues to expand until the
Turks control much of the Middle East.
Christians reclaim Granada, expelling
Muslims and Jews.
Apex of the Arabic Golden Era
DRAFT 1122//66//22001122
Caliph al-Ma'mun founds the Bayt al
Hikilometersah (House of Wisdom), a
center for the translation of
philosophical and scientific works from
Greek to Arabic.
Revival of learning at Constantinople
Persian physician ibn Sina, known to
the Wwest as Avicenna
First systematic translation of Arabic
texts into Latin by Constantine the
African at Mt. Cassino, Italy
Translation of Aristotle from Arabic
into Latin by Spanish Jews, a high
point for multiculturalism.
Iberian-Arab Ibn Rushd, known to the
West as Averroes
As the Dark Ages enshrouded the West, the eastern world was in ascent and Arabic scholarship
was free to procure what seemed worthy. Core to our timeline are the right-hand entries flagging
Greek works and ideas preserved by Arab institutions. Knowledge from many vassal states
would have been archived, of course, but much of it would have faded from interest.
But the dustbin was not the fate of the Greco-Roman collection. Hebrew scholars, also "People
of the Book," were welcomed into the caliphs' courts to sort through the intellectual booty.
Had Islam not been politically secure and able to afford intellectual diversity, pagan myths of
underground rivers might have been discarded from translations of Aristotle. This is not to imply
that the Arabs believed the Greek, but they recognized the meaning of Charon. Had not the
Arabs been actively constructing a philosophy compatible with Islam, questions posed by the
Greeks would not have been weighed.
Ecclesiastes 1:7 isn't Qur'anic, but the Hebrew question wasn't particular to a single race.
Particular to our interest in underground rivers are two Arabs named in the timeline.
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