Historical Research – Islamic Golden Age Science & Philosophy

Preface

I conducted all this research over around 1-2 months, it is not completely comprehensive, but it gets the key points down. Its post date may appear contradictory as at several points I am contemplating the core mechanics/ideas of my game when by the time I posted it I already had these firmly decided, but this is just because of the stretch of time I spent researching.

Introduction

The Islamic Golden Age was a time of prosperity for many Islamic countries, spanning North Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Europe. The timeline of its existence is up for debate, specifically regarding when it ended, however the commonly agreed timeline is between the 8th and 13th centuries. During this era, there was extensive cultural, philosophical, scientific, and military developments in the region at an unprecedented rate. It occurred, primarily as a result of economic prosperity.

I researched this in specific as my game world will be heavily inspired by this region in this era. There is also much intriguing historical events and developments that occurred in this sector of history, as such, it is ripe with many ideas that may be utilized in my game.

Science

The Islamic Golden Age is known for having made many scientific advancements from medicine to mathematics. Figures such as the polymath Al-Khwarizimi or the engineer Al Jazari made significant advancements in science that were used for hundreds of years and whose effects are still felt today.

Robotics

Al Jazari was a Muslim polymath, engineer, and artist who lived between the 12th and 13th centuries and is commonly referred to as the “father of robotics” and this is not a wholly unearned title as he made many complex contraptions and devices. He invented the crankshaft in his automated water pump machine. Which is the same mechanism used in modern vehicles and machines. Al Jazari’s most famous work documents many of his inventions and is titled “The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices”. His most famous machine was the elephant clock which was a complex automated water clock (pictured below).

Depiction of Al Jazari’s Elephant Clock at the Museum of Islamic Art

The Banu Musa brothers were three Persian brothers who were scholars that lived in the 9th century. They’re known for their many inventions made for entertainment. They wrote “The Book of Ingenious Devices” which was a comprehensive book of many of their creations. Many of their creations were focused on automation such as an automatic crank, a self-trimming lamp, and a conical valve. One of their most well known creations was their automated flute which was a device that could essentially be “programmed” to play a specific tune. It is considered to be the first programmable machine and the oldest known mechanical instrument.

Self-trimming lamp design from “The Book of Ingenious Devices”

Mathematics

Many Muslim polymaths and scientists contributed greatly to the discovery and development of mathematical principles and formulas. The modern standard numeral system used in English attest to the influence of the Islamic mathemeticians, they are actually originally from the Arabic script and are called Arabic numerals as a result. The numerals in Arabic script are, in turn, referred to as Indian numerals as they themselves are derived from Indian numbers.

Al Khwarizmi

The word algebra comes from the Arabic word “Al-Jabr” which was part of the title of influential polymath, Al Khwarizmi’s famous treatise “The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing”. The word algorithim is actually derived from Al Khwarizmi’s name via a latinization of his name. Al Khwarizmi himself was a Persian Muslim polymath and made many innovations and demonstrated the practical usages of algebra by blending different uses of it seen throughout history and the world, from Babylon to India. He is commonly referred to as the “father of algebra” as a result of his innovations on algebra, however he did not invent it, he simply improved on the foundations that other civilizations had already set.

Game Implications

Reading about how technologically advanced and how intelligent this civilization was has inspired me greatly. I can see my game containing more interesting enemies, NPCS, and locations. I originally felt like I would have to purely lean on fantastical or mythological ideas for my game world to be interesting, but reading about the elephant clock for instance has made me realize I can be far more creative than I first thought. I now have an idea for some sort of robot or potentially a scientist figure that the player may need to battle. It also lends itself very well to game mechanics for levels.

Philosophy & Theology

The Islamic Golden Age is renowned for the many philosophical and theological developments by equally renowned scholars. These scholars include figures such as Ibn Sina and Al Ghazali. The developments of philosophy and theology went on to influence Western thought such as Ibn Rushd, whose thought and reasonings affected the development of European secularism. Theological ideas and reasoning such as those put forth by Al Ghazali also continue to impact the contemporary era and are still seen as works worth considering.

Al Ghazali

Al Ghazali was a Persian Muslim theologian who lived in the late 11th to early 12th centuries and lived around the middle east such as Baghdad in Iraq and Tus in Iran. He is sometimes attributed to being the one who ended the golden age as his ideas spread across the Islamic world and discouraged philosophical and scientific endeavours. This viewpoint is narrow-minded and gives him too much credit while simultaneously misunderstanding his own views. Al Ghazali believed in the usage of logical reasoning (to a point) and himself was a philosopher, his most popular works however, taught that religion is the best route to contentment over logical reasoning, and that one should focus on religious and spiritual pursuits over philosophical and scientific ventures. He went on to write one of his most widely known works “The Incoherence of the Philosophers” where in which he critiqued many of the philosophers of the Islamic Golden Age and labelled some of them as disbelievers such as Ibn Sina.

Later in his life, Al Ghazali had an epiphany that reasoning is not necessarily infallible. He realized that since our eyesight (the sense he considered to be the most powerful) could deceive us, why would our logical reasoning be different? Thus he had a crisis where he began questioning everything he knew about the world around him, this crisis lasted for two months until he recovered as a result of his belief in God, which would eventually lead him to becoming a spiritual and mystical Sufi Muslim. Al Ghazali went on a spiritual journey throughout the Islamic world for about 11 years. Little is known about what he did during this time, but what is known is his most famous work “The Revival of the Religious Sciences” was written during this time, and that Al Ghazali became a changed man that was significantly more pious and mystical. Al Ghazali championed Islam and has been labeled as “proof of Islam” due to how he was able to argue for its legitimacy and its importance.

Averroes

Ibn Rushd, (latinized as Averroes), was an Arab-Andalusion Muslim philosopher, jurist, polymath, and judge who lived during the 12th century, primarily in Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain). He is considered by some to be the father of rationalism, predating Rene Descartes, and impacted philosophical thought during the renaissance era of Europe. His major belief was that philosophy was applicable in all fields and should be used as complimentary to religion and be used to interpret it as well. He believed that if science or philosophy contradicted something in scripture, then it was something that should be interpreted allegorically and not literally. Essentially, religion is pure truth until scientific or philosophical advancements contradicts it, then whatever is contradicted should be interpreted metaphorically. Ibn Rushd believed that philosophy was obligatory to Muslims, or at least to the ones that had the ability to study it. Ibn Rushd became most well known in Europe as a commentator on Aristotle and is considered as almost a successor to Arsitotle and advocated for Arsitotelian thought and philosophy.

Extra Facts:

Ibn Rushd worked as a judge and served as a court physician. His works were controversial in the Islamic world and they had a much more significant impact on Europe rather than the Islamic world. He also wrote the famous work critiquing Al Ghazali’s “The Incoherence of the Philosophers” which was titled “The Incoherence of the Incoherence” where in which he goes through Al Ghazali’s points and refutes or dismisses them using logical reasonings.

Avicenna

Ibn Sina, (latinized as Avicenna), was a Persian Muslim philosopher, physician, polymath, and poet who lived during the 11th century, primarily in Bakhara, Iran. He is sometimes considered the greatest Muslim philosopher due to his works and intellect. One of his most famous ideas was the “Cosmological Argument” which was a logical argument that served to prove the existence of God. The theory states that since everything is contingent (i.e. exists because of cause and effect) it follows that in order for a system to exist where in which contingency is present, that system must be contingent on something that exists outside of the system, which would be something that is not contingent, something that exists beyond time and space, and that would be, to Ibn Sina, God. He also was one of the first to describe the antiseptic properties of alcohol and wrote many treatises on medicine, maths, and music. Ibn Sina also argued that God did not create the universe in time, but rather that for God to exist the universe had to exist also, essentially God and the universe are one in the same, they are both eternal. This idea was (and still is) considered by some to be blasphemous and is one of several reasons why Ibn Sina is labelled a disbeliever by some.

Extra Facts:

Ibn Sina worked for various courts/dynasties throughout his life, mostly serving as a physician. He wrote “The Canon of Medicine” which was an influential encyclopedia on medicine that was used for centuries and was used in Europe up until the 18th century. Ibn Sina was known to be sex-addicted as well as to partake of alcohol, which makes him unique in the Islamic world. This is one of several reasons why some label him a disbeliever, however others combat this idea due to him repenting later in life. In his own biography he cites his usage of alcohol primarily to stay awake and retain concentration on his writing in the evenings.

Al Ma’arri

Al Ma’arri was an Arab philosopher and poet who lived between the 10th and 11th centuries and resided in primarily Syria. He is a controversial and unique philosopher as he was not Muslim, and he did not belong to any religion, in fact, he is widely considered to be an atheist. Although Al Ma’arri can be described as a deist, he believed that God existed, yet he rejected religion, and in fact, wrote several poems and works criticizing the establishment of religion as well as its advocates. Al Ma’arri was also the first known vegan and completely rejected the consumption of animals or animal products. Furthermore, Al Ma’arri was an anti-natalist, which is the philosophical idea that human procreation is unethical. Overall he is a very unique figure for the era and the region.

Extra facts:

Al Ma’arri went blind at the age of four and mostly resided in his home town for most of his life. He did venture to the house of wisdom in Baghdad but didn’t like the culture there and how people were striving to please the aristocracy, thus he returned to his home town where he continued his work. He was known for being a pessimist and this attitude was likely exacerbated by his disability and how he lived modestly with little income.

Game Implications

These philosophers and theologians will undoubtedly have an effect on the story and some of the skill tree ideas I have. I can see an entire skill tree in my game being dedicated to philosophy or something of the sort. I also have the idea of having several philosopher characters appear in the game now, perhaps they may also put forth some of the ideas that these wise individuals came up with towards the player.

Baghdad & Al-Andalus

The city of Baghdad (Iraq) and the kingdom of Al-Andalus (Spain) were influential in regards to science and philosophy, from them nearly all of the figures listed here, as well as many more, were able to conduct their groundbreaking work and trasnfer information. Baghdad for instance, was so influential that many historians credit the destruction of it and its great House of Wisdom, with being the catalyst of ending the Islamic Golden Age. And Al-Andalus went on to be especially influential in Europe, with many Arabic texts being translated into Latin and transferred to Europe.

Baghdad

Baghdad was the center for intellectual activity for much of the Islamic Golden Age. It allowed for the blending of different cultures as well, particularly allowing Persian culture and people to flourish, as well as being directly on a trade route connecting Europe, Asia, and Africa. This led to hundreds of years of propserity and the development of science and philosophy. It lent itself well to the flourishing of different philosophers and scientists from the Persian polymath Al-Khwarizmi to the philosopher of the Arab Al-Kindi. In Baghdad, there was the prominent House of Wisdom, a massive library full of knowledge and erudition. This contributed heavily to the previously mentioned developments of science and philosophy. Unfortunately, the Mongols sacked and conquered Baghdad in 1258, which destroyed much of the knowledge kept in the House of Wisdom, and the many innovations that once took place in Baghdad almost completely ceased. It’s also said that around 800,000 of the city’s inhabitants were killed in the siege (Britannica). Iraq dealt with economic issues for hundreds of years following the siege and I believe it is one of the greatest tragedies in history.

Al-Andalus

Cordoba was the capital city of Al-Andalus (Muslim-ruled Spain) and prospered for many years. It was filled with libraries, schools, and mosques, and was home to many influential figures such as Ibn Rushd. In Al-Andalus as a whole, art flourished, with many famous poems, songs, and architectural works being developed in the kingdom. Given the local majority Christian European population, many works done by the Arabs and Berbers (North African ethnic groups) were translated from Arabic to Latin. This allowed for the transfer of knowledge from the Islamicate world to the European Christian world. Though Al-Andalus was prosperous for the invaders, the local population was not as lucky. The rulers of Al-Andalus would vary between tolerance and forced conversion to Islam towards the local Christians. And in general, Christians were not allotted as many rights as Muslims and were not allowed to participate in government. Al-Andalus was also not particularly stable, with different rulers vying for power while also attempting to conquer more of Europe and defend what territory they had. After centuries of rule, the 1492 Reconquista ended the reign of Al-Andalus and all the Arabs, Berbers, and Jews were forced out.

Game Implications

The cities of Cordoba and Baghdad are especially inspiring to me, they were a mix of differnet cultures and full of art and developments. Their architecture and contents have inspired what some of the city levels of my game may look like as well as potential ideas for the gimmicks each level may have. For instance I have an idea of making a very technologically advanced city, combining the inventions of Al Jazari with the described splendour of Baghdad.