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Islamic Civilization In Al Andalus

The Alhambra , partial view from the Mirador de San Nicols.

Overlooking the fountains of pageantry of the Generalife.

The arches and colonnades of the Alcazar of Seville , illustrative of the Mudejar style , embody the canons of art Nazari that characterizes the Alhambra Palace.

The science and technology from the develop in al-Andalus in the early days of the . Demobilized troops after the defeat by the Frankish cavalry, composed of Arab and Berber collectively Moors , by moving to new lands of the Iberian Peninsula , are amazed by the presence of streams and land so fertile.

It is a true golden age of Islamic civilization that will give birth to this new knowledge in the peninsula. They will generate architectural wonders such as the Alhambra and the Great Mosque of Cordoba.

This article describes the features of civilizations from al-Andalus, and then transmitted to the Christian West , parallel with the Byzantine capital.

The pleasures of chivalry

Rise of poetry and hobbies courtiers

Arabic poetry of Al-Andalus caballeros (caballescero amor) these riders beating both the arts of war and Islamic mysticism, handed to the south of France , the Provence , their style of verse that inspired then to of Dante in Florence.
In the same movement is transmitted chess , the Arabs met in Persia and diffused on their land.

Conceptual thinking

Portrait of Averroes by Andrea Bonaiuto.

Rise of philosophy , accompanying that of medicine :

The medicine of humors of Averroes (Ibn Rushd) reproduces that of the Greeks.
The mystique of Ibn Arabi.
If the philosophical influence of Avicenna (Ibn Sina, Persian ) in the West has been exceeded by that of Averroes, his thoughts on the distinction between the "essence" of being and existence will be operated by Thomas Aquinas and is one of basic philosophy Scholasticism neo-Aristotelian medieval Christian.
Syncretism from cultures treated in Islam results from the integration of the thoughts of previous civilizations, whose writings were translated into Arabic , and its extensions are in the arts, medicine and philosophy, theology in Islam, including this critic.

The language and figures

Many words Castilian directly from the Arabic. For example, almost all words with a prefix al , which is the article "the" in Arabic, as well as common expressions like Ojala (Inshallah). By derivation, these words are spreading in the neighboring languages of the Christian West with modifications (Castilian alcachofa the word, derived from the Arabic al-kharshf example is the origin of the word in French artichoke).

The know-how

Coffered ceiling of the throne room of Aljafera of Zaragoza.

The system of irrigation is already very developed in Andalusia , because of the Romans who built canals and aqueducts, and also of the Cistercian Order. The Moors develop it and make some technical innovations, some of which came from Persia: the bucket wheel or water wheel ; Management is provided by the Water Court in Seville. Then they dig underground cisterns ( algibes ) to Granada.
custom of washing (with soap or bread of Aleppo including manufacturing, initially made at Gallipoli will be acclimated before Marseille ), which, although known in Europe since the Gallic era, was used as a shampoo.
Art of ceramics ( tiles ) and stucco
Rise of the geography , the mapping in the Arab-Norman kingdom of Sicily.
Technical Moorish tiles , developed and transmitted in Europe.

Transmission to the West

These benefits shall be construed in terms of technology transfer in terms of artistic and literary creation. Include the two most famous examples:

Mohammed recommends "going to seek knowledge until China "(` l-`uTlubi ilma wa law-fi-S-Sin).
The zero and his arithmetic were invented in India before the Muslim conquest. It is through their presence from India to Spain that Muslims, by translations of Al-Khwarizmi , mathematician growing Persian born in Khiva in present Uzbekistan , will ensure its dissemination in their empire.

The armies of the Muslim kingdom of Granada is to serve the ^thirteenth century and for the first time in Europe, the black powder , they introduce the gun that will revolutionize military technology. The Castilian army catches up during the wars of Granada (1481) by systematizing their use in regiments arcabuceros, embryo of future tercios.

These contributions anticipate the Renaissance. Europe has become technically about two centuries behind the Islamic world - while cities like Venice have a status in this respect a little outside the norm - but is developing its next scholastic logic which will form the basis for its revival.

Main article: Renaissance of the twelfth century # Science.