Talk:House of Wisdom

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Untitled

Could anyone expand on this, or point me to good sources for this sort of thing? Thanks!

ManicParroT 19:26, 11 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I could maybe add something to the article concerning the history of mathematics and the role of the House of Wisdom in transcribing Greek texts into Arabic that were later translated into Latin. Without the House of Wisdom many texts such as Euclid's Elements and some of Plato's work would not have been preserved. I will study my notes and post something soon - basically it will be a brief history. Aindriú Conroy 13:57, 01 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

possible sources

Article] by Owen Gingerich --ragesoss 18:00, 4 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Removed bit on Uzbek house of wisdom

I removed this:

The "'Bite ul-'Khikma" in Mawarannahr (Uzbekistan): In the 8th century the armies of the Arab caliph invaded Mawarannahr ('The Land Beyond River') south of the Amudarrya river and brought in Islam from Saudi Arabia (see Uzbekistan History). The House of Wisdom called Bite ul-Khikma, founded by an order of the caliphate ruler Mahmud, engaged in the great task to translate the books of Aristotle, Plato, Archimedes and other ancient Greek scientists and philosophers from classical Greek into Arabic. The Mawarannanahr's brilliant young scientists, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, Achmad Al-Fergani, Al-Marvazi, Javkhari, Marvarudi and others performed with distinction. This time in history is known as the Oriental Renaissance. At Khorezm a new research center was opened dedicated later to Khorezm-Shakh and it became the first Academy in Central Asia.

... because obviously, most of the text is referring to the Bayt al-Hikmah in Baghdad. I googled for something in Mawarannahr, but only founds info from copies of the wikipedia article. So I'll take it out until someone comes up with a better source for this. In the meanwhile, no info is better than wrong info. flammifer^talk 03:46, 10 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Abode or House? (or Adobe?)

A recent edit by user oneeyedboxer changed "house" to "adobe" throughout the article. I think that "abode" was the intended change.

While "House of Wisdom" seems the correct translation to me, we'll need a person with a thorough knowledge of Arabic to translate or make changes. Since the semantic difference between "House" and "Abode" is very slight, I think it ought to stay "House" until an expert deems otherwise.

"House of Wisdom" also sounds better. It's less pompous, more eloquent, easier to understand, and sounds grander. "Abode" is a vaguer term for "a place of residence," but it can also mean "a sojourn."

My two cents, Auranor (talk) 19:17, 22 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

legends

There was NO such "Bait al Hikma" - those are alllll legends here.

Dimitri Gutas (an Arabist and Graekist scholar, Yale University) meticuously researched that - only to point out that there are only 2 mentions (!) of such a "bait" and one is only very, very brief.

My friends - go and read literature first before writing legends as facts - a problem that haunts Wikipedia in this area espacially.

Try D. Gutas "Greek Thought, Arabic Culture" for a starter ...

Udix