Manuscript showing Hulwan public library in Baghdad

Passion for Learning

A 13th-century manuscript of Maqamat al-Hariri shows the public library of Hulwan in Baghdad.

A thousand years ago, the city of Baghdad was a melting pot that attracted minds from far and wide, who drew on a vast collection of scientific, medical and philosophical books. Many libraries and intellectual centres gathered fame including the House of Wisdom, the library of Al-Nizamiyya school and that of Al-Mustansiriya school.