European knowledge from Arabick roots

Searching for the roots of knowledge

From prized horses and exotic plants to luxury fabrics and literature, eastern style took Europe by storm four hundred years ago.

In the 17th century, leading western thinkers had rejected the theoretical ideas and methods of the recent European past.

Instead, they adopted a new approach based on experiment and scientific observation, and therefore searched for manuscripts in Arabic and Persian, travelled east and even learned Arabick languages.

Growing peace, sharing knowledge

London, Tripoli, Constantinople... capital cities in East and West exchanged ambassadors for the first time in the 17th century.

As peace flourished, trade treaties saw exciting new products arriving at western ports, from new plant species to new delights, like coffee.

This set the scene for an even more influential exchange - the sharing of ideas.

Well-read westerners in 17th-century Europe knew that the golden era of Muslim civilisation had left a wealth of knowledge in Arabic and Persian.

Merchants and businesspeople travelling east began to seek manuscripts to send back to eager European scientists.

Kings and bishops requested enough books to fill miles of library shelves.

Along with exotic wares that came to Europe from the East in the 17th century, the trade routes also fed a western appetite for eastern knowledge.

Many employees of the Levant Company (formed in 1580) learned Arabic while serving abroad, enabling a trade in books and manuscripts from the East.

Royal patronage

East-West relations gained the royal seal of approval 400 years ago. In 1580, the Levant Company received a royal charter, establishing trade relations between England and the Ottoman Empire.

Later, King Charles I wrote in 1634 to merchants of the Levant Company, asking that every ship returning to England should bring back Arabick manuscripts.

The changing language of science

Western scholars needed more than their mother tongue to join the 17th century's craze for eastern science.

With Arabick books constantly arriving from the East, it was vital to decode the valuable knowledge within them. Many scientists learned the new languages, made translations and wrote dictionaries and grammar books.

Others travelled to the East in pursuit of undiscovered writings.

Circle of scientists and Arabists

With the increasing interest in eastern science in 17th-century Europe, chairs of Arabic were established at leading universities, and professors searched hundreds of Arabic and Persian books for scientific ideas to share.

A close-knit circle of scholars formed, united in the aim to learn from eastern writings.

They translated books on astronomy, medicine, mathematics and philosophy, and discussed their contents through exchanging hundreds of letters.

Lively debate fanned the flame of discovery in the 17th century, and no more so than in the discussion of Arabick knowledge.

As interest grew, a new collaboration developed between the scientific scholars and the expert Arabists who studied Eastern languages and ideas in the Arab world.

Detailed conversations took place through correspondence.

Our shred sky and Earth

In the 17th century, scholars improved the astronomical maps of their predecessors, using more accurate tools and measurements.

British astronomer Edmond Halley realised that the centuries-old Arabic books arriving in England contained reliable measurements of the same heavenly bodies he saw.

He learned Arabic to read the old manuscripts, and also requested that travellers send him the latest observations of the Moon's eclipse in Baghdad, Aleppo and Alexandria.

Hevelius published in 1687 a comprehensive atlas of the constellations on the basis of his observations and additional resources.

At his request, the Royal Society in London translated into Latin a renowned star catalogue produced in 1487 by the astronomer-mathematician Ulugh Beg, which he studied along with observations made in the 10th century by Al-Sufi in his book Forms of Fixed Stars.

Constellations out of the star catalogues of Hevelius and Al-Sufi.

Although drawn five and half centuries apart (images are from 1687 and 1125 copies of Hevelius’s and Al-Sufi’s manuscripts respectively), these constellations appear as if they are mirroring each other.

This is because Hevelius's constellations are drawn as they would appear on a celestial globe, while Al-Sufi's are drawn as they appear in the sky.

Our shared challenges

Arabick manuscripts tackled - and often solved - tremendous scientific and medical challenges, using evidence-based methods recognised by the 17th-century western scholars.

In the golden era of early Muslim civilisation, scholars like Al-Kindi, Al-Razi, Thabit ibn Qurra, Ibn al-Haytham, Ibn Sina and Al-Zahrawi had written books that were translated into Latin and remained influential for centuries.

In the enlightened 17th century, western scholars searched out original Arabic texts, both to improve the old translations and to try to find hidden gems yet unknown.

17th-century European scientists were eager for current information on eastern medical remedies, healthy living, and the practice of using inoculation against the killer disease smallpox.

Translations of Arabic medical textbooks, like Ibn Sina's Canon of Medicine, were used in European universities until the 18th century.

Bulbs and plants used in herbal medicine were sent to Europe with descriptions of the diseases they could treat.

Our shared cultures

Stylish European homes and gardens of the 17th century showed off their eastern influences at every opportunity.

Sophisticated bookshelves displayed volumes of poetry and stories translated from Arabick languages.

Brightly coloured carpets, cushions and curtains decorated living rooms, while stylish wardrobes contained eastern-influenced fashions.

Outside, trees and plants brought from Syria and Morocco were lovingly tended. And the influence of eastern philosophy lived on.

Exploring the East

Evidence and proof meant the world to 17th-century scientists.

So it's no surprise that western scholars wanted to see eastern lands for themselves.

On tour through the East, scholars gathered evidence from craftsmen and experts practising medicine and astronomy, creating new records, in the form of books and drawings, of everything they found.

Many Europeans glimpsed the East for the first time through drawings and engravings similar to the ones appearing on this map.

As well as historic scenes, western travellers, scholars and artists roaming through Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Egypt keenly recorded contemporary life there. Everything was explored and painstakingly recorded.

Today these images are a snapshot of the East through 17th- and 18th-century western eyes.