The Arab golden age: Harun Al Rashid's Baghdad.
The Arabs founded a flourishing civilization
stretching from Iran to Morocco and Spain when the Europeans were still wearing animal skins. Harun's Baghdad is perhaps best known for the wealth and luxurious life-style of its inhabitants. Silk and porcelain from china, spices and precious metal from India, gold dust and ivory from Africa white slaves from Scandinavia and Russia were shipped to Baghdad by sea. Harun's wife, Zubaidah, wore jewel-studded shoes and had a tree of mechanical chirping birds made of pure gold. Harun wanted Baghdad to be the center of world learning, and to this end he invited
famous poets and scholars from all over the Middle East to come to Baghdad to work and live. The intellectual ferment began with the translation of books from all over the world into Arabic . what we know now as Arabic numerals, the decimal system, and the use of the number zero have come to the west by way of Haroun's Baghdad. There were famous practicing physicians as well, such as Al-Razi, known to the west as Rhazes. Al-Razi wrote books on smallpox and measles as well as his most famous work, an encyclopedia that catalogued all Greek, Hindu, and Persian
medical knowledge as well as his own medical research. An equally famous physician, Ibn Sina, known to the west as Avicenna, codified all Greek and Arabic medical knowledge into a volume that become the standard medical textbook in the Arab and in Europe for the next eight hundred years. Original scientific researches were also conducted in the field of astronomy, chemistry, zoology, music, geography, and philosophy. Al-Khawarizmi, the mathematician, wrote a book on algebra that was widely used in Europe and thus introduced the word " algebra" in to English. The theological colleges were established for the advanced study of Islam. There were public as well as private libraries, and many bookstalls were to be found on the streets of Baghdad. A well-trained police force was organized to keep order in the towns of the empire, and a standing army helped keep the countryside under control and safe for travel. For the benefit of the travelers, inns and hostels were maintained in various parts of Harun's domain, and the delivery of mail was supplemented by a carrier-pigeon service for the speedy exchange of messages...