Traveler.

Ahmad ibn Fadlan

Ahmad ibn Fadlān ibn al-Abbās ibn Rašīd ibn Hammād (أحمد إبن فضلان إبن ألعباس إبن رشيد إبن حماد) was a 10th century Muslim writer and traveler who wrote an account of his travels as a member of an embassy of the Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad to the king of the Volga Bulgars, the Kitāb ilā Malik al-Saqāliba كتاب إلى ملك الصقالبة.

Manuscript tradition
For a long time, only an incomplete version of the account was known, as transmitted in the geographical dictionary of Yāqūt (under the headings Atil, Bashgird, Bulghār, Khazar, Khwārizm, Rūs), published in 1823 by Fraehn. Only in 1923 was a manuscript discovered by the Turkish scholar of Bashkir origin Zeki Validi Togan in the library of the Iranian city of Mashhad. The manuscript MS 5229 dates from the 13th century (7th cent. Hijra) and consists of 420 pages (210 folia). Besides other geographical treatises, it contains a fuller version of Ibn Fadlan's text (pp. 390-420). Additional passages not preserved in MS 5229 are quoted in the work of the 16th century Persian geographer Amin Razi called Haft Iqlīm "Seven Climes".

The Embassy
Ibn Fadlan was sent from Baghdad in 921 to serve as the secretary to an ambassador from the Abbasid Caliph al-Muqtadir to the iltäbär (vassal-king under the Khazars) of the Volga Bulgaria, Almış.

The embassy's objective was to have the king of the Bolğars pay homage to Caliph al-Muqtadir and, in return, to give the king money to pay for the construction of a fortress. Although they reached Bolğar, the mission failed because they were unable to collect the money intended for the king. Annoyed at not receiving the promised sum, the king refused to switch from the Maliki rite to the Hanafi rite of Baghdad.

The embassy left Baghdad on June 21, 921 (11 Safar 309). It reached the Bulghars after much hardship on May 12, 922 (12 Muharram 310) (This day is an official religious holiday in modern Tatarstan). The journey took Ibn Fadlan from Baghdad to Bukhara, to Khwarizm (south of the Aral Sea), to Jurjaniya (where his party spent the winter), north across the Ural River until they reached the camp of the Bulghars at the three lakes of the Volga north of the Samara bend.

After arriving in Bolğar, Ahmad ibn Fadlan made a trip to Wisu and recorded his observations of trade between the Volga Bolğars and local Finnic tribes.

The Rus
A substantial part of Ibn Fadlan's account is dedicated to the description of a people he called the Rūs روس or Rūsiyyah. Most scholars identify them with the Rus' or Varangians, which would make Ibn Fadlan's account one of the earliest portrayals of Vikings.

The Rūs appear as traders that set up shop on the river banks nearby the Bolğar camp. They are described as having the most perfect bodies, tall as palm-trees, with blond hair and ruddy skin. They are tattooed from "fingernails to neck" with dark blue "tree patterns" and other "figures" and that all men are armed with an axe and a long knife.

Ibn Fadlan describes the hygiene of the Rūsiyyah as disgusting (while also noting with some astonishment that they comb their hair every day) and considers them vulgar and unsophisticated. In that, his impressions contradict those of the Persian traveler Ibn Rustah. He also describes in great detail the funeral of one of their chieftains (a ship burial involving human sacrifice). Some scholars believe, that it took place in the modern Balymer complex.

Fiction
Elements of Ibn Fadlan's account are used in the novel Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton (filmed as The 13th Warrior with Antonio Banderas as Ibn Fadlan), in which the Arab ambassador is taken even further north and is involved in adventures inspired by the Old English epic Beowulf.

Ibn Fadlan also appears as a Necromancer hero in the game Heroes of Might and Magic II, last level of the Descendants campaign as an overpowered hero carrying hopelessly large armies, making this a very harsh battle.

Traveler.

Hormuzd Rassam

Hormuzd Rassam (1826 – 16 September 1910) was an Assyrian Assyriologist and traveller who made a number of important discoveries, including the stone tablets that contained the Epic of Gilgamesh, the worlds oldest literature.

Biography
An ethnic Assyrian, Rassam was born in Mosul, Ottoman empire as a Chaldean Catholic to mixed cultural situation. His father Anton Rassam was from Mosul and was archdeacon in the Assyrian Church of the East, his mother Theresa was daughter of Ishaak Halabee of Aleppo, Syria. When he was 20 years old, he was hired by A.H. Layard as a pay master. Layard, who was in Mosul on his first expedition (1845-1847), was impressed by the hard-working Rassam and took him under his wing; they would remain friends for life. Layard provided an opportunity for Rassam to travel to England and study at Oxford (Magdalen College), where he stayed for 18 months before accompanying Layard on his second expedition to Iraq (1849–1851).

Layard then began a political career, and Rassam continued field work (1852–1854) at Nimrud and Kuyunjik, where he made a number of important and independent discoveries, including clay tablets that would later be deciphered by George Smith as the Epic of Gilgamesh, the world's oldest-known example of written literature.

Rassam then returned to England and, with the help of his friend Layard, started a new career in government with a posting to the British Consulate in Aden. In 1866, an international crisis erupted in nearby Abyssinia when British missionaries were taken hostage by a mountain warlord, King Theodore. England decided to send Rassam as an ambassador with a message from Queen Victoria in the hope of resolving the situation peacefully. However, he, too, was taken prisoner and held for a number of years until English and Indian troops under Robert Napier in the 1868 Expedition to Abyssinia resolved the standoff by defeating the warlord and his army. Rassam's reputation was damaged because he was unfairly portrayed as weak and ineffectual in dealing with the warlord, in large part due to systemic Victorian prejudices against "Orientals".(Damrosch, 2007)

His political career in ruins, Rassam resumed his archaeological work. He was sent by the British Museum to Assyria, where he conducted important investigations, especially at Nineveh. During the Russo-Turkish War, he undertook a mission of inquiry to report on the condition of the Christian communities of Asia Minor and Armenia. His archaeological work resulted in many important discoveries and the collection of valuable epigraphical evidence.

After 1882, Rassam lived mainly at Brighton, writing on Assyro-Babylonian exploration, on the Christian sects of the Near East, and on current religious controversies in England. He was a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, the Society of Biblical Archaeology, and the Victoria Institute.

One of his greatest discoveries were the clay tablets that contained the Epic of Gilgamesh, the world's oldest literature. In addition, he found baked-clay cylinders that are considered to represent the first bill of human rights, issued by Cyrus the Great in 539 BC and referring to the Persian the capture of Babylon. Rassam's important discoveries attracted world-wide attention, and the Royal Academy of Sciences at Turin awarded him the Brazza prize of 12,000 fr. for the four years 1879-82.

His publications include: The British Mission to Theodore, King of Abyssinia, (1869) and Asshur and the Land of Nimrod (1897).

Rassam married an Englishwoman, Anne Eliza Price, and became the father of 7 children. His eldest daughter, Theresa Rassam, was a professional singer who sang with the D'Oyly Carte light opera company.

Science.



Al-Asma'i or Asma`i [Abu Sa`id `Abd al-Malik ibn Qurayb al-Asma`i] (c. 740-828) (Arabic: ‏الأصمعي) was an Arab scholar of the so-called Basra school.

He was born of pure Arab stock in Basra and was a pupil there of Abu 'Amr ibn al-`Ala. He seems to have been a poor man until by the influence of the governor of Basra he was brought to the notice of Harun al-Rashid, who enjoyed his conversation at court and made him tutor of his son. He became wealthy and acquired property in Basra, where he again settled for a time; but he returned later to Baghdad, where he died in 828.

Al-Asma'i was one of the greatest scholars of his age. From his youth he stored up in his memory the sacred words of the Qur'an, the traditions of the Prophet, the verses of the old poets and the stories of the ancient wars of the Arabs. He was also a student of language and a critic. It was as a critic that he was the great rival of Abu 'Ubaida. While the latter followed (or led) the Shu'ubiyah movement and declared for the excellence of all things not Arabian, al-Asma'i was the pious Muslim and avowed supporter of the superiority of the Arabs over all peoples, and of the freedom of their language and literature from all foreign influence. Some of his scholars attained high rank as literary men.

Of Asma'i's many works mentioned in the catalogue known as the Fihrist, only about half a dozen are extant. These include the Book of Distinction, the Book of the Wild Animals, the Book of the Horse, and the Book of the Sheep.

Science.



Ibn Duraid ابن دريد الأزدي (Abu Bakr Mahommed ibn al-Hasan ibn Duraid al-Azdi) (837-934), Arab poet and philologist, was born at Basra of south Arabian stock. Here he was trained under various teachers, but fled in 871 to Oman at the time Basra was attacked by the Zanj, under Muhallabi.

After living twelve years in Oman he went to Persia, and, under the protection of the governor, `Abdallah ibn Mahommed ibn Mikal, and his son, Ismail, wrote his chief works. In 920 he went to Baghdad, where he received a pension from the caliph Moqtadir.

The Maqsurah, a poem praising Ibn Mikal and his son, has been edited by A. Haitsma (1773), E. Scheidius (1786), and N. Boyesen (1828). Various commentaries on the poem exist in manuscript (cf. C. Brockelmann, Gesch. der arab. lit., i. 211 ff., Weimar, 1898). The Jamhara fi 'l-lugha is a large dictionary written in Persian (published in Hyderabad, India, 4 vol. 1926-30). Another work is the Kitab ul-Ishtiqaq ("Etymology"), edited by F. Wüstenfeld (Gottingen, 1854); it was written in opposition to the anti-Arabian party to show the etymological connection of the Arabian tribal names.

Traveller.




Mohammed Abul-Kassem ibn Hawqal (born in Nisibis; travelled 943-969 CE) was a 10th century Arab writer, geographer, and chronicler. His famous work, written in 977, is called Surat al-Ardh (صورة الارض; "The face of the Earth").

What little is known of his life is extrapolated from his book, which was a revision and extension of the Masalik ul-Mamalik of Istakhri (951). That itself was a revised edition of the Suwar al-aqalim of Ahmed ibn Sahl al-Balkhi, who wrote about 921. Ibn Hawqal was clearly more than an editor; he was a traveler who spent much of his time writing about the areas and things he had seen. He spent the last 30 years of his life traveling to remote parts of Asia and Africa. One of his travels brought him 20º south of the equator along the East African coast. One of the things he noticed was that there were large numbers of people living in areas that the Greeks, working from logic rather than experience, said must be uninhabitable.

His descriptions were accurate and very helpful to travelers. Surat al-Ardh included a detailed description of Muslim-held Spain, Italy and particularly Sicily, and the "Lands of the Romans," the term used by the Muslim world to describe the Byzantine Empire. In it, among other things, he describes his first-hand observation that 360 languages are spoken in the Caucasus, with Azeri and Persian languages being used as Lingua Franca across the Caucasus, he also gives a description of Kiev, and is said to have mentioned the route of the Volga Bulgars and the Khazars, perhaps by Sviatoslav I of Kiev Encyclopedia of Ukraine.

lbn Hauqal's work was published by M. J. de Goeie (Leiden, 1873). An anonymous epitome of the book was written in 1233.

Science.



Ibn Hubal ,ابن هبل (full name: Muhadhdhab al-Din ‘Ali ibn Ahmad, al-Baghdadi al-Khilati) , (Arabic, مهذب الدين علي بن أحمد البغدادي الختالي ) was an Arab physician and scientist known primarily for his medical compendium titled Kitab al-Mukhtarat fi al-tibb, "The Book of Selections in Medicine." It was written in 1165 in Mosul, north of Baghdad, where Ibn Hubal spent most of his life. The popular medical encyclopedia is highly dependent upon the Qanun of Ibn Sina (Avicenna),[citation needed]with occasional passages transcribed verbatim.

The chapters on kidney and bladder stones has been edited and translated into French by P. de Koning, Traité sur le calcul dans les reins et dans la vessie par Other chapters have been translated by Dorothee Thies, Die Lehren der arabischen Mediziner Tabari und Ibn Hubal über Herz, Lunge, Gallenblase und Milz [Beiträge zur Sprachen und Kulturgeschichte des Orients, Heft 20] (Bonn: Verlag für Orientkunde Dr. H. Vorndran, 1968), pp. 73-133. He died in 1213.

Art & Literature.




Al-Jahiz (in Arabic الجاحظ) (real name Abu Uthman Amr Ibn Bahr al-Kinani al-Fuqaimi al-Basri) (born in Basra, c. 776–December 868 or January 869) was a famous Arab scholar. He was an Arabic prose writer, historian, and author of works of literature, Mu'tazili theology, and politico-religious polemics.

Early life
Not much is known about Al-Jahiz's early life, but his family was very poor. He used to sell fish along one of the canals in Basra to help his family. Yet, despite his difficult financial troubles, that didn't stop him from seeking knowledge since his youth. He used to gather with a group of other youths at the main mosque of Basra, where they discussed various subjects of sciences. He also attended various lectures done by the most learned men in philology, lexicography, and poetry.

Education
Al-Jahiz continued his studies, and over a span twenty-five years, he had acquired great knowledge about Arabic poetry, Arabic philology, history of the Arabs and Persians before Islam, and he studied the Qur'an and the Hadiths. He also read translated books of Greek sciences and Hellenestic philosophy, especially that of Greek philosopher Aristotle. His education was highly facilitated due to the fact that the Abbasid Caliphate was in a period of cultural, and intellectual revolutions. Books became readily available, and this made learning easily available.

His career
While still in Basra, Al-Jahiz wrote an article about the institution of the Caliphate. This is said to have been the beginning of his career as a writer, which would become his sole source of living. It's said that his mother once offered him a tray full of notebooks and told him that he'll earn his living from writing. Since then, he had authored two hundred books throughout his lifetime that discuss a variety of subjects including Arabic grammar, zoology, poetry, lexicography, and rhetoric. The staggering number of books though, haven't all reached us, only thirty books survived.

Moving to Baghdad
He moved to Baghdad, the capital of the Arab Islamic Caliphate at the time, in 816 AD, because the Abbasid Caliphs encouraged scientists and scholars and had just founded the House of Wisdom. Due to the Caliphs' patronage, his eagerness to reach a wider audience, and establish himself, al-Jahiz stayed in Baghdad (and later Samarra) where he wrote a huge number of his books. The Caliph al-Ma'mun wanted al-Jahiz to teach his children, but then changed his mind when his children got afraid of his boggle-eyes (جاحظ العينين), it's said that this is where he got his nickname.

Most important books

Kitab al-Hayawan
The al-Hayawan is an encyclopedia of seven volume of anecdotes, poetic descriptions and proverbs describing over 350 varieties of animals. Much of the work was considered by the scholar Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi to be little more than plagiarism of the Historia animalium of Aristotle. In the work al-Jahiz speculates on the influence of environment on animals, a concept considered by some to be a precursor to evolution. It is considered as the most important work of Al-Jahiz.

Kitab al-Bukhala
A collection of stories about the greedy. Humorous and satirical, it is the best example of Al-Jahiz' prose style. It is an insightful study of human psychology. Jahiz ridicules schoolmasters, beggars, singers and scribes for their greedy behavior. Many of the stories continue to be reprinted in magazines throughout the Arabic-speaking world. The book is considered one of the best works of Al Jahiz.

Kitab al-Bayan wa al-Tabyin
Al Jahiz is considered to be one of the most renowned writers of all times, for he is believed to have written during his life span about 360 books, from all walks of knowledge and wisdom of his time, al bayan wa tabyeen which literally means (eloquence and demonstration), was one of his latest work, in which he approaches different subject like epiphanies, rhetorical speeches, sectarian leaders, and princes…, also a book in which he converges skills of the language and eloquence, the art of silence and poetry, he also treats with his sardonic spirited comments, the fools and the crazy, and not to forget Arab's wit and wisdom…

Kitab Moufakharat al Jawari wal Ghilman
In Arabic the word jawari is the plural of jariya meaning (a female servant) which by today's standard we would call concubine mistress or dame there was actually two kinds of female servants jariya one that manages the household and runs daily errands and the second type used to be called qina also qaenawas a jariya who had the ability to sing which put her above (in market value) than the usual jariya, often this kind of jawari was worth a lot of money, in consequence they have become a privilege for princes and wealthy merchants, and the word ghilman is the plural of ghoulam (a young male servants) also referred to as eunuch, castrato, ephebus, ephebe. For most scholars the book of dithyramb of concubines and ephebes is a wanton book of sensuality, in this book Al Jahiz enthralls us with stories of erotic nature that deals with the Arab perception of sexuality.

Risalat mufakharat al-sudan 'ala al-bidan
"We Blacks have conquered the country of the Arabs as far as Mecca and governed them. The desert swarm with the number of our men who married your women and who became chiefs and defended you against your enemies. You even have sayings in your language which vaunt the deeds of our kings &madash; deeds which you often placed above your own; this you would not have done had you not considered them superior to your own. We defeated Dhu Nowas (Jewish ruler of Yemen) and killed all the Himyarite princes, but the Arabs and Whites (from Europe) have never conquered our country. Our people, the Zinges (an African race), revolted forty times in the Euphrates, driving the inhabitants from their homes... Blacks are physically stronger. A single one of them can lift stones of great weight and carry burdens such as several whites could not lift nor carry between them. They are brave, strong... — these good traits are the gifts of God."

His death
Al-Jahiz returned to Basra after spending more than fifty years in Baghdad. He died in Basra in 869 AD. His exact cause of death is not clear, but a popular assumption is that an accident, where the books piling up his private library, toppled over and crushed him, caused his death. He died at the age of 93. Another version said that he suffered from ill health and died in Muharram.

Quotes

* "Al-Jahiz was the greatest scholar and stylist of the ninth century." Christopher Dawson
* "One of the greatest prose writers in classical Arabic literature." Bernard Lewis
* "[al-Jahiz] was one of the most productive and frequently quoted scholars in Arabic literature. His originality, wit, satire, and learning, made him widely known." Philip K. Hitti

Science.




Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan (Arabic: جابر بن حيان) (c. 721–c. 815), known also by his Latinised name Geber, was a prominent chemist, alchemist, pharmacist, philosopher, astronomer/astrologer, physician and physicist. He has also been widely referred to as the "father of chemistry". His ethnic background is not clear; although most sources state he was an Arab, others describe him as Persian. Ibn Hayyan is widely credited with the introduction of the experimental method into alchemy, and with the invention of numerous important processes still used in modern chemistry today, such as the syntheses of hydrochloric and nitric acids, distillation, and crystallisation. His original works are highly esoteric and probably coded, though nobody today knows what the code is. On the surface, his alchemical career revolved around an elaborate chemical numerology based on consonants in the Arabic names of substances and the concept of takwin, the artificial creation of life in the alchemical laboratory.

Biography
Jabir was born in Tus, Khorasan, in Iran, then under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate; the date of his birth is disputed, but most sources give 721 or 722. He was the son of Hayyan al-Azdi, a pharmacist of the Arabian Azd tribe who emigrated from Yemen to Kufa (in present-day Iraq) during the Umayyad Caliphate. Hayyan had supported the revolting Abbasids against the Umayyads, and was sent by them to the province of Khorasan (in present Iran) to gather support for their cause. He was eventually caught by the Ummayads and executed. His family fled back to Yemen, where Jabir grew up and studied the Koran, mathematics and other subjects under a scholar named Harbi al-Himyari. After the Abbasids took power, Jabir went back to Kufa, where he spent most of his career.

Jabir's father's profession may have contributed greatly to his interest in alchemy. In Kufa he became a student of the celebrated Islamic teacher and sixth Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq. He began his career practising medicine, under the patronage of the Barmakid Vizir of Caliph Haroun al-Rashid. It is known that in 776 he was engaged in alchemy in Kufa.

His connections to the Barmakid cost him dearly in the end. When that family fell from grace in 803, Jabir was placed under house arrest in Kufa, where he remained until his death. The date of his death is given as c.815 by the Encyclopædia Britannica, but as 808 by other sources.

Contributions to chemistry
Jabir is mostly renowned for his contributions to the modern discipline of chemistry, though at the time it was pre-alchemy. He emphasised systematic experimentation, and did much to free alchemy from superstition and turn it into a science. He is credited with the invention of many types of now-basic chemical laboratory equipment, and with the discovery and description of many now-commonplace chemical substances and processes – such as the hydrochloric and nitric acids, distillation, and crystallisation – that have become the foundation of today's chemistry and chemical engineering.

He also paved the way for most of the later Islamic alchemists, including Razi, Tughrai and al-Iraqi, who lived in the 9th, 12th and 13th centuries respectively. His books strongly influenced the medieval European alchemists and justified their search for the philosopher's stone.

He clearly recognised and proclaimed the importance of experimentation. "The first essential in chemistry", he declared, "is that you should perform practical work and conduct experiments, for he who performs not practical work nor makes experiments will never attain the least degree of mastery."

Jabir is also credited with the invention and development of several chemical instruments that are still used today. By distilling various salts together with sulfuric acid, Jabir discovered hydrochloric acid (from salt) and nitric acid (from saltpeter). By combining the two, he invented aqua regia, one of the few substances that can dissolve gold. Besides its obvious applications to gold extraction and purification, this discovery would fuel the dreams and despair of alchemists for the next thousand years. He is also credited with the discovery of citric acid (the sour component of lemons and other unripe fruits), acetic acid (from vinegar), and tartaric acid (from wine-making residues).

Jabir applied his chemical knowledge to the improvement of many manufacturing processes, such as making steel and other metals, preventing rust, engraving gold, dyeing and waterproofing cloth, tanning leather, and the chemical analysis of pigments and other substances. He developed the use of manganese dioxide in glassmaking, to counteract the green tinge produced by iron — a process that is still used today. He noted that boiling wine released a flammable vapor, thus paving the way to Al-Razi's discovery of ethanol.

The seeds of the modern classification of elements into metals and non-metals could be seen in his chemical nomenclature. He proposed three categories: "spirits" which vaporise on heating, like camphor, arsenic, and ammonium chloride; "metals", like gold, silver, lead, copper, and iron; and "stones" that can be converted into powders.

In the Middle Ages, Jabir's treatises on alchemy were translated into Latin and became standard texts for European alchemists. These include the Kitab al-Kimya (titled Book of the Composition of Alchemy in Europe), translated by Robert of Chester (1144); and the Kitab al-Sab'een by Gerard of Cremona (before 1187). Marcelin Berthelot translated some of his books under the fanciful titles Book of the Kingdom, Book of the Balances, and Book of Eastern Mercury. Several technical terms introduced by Jabir, such as alkali, have found their way into various European languages and have become part of scientific vocabulary.

Contributions to alchemy
Jabir became an alchemist at the court of Caliph Harun al-Rashid, for whom he wrote the Kitab al-Zuhra ("The Book of Venus", on "the noble art of alchemy").

Jabir states in his Book of Stones (4:12) that "The purpose is to baffle and lead into error everyone except those whom God loves and provides for". His works seem to have been deliberately written in highly esoteric code, so that only those who had been initiated into his alchemical school could understand them. It is therefore difficult at best for the modern reader to discern which aspects of Jabir's work are to be read as symbols (and what those symbols mean), and what is to be taken literally. Because his works rarely made overt sense, the term gibberish is believed to have originally referred to his writings (Hauck, p. 19).

Jabir's alchemical investigations ostensibly revolved around the ultimate goal of takwin — the artificial creation of life. The Book of Stones includes several recipes for creating creatures such as scorpions, snakes, and even humans in a laboratory environment, which are subject to the control of their creator. What Jabir meant by these recipes is today unknown.

Jabir's interest in alchemy was probably inspired by his teacher Ja'far al-Sadiq. Rumours of his him being a Sufi is mostly fabricated for the main reason that no such school (i.e., Sufism) existed during that era of Islamic history. Ibn Hayyan was deeply religious, and repeatedly emphasizes in his works that alchemy is possible only by subjugating oneself completely to the will of Allah and becoming a literal instrument of Allah on Earth, since the manipulation of reality is possible only for Allah. The Book of Stones prescribes long and elaborate sequences of specific prayers that must be performed without error alone in the desert before one can even consider alchemical experimentation. Alchemy had a long relationship with Shi'ite mysticism; according to the first Imam, Ali ibn Abi Talib, "alchemy is the sister of prophecy".

In his writings, Jabir pays tribute to Egyptian and Greek alchemists Hermes Trismegistus, Agathodaimon, Pythagoras, and Socrates. He emphasises the long history of alchemy, "whose origin is Arius ... the first man who applied the first experiment on the [philosopher's] stone... and he declares that man possesses the ability to imitate the workings of Nature" (Nasr, Seyyed Hossein, Science and Civilization of Islam).

Jabir's alchemical investigations were theoretically grounded in an elaborate numerology related to Pythagorean and Neoplatonic systems. The nature and properties of elements was defined through numeric values assigned the Arabic consonants present in their name, ultimately culminating in the number 17.

To Aristotelian physics, Jabir added the four properties of hotness, coldness, dryness, and moistness. Each Aristotelian element was characterised by these qualities: Fire was both hot and dry, earth cold and dry, water cold and moist, and air hot and moist. This came from the elementary qualities which are theoretical in nature plus substance. In metals two of these qualities were interior and two were exterior. For example, lead was cold and dry and gold was hot and moist. Thus, Jabir theorised, by rearranging the qualities of one metal, based on their sulfur/mercury content, a different metal would result. (Burckhardt, p. 29) This theory appears to have originated the search for al-iksir, the elusive elixir that would make this transformation possible — which in European alchemy became known as the philosopher's stone.

Jabir also made important contributions to medicine, astronomy/astrology, and other sciences. Only a few of his books have been edited and published, and fewer still are available in translation. The Geber crater, located on the Moon, is named after him.

Popular Culture
* The word gibberish is sometimes theorized to be derived from his name, though sources such as the Oxford English Dictionary suggest it stems from gibber: However, the first known recorded use of the term "gibberish" was before the first known recorded use of the word "gibber". (See Gibberish)
* Geber is mentioned in Paulo Coelho's 1993 bestseller, The Alchemist.

Quote
* "My wealth let sons and brethren part. Some things they cannot share: my work well done, my noble heart — these are mine own to wear."

What others have said about Jabir
* Max Meyerhoff: "His influence may be traced throughout the whole historic course of European alchemy and chemistry."

Writings by Jabir
The writings of Jabir Ibn Hayyan can be divided into four categories:

* The 112 Books dedicated to the Barmakids, viziers of Caliph Harun al-Rashid. This group includes the Arabic version of the Emerald Tablet, an ancient work that is the foundation of the Hermetic or "spiritual" alchemy. In the Middle Ages it was translated into Latin (Tabula Smaragdina) and widely diffused among European alchemists.
* The Seventy Books, most of which were translated into Latin during the Middle Ages. This group includes the Kitab al-Zuhra ("Book of Venus") and the Kitab Al-Ahjar ("Book of Stones").
* The Ten Books on Rectification, containing descriptions of "alchemists" such as Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
* The Books on Balance; this group includes his most famous 'Theory of the balance in Nature'.

Some scholars suspect that some of these works were not written by Jabir himself, but are instead commentaries and additions by his followers. In any case, they all can be considered works of the 'Jabir' school of alchemy.

Good job Zico

History & Heritage.

Gudea

Gudea was a ruler (ensi) of the city of Lagash in Southern Mesopotamia who ruled ca. 2144 - 2124 BC. He probably did not come from the city, but had married Ninalla, daughter of the ruler Urbaba (2164 - 2144 BC) of Lagash, thus gaining entrance to the royal house of Lagash. He was succeeded by his son Ur-Ningirsu.

Inscriptions
Inscriptions mention temples built by Gudea in Ur, Nippur, Adab, Uruk and Bad-Tibira. This indicates the growing influence of Gudea in Sumer. His predecessor Urbaba had already made his daughter Enanepada high priestess of Nanna at Ur, which indicates a great deal of political power as well.

Title
Gudea chose the title of ensi (town-king or governor), not the more exalted lugal (Akkadian sharrum); though he did style himself "god of Lagash". Gudea claimed to have conquered Elam and Anshan, but his inscriptions emphasize the building of irrigation channels and temples, and the creation of precious gifts to the gods. Materials for his buildings and statues were brought from all parts of western Asia: cedar wood from the Amanus mountains, quarried stones from Lebanon, copper from northern Arabia, gold and precious stones from the desert between Canaan and Egypt, dolerite from Magan (Oman), and timber from Dilmun (Bahrain).

As the power of the Akkadian empire waned, Lagaš again declared independence, this time under Puzer-Mama, who declared himself lugal, or king, of Lagaš. Thereafter, this title would not be associated with Lagaš, at least until the end of the Gudean period. Lagašite rulers, including Ur-Ningirsu and Ur-Bau, whose reigns predated Gudea, referred to themselves as ensi, or governor, of Lagaš, and reserved the term lugal only for their gods or as a matter of rank in a relationship, but never as a political device. The continued use of ‘lugal’ in reference to deities seems to indicate a conscious attempt on the parts of the rulers to assume a position of humility in relation to the world--whether this was honest humility or a political ploy is unknown.

Statues of Gudea
Twenty-six statues of Gudea have been found so far during excavations of Adad-nadin-ahhe and Telloh with most of the rest coming from the art trade (These having unknown provenances and sometimes doubtful authenticity). The early statues were made of limestone, steatite and alabaster); later, when wide-ranging trade-connections had been established, the more costly exotic diorite was used. Diorite had already been used by old Sumerian rulers (Statue of Entemena). These statues include inscriptions describing trade, rulership and religion.

Religion
The pleas to the gods under Gudea and his successors appear more creative and honest: Whereas the Akkadian kings followed a rote pattern of cursing the progeny and tearing out the foundations of those that vandalize a stele, the Lagašite kings send various messages. Times were violent after the Akkadian empire lost power over southern Mesopotamia, and the god receiving the most attention from Gudea was Ningirsu--a god of battle. Though there is only one mention of martial success on the part of Gudea, the many trappings of war which he builds for Ningirsu indicate a violent era. Southern Mesopotamian cities defined themselves through their worship, and the decision on Gudea’s part for Lagaš to fashion regalia of war for its gods is indicative of the temperament of the times.

Though obviously the foundation and progeny curse was not the only religious invocation by the political powers during the Akkadian empire, but it demonstrates a certain standardization, and with it, stagnation, of the position of the gods that likely didn’t sit well with the people of Lagaš. Ur-Ningirsu I, with whom the Gudean dynasty of Lagaš begins, leaves little in the way of inscriptions, and though some mention of various gods seems to indicate a more central role, it isn’t until Gudea that there can be a side by side comparison with the old curse of Sargon. The inscription on a statue of Gudea as architect of the House of Ningirsu, warns the reader of doom if the words are altered, but there is a startling difference between the warnings of Sargon or his line and the warnings of Gudea. The one is length, Gudea’s curse lasts nearly a quarter of the inscription’s considerable length, and another is creativity. The gods will not merely reduce the offender’s progeny to ash and destroy his foundations, no, they will, “let him sit down in the dust instead of on the seat they set up for him”. He will be, “slaughtered like a bull… seized like an aurochs by his fierce horn”.

But these differences, though demonstrating a Lagašite respect of religious figures simply in the amount of time and energy they required, isn’t as telling as the language Gudea uses to justify any punishment. Whereas Sargon or Naram-Sin simply demand punishment to any who change their words, based on their power, Gudea defends his words through tradition, “since the earliest days, since the seed sprouted forth, no one was (ever) supposed to alter the utterance of a ruler of Lagaš who, after building the Eninnu for my lord Ningirsu, made things function as they should”. Changing the words of Naram-Sin, the living god, is treason, because he is the king. But changing the words of Gudea, simple governor of Lagaš, is unjust, because he made things work right.

Reforms
The social reforms instituted during Gudea’s rulership, which included the cancellation of debts and allowing women to own family land, may be honest reform or may be a return to old Lagašite custom. It is Ningirsu who receives the majority of Gudea’s attention. Ningirsu the war god, for whom Gudea builds maces, spears, axes, all appropriately named for the destructive power of Ningirsu--enormous and gilt. The common intimation that Gudea was a peaceful ruler, who funded his projects through trade ignores the attention paid to Ningirsu, as well as the martial nature of Southern Mesopotamia.

Cylinder A, written after the life of Gudea, paints a more attractive picture of southern Mesopotamia during the Lagaš supremacy. In it, “The Elamites came to him from Elam… loaded with wood on their shoulders… in order to build Ningirsu’s House”, the general tone being one of brotherly love in an area that has known only regional conflict and rebellion. While Gudea was not likely an autocrat who ruled over all of Southern Mesopotamia, was of religious fervor and universal conflict. Gudea built more than the House of Ningirsu, he restored tradition to Lagaš. His use of the title ‘ensi’, when he obviously held enough political influence, both in Lagaš and in the region, to justify ‘lugal’, demonstrates the same political tact as his emphasis on the power of the divine.

And it worked. Ur-Ningirsu II, the next ruler of Lagaš, takes as his title, “Ur-Ningirsu, ruler of Lagaš, son of Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, who had built Ningirsu’s house.” More telling is the deification of Gudea, placing him, if not into the Pantheon, closer than your average man. Gudea is a hard act to follow, however, and the influence of Lagaš declines, until they suffer the fate that defined Southern Mesopotamia, military defeat, this time to Ur-Nammu, whose Third Dynasty of Ur then becomes the reigning power in Southern Mesopotamia.

The resurgence of the importance of gods in the script of Lagaš may be more a result of the cultural character of Southern Mesopotamia reasserting itself than it is a response to the chaotic nature of a post-Akkadian world. Sargon wasn’t much of a stabilizing influence to the South so much as he was a new target for their previously local martial aggression. Instead of warring with each other constantly, Lagaš, Ur, Elam and their counterparts rebel sporadically from Akkad, the conflicts more costly and therefore less constant. As such, when they finally throw of the yoke of imperial control, they return to the old tradition of local conflict, Lagaš conquering neighboring city-states, including its old enemy Elam, and using the spoils to fund the creation of monuments to the gods.

Agha Petros Elia of Baz

I don't know much about Agha Petros, but I do know that both Assyrians and Armenians mistrusted in him and he was a general who led a group of Assyrian soilders against themassacres that were inflicted by Ottoman Turks during World War I. For three days, his severely outnumbered troops escorted civilians to safety, repelling all Turkish attacks. Over 750,000 or 2/3rds of Assyrians were massacred during World War I.

Thanks so much for showing all of us these informations Zico!

Cinema.




Naguib el-Rihani (Arabic:نجيب الريحانى) (born 1889-June 8, 1949) was an Egyptian actor. He was born "Naguib Elias El Rihani" to a Christian Catholic family of an Egyptian mother (Latifa) and an Iraqi father in Bab El Shereya, Cairo, Egypt. He had two brothers. He was educated in the french school "Les Freres", in Cairo.

He had a turbulent marriage, with Badeaa Masabny, a Lebanese actress / dancer, who setteled in Cairo, and established her famous cabaret, "Casino Badeaa", and separated before his death. He died at the age of 49 years old in Cairo, of Typhoid, while filming his last film "Ghazal Al Banat".

He established his own theatrical group in the late 1910s, in Cairo, and partnered his long-life friend Badeih Khairy, in adapting several french theatre hits, to the Egyptian Theatre, and later to the Cinema.

A great comedian both on stage and in films. He is considered as "The Father of Comedy" in Egypt. Fuad Al Mohandes, the great Egyptian comedian of modern times, always aknowledged Naguib Al Rihani's effect on him and his style in acting.

List of Theatre Plays

* Taaleeli Ya Bata تعاليلي يابطة .
* El Rial 1917.
* Kesh Kesh Bey Fee Paris.
* Homar We Halawa.
* Ala Keifak (As You Like It)
* El Ashra El Tayeba 1920, music by Sayed Darwish'.
* Ayam El Ezz (Times of Prosperity).
* Lawe Kont Malik (If I Was A King).
* Mamlaket El Hob.
* El Guineh El Masry (Egyptian Pound) 1931.
* El Donia Lama Tedhak (When Luck Smiles) 1934.
* Hokm Karakosh (Rule of Karakosh) 1936.
* Kismiti (My Luck) 1936.
* Lawe Kont Heleiwa (If I Was Handsome) 1938.
* El Dalouah (The Spoiled Girl) 1939.
* 30 Yom Fee El Segn (30 Days In Prison)
* El Setat Ma Yearfoush Yekdebo (Women Never Lie)
* Ela Khamsa إلا خمسة (Minus Five)1943.
* Hassan, Morcos & Cohen 1945.

Filmography

* Saheb Al Saada KeshKesh Beh 1931.
* Yacout 1934, adapted from "El Guineh El Masry".
* Besalamtoh Ayez Yetgawwez 1936.
* Salamah Fe Kheer 1937.
* Abou Halmoos 1941.
* Leabet Al Set 1941.
* Si Omar 1941, adapted from "Lawe Kont Heleiwa".
* Ahmar Shafayef
* Ghazal Al Banat 1949.