Exhibitions at Sharjah’s House of Wisdom often recall the ambitions of its historic namesake, but none do so as movingly as a display of rare, historical manuscripts from the Arab world.
The original Bayt Al Hikmah – Arabic for “House of Wisdom” – in Baghdad was considered the intellectual heart of the region. It was established in the eighth century and was probably first a private library housing the collection of Harun Al Rashid. His son, Caliph Al Mamun, then converted the library into an institution.
Modern science as we know it owes a great deal to the historic House of Wisdom. It was there that Al Khwarizmi wrote his Al Jabr, the treatise that established algebra as a codified system. It was there that astronomers and geographers confirmed the Earth’s spherical shape and measured its circumference with near-perfect accuracy. And it was there that the Banu Musa brothers built the first programmable machines, effectively laying the groundwork for robotics.
Walking into the Manuscripts Exhibition – Sustainable Identity and Development, it is difficult not to appreciate these contributions. The exhibition, which runs until June 26, contains 50 manuscripts from across various fields. They cover five centuries of scientific, literary and academic thought from the Arab world. The works may not date as far back as to the time of the original House of Wisdom, but between the name of the venue in Sharjah and the rarity of the works on display, the parallel is in bold.
There is a reason why none of the works come from the historic centre. Despite, or because of, its luminous role, Baghdad’s House of Wisdom met a dark and poignant end. When the Mongols invaded the city in 1258, they killed tens of thousands of people, looted, and destroyed mosques and hospitals as well as the House of Wisdom. As the legend goes, the invaders threw the books into the Tigris. The river ran black with ink for seven days.
As such, the exhibition of old manuscripts in the lobby of the new House of Wisdom – a centre that has its halls named after renowned scientists and poets from the Arab and Islamic Golden Age – says something about continuing the legacy of its namesake, about making sure past advances are not obscured or forgotten.
The exhibition presents titles from the collection of United Arab Emirates University, and marks the 50th anniversary of the institution.
“The purpose of this exhibition is to show different manuscripts from science, language, medicine,” says Ahmed Ali Al Raeesi, vice chancellor of UAE University. “It is an opportunity for the community to understand how Arabs played a major role in scientific advances. It is part of the UAE University’s celebration of the Golden Jubilee. The exhibition showed in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, and now the last station is the House of Wisdom.”
The exhibition is divided into three sections. The first focuses on Quranic studies and the Arabic language. The second features works on astronomy, geography and timekeeping. The final segment delves into medicine, engineering, mathematics, chemistry, agriculture and other applied sciences.
The books are striking in their content as well as their penmanship. A 17th-century student’s guide to calculating the positions of stars has instructions laid out neatly on a grid with alternating red and black ink.
A 19th-century book, meanwhile, promises to unveil the secrets of the arrangement of Dust Letters, or huruf al ghubar, the old Arabic numerical system that originated in the Maghreb and would be scribed on a wooden board coated with sand. The system was a precursor to the numbers used globally today. The book clearly shows that influence, with its explanatory calligraphy juxtaposed with red numeral tables bearing the familiar digits.
There are also Qurans from the 19th century with beautiful illuminations as well as explanations in the margins scribed in Turkish. Several striking examples have no known origins, such as a Quran with verses scribed in circular forms, and another with vivid red, green and gold illuminations.
There are also some peculiar elements. For instance, a 19th-century treatise on determining the Qibla without instruments shows geometric and anthropomorphic figures, perhaps to aid in explaining how to calculate the direction towards the Kaaba.
The displays are all accompanied by Arabic captions that delineate their title, origins, author, and where known, the scribe who copied the work. Many of the manuscripts still remain enigmatic to the everyday viewer, as there is not much information provided on their contents or importance. Some mobile research, however, helps close that gap somewhat.
“The House of Wisdom always likes to play a major part in preserving the history of Arab and Muslim scholars,” says Mahra Mohamed Al Qaseer, partnership and sponsorship specialist at the centre.
“We’ve done that through several exhibitions. We feel that this exhibition falls in line with our mission. We are hoping to make the younger generation aware of the contributions of their ancestors. It’s very relevant that we are standing here, at the House of Wisdom, which is inspired by the original House of Wisdom that housed the works of major Arab scholars and gave them a place to continue their work.
“One of the ideas was to imagine what the original House of Wisdom would be like if it had survived and to try and replicate that in a way that is easier to connect with the youth and current generations.”
