Bayt Al-Hikmah and the Cultural Policy of the Caliph Al-Ma' Mun

Abstract

The Bayt al-hikmah, which begins to operate under this name during the Kingdom of Harun al-Rasid, develops especially under al-Ma' mun. It was a library and one of the places in which the IX century translations were carried out. It does not seem to have been a development center of the Su 'ubiyyah, but it contributed to the discussions which took place before the proclamation of the mu 'tazilite policy of al-Ma 'mun. It was one of the elements of a cultural integration in the Moslem world, and it reached mathematicians and astrologers more than doctors, because of their strong tie with Christian traditions.