• The book *Firdaws al-Hikma*, written in Arabic by Ali ibn Sahl al-Tabari, was the first medical encyclopedia to compile all branches of medical sciences in a single book.
• The book *On Urine* by Ishaq ibn Sulayman al-Israili al-Misri, written in Arabic, contributed to establishing urology as one of the most important branches of medicine in the Latin Middle Ages.
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Short Thread 🧵on Arab identity of Syria and its people.
Damascus was called Arab land by Justinus (2nd c. CE). Assyrians called Hazael of Aram-Damascus “king of the Arabs.” Romans named Phoenicia Secunda Arabia Augusta Libanensis Proof Arabs were native to Syria, not outsiders.
Homs & Surroundings: Cicero, Cassius Dio, and Diodorus Siculus show Iamblichus, prince of Homs, was Arab, making Homs Arab land. Arabs inhabited Homs, Apamea, and nearby areas. Sextus Africanus shows Golan, Hauran, and Lajat were also part of Arab lands under Herod.
Central & Southern Syria: Strabo notes lands east & south of Apamea were Arab-inhabited, including Parapotamia & Saracen herding regions. Palmyra: Polybius & Josephus show Arab leadership under Zabdibel/Zabelos. Inscriptions confirm most of Palmyra’s inhabitants were Arabs.
Prominent statesmen of the Mamluk state from the Levant and Egypt
- The Vizier Ibn al-Saluus al-Tanukhi: Levantine Arab from Palestine
- Mahmoud bin Salman al-Hanbali al-Halabi: Levantine Arab, a poet and Muslim scholar who served as a scribe in the chancery of the Mamluk state
- Ahmad bin Abdullah al-Tarabulsi: Levantine Arab, known as Ibn al-Hibbal al-Hanbali, served as a judge in Damascus and later in Tripoli during the Mamluk state
- Ibn Fadl Allah al-Umari al-Dimashqi: Levantine Arab, a historian and writer of official correspondence
- Ibn Wasil al-Hamawi: Levantine Arab, a judge and litterateur
- Ibn Muzhir al-Dimashqi: Levantine Arab, held positions in market inspection, special oversight, and confidential correspondence
- Ibn al-Barizi al-Hamawi: Levantine Arab, served as overseer of the armies and
Firearms in the Islamic World during the Middle Ages
• The armies of the Islamic world, such as the Mamluks, used gunpowder bombs against the Mongols and Crusaders since the 13th century. The Mongols were defeated in 1260, and the Crusaders were expelled from Acre in 1291..+
• During the Mongol campaign against China in 1276, they relied on Arab engineers from Iraq and Iran to develop an Arab-style trebuchet that launched bombs over longer distances.
• The armies of the Islamic world used an incendiary substance from Iraq
known as "Iraqi pots," which terrified the Crusaders according to de Joinville, and some Western sources, such as Partington, described it as resembling "ancient atomic bombs."
Ibn al-Rammah documented these techniques,
The Science of Lectures: It originated with Abdullah ibn al-Mufaqqa‘ during the Abbasid era, and the most famous books in this field are *Kalila wa Dimna* and *Al-‘Iqd al-Farid* by Ibn Abd Rabbih.
The Science of Poetry Composition: It emerged in Iraq, and the first to..+
establish its foundations, organize it, and make it an independent science was Qudama ibn Ja‘far al-Baghdadi in his book *Critique of Poetry*.
Autobiography: It is an authentic Arabic literary form that originated with the Arabs. The first to write in this genre were Urwah ibn al-Zubayr, may Allah be pleased with him, followed by Ibn Ishaq.
The ancient capital of Armenia, designed and supervised by the Phoenician Carthaginian Hannibal
Several historians, such as Plutarch, mentioned that "Artaxata," the ancient capital of Armenia, had its location chosen and was built based on the advice of the Carthaginian..+
commander "Hannibal" during his time at the court of the Armenian king "Artaxias I." According to the Greek historians "Plutarch and Strabo," "Hannibal" personally oversaw the construction of the city, which gradually grew to become a large and beautiful city, known as the
"Carthage of Armenia."
- In the attached image, there is a three-dimensional model of the upper city of "Artaxata," where the Carthaginian style is evident in the locations of the temples, administrative buildings, and two-story houses.