Math of the Moors
In 711 AD, barely 100 years after the establishment of Islam, the Moors crossed over from Northern Africa and conquered most of Spain. Many of the anti-Catholic Christians and Jews resident in Spain did not see the invasion as a totally Bad Thing, since the Moors showed religious tolerance – more than the Catholics did – and made many improvements.
The Moors brought with them a richness of culture and learning that was sorely missing from Medieval Christian society. Arriving with translations of the Greek masters (Archimedes, Pythagoras and the philosopher Ptolemy), the Moors established robust institutions of learning, including well-stocked libraries. They set about improving agriculture, astronomy, architecture, science and mathematics. They called their new land Al-Andalus.
The locals were still using the Roman numeral system (I, II, III, IV, …), but the Moors introduced a much better system of numbers (derived from India via the middle east and Alexandria), called the Hindu-Arabic number system.
Hindu Arabic numbers
The big deal about the new number system was that it was positional. This means that for a large number containing several digits, the further to the left you go, the larger the value of the digit. Each position to the left represents a multiple of 10.
For example, four thousand, three hundred and sixty five in the new system was written 4,365 and the value of the digits means:
1000 | 100 | 10 | 1 4 | 3 | 6 | 5
The same number in Roman numerals was written MMMMCCCLXV (4 × 1000 + 3 × 100 + 50 + 10 + 5). It was quite difficult to perform calculations with such a cumbersome system.
Here’s what Hindu-Arabic numerals looked like by about 1000 AD. We can see that they resemble closely the numbers we use today.
A Violent End
The Moors were advanced technically and had established a very enlightened society for the time. Unfortunately, they were too complacent about their enemies and they let their guard down. Eventually the Catholics attacked from the north and took over the whole of Spain by 1492. This was after they terrorised the Moors for hundreds of years by requiring conversion to Catholicism or face expulsion. The ones who were found to be not “Catholic enough” were sent off for torture in the Inquisition. Eventually, the remaining few hundred thousand were ethnically cleansed and sent packing to North Africa or beyond. It was a tragic end to an inspiring flowering of learning and discovery.
In fact, the Moors had a large influence on the beginning of the Renaissance (around 1450) in other parts of Europe. The universities of Paris and Oxford were established as a result of visits by scholars to Al-Andalus.
Contributions of the Moors
We get many mathematical concepts (and words) from (or via) the Moors, including:
- algebra
- algorithm
- zero (from “zephirum”)
The article Leonard of Pisa (Fibonacci) and Arabic Arithmetic is a very interesting outline of how Fibonacci regarded Muslim mathematics.
End Bit
It is a tragedy that these people who contributed so much were snuffed out. The Spanish have chosen to ignore many of the details of this episode from their history. The winners will always get to interpret history how they like.
The Moors deserve more credit.
Update: The invention of the antennae in this Fractal Tiling Arrays article was inspired by the intricate tiling of the Alhambra mosque.
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20 Responses to “Math of the Moors”
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In regards to your website,I accept the idea of the Moor,s and the Spanish. But what about the Portuguese involvement in and on the Iberian peninsula,as well as their fight with the Spanish for their independence.
Hi Thomas and thanks for your clarification. Yes, the Portuguese were also instrumental in the rout of the Moors from the Iberian region.
And the Portuguese also benefited from the scholarship of the Moors, becoming a great seafaring nation a few hundred years later.
It is clear you are not pro-Catholic. That you have a bias in favor of Moorish invaders, possibly coming from a singular, narrow-minded and blinded perspective of seeing those who “disseminate” mathematics as a major basis to judge whether people are good/better or not. You are definitely NOT a Spaniard. Do not cast aspersions on others of a period of time who sought freedom from invaders. Who struggled for hundreds of years to regain the lands that were taken from them by invaders. Consider Gandhi and his movement against British imperialism. It is because people FAIL to see as well as FORGET the overwhelming need that human beings have for freedom, that these lessons have to be relearned over and over again. The Spaniards conquest of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. They brought all kinds of technological and even mathematical improvements to those they dominated. No doubt in this debate you would take the side of the native Americans and not the Spaniards. Hypocrisy! Open your eyes!
“The victims of the past become the oppressors of the future.”
Thanks for your comment Aldebaran.
I am certainly not in favour of invaders of any colour or creed. You have misconstrued what I wrote and added things that are not there.
My bias is towards freedom and education – and one aspect of that freedom is proper recognition and promotion of educational achievement. My interests are far broader than the dissemination of mathematics.
Don’t assume what my “side” would be in any historical situation.
I find your comments on the Maths of the Moors fair and appropriate.
It’s a shame that some narrow-minded bigots blinded by hatred won’t digest the historical facts. The irony is that one person fumes and rages and pretends to defend freedom-fighters whilst two sentences later he praises the Spaniards for having brought tech and math to the native Americans, conveniently turning a blind eye to the massacre of the natives and the plundering of their gold. And look who dares to accuse others of hypocrisy!
Jesus was right in blasting the Pharisees and those who look for the straw in the eye of their neighbour but forget the log in their own!!
By the way, Aldebaran is Arabic for “The Follower”. Follower? Of Jesus or of the Spanish Inquisition??
It is clear that bigots and racists cannot truly claim to follow Jesus.
Thanks, Richard. I was also rather taken aback by Aldebaran’s insinuation that the Spanish invasion of the Americas was a ‘good thing’, but it was not very clear what (s)he was getting at there.
I’m sure the original inhabitants of the Americas felt they could do without the European’s math and science at the time.
Hi,i just wanted to say that “the moors” that you are talking about are actually muslims whether you believe it or not(if you donot,then by looking at the history of spain,you’ll realize that it was ruled by muslims for about 800 years),so “the moors” are muslims!
and,i am not being bias…..i am just being factual!
please,correct the word “moor” used for muslims….
Hi Mariam. My first sentence says “barely 100 years after the establishment of Islam” where I meant the Moors were Muslims.
But it was not clear enough obviously. Thanks for the clarification.
The Moors were and are not the Muslims of today that we think of today or then. The Moors had a rather RICH history i.e. Benjamin Bannaka (Banneker) was a Moor. There were/are many so called “Native American” indigenous tribes that were of Moorish heritage i.e. Washitaw, Cherokee, Yamasee, Seminole etc. The U.S. before it was the “U.S.”, was owned by Moors (indigenous tribes) and acres have been sold illegally violating many treaties that the U.S. signed with the Moors. The Washitaw Moors were granted over 60K acres of land in Louisiana in the 1990’s due to the violation of the Treaty of Friendship and Peace signed between Morroco and the U.S. This historical memory that was stripped from so called “Black Native Americans” and this was the objective of slavery and why if blacks were caught reading they were tortured. Sorry for the long story…but it is just enough to get those interested into researching the the true history of us all. These are facts and not intended to be racially biased in any way, shape, form or fashion. Peace & Blessings. Hotep.
Dear readers,
My friend Candice has probably never looked at a history book before. The Moors, never had anything to do with the Americans. The never even co-existed. All that nonsense that she’s babling about is 100% fiction. Don’t believe me, just and check it out for yourself. I can tell you a fact, the Moors were long dead before the 20th century.
The last comment pertaining to the end of the moors before the twentieth century. You are misinfomed. You need to do some research about the Moors. Better still research poverty point located in louisiana. You will find we are alive and well, and have emperical proof of our existence over a 100,000 years. thats right, right here in North America. Dont argue do the research. Washitaw Dedugdahmoundyah.
Leon, one can connect himself with any nation as long as one has the genetic proof. According to wikipedia, the Treaty of Friendship and Peace between Morroco and the U.S. , was signed in 1786. If you know the history of the Moors in the liberian penisula, the Moors were expelled in the Reconquista, which ended on January 2, 1492 with the conquest of Granada. The original Moors had been wiped out. If I was Turkish, I couldn’t connect myself to the great Ottoman empire, it lasted to the 1920’s but its glory was deministed. It was because they had given up their culture and heritage, just like the Moors. So you see you might be Moorish but you are not connected in any way to the great empire of the Moors because you do not practise their religion, and culture. If you have any other comments please do reply.
Prince Charles gave a lecture at oxford university on the 27th of october 1993 and he reminded the wise scholars of the debt that the west owed to the Moors. They also introduced and expanded on astronomy, law, history, pharmacology, architecture to name a few. Prince Charles stated that in the tenth century moors had lending Libraries when the English King, Alfred was still eating human flesh.
In this Moors teaching Spain ( and Europe ) some culture, maths, astronomy, pharmacology etc., it seems that Moors ( or Muslims or Arabs ) themselves learnt all such subjects from India. All great Muslim scholars were aware of Supreme richness of India ( in terms of depth of all above subjects and money wise, both ) and they have themselves translated those vast books into Arabic from Sanskrit.
Though early Moors were pro towards knowledge and Muslim invaders in India razed down university towns like Taxila and Nalanda. Indians very highly advanced even at 3000 BC period when they had constructed large planned towns. And that time English people were definitely eating human flash and were savage ! Spain king helped Columbous on his mission to find sea route to India ( and America wasn’t known then ). It was such a lull of Indian richness. If Moors had not transmitted Indian Maths, seafaring & astronomy would have been impossible and Spain / Portugal would not have dared to plunge into deep ocean waters to find Indian sea route.
I feel pity of English people who misguided the world for two centuries about India to show themselves as culturally superior to Indians !
Hotep to all my Muur Brothers and Sisters. Fred do you know who the original man is? Fred do you know what Asiatic, Mu, and the Earth have in common ? Fred have you checked into Poverty Point located in Louisiana and researched anything about the Mound Builders. Fred do you know anything about the Mounds that are still in existence throughout the Americas. Americas is not a typo its meant to entail all the Americas. If the History hadnt been destroyed by Marco Polo, and Alexander The Greek by burning and destroying books the history of the world wouldnt be in such a Historic quandary today. Also the Hieroglyphics in The Grand Canyon area along with the discovery of an 9,000 year old Mummy dont lie about our existence here in the Americas. Washitaw Dedugdahmoundyah. Fred in case your wondering NO I AM NOT BLACK.
Fred I was just a little curious as to what the Moors religion is according to your source. Amexem is the name of the Muur Empire
Hotep,
My Texas
Hotep/Salaam/Shalum. I came across this sight by accident and found it very interesting. It mind boggles me on how superficial people are when it comes to History. It is just that His Story, someone else’s interpretation of past events. The Moors were definately inhabiting the Americas( Amir-Ri/Re-Ka) before any European even set foot on this soil. The Native Americans(American Indians) that we know of are a mixture of the Moorish/African nations of people that migrated here to America. The word “Indi” means black and when Christopher Columbus arrived in the Carribean and the Americas he said the indigenious people were “Indi’s” or Indians, meaning Black peoples. We come in many shades of Brown regardless of the ethnic make up. Moorish/Nubian/African empires were all over the planet. The evidence does not lie, you can find ancient Moorish/African artifacts throughout the Americas from Louisiana, Georgia, Carolinas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Ohio, Canada, California, etc. The state of California was named after a Moorish/African women name Queen Califia/Khalifia. This is a fact and can be researched. Also when I say Moor or Moorish I am not just talking about certain Moors that occupied Europe. The term Moor/Mauri/Moriscos/Morenos/Maure all stem back to Khemet or Ancient Tamare. Can you see it TA MA RE . TA= Earth MA= Water, RE= Sun. So MARE’s or MARE NU would translate as Water&Sun People which the Ancient Kushites, Nubians, Khemites were known as. These are also 3 of the five elements coming from Khemetic/Moorish Sciences. The Moors are still alive and well, we did not go anywhere we are just known under different names nowadays. The Sciences are still alive, everytime you do Geometry, Algerbra, Calculus, tell time, check your calendar you are bearing witness to sciences of the Moors/Mare’s.
Shaluh Kufu EL said, “The state of California was named after a Moorish/African women name Queen Califia/Khalifia. This is a fact and can be researched.”
I did some research and found that “Califia (aka Calafia) is the name of a legendary Black Amazon warrior queen, associated with the mythical Island of California. The US state of California is thought by some to be named after Queen Califia (see Origin of the name California).”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Califia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_name_California
It seems some people like to leave out key pieces of information in order to make what they say more believable.
Thanks for the input, however I would suggest not using Wikipedia for such “proving” of facts. Those articles may be written (or edited) by people with an agenda.
Peace. The facts said “It seems some people like to leave out key pieces of information in order to make what they say more believable.” You are absolutely right, You have some researchers that have and still do leave key pieces of information out especially if it doesnot comply with conventional information.
If certain information does not matchup with the popular mindset it will be shelved or in some extreme situations destroyed. This has been going on for a long period of time, it is a known fact that the history books need to be rewritten due to the many facts that have proven a lot of things to be outdated.