Moor - who is this? A barbarian or a representative of a developed culture?

Moor - who is this? A representative of a cruel and willful people or one who made an invaluable contribution to the development of cultures of different countries? Where is the truth, and what is fiction?

The birth of the empire

The Moors called the inhabitants of Mauritania, located in the north of Africa. Their history is inseparably linked with the development of Islam.

In the 12th century in the Arabian Desert, a prophetMohammed founded the city of Medina. After this, the people, who had previously pursued a nomadic way of life, found a permanent place to live. Then they began their development, conquering new lands, preaching Islam to the east and to the west.

Hunger for knowledge

Moor - who is this? A barbarian for whom conquest is important? Contrary to the generally accepted attitude to the Moors, as to uneducated people, it must be said that this is a great error. For the Muslim, knowledge was important. Because of the heat of the day, nomadic people moved around at night. The result was the emergence of a science such as astronomy. When meeting with representatives of other cultures, the Moors tried to get as much new knowledge as possible. They attached special importance to books. Their value was very high and a large number of them were published.

Due to the fact that the Crusaders created unflattering glory for the Muslims, many do not know exactly what the Moors are - who is it? Believing that this is a synonym for the word "barbarian".

In fact, the Arab culture was openednew knowledge. After the capture of Egypt, the Moors gained access to the Alexandria Library, which allowed them to seriously expand their horizons. Many works were translated into Arabic. It should be noted that Arabs and Berbers who profess Islam were also called Moors.

European civilization has tried to protect itself as much as possible from new knowledge, which significantly hampered its development.

Moors in Europe

Overcoming Gibraltar in 711, the Moors came toThe Iberian Peninsula. For 4 years, seizing a large territory up to France. Given the fact that Europe of those times was in deep crisis, many cities were only too happy to receive a fairly strong patron who could protect from the warrior and tribal raids. Despite the fact that Islam was unknown to the population of the Iberian Peninsula, they easily began to adopt a new religion. Many cities were rebuilt almost completely, the main one was Cordoba. Maurus - who is this and what is his contribution to the development of Spain? New technologies were introduced: irrigation system was used for watering the gardens, water supply and sewerage existed in the houses.

Of particular importance was the paper, which in Europelearned thanks to the Arabs. Not surprisingly, there were 10 libraries in Cordoba. In Toledo, the foundations of modern algebra and chemistry were born, only here one could study works on mathematics and astronomy.

Crusades, which were aimed at their goalto save the countries of Europe from the Moorish invaders, mercilessly destroyed them, buildings and all technical installations. People forcibly, under pain of death and selection of property, forced to accept Catholicism. Thus, a new but ambitious culture has supplanted the more developed, Europe-given very much in the XII centuries of influence.

Quite often you can hear the phrase: "The Moor has done his work, the Moor can go." This is a quote from the play "The Conspiracy of Fiesco in Genoa," written by I. F. Schiller at the end of the 18th century. The phrase is a symbol of unprincipled use of a person for their own purposes. The attitude towards him was, as a tool for achieving the goal, which was no longer needed after the action was committed.