The House of Wisdom (Arabic: بَيْت الْحِكْمَة; Bayt al-Ḥikmah) was a library, public academy, and intellectual center[1] located in the Abbasiyah district of the Abbasid Caliphate's capital city, Baghdad.[2] Built on the orders of Caliph al-Mansur (r. 754-775) and destroyed during the Mongol Empire's sack of Baghdad in 1258, it was one of the largest public libraries in the world during the Islamic Golden Age.[1]
History[]
Early history[]
The House of Wisdom was built during the reign of al-Mansur, the second caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, initially as a royal library where ancient knowledge was preserved and translated into Arabic. As the workplace of most of the empire's prominent minds, it was an essential institution of Baghdad, the empire's capital.[3]
The House of Wisdom was modeled on similar pre-existing institutions of the ancient world, such as the Library of Alexandria in Egypt and the Gundishapur Academy in Iran, and like them, it was eventually opened to the public. This may have been part of al-Mansur's strategy to portray his dynasty as the legitimate successors of the seventh-century Sasanian Persian kings.[3]
In 819, a young thief, Roshan, found the House of Wisdom as her sanctuary while she was on the run from the authorities for murdering her abusive husband.[4] While there, she survived on crumbs and rats and managed to recognize the infrastructure of the library. She soon began to track an old engineer named Bakhit, who liked his own space and left remains of his food. One day, he welcomed her and thanked her for the company over the last months. Roshan then began to learn under Bakhit while taking classes at the House of Wisdom. Within three months, she started to go to advanced classes. It was then that Bakhit offered her a place as his assistant and a new home in Tabriz. Roshan accepted and left the House of Wisdom for her new adventure.[5]
Around 820, the mathematician Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi was appointed as the House of Wisdom's astronomer and head librarian.[6] While there, he met a young Basim Ibn Ishaq, who was a frequent visitor. One day, while Basim was reading one of al-Khwarizmi's studies, the polymath plucked them from his grasp and started teaching Basim astronomy and mathematics.[7]
Defeat of the Martyrs of Agaunum[]
In 824, a section of the House of Wisdom was closed off for a meeting between the Martyrs of Agaunum and their customer, an agent of the Order of the Ancients, who had come to retrieve a case in the Martyrs' possession. However, a trio of mercenaries, consisting of Roshan, the Roman pirate Dias, and the Persian mercenary Azadeh, attacked and killed the Martyrs. Their employer, the Master Assassin Fuladh Al Haami, came to aid them and eliminated the customer.[8]
After Dias grabbed the case and inadvertently activated its explosive defense mechanism, resulting in his death, Fuladh secured the case. He then told Azadeh that he had upheld his end of their agreement by giving her father a cure for his illness, and offered Roshan a place with the Hidden Ones. Roshan accepted to join the brotherhood and left with Fuladh after tearfully rejecting Azadeh's invite to stay with her.[8]
Corruption under the Order of the Ancients[]
Basim arriving at the House of Wisdom
By the 860s, the Order of the Ancients had found its way into the House of Wisdom, placing one of its leaders Fazil Fahim al-Kemsa in charge of the House and its surrounding district.[9] With the help of his subordinates Hassan and Zahra, Fazil managed to develop the Alruh, a machine designed to decipher Memory Seals,[10] and orchestrated a fire in the House's library to steal an ancient manuscript, which he then tried to decode.[11] Although some questioned the Alruh's progress, fellow Order leader Mas'ood Al-Ya'qoob experienced one of the machine's first trials and witnessed a world of a bygone time.[9]
To counter the Order's efforts, a new initiate of the Alamut Hidden Ones, Basim Ibn Ishaq, was tasked to uncover the Order's corruption in the House of Wisdom and investigate the disappearance of the inventor Ahmad ibn Musa.[12] Through his investigation, Basim learned about the fire in the library and the theft of the manuscript, as well as the murder of the books' caretaker. He later discovered that the scholar Hunayn ibn Ishaq had been kidnapped by Zahra, who forced him to decipher the manuscript; a task he failed to accomplish. Basim rescued Hunayn from the Scriptorium where he was being held and assassinated Zahra.[11]
Basim also investigated Ahmad ibn Musa's workshop at the House of Wisdom and met his assistant Hamid Al-Haleem, who had been ordered by Fazil to deal with any intruders. Hamid led Basim into an ambush, where the Hidden One was set upon by several guards. After dispatching them, Basim confronted Hamid, who told him that a masked man had threatened his life and directed him to an excavation site in the desert. Ultimately, Basim was able to find Ahmad and assassinate Hassan, who had requested the inventor's help to build the Alruh.[10]
The Order's secret chamber underneath the House of Wisdom
During a Great Symposium held at the House of Wisdom, Basim returned to the library to assassinate Fazil, having discovered his ties to the Order. As Fazil was about to commence his lecture on "Those Who Came Before", he was informed of Hassan and Zahra's deaths and decided to retreat to his secret underground chamber for his own protection. There, Fazil tried to continue his experiments with the Alruh, but his latest test subject turned out to be a disguised Basim. After the Hidden One assassinated Fazil, ending the Order's corruption in the House of Wisdom, he left to report the success of his mission to Tabid Al-Nubi, the Rafiq of the Abbasiyah bureau.[9]
Later history[]
While at the House of Wisdom, Basim came into contact with Arab author Al-Jahiz and helped him to collect rare books. In response, Al-Jahiz rewarded Basim, who even acquired the "Book of the Dead", the Kitab al-Azif, for the author.[13]
Beginning in 836, the caliphs would regularly take sojourns away from Baghdad, which seemingly affected the House of Wisdom, as it was rarely mentioned in any historical record after the reign of al-Mutawakkil (r. 847-861). Despite this, the House would become home to at least 8000 books in Arabic, whose names were compiled in the Kitab al-Fihrist (Catalogue of Books), a compendium written by Ibn al-Nadim in 987.[3]
Behind the scenes[]
Historically, the House of Wisdom was located within the Round City of Baghdad, not in the outer lying Abbasiyah district.
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (first mentioned)
- Echoes of History (mentioned only)
- The World of Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Journey to the North – Logs and Files of a Hidden One (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed: Mirage (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed: Mirage – Daughter of No One
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1
House of Wisdom on Wikipedia
- ↑ Assassin's Creed Mirage: Recreating A Lost City on the Ubisoft YouTube channel
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Assassin's Creed: Mirage – Database: House of Wisdom
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Mirage – Daughter of No One – Chapter Two - Baghdad, 819
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Mirage – Daughter of No One – Chapter Four - Baghdad, 824
- ↑ Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi on Wikipedia
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – A Bloody Welcome
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Assassin's Creed: Mirage – Daughter of No One – Chapter Nineteen - Baghdad, 824
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Assassin's Creed: Mirage – The Great Symposium
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Assassin's Creed: Mirage – Find the Missing Brother
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Assassin's Creed: Mirage – Follow the Fiery Trail
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Mirage – Fire and Wisdom
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Mirage – Al-Jahiz's Lost Books
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