The Alexandrian Library was the largest and most famous of all the ancient collections of books. It was founded by Ptolemy Soter, King of Egypt, who died in 283 BC, and greatly enlarged by succeeding Ptolemies. At its most flourishing period it is said to have numbered 700,000 volumes, accommodated in two different buildings, one of them being the Serapeion, or temple of JupiterSerapis. The other collection was burned during Julius Caesar's siege of the city, but the Serapeion library existed to the time of the Emperor Theodosius the Great, when, at the general destruction of the heathen temples, the splendid temple of JupiterSerapis was gutted in 391 by a fanatical crowd of Christians, and its literary treasures destroyed or scattered. A library was again accumulated, but was burned by the Arabs when they captured the city under the caliph Omar in 611. Amru, the captain of the caliph's army, would have been willing to spare the library, but Omar is said to have disposed of the matter in the famous words: 'If these writings of the Greeks agree with the Koran they are useless, and need not be preserved; if they disagree they are pernicious, and ought to be destroyed.' Research Alexandrian Library
An almanac is a calendar, in which are set down the rising and setting of the sun, the phases of the moon, the most remarkable positions and phenomena of the heavenly bodies, for every month and day of the year; also the several fasts and feasts to be observed in the church and state, etc, and often much miscellaneous information likely to be useful to the public.
The term is of Arabic origin, but the Arabs were not the first to use almanacs, which indeed existed from remote ages. In England they are known from the fourteenth century, there being several English almanacs of this century existing in manuscript form. They became generally used in Europe within a short time after the invention of printing; and they were very early remarkable, as some are still, for the mixture of truth and falsehood which they contained. Their effects in France were found so mischievous, from the pretended prophecies which they published, that an edict was promulgated by Henry III in 1579 forbidding any predictions to be inserted in them relating to civil affairs, whether those of the state or of private persons.
In the reign of James I of England letters-patent were granted to the two universities and the Stationers' Company for an exclusive right of printing almanacs, but in 1775 this monopoly was abolished. During the English Civil War, and thence onward, English almanacs were conspicuous for the unblushing boldness of their astrological predictions, and their determined perpetuation of popular errors. The most famous English almanac was Poor Robin's Almanac, which was published from 1663 to 1775.
Gradually, however, a better taste began to prevail, and in 1828 the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, by publishing the British Almanac, had the merit of taking the lead in the production of an unexceptionable almanac in Great Britain. The example thus set has been almost universally adopted. The circulation of almanacs continued to be much cramped by the very heavy duty of one shilling and threepence per copy until 1834, when this duty was abolished. About 200 new almanacs were started immediately on the repeal.
Almanacs, from their periodical character, and the frequency with which they are referred to, are now more and more used as vehicles for conveying statistical and other useful information, some being intended for the inhabitants of a particular country or district, others for a particular class or party. Some of the almanacs that are regularly published every year are extremely useful, and before the Internet and improved communications were almost indispensable to men engaged in official, mercantile, literary, and professional business. Such in Great Britain were Thorn's Official Directory of the United Kingdom, the British Almanac, Oliver and Boyd's Edinburgh Almanac, and Whitaker's Almanac, now so well known.
In the United States was published The American Almanac, a useful compilation. The Almanach de Gotha, which first appeared at Gotha in 1764, contained in small bulk a wonderful quantity of information regarding the reigning families and governments, the finances, commerce, population, etc, of the different states throughout the world. It was published both in a French and in a German edition. Almanacs that pretend to foretell the weather and occurrences of various kinds are still popular in Britain, France, and elsewhere.
The Nautical Almanack was an important work published annually by the British government, two or three years in advance, in which was contained much useful astronomical matter, more especially the distances of the moon from the sun, and from certain fixed stars, for every three hours of apparent time, adapted to the meridian of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. By comparing these with the distances carefully observed at sea the mariner could with comparative ease, infer his longitude to a degree of accuracy unattainable in the past by any other way, and sufficient in the past for most nautical purposes. This almanac was commenced in 1767 by Dr. Maskelyne, astronomer royal. The French Connaissance des Temps was published with the same views as the English Nautical Almanac, and nearly on the same plan. It commenced in 1679. Of a similar character was the Astronomisches Jahrbuch formerly published at Berlin. Research Almanac
Belomancy is divination by means of arrows. Labels are attached to the arrows, and fired by archers. The arrow which lands furthest away has its label read, and the advice upon it acted upon. The practice of belomancy originated with the Greeks and around 1900 was reported as commonplace among the Arabs by Brewer. Research Belomancy
Originally, a hospital was any building appropriated for the reception of any class of persons who were unable to supply their own wants, and were more or less dependent upon public help to have those wants supplied. Hence hospitals were of various kinds, according to the nature of the wants they supplied and the class of persons for whom they are intended. A large number of hospitals were medical; others were for the reception of incurables; others for the aged and infirm; others for the education of children of people in reduced circumstances; others for the reception of the wounded in battle; and so on.
The first establishments of this nature are believed to belong to the 4th century AD. Their primary object was to afford a shelter to strangers and travellers, and it was only occasionally that the sick and infirm were admitted. One of the earliest hospitals of which we have any satisfactory information was that established by the emperor Valens at Caesarea about the end of the 4th century, and which was conducted on a very large scale.
The Arabs in Spain, at an early period of their occupation of that country, founded a magnificent hospital at Cordova, where physicians were trained, who did a vast deal to advance the study of medicine. The Arabs have also the dubious credit of having founded the first mental hospital (then known as a lunatic asylum) in Europe, which was erected in the city of Granada. The majority of hospitals everywhere are medical, often called infirmaries. These may be divided into general and special hospitals, the former class admitting cases of all kinds; the latter class admitting only patients suffering from some special trouble. Thus there were formerly lying-in hospitals, cancer, consumption, ophthalmic, lock (for venereal diseases), fever, and small-pox hospitals. There are also hospitals for children, and for persons suffering from incurable diseases. Such institutions formerly served a double purpose, inasmuch as they not only afford the best medical advice and treatment to the poor, who otherwise were unable to obtain it prior to the formation of the national health service, but also supplied the best means of giving instruction in medicine and surgery, as in them students had the opportunity of witnessing cases of nearly every variety of disease, and observing how they it was treated by the physicians and surgeons. For this reason a good infirmary or medical hospital was considered an indispensable adjunct to every school of medicine and surgery. Research Hospital
The date, is the fruit of the date palm or the tree itself, the Phoenix dactylifera. The
fruit is used extensively as an article of food by the natives of Northern Africa and of some countries of Asia. It consists of an external pericarp, separable into three portions and covering a seed which is hard and horny in consequence of the nature of the albumen in which the embryo plant is buried.
Next to the coconut tree the date is unquestionably the most interesting and useful of the palm tribe. Its stem shoots up to the height of 50 or 60 feet without branch or division, and of nearly the same thickness throughout its length. From the summit it throws out a magnificent crown of large feather-shaped leaves, and a number of spadices, each of which in the female plant bears a bunch of from 180 to 200 dates, each bunch weighing from 9 to 11 kgs. The fruit is eaten fresh or dried. Cakes of dates pounded and kneaded together are the food of the nomad Arabs who traverse the deserts. A liquor resembling wine is made from dates by fermentation. The Middle East, and the north of Africa are best adapted for the culture of the date-tree, and its fruit in these countries is an important article of food.
The East Bulgarian is a Bulgarian breed of riding horse developed at the end of the 19th century by crossing local horses with Arabs, Anglo-Arabs and English Thoroughbreds and English half-breeds resulting in a very attractive refined horse with an energetic nature. The East Bulgarian stands between 15 and 16 hands high and is chestnut, bay or black in colour. Research East Bulgarian
Abraham, originally Abram, was the greatest of the Hebrew patriarchs. He was born in 2153 BC at Ur in Chaldea according to Hales, in 1996 BC according to Ussher, while Bunsen says he lived 2850 BC. He migrated, accompanied by his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot, to Canaan, where he led a nomadic life, which according to myth extended over 175 years. His two sons Isaac and Ishmael were, according to myth, the progenitors of the Jews and Arabs respectively. Research Abraham
Adelard of Bath was an English philosophical writer of the twelfth century. He travelled through Spain, north Africa, Greece, and Asia Minor, and acquired much knowledge from the Arabs, which he put in systematic shape. His chief works were Perdifficiles Quaestiones Naturales, and De Eodem et Diverso. Research Adelard of Bath
Caliph, or calif or khalif (vicegerent) is the name assumed by the successors of Mohammed in the government of the faithful and in the high-priesthood. Caliphate is therefore the name given to the empire of these princes which the Arabs founded in Asia, and enlarged, within a few centuries, to a dominion exceeding even the Roman empire in extent. The appellation of caliph has long ago been swallowed up in Shah, Sultan, Emir, and other titles peculiar to the East.
Mohammed having died without naming his successor, three rival parties appeared immediately after his death. The first was headed by Omar, a kinsman of the prophet, who demanded the election of Abu Bekr, Mohammed's father-in-law. The second party was headed by Ali, the husband of Fatima, the prophet's daughter, who declared for himself. The third party consisted of people of Medina, who demanded the election of one of themselves. Abu Bekr was chosen in 632, and prosecuting the conquest of Syria, he defeated the Byzantine emperor Heraclius and took Damascus. His successor, Omar, completed the conquest of Syria, took Jerusalem, subjugated Egypt, and defeated the Persians. He is said to have erected over 1500 mosques. He was succeeded by Othman, or Osman, who completed the conquest of Persia and other Eastern countries, extended his dominion in Africa, and took Cyprus and Rhodes. Othman was succeeded by Ali, who is regarded as the first legitimate possessor of the dignity by a numerous sect of Mohammedans, which gives him and his son, Hassan, almost equal honour with the prophet. During his reign a great schism divided the Mohammedans into two sects called the Sunnites and the Shiites, the former acknowledging the authority of all the caliphs, the latter acknowledging only Ali and his descendants.
Ali was murdered in 660, and his son Hassan in 661, when Moawiyah, the founder of the dynasty of the Ommiyades, became caliph, and transferred his capital from Medina to Damascus. His army continued the conquest of Northern Africa, and twice unsuccessfully attacked Constantinople (Istanbul). Carthage was taken in 698, after which the Mohammedans encountered no serious opposition in Northern Africa.
From the union of the Arabic and Berber races of Africa sprung the Moors of Saracenic history. The conquest of Spain immediately followed, Tarik, the lieutenant of the Saracen general, Musa, having totally defeated the King of the Goths. The caliphate now extended from the Oxus and Indus to the Atlantic. In 732 a great host of Islamic soldiers crossed the Pyrenees and invaded France, but were totally defeated at Tours by Charles Martel. In 755 the Mohammedan dominion split up into the Eastern and Western Caliphates, the western caliph having Spain, with his capital at Cordova; and the eastern including Northern Africa, with the capital at Bagdad. The former was ruled by a series of Ommiyade caliphs; the latter by the dynasty of the Abbasides.
The most celebrated of the Abbaside caliphs of Bagdad was Haroun al Rashid (Aaron the Just), 786-808, under whom learning, science, and art were in a flourishing state. Subsequently the Islamic kingdom lost province after province, and the temporal authority of the caliph of Bagdad was destroyed. Numerous independent dynasties were set up, the most important of which was that of the Fatimites, founded by an African Saracen who claimed descent from Fatima the daughter of the prophet.
This dynasty conquered Sicily and several parts of Italy, Egypt, and Palestine. It came to an end in 1171. In 1031 the Western Caliphate ceased, and the Saracenic dominions in Spain was broken up into several small states. The most brilliant period of the Western Caliphate was in the 9th and 10th centuries, when literature, science, and art were in more flourishing condition than anywhere else in Europe. The Eastern Caliphate lingered on until 1258, when Bagdad was taken and sacked by the Mongols. Research Caliph
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Alexandrian Library
