Beyt’ül Hikmet (House of Wisdom) sounds like a dream. No trace is left of this ancient library, which was destroyed in the 13th century. So we are not entirely sure where it is and what it looks like.

But this prestigious academy was a great intellectual power in the Islamic Golden Age. It was also the birthplace of transformative concepts such as zero and modern Indian / Arabic numerals.

Established at the end of the 8th century as a private collection for the Caliph Harun Al-Rashid, the House of Wisdom turned into a public academy 30 years later and began to attract scholars from all over the world to Baghdad.

What attracted them was the city’s vibrant scientific curiosity and freedom of expression. Muslim, Jewish, and Christian scholars were allowed to work here.

The House of Wisdom, which has an archive comparable to today’s largest libraries, eventually turned into an unrivaled research center in more controversial areas such as mathematics, astronomy, medicine, chemistry, geography, philosophy, literature and art, and alchemy and astrology.