Islamic Civilization

Home Comfort and Elegant Living

  De Zayas notes that the streets in Islamic towns and cities are narrow, and homes rise against each other, like scrambling, so small, and very simple seen from the outside; and yet inside, there is a great meticulousness and extreme cleanliness; so much so that the occupants take off their shoes at the entrance.[1] Great care was taken in medieval Islam to make due provision for the cleanliness, occupation, and amusement of the inhabitants, through pipes of metal, came water, both warm and cold, to suit the season of the year, running into baths, whilst in niches, where the current of air could be artificially directed, hung dripping alcarazzas.[2]

High standards, of course, were to be found in mosques, such as those of Cairo , in their hundreds, each of them with its pool for ceremonial ablution, all perfectly clean, and lit by numerous lamps, which amazed the visitors.[3] Muslim `oratoires', unlike Gothic chapels, of course, distinguished themselves in the entire absence of sculpture, painting or gilding, and yet remaining beautiful in the simplicity of white unpainted plaster.[4] And no less astonishing and unexpected, Savage observes, were the numerous fountains of water scattered throughout the great city, and the beauty of exotic flowers and strange trees.[5]

It is in the East, primarily, during the crusades, that the Western Christians discovered such art of living of which at home they could only have had the remotest idea in the form of stories, and travellers’ tales.[6] Soon, they adopted such ways of living one such being becoming accustomed to living in the cities.[7] Crusader knightly and mercantile classes also acquired similar tastes to those of the Muslims, which shows in the interior of their houses, judging by the precious enamel painted glass beakers and glazed pottery fragments excavated at Crusader sites.[8] Carpets, curtains, exquisite furniture, vessels of porcelain and glass, and other objects could be found in the dwellings of every crusader; only the richest princes of Europe were accustomed to luxury of this order.[9] It is a fact that the courts of Western princes presented a spectacle which deserved to be called Oriental (as indeed, it was, the fine carpets and fabrics and even golden ornaments nearly all imported from the East.)[10] The palace of the lords of Ibelin in Beirut is described in the chronicle as a splendid building; marble used for the floors, ceilings and walls, and was employed to such an advantage that the floors, for instance, conveyed the impression of water rippled by the wind, whilst mosaics on the walls provided additional decoration.[11] An object of particular magnificence was the fountain with its marble ornamentation in the centre of the house, the purpose of this was to provide a kind of air conditioning for the rooms; whilst large windows looked over the sea and on to gardens which surrounded the entire palace.[12] Even if not all of the crusaders possessed such establishments as this, much less was still enough to convince travellers from Europe of the difference between this and their own material life style.[13]

Though the climate continues to be praised, Christian Andalusia  never speaks to us with that sort of lush, rich voice of Muslim times.[14]In those Muslim times, according to Draper:

`Under the shade of cypresses cascades disappeared; among flowering shrubs there were winding walks, bowers of roses, seats cut out of the rock, and crypt-like grottoes hewn in the living stone. Nowhere was ornamental gardening better understood; for not only did the artist try to please the eye as it wandered over the pleasant gradation of vegetable colour and form-he also boasted his success in the gratification of the sense of smell by the studied succession of perfumes from beds of flowers.’[15]

 Dreesbach insists that the passages from the French literature of the crusading period which describe the Orient  show that the things which impressed themselves on the minds of historian and chronicler and poet were the richness of gardens and orchards.[16] The description of Syria  in William of Tyre’s  history tells of  the neighbourhood of Damascus  `where there are great number of trees bearing fruits of all kinds and growing up to the very walls of the city and where everybody has a garden of his own.’[17] `Dunayat (in northern Syria) lies on a vast plain, surrounded by sweet smelling plants and irrigated vegetable gardens,’ according to crusader account.[18] `Long indeed would be the list of early Islamic cities which could boast huge expanses of gardens,’ Watson  holds.[19]

Much of this passion for greenery, gardens and also flowers, eventually travelled west. Carra de Vaux  lists the flowers that came in from the East, including tulips (Turkish: tulpan,) hyacinths, narcissi of Constantinople, Lilacs, jasmine of Arabia, and roses of Shiraz and Ispahan.[20] Subsequently, due to Turkish influence, a mania grew for carnations and tulips, Tulipomania developing into one of the more intriguing phenomena.[21] The plant was brought to Vienna by Count Ogier de Busbecq, ambassador to Suleyman the Magnificent, in 1554, and reached Holland about 1560.[22] The interest was also shared by Italy: Francisco Caetani, Duke of Sermoneta, appears to have had the remarkable total of 15,147 tulips in his garden by the 1640s.[23] In France the Huguenots, who were garden conscious, took the plant with them when driven to other countries by persecution, and helped to popularise it.[24] In the 1680s it was among the flowers of the Serial when it caught the attention of the Englishman Sir George Wheler who, with other amateur botanists, brought home specimen.[25] Ceramic decoration also provides many examples of 17^th century interest in Levantine flowers such as carnations or, most notably, tulips, especially familiar to travellers who visited the Serail gardens at Constantinople.[26]

The Muslims, Draper observes, `religiously cleanly, it was not possible for them to clothe themselves according to the fashion of the natives of Europe, in a garment unchanged till it dropped to pieces of itself, a loathsome mass of vermin, stench, and rags.’[27] And that `No Arab who had been a minister of state, or the associate or antagonist of a sovereign, would have offered such a spectacle as the corpse of Thomas a Becket when his haircloth shirt was removed.’[28] It is from the Muslims, Draper pursues, that was inherited the use of `the often changed and often washed under garment of linen or cotton, which still passes among ladies under its old Arabic name.’[29] Christian pilgrims to the holy sites in the East were shocked to notice, in particular, the adoption of Oriental clothing amongst the established crusaders.[30] Silk burnous and turban were the normal attire for the crusaders, made of exquisite oriental cloths, of course, and richly embroidered as was the custom of the country.[31]The older crusaders were also regarded by the newly arrived as having turned effeminate in contact with the East, effeminate because they had got into the habit of taking frequent baths, using scents, wearing shirts of fine cloth, and sleeping in sheets.[32] The palaces had a constant supply of piped water; whilst the ordinary crusaders used the public baths if they did not possess one of their own.[33] The arriving pilgrims were astonished to see how jealously guarded were the wives of the older crusaders by their husbands, and even more shocked to see that the same ladies were wont to use the public baths two or three times a week, likewise in accordance with local customs.[34] Speculation about loose morals may have been based on this, although there was no real foundation for it.[35]One item necessary for the bathing, soap, obviously has an Islamic origin, hard soap, an Islamic development later imported into Europe. It was made using olive oil, al-Qali (alkali), and sometimes natron (sodium carbonate); David of Antioch (Dawud al-Antaki) giving one recipe.[36]

Medieval Islamic literature abounds with all sorts of information devoted to other forms of care for the body. In the 19th volume of Al-Tasrif, al-Zahrawi, devotes a complete chapter to cosmetology; cosmetics seen as a definite branch of medication (Adwiyat al-Zeenah). He describes the care and beautification of hair, skin, teeth and other parts of the body, dealing also with perfumes, scented aromatics and incense, includes under-arm deodorants, hair removing sticks and hand lotions; methods for strengthening the gums and bleaching the teeth, and so on and so forth.[37] Many such new usages found their way to the Christian West  following the translation of the work by Gerard of Cremonna.

   One of the translations by Constantine the African  is the Kitab al-Aghdiya (the book of diets) by Ishaq b. Sulyman al-Israeli (d. 932), who was established in Al-Qarawan.[38]The treatise is dedicated to the Archbishop of Salerno , Alfanus, who often complained to Constantine about his stomach troubles. Constantine is surprised not to have found anything on the matter in the works of the Greeks. He says he derived his own work from the elegant conclusions reached by the diverse authors of Al-Qayrawan.[39]  Later, towards the 12^th-13^th century, Kitab minhag al-bayan fima yastamiluhu l’insan, which is a treatise on diets by the Baghdad  doctor, Yahia Ibn Jazla (d. 1100), was translated partially into Latin , by a certain Jombobinus of Cremona,.[40] This work had a large influence through a translation made by Charles of Anjou, King of Naples, in 1289-1309, a manuscript which reached France before the end of the 14^th century.[41]

 The impact of Islamic dietetics is often illustrated in the form of tables, which are called tacuinum sanitatis (from the Arabic word taqwim); these being mainly derived from the translations of Ibn Jazla and Ibn Butlan.[42] Salernus composed such medical treatises, one of which in tabular form may have been inspired by the Taqawim of Ibn Butlan and Ibn Jazla.[43]The popularity of Islamic dietetics even allowed the word taccuino in the current Italian language in the sense of almanach, agenda.[44]

Food recipes were frequently the compositions of the eminent Muslim scholars , al-Kindi (b. 803), for instance, not considering it beneath his dignity to become the author of a work on cookery, giving a menu for each day of the year.[45] An anonymous author of the Almohad dynasty also wrote a recipe book called Kitab al-Tabkh fi-l Maghrib wal Andalus.[46] And with Ibn al-Awwam, the 12^th century agronomist,[47] according to Armesto, `we seem transported into a world of epicene contentment, in which he mingles aromatic vinegars, concocts foie gras and happily devises recipes to please his sybaritic King.’[48]

The first recipe books of the West generally date from the 13^th century with two small treatises by the Danish Harpestraeng (d.1244), but all recipes bear the name `sarasines.’ And they refer to `saracen’ sauces, cooked meat, etc. There are recipes for chicken cooked with pomegranates (la Romania; la lomania (recipe of meat with lemon juice; la sommachia: a chicken dish with almonds; etc.[49]

The Islamic Eastern-crusade influence is also strong, offering many examples of Franks, who in the East only ate oriental foods;[50]being served meals consisting of various exotic dishes flavoured with a diversity of spices.[51]In contact with the East, the crusaders learnt to despise the meagre and plain meals of their own countries, many amongst them going as far as refusing to eat pork, and there is no lack of remarks to this effect, notes Erbstosser.[52] Many of the old literary sources indicate that there was a certain pride on the part of the European feudal lords in possessing only Egyptian cooks, just as in being attended only by Oriental physicians.[53]In the East, the crusaders also learnt to eat from vessels of metal or precious woods.[54] In this they were following the patterns established elsewhere as by William II of Sicily  (1166-1189) who took a Muslim as his head cook.[55] He was not alone, for the leading figures of Europe had at their service foreign cooks.[56] A Catalan cookery book, Libre de Sent Sovi, kept amongst manuscripts of the end of the 14^th and early 15^th century, was written under the dictation of someone named Pedro Felipe (a strong man, and good cook) who had been at the service of the English king, Edward II.[57]Thus, Mediterranean cooking progressing to the north of Europe; and there are many other instances like this one.[58]

There is a considerable number of ordinary delights, which also have Eastern origins. Yoghurt is Turkish through and through (though other Middle East ern countries make a similar preparation); but all the promotional literature in the West insists on its origin in Bulgaria or some other part of the Balkans.[59] European cooking of the medieval period and Renaissance  makes abundant use of milk of almonds, but also of cream and butter and oil of almonds.[60] This ingredient is neither found in Greece  nor Rome, whilst Muslim works make very many references to oils of almonds.[61] As for all forms of paste, there is nothing more illuminating on the subject than the work by E. Sereni, which sums up the use of pasta, in all its variety, that has been borrowed by the Italians  and Spaniards from the Muslims.[62] Ice cream was diffused to the rest of the world from Sicily , and is yet another Islamic legacy, whose early production used to take place in cool caves on the island.[63] Also courtesy of the East, the delectation of coffee, tea and chocolate became commonly established in Europe by 1700 whilst they were almost unknown a century earlier.[64] Coffee houses in Marseilles  and Venice  fostered the habit, and soon after 1650 one opened in St Michael's Alley, Cornhill, London, the `Pasqua Rosee's Head,' named after the servant whom a Turkey merchant had brought back with him to England .[65] By 1700 there were probably about 500 coffee houses in London.[66] Also were born coffee and chocolate-pots of ceramic and silver of the long spouted ewer shapes developed long before in both China  and Persia, but indissoluble part of the Islamic metal-ware tradition of the 13^th and 14^th centuries.[67]

Outlining such Islamic influences in parts of Christian Spain, Levi Provencal notes: `The `mozarabization' of Spanish  Leon and Castile, which accentuated with time, will affect all marks of life, and even every aspect of the spoken language, from institutions, to home furnishing, to clothing, and all personal outer signs.’[68] And to `the Saracens,’ are indebted many of the personal comforts,’ concludes Draper.[69]