Section 3: Muslim Civilization's Golden Age
Muslim rulers united diverse cultures, absorbing and blending many of their traditions. Between 750 and 1350 Muslim merchants built a vast trading network across Muslim lands and beyond. Manufactured goods were highly valued. Outside the cities, agriculture flourished. Both Umayyad and Abbasid rulers took steps to preserve and extend agricultural land. In the eighth and ninth centuries Muslims enjoyed a certain degree of social mobility. Muslim art and literature reflected the diverse traditions of the various people who lived under muslim rule. Arab poets developed elaborate formal rules for writing poetry and explored both religious and worldly themes. There were many domed mosques and high minarets though out Muslim cities. There was also nonreligious art which involved anything from artists painting human and animal figures to scientific works. Muslims made great advances in philosophy, history, mathematics, and the sciences. Baghdad was the greatest Muslim center of learning. Muslim scholars translated the works of Greek philosophers and many Hindu and Buddhist texts. One of the greatest Muslim mathematics, al- Khwarizmi, pioneered the study of algebra. Muslims also made remarkable advances in medicine and public health.