![[/Media/roundcity.jpg]] The Abbasids moved their capital from Damascus, first to Kufa and then to a new city they built beginning in 762 near the old Sasanian capital, Ctesiphon. Located in southern Mesopotamia at a point where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flow close to each other, Baghdad became a much more Persian-influenced and cosmopolitan city, and with a population of about a million people was larger than any other city, except probably Chang'an in China. Non-Arabs dominated the administration of an empire that would last 500 years, from a circular "City of Peace" that became a center of culture and learning. The Abbasids entered their "Golden Age" in the late 700s under Harun al-Rashid, who established diplomatic relations with Charlemagne in Europe. Two of Harun's sons fought a civil war for the throne; the victor Abu al-Ma'mun, established the "House of Wisdom" where  [Muhammad al-Khwarizmi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Khwarizmi "Al-Khwarizmi") published a book on mathematics now known as ["Algebra"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Compendious_Book_on_Calculation_by_Completion_and_Balancing "The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing"). The House of Wisdom may have been built on the library of Harun, and it became a center for not only creating new works but preserving the knowledge of the Classical world. Hunayn ibn Ishaq translated works of Greek philosophy and science by Galen, Plato, Aristotle into Arabic. The philosopher, scientist, cryptographer, and musician al-Kindi was a figure like Aristotle in the ancient world, writing at least 260 books about geometry, medicine, philosophy, logic, and physics. ![[Media/Maqamat_hariri.jpg]] *Scholars at the Abbasid library known as the House of Wisdom ([Maqamat al-Hariri](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maqamat_of_Al-Hariri_\(manuscript\) "Maqamat of Al-Hariri (manuscript)"))* ----- Next: [[10.3 - Silk Road]] Back: [[10.2 - Abbasids]]