ISLAMIC GOLDEN AGE
Historical and Geographic Background -- The Islamic Golden Age is also known as the Caliphate of Islam or the Islamic Renaissance and refers to a system of government and political, cultural and religious authority derived from the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed, roughly in the early 5th century A.D. The high point of this revival of art and culture is somewhat of a sliding scale, varying between the 8th-13, or even15th centuries (Kraemer, 1992). The geographic area was centered around the Saudi Arabian peninsula, with the first capital in Media, a city in west central Saudi Arabia. At the height of their power, the Caliphate controlled all of the present day Middle East, all of northern Africa and into Spain, and as far East as the Indus Valley, making it one of the largest unitary states in history, and most notably one of the few states to ever extend direct rule over three continents (Kennedy, 2001).
Relationship to Previous Periods -- From the time of the disintegration of the great Middle Eastern Empires (Babylonia, Assyria, Egypt, etc.), the Arab world was not unified and remained a series of nomadic tribes under the nominal control of various warlords. Part of the Mohammidian tradition was the understanding that real incentives were needed to increase agricultural production. As a result, Islam is more than a religion -- it is a social transformation that allowed for a greater degree of economic stability, thus allowing various tribes to coalesce into a nation, united under religion. For example, one religious leader expressed it as "All Muslims are partners in three things: water, herbage, and fire" (Chaudry, 2003). The Golden Age was a period in which the Roman Empire had transferred most of its political power to Constantinople and the population of Europe