1. Organization of Information
in the
Public Libraries of the Abbasid Caliphate CE
Elizabeth Bolton
I will be discussing my paper “The Organization of Information in the Public Libraries of the Abbasid Caliphate, CE”
I wrote this paper to gain an overview of what the libraries during this time period were like, and how they were organized. I learned while conducting my literature review that the classification schemes expounded by medieval Muslim scholars provide a useful starting place for a revised organization of subjects in this area, or even an entirely separate classification system for Islamic literature.
I found several proposed revisions to current classification schemes which were quite interesting.
But most of all I was astounded at the number, size, and organization of the public libraries that existed in the Middle East at the same time that Europe was slumbering through the Dark Ages.
I would like to give special thanks to Dr. Susan Burke, I wrote this paper for her class and it was she that encouraged me to enter the competition. I will post my address on the last slide if anyone would like a copy of the paper or this presentation, or my citations.

2. Abbasid Empire, 1258 CE
The Abbasids were an Arab family descended from Abbas, the uncle of the prophet Muhammad
The Abbasid caliphs ruled mostly from Baghdad.
Here is a map of the extent of the Abbasid lands at the height of their rule before the Mongol invasion in 1258CE.
It is widely accepted that the libraries of medieval Christendom were either nonexistent or quite small. However, those fortunate enough to live in Islamic lands during the medieval era enjoyed widespread public libraries with astonishingly large collections. Libraries could even be found in the hospitals of Muslim lands.[i]
The richest library in Christendom, the Sorbonne in Paris, had only 338 books as late as 1338 CE.[ii]
Close to a century earlier, In stark contrast, Baghdad’s Khizanat al-Hikma (Treasury of Wisdom) contained 400,000 volumes. This is only one of Baghdad’s 36 public libraries.[iii] This library was the library of the most famous academy in the empire, the Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom) which was also the official translation institution of the empire. Libraries likes this one made Baghdad the center of intellectual life and scholarly activity. Parts of this structure still stand today, or did until the US invasion of Iraq. Libraries likes this one made Baghdad the center of intellectual life and scholarly activity. I will share pictures of the Bayt al-Hikma structure throughout the slideshow.
The extensive libraries that existed before the invention of the printing press, when reproducing books was time consuming and costly, echo Islamic rulers’ fascination with knowledge and deep commitment to public libraries.
The much more extensive library collections of the Abbasid era ( ) were made possible by an Arab military victory in July 751, at the battle of Talas. (See Aramco World, September-October 1982). Where they captured Chinese prisoners and subsequently forced them to reveal the secrets of paper making.
Thus began the westward transmission of the ancient Chinese craft of papermaking, which would not take hold in Europe for several more centuries. (Article by: Barry Hoberman volume 38 no. 2 Saudi Aramco World)
End-Notes
1. Ibn Sīnā or Avicenna, Cannon of Medicine, referred to in Wilfred J. Plumbe, in “The Libraries of Medieval Islam,” Malayan Library Journal 2 (July 1962): 134.
2. Jonathan M. Bloom, “Collections and Libraries,” in Paper before Print: The History and Impact of Paper in the Islamic World (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001), 116.
3. D.N. Marshall, “Mediaeval Islamic Libraries,” in History of Libraries: Ancient and Mediaeval (New Delhi: Oxford and IBH Publishing Co., 1983), 95.
Map, Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

3. Frontispiece to a translation of: Zad al-Musafir
(medical book by Ahmad ibn al-Jazzar)
Scientific and philosophical knowledge from ancient Greece and the Hellenic world was meticulously preserved and copied, then corrected and expanded, before Muslims passed it from the Islamic world west, through Spain and Byzantium, to a Europe that was awakening from the slumber of the Dark Ages
We owe a great debt to those Muslim scholars who preserved the writing of those such as Aristotle… This transmission, which in part inspired the Renaissance, is beautifully exemplified in this 14th-century frontispiece to the Greek translation of the Zad al-Musafir by Ahmad ibn al-Jazzar (died 961).
Al Jazzar’s work was a compilation of medical knowledge from Aristotle onward and, after being translated from the Arabic, was one of the leading reference books in medieval Europe.
Ibn al-Jazzar appears at the bottom right; on the left is his translator, Constantine de Regio (also known as Constantine the African). Courtesy of: BIBLIOTECA NACIONAL DE MADRID

4. What were these libraries like?
Abbasid libraries were “palaces of knowledge” in every sense of the word. Impressive in numerous ways: collection size (from 10,000 to 500,000 volumes), appearance, organization of subjects, care taken to provide public access to knowledge, preservation of books, lending policies, and interlibrary loan system.
All the sources consulted agree that there has been no record found stipulating that women could not use the public libraries or that “public” only referred to men. However, there have been manuscripts found that indicate that women had separate reading rooms.
Cataloging
Patrons could request a librarian to bring the master catalog, which the librarian would bring along with paper and ink for the patron to take notes from the catalog or a book. Libraries also contained rooms without books which were used for several purposes: reading rooms, copying rooms, dictation rooms, debate rooms, lectures, and music performances.
All public libraries had fihrist (catalogs) which were usually in book form. There was always a catalog in which all the books were entered by subject and almost always another catalog arranged alphabetically according to author names. The subject classification scheme that dictated the catalog organization was the Aristotelian yet Islam-centric scheme found on page six.
There was usually only one copy of the author catalog which was kept and updated by the librarian. This version of the catalog was available for patrons’ use upon request.
Librarians created a separate catalog for each room, which listed the subjects and corresponding books contained in that particular room. These catalogs were kept in their corresponding rooms.
Books were arranged on the on the shelves by subject according to the catalog. To contribute to the remarkable organization of these libraries, the contents of each horizontal shelf was written on a label that was attached to the outside of the almirah. Further, labels were affixed to the spines of the books on the fore edge for easy identification. It is not known what was written on the book labels. Since the title and author was written on the back of the book in calligraphy, perhaps the labels contained a marking indicating to which part of the catalog the book corresponded.
41. Miroslav Krek, Islamic Libraries: 7th to 17th Centuries, 3d ed. World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services, (Chicago: American Library Association, 1993), Ruth Mackensen, The libraries of the Arabs During the Times of the Abbasids, Islamic Culture 2 (April 1929): 229.
44. Muhammad Rustam Ali Diwan, Muslim Contribution to Libraries during the Medieval Times, Islam and the Modern Age 9 (May 1978): 24.
45. A.S. Qasimi, Libraries in the Early Islamic World, Journal of the University of Peshawar 6 (1958): 5.
46. Muhammad Rustam Ali Diwan, Muslim Contribution to Libraries during the Medieval Times, Islam and the Modern Age 9 (May 1978): 24.
47. Fred Lerner, The Islamic World, in Libraries through the Ages (New York: The Continuum Publishing Company, 2000), 62.
43. Miroslav Krek, Islamic Libraries: 7th to 17th Centuries, 3d ed. World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services, (Chicago: American Library Association, 1993), 395.
Picture from: Norman MacDonald. The Longest Hajj: The Journeys of Ibn Battuta
Aramco Services Company

5. Courtyard and fountain
Although library collection sizes first measured in camel loads, later documentation confirms that it was not uncommon for Abbasid public library collections to number from ten thousand to half a million volumes. Obviously, a scheme or organization was necessary for these massive collections
The classification schemes expounded by scholars under the Abbasid caliphs was used for many centuries and still serves as a model of a classification scheme with Islam at its center.
Photograph courtesy of Nabil al-Tikriti. Iraq Manuscript Collections, Archives, & Libraries: Situation Report, dated 8 June 2003
Courtyard and fountain
Bayt al-Hikma, Abbasid era portion Baghdad, Iraq

6. Acquisition of Classification
Translation of Greek and Persian literature
Iraq, 1224, Arabic translation of
Materia Medica of Dioscorides ("The Pharmacy")
As works of Greek philosophy were translated on a large scale, they greatly influenced Medieval Muslims scholars thought and organization schemes just as Muslims translations and commentaries of Greek philosophy had great influence on the development of European philosophy. Not every aspect of Islamic classification was based on Aristotle’s work, but certain subjects are identifiably categorized according to Aristotelian thought. Although they absorbed Greek philosophy, and in particular Aristotelian logic, medieval Muslims’ organization of information remained centered on Islam.
Pictured here, are two leafs from an Arabic translation of the Greek Work “Materia Media of Dioscorides” these were were translated in Iraq in 1224, at the height of Abbasid rule.
Leaf from an Arabic translation of the Materia Medica of Dioscorides ("The Pharmacy"), dated 1224, the other is (preparation of medicine from honey) Iraq, Baghdad School Colors and gilt on paper; 12.3 x 9 in. (31.4 x 22.9 cm) Cora Timken Burnett Collection of Persian Miniatures and Other Persian Art Objects, Bequest of Cora Timken Burnett, 1956 ( )
© 2000–2006 The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1000 Fifth Avenue. New York, New York 10028
Yalman, Suzan. Based on original work by Linda Komaroff. "The Art of the cAbbasid Period (750–1258 A.D.)". In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. (October 2001)

7. Bayt al-Hikma, Abbasid era portion
Hallway
Bayt al-Hikma, Abbasid era portion
Baghdad, Iraq
Hallway
Bayt al-Hikma, Abbasid era portion
Baghdad, Iraq
“The function of early Muslim classification schemes was not simply to arrange books on the shelves in a particular order, but also to keep in view the scope and position of each science within the total scheme of knowledge.”[i] Ziauddin Sardar, Islam: Outline of a Classification Scheme (New York: Clive Bingley Ltd., 1979), 12.
They incorporated Aristotle’s and other’s subject divisions into their own according to the concept of ilm.
The concept of ilm or knowledge is a foundational concept of Islam. One of the most famous Qur’anic quotes of Prophet Muhammad, “the ink of the scholar is holier than the blood of the martyr,” illustrates the centrality of knowledge in Islam.[i] Wilfred J. Plumbe, “The Libraries of Medieval Islam,” Malayan Library Journal 2 (July 1962): 130.
The society and public libraries under Abbasid rule operated with the concept of ilm at their center. So the framework for the organization of information in medieval Islamic libraries is the framework of ilm. Muslims of the time did not think of categories or subjects as separate from each other when organizing their libraries. Ilm was thought of as unity and “within this unified framework there was rich diversity due to the various branches of knowledge.”[ii] The sciences were considered to be the branches of the tree of ilm; therefore, any one branch could not be pursued without consideration of its membership to the whole. In other words, information was organized to be sought with a social function in mind.
Books were not only categorized by subject but were cataloged and organized with their social application in mind. In this way, Abbasid librarians sought ease of access for their patrons Ziauddin Sardar, Islam: Outline of a Classification Scheme (New York: Clive Bingley Ltd., 1979), 11.
16. Ziauddin Sardar, Islam: Outline of a Classification Scheme (New York: Clive Bingley Ltd., 1979), 12.
Photograph courtesy of Nabil al-Tikriti , Iraq Manuscript Collections, Archives, & Libraries: Situation Report, dated 8 June 2003

8. MODERN RECOMMENDATIONS:
Sardar, Ziauddin. Islam Outline of a Classification Scheme.
Qaisar, Mahmood Hasan. Islamic Sciences: Expansion of the Dewey Decimal Classification.
Modern recommendations for alterations to the Dewey Decimal System to better organize Islamic materials, such as
Sardar’s Islam: Outline of a Classification Scheme and
Qaisar’s Islamic Sciences: Expansion of the Dewey Decimal Classification Ed. XVI for Oriental Libraries, are based partly on the
classification schemes expounded by medieval Muslim scholars.[i] Sardar’s on al-Farbi’s and Qaisar’s includes more of al-Ghazali’s.
10. Amrohvi S. Mahmood Hasan Qaisar, Islamic Sciences: Expansion of Dewey Decimal Classification Ed. XVI for Oriental Libraries, with a foreword by S. Bashir Al-Din (Aligarh, India: Institute of Islamic Studies, 1965); Ziauddin Sardar, Islam: Outline of a Classification Scheme (New York: Clive Bingley Ltd., 1979).

9. “How often does a Muslim scholar find himself lost in the turns and twists of Western classifications of his culture? A classification scheme that reflects his world-view is long overdue.”
-Ziauddin Sardar, Islam: outline of a classification scheme
Differences:
Ibadah: usually translated as worship, Ibadah means following Islamic beliefs and practices.
So, jihad is placed as a sub-subject under this in Sardar’s scheme, rather than having it’s own subject heading as it does now,
and is defined inside the scope of context, the last of subjects in this area after:
Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving, Performing Haj,
Then jihad is divided into types of jihad, which is important. Most of today’s books on the subject focus on
Jihad al-ashgar or the lesser jihad, using this as a subject term could communicate that truly, this small element of Islamic teaching
is viewed as less important than all others.
It is time for discussion and debate about a less Western centric classification for literature, so we can better understand the world around us.
Interesting differences:
Presently, astronomy and astrology are considered primarily scientific subjects as opposed to mathematics. Nor would many individuals consult the mathematics section for books about music, as they would have in medieval Islamic libraries. In al-Farabi’s day, physics was considered to be primarily a branch of philosophy. Library patrons of today would certainly not look for the philosophy collection to locate physics textbooks. Further, one might not guess that music was considered a mathematical discipline and would therefore be shelved with the sciences.
26. Osman Bin Bakar, Classification of the Sciences in Islamic Intellectual History: A Study in Philosophies of Science (Ph.D. diss., Temple University, 1988), 34.
27. Howard R. Turner, Roots, in Science in Medieval Islam: An Illustrated Introduction (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1995), 32.

10. Bayt al-Hikma,Abbasid era portion Baghdad, Iraq, 2003
Sadly, many books and library structures were lost when the Mongols invaded around 1258 CE.
It was said that the waters of the Tigris ran black with ink from the enormous quantities of books flung into the river by the invading Mongols.
So librarians in medieval Iraq faced a similar challenge and humiliation as they do today. Many manuscripts remain but are scattered throughout the Middle East with countless lost during the US occupation and destruction of Iraq in recent years. Many of these remained to be cataloged or translated.
Knowledge promotes wisdom which promotes understanding. It is time for dialogue and debate, we have much to learn from this society, and much to thank them for. Hopefully, we can prevent further loss of the rich heritage of human civilization and the role of libraries as conduits of knowledge and education by understanding more about those who seemed to understand this so well.
Photograph courtesy of Nabil al-Tikriti. Iraq Manuscript Collections, Archives, & Libraries: Situation Report, dated 8 June 2003

11. Acknowledgements, Photographs
Aramco World Magazine. January-February 1989, photo Jeffrey Crespi. Slide 7.
Nabil al-Tikriti, Iraq Manuscript Collections, Archives, & Libraries: Situation Report. Chicago: Oriental Institute, University of Chicago; MELA Committee on Iraqi Libraries, June 8, 2003.
Slides 5, 8, 9, 12.
Nabil al-Tikriti, Iraq Manuscript Collections, Archives, & Libraries: Situation Report. Chicago: Oriental Institute, University of Chicago; MELA Committee on Iraqi Libraries, June 8, 2003.
Slides 5, 8, 9, 12.
Norman MacDonald. The Longest Hajj: The Journeys of Ibn Battuta.
Aramco Services Company, Public Affairs Digital Image Archive. Slide 4.
State University Library, Leiden, Werner Forman, Art Resource. In Lunde, Paul. Saudi ARAMCO World. “The Leek Green Sea.” Slide 10.
Please find the photographs credits on the back of your handout. I wanted to make sure the photographs sources received due credit, since this is a lot of information for one slide I have put them on the back of the handout with the corresponding slide number, in which I used the photograph as the background.
I enjoyed researching and writing this paper, I realize I have just skimmed the surface of the complicated matters of reconstructing these ancients libraries and study of the transmission of knowledge from great civilization to great civilization. Thank you for listening.
Please see your handouts for my if anyone would like a copy of the paper with all the citations and bibliography. There is also a list of sources consulted for further reading. Also, the paper will be online in the Tracings newsletter, this URL is on the handout as well. There you will find an index of issues, the paper will be in the newest issue, which will be posted after April 28th.
Yalman, Suzan. Based on original work by Linda Komaroff. "The Art of the Abbasid Period (750–1258 AD)." In Timeline of Art History. New York: Photograph Studio, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October Slides 2, 6.