House of Knowledge

House of Knowledge
This article is about the ancient university in Egypt.
For the ancient Abbasid Library, see House of Wisdom.
For the Saudi Arabian College, see Dar Al-Hekma College.

The House of Knowledge (Arabic: دار العلم ‎, Dar al-'Ilm) was an ancient university of the Fatimid Caliphate (today's Egypt), built in 1004 CE as a library and converted by the Fatimid Imam-Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah to a state university in the same year. The library’s collection was so vast that historian, Ibn Abi Tayyi’ described it as a “wonder of the world”.[1] In keeping with the Islamic tradition of knowledge, the Fatimids collected books on a variety of subjects and their libraries attracted the attention of scholars from across the world. The Imam-Caliph al-Hakim was a great patron of learning and provided paper, pens, ink and inkstands without charge to all those who wished to study there.[2]

References

  1. ^ Virani, Shafique N. The Ismailis in the Middle Ages: A History of Survival, A Search for Salvation (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 92.
  2. ^ Virani, Shafique N. The Ismailis in the Middle Ages: a History of Survival, a Search for Salvation (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 92.

See also

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