During the 11th and 12th Centuries, Toledo, Spain was a cultural center for Muslims. Why do so many historians believe that this
one Islamic town in Spain should now be seen as the birthplace of the European Renaissance? A) New discoveries show that Toledo was much more advanced than Florence
B) The works of Aristotle and other writers of Greece and Rome were preserved there
C) Toledo was the westernmost city on the Silk Road
D) Muslims have always had more culture than Christians
B) The works of Aristotle and other writers of Greece and Rome were preserved there
Explanation:
The Arab world is perhaps most significant in that it preserved Aristotle's works from oblivion, since his work was not popular in Europe during the Middle Ages.
His works were not reproduced and his work was not appreciated, so he almost disappeared from his philosophical heritage like many other ancient philosophers whose works were forgotten over time. But while it was not popular in Europe, it was worshiped in the Arab world!
A school was founded in Toledo in the 11th century to deal with the translation of Arabic texts into Latin. Scientists from all over Europe came to educate and discover the knowledge that the Arab world would impart to Europe. Greek classics have been translated, but the importance that Muslim scholars and translators have in transmitting knowledge cannot be measured. Certainly, if the works of scholars like the aforementioned Galen and Aristotle, preserved by Muslim thinkers from oblivion, were to disappear, it would be as if they had never been created.
Osiris was the god that made a peaceful afterlife possible. The Egyptian "Book of the Dead" contains the major ideas and beliefs in the ancient Egyptian religion. Because their religion stressed an afterlife, Egyptians devoted a lot time and wealth to preparing for survival in the next world.
