Key learning points

1. One reason Al-Mansur planned Baghdad as a circle was his love of the Ancient Greek science of mathematics.
2. In the House of Wisdom, scholars translated Euclid’s book ‘The Elements’ and copies spread this knowledge in Europe.
3. In the late 8th century CE the Anglo Saxon King of Mercia, Offa either had a gold coin made, or it was made for him.
4. The coin, complete with Arabic script, is a copy of the golden dinars produced by Al Mansur, Offa’s contemporary.
5. It shows how important the golden dinar had become in the Mediterranean world due to the Abbasid domination of trade.

Keywords

• House of Wisdom - the House of Wisdom was a library and place of learning in Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age

• Euclid - Euclid was an ancient Greek mathematician, who lived around 300 BCE, and is often referred to as the 'father of geometry'

• Geometry - geometry is an area of mathematics that explores the shape, size, angles and positions of objects

• Dinar - the dinar is the name of the money unit that was used in Baghdad

Common misconception