Pilgrimage and image of Order: Origin of Arabic calculus

Abstract

In the paper, I discuss religious, philosophical and general cultural assumptions of Arabic mathematics in Muslim countries in 9th-11th centuries AD. In that time, Arabic mathematics was characterised by both algorithm and algebra.

Standing anthropological arguments, I focus on pilgrimage and imagination in connection to Arabic mathematics.

Keywords

• anthropology, philosophy and history of 9-11th century mathematics
• Arabic culture and religion
• algorithm
• algebra
• pilgrimage
• mosaic