The Arabs excelled in various manufactures. Damascus was
famous for its brocades, tapestries, and blades of tempered steel. The Moorish
cities in Spain had also their special productions: Cordova, leather; Toledo,
armor; and Granada, rich silks. Arab craftsmen taught the Venetians to make
crystal and plate glass. The work of Arab potters and weavers was at once the
admiration and despair of its imitators in western Europe. The Arabs knew the
secrets of dyeing and they made a kind of paper. Their textile fabrics and
articles of metal were distinguished for beauty of design and perfection of
workmanship. European peoples during the early Middle Ages received the greater
part of their manufactured articles of luxury through the Arabs. [24]
[24] The European names of some common articles reveal the
Arabic sources from which they were first derived. Thus, damask comes
from Damascus, muslin from Mosul, gauze from Gaza, cordovan
(a kind of leather) from Cordova, and morocco leather from North Africa.
COMMERCE
The products of Arab farms and workshops were carried far
and wide throughout medieval lands. The Arabs were keen merchants, and Mohammed
had expressly encouraged commerce by declaring it agreeable to God. The Arabs
traded with India, China, the East Indies (Java and Sumatra), the interior of
Africa, Russia, and even with the Baltic lands. Bagdad, which commanded both
land and water routes, was the chief center of this commerce, but other cities
of western Asia, North Africa, and Spain shared in its advantages. The bazaar,
or merchants' quarter, was found in every Moslem city.
