[slowhandluke]

It is truly a shame that a civilization that once contributed to mathematics and other academia have been forced to live in the dark ages due to a control of knowledge which truly is a form of mental slavery.

What name are you giving to the civilization in question? "Arabic" or "Islamic"? But, I suppose that doesn't matter.

The numbering system we use (zero and a decimal positional notation) was originated by Hindus about 500 AD. As the concept passed through North Africa, it picked up the Arabic characters set for 0-9. And that's the pattern to look for.

Many things attributed to an Arabic Civilization should be more properly attributed to the remnants of the Zoroastrian, Hindu, Hellenic, or Roman civilizations they conquered, or to other civilizations nearby. The more Arabic the conquered areas became, the fewer contributions to knowledge they produced.

The one positive thing I've read about, is that there is usually a flowering in the conquered remnants for the first generation or so, as the Arab/Islamic conquerors usually reduced taxes quite a bit. Unfortunately, the penalties for not converting to Islam grow. And as the % of non-Islamics falls, the tax on the non-Islamics grow, and that eventually kills the golden goose.

[guitarplayer1953]

I stand corrected upon looking deeper they got the zero from India and most of their architecture achievement came from others. Just like the good old USA who got the A bomb from the Nazis and rocketry from the Nazi’s too.

[dianed]

Actually, the Babylonians invented the first known character
for zero.

Interesting read about the evolution of the concept is “Zero, Biography of a Dangerous Idea”.

[Cronos]

As the concept passed through North Africa, it picked up the Arabic characters set for 0-9. And that's the pattern to look for

Not really -- the Indian characters for 0 to 9 are


The rabic copied it from Devanagari.