After the Darkness

Many believe that the Middle Ages were an era in which reason did not exist and everything was governed only through superstition. Those who thought so did not realize that they were speaking only of the region of Europe. But in this region there was a country that left many things to humanity. This country was the Byzantine Empire, which in reality is the Eastern Roman Empire, which lived until the 15th century. First of all the Byzantine Empire, where people spoke Greek, transmitted the culture and the philosophy of Ancient Greece. We already know that the culture and wisdom of the library of Alexandria was known through the Arabs. Of course not everything was translated into Arabic. Most of the writings of ancient Greece were copied by the soferim of the Byzantine Empire, because they too spoke the same language. The Byzantines had no problem understanding and giving the correct sense of the writings of Ancient Greece. Moreover, the library of Alexandria was not the only library in the Mediterranean world. The library of Pergamon (Bergama) was a very great rival. The competition between these two libraries was enormous. Thus the Arabs transmitted what was not copied in the other libraries, so that these writings would not be lost for ever. Let us not forget that the libraries of that time did not preserve scientific studies but only literary studies.

Apart from these literary texts, the Byzantines introduced the 'fork' into the customs of everyday eating from the 4th century of our era. The Persians copied this in the 9th century and the Italians in the 11th century, and this long before other European countries, because the Italians had great sympathy for macaroni, and with the fork of three or four prongs one could eat with more ease, more elegance and hygiene. The Byzantines were lovers of art and good architects who built the great domes with corners we call 'pendentives'. We have in Istanbul the most famous work in the world of the 6th century, 'Santa Sophia' or Ayasofya. The dome of Ayasofya has a diameter of 31–32 metres. This was a miracle for the architects of the 6th century and continues to illuminate the architects of today. They also built bridges with pointed arches to be able to support the weight of the bridge better. They invented what we call 'Greek fire'. They sent with arrows a rag soaked in naphtha, which burned the ships or the soldiers who were fighting. They invented the 'trebuchet' (mancınık), sending far away explosives in flames and stone balls. Let us not forget that in that era the civilization in China with certain important dynasties, in America with the Mayas, Aztecs and Incas, were not inferior to those of Europe.

What was dark in Europe was the lack of food and the epidemic of the Plague. The Plague and Leprosy in the 14th century also caused the mistreatment of the Jews, by throwing the blame for the epidemic on them. What we today call the 'witches' of the Middle Ages we know was a calumny. And to take vengeance, they invented that certain women were witches and cast spells. Unfortunately some women were burned alive. In this same era we have names of philosophers, writers, scientists who changed the world's point of view. Among a few of them we can recall Shakespeare, Galileo, Spinoza, Newton, who gave light to the world and helped a great part of humanity advance. In many books we read that in the Middle Ages people did not wash and were very dirty, full of filth. Today, whether in archaeological excavations or in newly found manuscripts of that era, we know that the famous Roman baths were used by the Byzantines too. Of course 'hygiene' and the frequency of washing were not as today, but wash they did, even in the rural villages. What is more, the Jews prepared for Shabbat by washing, and so were clean to receive the sacred day.

What is also not said is that the public baths were always beside the bread ovens, to take advantage of the heat of the oven. Many people took advantage of the bath to wash and to eat in the nice hot bath. I remember from my childhood that when my mother took me to the bath, she also took a few little things to eat with the friends she met there, and they stayed for hours, as if it were a picnic. The most curious thing was that they also took quince (bimbriyo). The quince was broken (not cut) on the basin of the bath, and it was said that the quince had another flavour and came out juicier and tastier when it was broken in this way. We believed that in the Middle Ages everyone thought the world was flat. The intellectuals of that era knew very well that the world was round. This reality was already known since Ancient Greece. In all the representations of the Byzantine Emperors we see that the Emperor has in his hand the terrestrial globe (round form of the world) with a cross on top. This meant that Christianity would dominate the world.

Among other innovations of the Middle Ages one can count the way of printing books. The Jews brought this work from Spain to Turkey. Glass mirrors, spectacles, sails for boats, water mills and windmills, papers that served for paying (cheques) were used and found in this era called dark. What caused it to be called the Dark Age was mostly the struggle and the intrigues between the rulers so as not to lose their powers and to reign over an uneducated society. Another thing that gives it this title of darkness was that parchment and papyrus in this era became very scarce; very little was found, because it was very expensive to bring papyrus and to manufacture parchment. It is for this reason that we have few written details about this era. What we know is that every era has its qualities and its deficiencies. The darkness is cleared by the light of hope that illuminates the paths, with its scientific studies, works of art and philosophical ideas. May 2020