title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: The authority of the great physicians and scientists of the Islamic Golden age has influenced the art and science of medicine for many centuries. Their concepts and ideas about medical ethics are still discussed today, especially in the Islamic parts of our world. Their ideas about the conduct of physicians, and the doctor–patient relationship are discussed as potential role models for physicians of today.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Ali ibn Musa al-Rida (765–818) is the 8th Imam of the Shia. His treatise "Al-Risalah al-Dhahabiah" ("The Golden Treatise") deals with medical cures and the maintenance of good health, and is dedicated to the caliph Ma'mun. It was regarded at his time as an important work of literature in the science of medicine, and the most precious medical treatise from the point of view of Muslimic religious tradition. It is honoured by the title "the golden treatise" as Ma'mun had ordered it to be written in gold ink. In his work, Al-Ridha is influenced by the concept of humoral medicine


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: The first encyclopedia of medicine in Arabic language was by Persian scientist Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari's "Firdous al-Hikmah" (""Paradise of Wisdom""), written in seven parts, c. 860 dedicated to Caliph al-Mutawakkil. His encyclopedia was influenced by Greek sources, Hippocrates, Galen, Aristotle, and Dioscurides. Al-Tabari, a pioneer in the field of child development, emphasized strong ties between psychology and medicine, and the need for psychotherapy and counseling in the therapeutic treatment of patients. His encyclopedia also discussed the influence of Sushruta and Charaka on medicine, including psychotherapy.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Al-Tamimi, the physician (d. 990) became renown for his skills in compounding medicines, especially theriac, an antidote for poisons. His works, many of which no longer survive, are cited by later physicians. Taking what was known at the time by the classical Greek writers, Al-Tamimi expanded on their knowledge of the properties of plants and minerals, becoming "avant garde" in his field.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: 'Ali ibn al-'Abbas al-Majusi (died 994 AD), also known as Haly Abbas, was famous for the Kitab al-Maliki translated as the "Complete Book of the Medical Art" and later, more famously known as "The Royal Book". Considered one of the great classical works of Islamic medicine, it was free of magical and astrological ideas and thought to represent Galenism of Arabic medicine in the purest form. This book was translated by Constantine and was used as a textbook of surgery in schools across Europe. "The Royal Book" has maintained the same level of fame as Avicenna's "Canon" throughout the Middle Ages and into modern time. One of the greatest contributions Haly Abbas made to medical science was his description of the capillary circulation found within the Royal Book.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (Latinized: Rhazes) (born 865) was one of the most versatile scientists of the Islamic Golden Age. A Persian-born physician, alchemist and philosopher, he is most famous for his medical works, but he also wrote botanical and zoological works, as well as books on physics and mathematics. His work was highly respected by the 10th/11th century physicians and scientists al-Biruni and al-Nadim, who recorded biographical information about al-Razi, and compiled lists of, and provided commentaries on, his writings. Many of his books were translated into Latin, and he remained one of the undisputed authorities in European medicine well into the 17th century.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: In medical theory, al-Razi relied mainly on Galen, but his particular attention to the individual case, stressing that each patient must be treated individually, and his emphasis on hygiene and diet reflect the ideas and concepts of the empirical hippocratic school. Rhazes considered the influence of the climate and the season on health and well-being, he took care that there was always clean air and an appropriate temperature in the patients' rooms, and recognized the value of prevention as well as the need for a careful diagnosis and prognosis.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: The "kitab-al Hawi fi al-tibb" ("al-Hawi" "الحاوي", Latinized: "The Comprehensive book of medicine", "Continens Liber", "The Virtuous Life") was one of al-Razi's largest works, a collection of medical notes that he made throughout his life in the form of extracts from his reading and observations from his own medical experience.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: In its published form, it consists of 23 volumes. Al-Razi cites Greek, Syrian, Indian and earlier Arabic works, and also includes medical cases from his own experience. Each volume deals with specific parts or diseases of the body. 'Ali ibn al-'Abbas al-Majusi reviewed the "al-Hawi" in his own book "Kamil as-sina'a":


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: "Al-Hawi" remained an authoritative textbook on medicine in most European universities, regarded until the seventeenth century as the most comprehensive work ever written by a medical scientist. It was first translated into Latin in 1279 by Faraj ben Salim, a physician of Sicilian-Jewish origin employed by Charles of Anjou.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: The "al-Kitab al-Mansuri" (الكتاب المنصوري في الطب, Latinized: "Liber almansoris", "Liber medicinalis ad Almansorem") was dedicated to "the Samanid prince Abu Salih al-Mansur ibn Ishaq, governor of Rayy."


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: The book contains a comprehensive encyclopedia of medicine in ten sections. The first six sections are dedicated to medical theory, and deal with anatomy, physiology and pathology, materia medica, health issues, dietetics, and cosmetics. The remaining four parts describe surgery, toxicology, and fever. The ninth section, a detailed discussion of medical pathologies arranged by body parts, circulated in autonomous Latin translations as the "Liber Nonus".


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: The book was first translated into Latin in 1175 by Gerard of Cremona. Under various titles ("Liber (medicinalis) ad Almansorem"; "Almansorius"; "Liber ad Almansorem"; "Liber nonus") it was printed in Venice in 1490, 1493, and 1497. Amongst the many European commentators on the Liber nonus, Andreas Vesalius paraphrased al-Razi's work in his ""Paraphrases in nonum librum Rhazae"", which was first published in Louvain, 1537.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Another work of al-Razi is called the "Kitab Tibb al-Muluki" ("Regius"). This book covers the treatments and cures of diseases and ailments, through dieting. It is thought to have been written for the noble class who were known for their gluttonous behavior and who frequently became ill with stomach diseases.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Until the discovery of Tabit ibn Qurras earlier work, al-Razi's treatise on smallpox and measles was considered the earliest monograph on these infectious diseases. His careful description of the initial symptoms and clinical course of the two diseases, as well as the treatments he suggests based on the observation of the symptoms, is considered a masterpiece of Islamic medicine.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Other works include "A Dissertation on the causes of the Coryza which occurs in the spring when roses give forth their scent", a tract in which al-Razi discussed why it is that one contracts coryza or common cold by smelling roses during the spring season, and "Bur’al Sa’a" ("Instant cure") in which he named medicines which instantly cured certain diseases.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: "Ibn Sina", more commonly known in west as Avicenna was a Persian polymath and physician of the tenth and eleventh centuries. He was known for his scientific works, but especially his writing on medicine. He has been described as the "Father of Early Modern Medicine". Ibn Sina is credited with many varied medical observations and discoveries such as recognizing the potential of airborne transmission of disease, providing insight into many psychiatric conditions, recommending use of forceps in deliveries complicated by fetal distress, distinguishing central from peripheral facial paralysis and describing guinea worm infection and trigeminal neuralgia. He is credited for writing two books in particular: his most famous, "al-Canon fi al Tibb" ("The Canon of Medicine"), and also "The Book of Healing". His other works cover subjects including angelology, heart medicines and treatment of kidney diseases.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Avicenna's medicine became the representative of Islamic medicine mainly through the influence of his famous work "al-Canon fi al Tibb" ("The Canon of Medicine"). The book was originally used as a textbook for instructors and students of medical sciences in the medical school of Avicenna. The book is divided into 5 volumes:


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: The first volume is a compendium of medical principles, the second is a reference for individual drugs, the third contains organ-specific diseases, the fourth discusses systemic illnesses as well as a section of preventive health measures, and the fifth contains descriptions of compound medicines. The "Canon" was highly influential in medical schools and on later medical writers.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: "Ibn Buṭlān", otherwise known as Yawānīs al-Mukhtār ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbdūn al-Baghdādī, was an Arab physician who was active in Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age. He is known as an author of the "Taqwim al-Sihhah" ("The Maintenance of Health" تقويم الصحة), in the West, best known under its Latinized translation, Tacuinum Sanitatis (sometimes Taccuinum Sanitatis).


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: The work treated matters of hygiene, dietetics, and exercise. It emphasized the benefits of regular attention to the personal physical and mental well-being. The continued popularity and publication of his book into the sixteenth century is thought to be demonstration of the influence that Arabic culture had on early modern Europe.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: It is claimed that an important advance in the knowledge of human anatomy and physiology was made by Ibn al-Nafis, but whether this was discovered via human dissection is doubtful because "al-Nafis tells us that he avoided the practice of dissection because of the shari'a and his own 'compassion' for the human body".


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: The movement of blood through the human body was thought to be known due to the work of the Greek physicians. However, there was the question of how the blood flowed from the right ventricle of the heart to the left ventricle, before the blood is pumped to the rest of the body. According to Galen in the 2nd century, blood reached the left ventricle through invisible passages in the septum. By some means, Ibn al-Nafis, a 13th-century Syrian physician, found the previous statement on blood flow from the right ventricle to the left to be false. Ibn al-Nafis discovered that the ventricular septum was impenetrable, lacking any type of invisible passages, showing Galen's assumptions to be false. Ibn al-Nafis discovered that the blood in the right ventricle of the heart is instead carried to the left by way of the lungs. This discovery was one of the first descriptions of the pulmonary circulation, although his writings on the subject were only rediscovered in the 20th century, and it was William Harvey's later independent discovery which brought it to general attention.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: According to the Ancient Greeks, vision was thought to a visual spirit emanating from the eyes that allowed an object to be perceived. The 11th century Iraqi scientist Ibn al-Haytham, also known as Al-hazen in Latin, developed a radically new concept of human vision. Ibn al-Haytham took a straightforward approach towards vision by explaining that the eye was an optical instrument. The description on the anatomy of the eye led him to form the basis for his theory of image formation, which is explained through the refraction of light rays passing between two media of different densities. Ibn al-Haytham developed this new theory on vision from experimental investigations. In the 12th century, his "Book of Optics" was translated into Latin and continued to be studied both in the Islamic world and in Europe until the 17th century.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Ahmad ibn Abi al-Ash'ath, a famous physician from Mosul, Iraq, described the physiology of the stomach in a live lion in his book "al-Quadi wa al-muqtadi". He wrote:


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Ahmad ibn Abi al-Ash'ath observed the physiology of the stomach in a live lion in 959. This description preceded William Beaumont by almost 900 years, making Ahmad ibn al-Ash'ath the first person to initiate experimental events in gastric physiology.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: According to Galen, in his work entitled "De ossibus ad tirones", the lower jaw consists of two parts, proven by the fact that it disintegrates in the middle when cooked. Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi, while on a visit to Egypt, encountered many skeletal remains of those who had died from starvation near Cairo. He examined the skeletons and established that the mandible consists of one piece, not two as Galen had taught. He wrote in his work "Al-Ifada w-al-Itibar fi al-Umar al Mushahadah w-al-Hawadith al-Muayanah bi Ard Misr", or "Book of Instruction and Admonition on the Things Seen and Events Recorded in the Land of Egypt":


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Unfortunately, Al-Baghdadi's discovery did not gain much attention from his contemporaries, because the information is rather hidden within the detailed account of the geography, botany, monuments of Egypt, as well as of the famine and its consequences. He never published his anatomical observations in a separate book, as had been his intention.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Medical contributions made by medieval Islam included the use of plants as a type of remedy or medicine. Medieval Islamic physicians used natural substances as a source of medicinal drugs—including "Papaver somniferum" Linnaeus, poppy, and "Cannabis sativa" Linnaeus, hemp. In pre-Islamic Arabia, neither poppy nor hemp was known. Hemp was introduced into the Islamic countries in the ninth century from India through Persia and Greek culture and medical literature. The Greek, Dioscorides, who according to the Arabs is the greatest botanist of antiquity, recommended hemp seeds to "quench geniture" and its juice for earaches. Ali al-Ruhawi believed that a physician must be a botanist and understand pharmacological characteristics of the various morphological parts. Beginning in 800 and lasting for over two centuries, poppy use was restricted to the therapeutic realm. However, the dosages often exceeded medical need and was used repeatedly despite what was originally recommended. Poppy was prescribed by Yuhanna b. Masawayh to relieve pain from attacks of gallbladder stones, for fevers, indigestion, eye, head and tooth aches, pleurisy, and to induce sleep. Although poppy had medicinal benefits, Ali al-Tabari explained that the extract of poppy leaves was lethal, and that the extracts and opium should be considered poisonous.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: The development and growth of hospitals in ancient Islamic society expanded the medical practice to what is currently known as surgery. Surgical procedures were known to physicians during the medieval period because of earlier texts that included descriptions of the procedures. Translation from pre-Islamic medical publishings was a fundamental building block for physicians and surgeons in order to expand the practice. Surgery was uncommonly practiced by physicians and other medical affiliates due to a very low success rate, even though earlier records provided favorable outcomes to certain operations. There were many different types of procedures performed in ancient Islam, especially in the area of ophthalmology.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Bloodletting and cauterization were techniques widely used in ancient Islamic society by physicians, as a therapy to treat patients. These two techniques were commonly practiced because of the wide variety of illnesses they treated. Cauterization, a procedure used to burn the skin or flesh of a wound, was performed to prevent infection and stop profuse bleeding. To perform this procedure, physicians heated a metal rod and used it to burn the flesh or skin of a wound. This would cause the blood from the wound to clot and eventually heal the wound.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Bloodletting, the surgical removal of blood, was used to cure a patient of bad "humours" considered deleterious to one's health. A phlebotomist performing bloodletting on a patient drained the blood straight from the veins. "Wet" cupping, a form of bloodletting, was performed by making a slight incision in the skin and drawing blood by applying a heated cupping glass. The heat and suction from the glass caused the blood to rise to the surface of the skin to be drained. “Dry cupping”, the placement of a heated cupping glass (without an incision) on a particular area of a patient's body to relieve pain, itching, and other common ailments, was also used. Though these procedures seem relatively easy for phlebotomists to perform, there were instances where they had to pay compensation for causing injury or death to a patient because of carelessness when making an incision. Both cupping and phlebotomy were considered helpful when a patient was sickly.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Surgery was important in treating patients with eye complications such as trachoma and cataracts. A common complication of trachoma patients is the vascularization of the tissue that invades the cornea of the eye which was thought to be the cause of the disease by ancient Islamic physicians. The technique used to correct this complication was done surgically and known today as peritomy. This procedure was done by "employing an instrument for keeping the eye open during surgery, a number of very small hooks for lifting, and a very thin scalpel for excision." A similar technique in treating complications of trachoma, called pterygium, was used to remove the triangular-shaped part of the bulbar conjunctiva onto the cornea. This was done by lifting the growth with small hooks and then cut with a small lancet. Both of these surgical techniques were extremely painful for the patient and intricate for the physician or his assistants to perform.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: In medieval Islamic literature, cataracts were thought to have been caused by a membrane or opaque fluid that rested between the lens and the pupil. The method for treating cataracts in medieval Islam (known in English as couching) was known through translations of earlier publishings on the technique. A small incision was made in the sclera with a lancet and a probe was then inserted and used to depress the lens, pushing it to one side of the eye. After the procedure was complete, the eye was then washed with salt water and then bandaged with cotton wool soaked in oil of roses and egg whites. After the operation, there was concern that the cataract, once it had been pushed to one side, would reascend, which is why patients were instructed to lie on his or her back for several days following the surgery.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: In both modern society and medieval Islamic society, anaesthesia and antisepsis are important aspects of surgery. Before the development of anesthesia and antisepsis, surgery was limited to fractures, dislocations, traumatic injuries resulting in amputation, and urinary disorders or other common infections. Ancient Islamic physicians attempted to prevent infection when performing procedures for a sick patient, for example by washing a patient before a procedure; similarly, following a procedure, the area was often cleaned with “wine, wine mixed with oil of roses, oil of roses alone, salt water, or vinegar water”, which have antiseptic properties. Various herbs and resins including frankincense, myrrh, cassia, and members of the laurel family were also used to prevent infections, although it is impossible to know exactly how effective these treatments were in the prevention of sepsis. The pain-killing uses of opium had been known since ancient times; other drugs including “henbane, hemlock, soporific black nightshade, lettuce seeds” were also used by Islamic physicians to treat pain. Some of these drugs, especially opium, were known to cause drowsiness, and some modern scholars have argued that these drugs were used to cause a person to lose consciousness before an operation, as a modern-day anesthetic would. However, there is no clear reference to such a use before the 16th century.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Physicians like al-Razi wrote about the importance of morality in medicine, and may have presented, together with Avicenna and Ibn al-Nafis, the first concept of ethics or "pratical philosophy" in Islamic medicine. Al-Razi wote his treatise "Kitab al-tibb al-ruhani" also known as "Book on Spritual Physick" on popular ethics. He felt that it was important not only for the physician to be an expert in his field, but also to be a role model. His ideas on medical ethics were divided into three concepts: the physician's responsibility to patients and to self, and also the patients’ responsibility to physicians.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: The earliest surviving Arabic work on medical ethics is Ishaq ibn 'Ali al-Ruhawi's "Adab al-Tabib" ( "Adab aț-Ṭabīb", "Morals of the physician" or "Practical Medical Deontology") and was based on the works of Hippocrates and Galen. Although, it should be mentioned that unlike Hippocartes, Galen did not propose a definite medical ethic code. "Morals of the physician" was al-Ruhawi's introductory comment to elevate the practice of medicine in order to aid the ill and enlist the help of God in his support. He quotes Hippocrates that the medical arts involve three factors: the illness, the patient, and the physician. The book consisted of twenty chapters on various topics related to medical ethics. In the first chapter of his book, al-Ruhawi declared that the truth is more important for physicians who follow rational ethics and the medical injunctions. Al-Ruhawi regarded physicians as "guardians of souls and bodies", and insisted them to use proper medical etiquette for strong medical ethics and not to ignore theoretical overtones. In pre-Islamic times, there were problems of a lack of part of an element of struggle and conflict to resolve ethical diffculites. Al-Ruhawi helped bridge this gap.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Many hospitals were developed during the early Islamic era. They were called Bimaristan, or Dar al-Shifa, the Persian and Arabic words meaning "house [or place] of the sick" and "house of curing," respectively. The idea of a hospital being a place for the care of sick people was taken from the early Caliphs. The bimaristan is seen as early as the time of Muhammad, and the Prophet's mosque in the city of Madinah held the first Muslim hospital service in its courtyard. During the Ghazwah Khandaq (the Battle of the Trench), Muhammad came across wounded soldiers and he ordered a tent be assembled to provide medical care. Over time, Caliphs and rulers expanded traveling bimaristans to include doctors and pharmacists.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik is often credited with building the first bimaristan in Damascus in 707 AD. The bimaristan had a staff of salaried physicians and a well equipped dispensary. It treated the blind, lepers and other disabled people, and also separated those patients with leprosy from the rest of the ill. Some consider this bimaristan no more than a "lepersoria" because it only segregated patients with leprosy. The first true Islamic hospital was built during the reign of Caliph Harun al-Rashid (A.D 786-809). The Caliph invited the son of chief physician, Jabril ibn Bukhtishu to head the new Baghdad bimaristan. It quickly achieved fame and led to the development of other hospitals in Baghdad.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: As hospitals developed during the Islamic civilization, specific characteristics were attained. Bimaristans were secular. They served all people regardless of their race, religion, citizenship, or gender. The Waqf documents stated nobody was ever to be turned away. The ultimate goal of all physicians and hospital staff was to work together to help the well-being of their patients. There was no time limit a patient could spend as an inpatient; the Waqf documents stated the hospital was required to keep all patients until they were fully recovered. Men and women were admitted to separate but equally equipped wards. The separate wards were further divided into mental disease, contagious disease, non-contagious disease, surgery, medicine, and eye disease. Patients were attended to by same sex nurses and staff. Each hospital contained a lecture hall, kitchen, pharmacy, library, mosque and occasionally a chapel for Christian patients. Recreational materials and musicians were often employed to comfort and cheer patients up.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: The hospital was not just a place to treat patients: it also served as a medical school to educate and train students. Basic science preparation was learned through private tutors, self-study and lectures. Islamic hospitals were the first to keep written records of patients and their medical treatment. Students were responsible in keeping these patient records, which were later edited by doctors and referenced in future treatments.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: During this era, physician licensure became mandatory in the Abbasid Caliphate. In 931 AD, Caliph Al-Muqtadir learned of the death of one of his subjects as a result of a physician's error. He immediately ordered his muhtasib Sinan ibn Thabit to examine and prevent doctors from practicing until they passed an examination. From this time on, licensing exams were required and only qualified physicians were allowed to practice medicine.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Medieval Islamic cultures had different avenues for teaching medicine prior to having regulated standardized institutes. Like learning in other fields at the time, many aspiring physicians learnt from family and apprenticeship until majlises, hospital training, and eventually, madrasahs became used. There are a few instances of self-education like Ibn Sīnā, but students would have generally been taught by a physician knowledgable on theory and practice. Pupils would typically find a teacher that was related, or unrelated, which generally came at the cost of a fee. Those who were apprenticed by their relatives sometimes led to famous genealogies of physicians. The Bukhtīshū family is famous for working for the Baghdad caliphs for almost three centuries.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Before the turn of the millennium, hospitals became a popular center for medical education, where students would be trained directly under a practicing physician. Outside of the hospital, physicians would teach students in lectures, or "majlises," at mosques, palaces, or public gathering places. Al-Dakhwār became famous throughout Damascus for his majlises and was eventually oversaw all of the physicians in Egypt and Syria. He would go on to become the first to establish what would be described as a "medical school" in that its teaching focused solely on on medicine, unlike other schools who mainly taught fiqh. It was opened in Damascus on 12 January 1231 and is on record to have existed at least until 1417. This followed general trends of the institutionalization of all types of education. Even with the existence of the madrasah, pupils and teachers alike often engaged in some variety of all forms of education. Students would typically study on their own, listen to teachers in majlis, work under them in hospitals, and finally study in madrasah's upon their creation. This all eventually led to the standardization and vetting process of medical education.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: The birth of pharmacy as an independent, well-defined profession was established in the early ninth century by Muslim scholars. Islamic pharmacological tradition was a result of Mesopotamian intellectual centers that supported the exchange of ideas. Indian and far east influences made their way into Mesopotamia by trade routes. Mesopotamia encompasses most of present day Iraq, which later became the Sasanian Empire. Persians preserved Greek ideas that trickled down into Islamic pharmacology. Pharmacology in Islamic empires was characterized by all substances applied to the human body. Drugs, foods, beverages, cosmetics, and perfumes were all used for their medicinal properties. Drugs consisted of plant-derived substances that originated in various regions of Asia. Pharmacological agents were employed as treatments based on their effectiveness at maintaining the human body's equilibrium. The Greek physician Hippocrates is credited for categorizing sickness as an imbalance of the abstract qualities cold, hot, dry, and moist. A diet was proscribed as treatment for the imbalance to restore equilibrium.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Al-Biruni states that "pharmacy became independent from medicine as language and syntax are separate from composition, the knowledge of prosody from poetry, and logic from philosophy, for it [pharmacy] is an aid [to medicine] rather than a servant". Sabur Ibn Sahl was a physician (d. 869) who wrote the first text on pharmacy in his book "Aqrabadhin al-Kabir". Heavily influenced by Dioscorides, it is believed that his book was written some believe it was written after Dioscorides' "Materia Medica". The acclaimed Greek herbalist Dioscorides worked alongside Greek physician Galen to categorize pharmacological agents. The Andalusian physician Ibn Juljul systematized substances from India, Southeast Asia, or Indian ocean lands. The categorizing of substances was further organized based on their transmission into the Islamicate empire. The origins consisted of Greek, Indian, or Iranian origination. The knowledge of the substances' medicinal properties were result of pre-Islamic Sasanian empire and the pyro-Persian culture that emphasized pharmacological pursuits. Islamicate pharmacy achieved the implementation of a systematic method of identifying substances based on their medicinal attributes. In addition, Sabur also wrote three other books "A Refutation of Hunayn's Book on the Difference Between Diet and the Laxative Medicine; A Treatise on Sleep and Wakefulness;" and "Subsitution of one Drug for Another". Although his works was not enforced by the government authorities, they was widely accepted in the medical circles. The branch of pharmacology was a result of continuity and expansion of pre-existing civilizations.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: During the medieval time period Hippocratic treatises became used widespread by medieval physicians, due to the treatises practical form as well as their accessibility for medieval practicing physicians. Hippocratic treatises of Gynecology and Obstetrics were commonly referred to by Muslim clinicians when discussing female diseases. The Hippocratic authors associated women's general and reproductive health and organs and functions that were believed to have no counterparts in the male body.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: The Hippocratics blamed the womb for many of the women's health problems, such as schizophrenia. They described the womb as an independent creature inside the female body; and, when the womb was not fixed in place by pregnancy, the womb which craves moisture, was believed to move to moist body organs such as the liver, heart, and brain. The movement of the womb was assumed to cause many health conditions, most particularly that of menstruation was also considered essential for maintaining women's general health.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Many beliefs regarding women's bodies and their health in the Islamic context can be found in the religious literature known as "medicine of the prophet." These texts suggested that men stay away from women during their menstrual periods, “for this blood is corrupt blood,” and could actually harm those who come in contact with it. Much advice was given with respect to the proper diet to encourage female health and in particular fertility. For example: quince makes a woman's heart tender and better; incense will result in the woman giving birth to a male; the consumption of water melons while pregnant will increase the chance the child is of good character and countenance; dates should be eaten both before childbirth to encourage the bearing of sons and afterwards to aid the woman's recovery; parsley and the fruit of the palm tree stimulates sexual intercourse; asparagus eases the pain of labor; and eating the udder of an animal increases lactation in women. In addition to being viewed as a religiously significant activity, sexual activity was considered healthy in moderation for both men and women. However, the pain and medical risk associated with childbirth was so respected that women who died while giving birth could be viewed as martyrs. The use of invocations to God, and prayers were also a part of religious belief surrounding women's health, the most notable being Muhammad's encounter with a slave-girl whose scabbed body he saw as evidence of her possession by the Evil Eye. He recommended that the girl and others possessed by the Eye use a specific invocation to God in order to rid themselves of its debilitating effects on their spiritual and physical health.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: The lack of a menstrual cycle in women was viewed as menstrual blood being "stuck" inside the woman and the method for release of this menstrual blood was for the woman to seek marriage or sexual intercourse with a male. Among both healthy and sick women, it was generally believed that sexual intercourse and giving birth to children were means of keeping women from getting sick. One of the conditions that lack of sexual intercourse was considered to lead to is uterine suffocation in which it was believed there was movement of the womb inside the woman's body and the cause of this movement was attributed to be from the womb's desire for semen.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: There was consensus among Arabic medical scholars that an excess of heat, dryness, cold or moisture in the woman's uterus would lead to the death of the fetus. The Hippocratics believed more warmth in the woman leads to the woman having a "better" color and leads to the production of a male offspring while more coldness in the woman leads to her having an "uglier" color, leading to her producing a female offspring. Al-Razi is critical of this point of view, stating that it is possible for a woman to be cold when she becomes pregnant with a female fetus, then for that woman to improve her condition and become warm again, leading to the woman possessing warmth but still having a female fetus. Al-Razi concludes that masculinity and femininity are not dependent on warmth as many of his fellow scholars have proclaimed, but instead dependent on the availability of one type of seed.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Infertility was viewed as an illness, one that could be cured if the proper steps were taken. Unlike the easement of pain, infertility was not an issue that relied on the patient's subjective feeling. A successful treatment for infertility could be observed with the delivery of a child. Therefore, this allowed the failures of unsuccessful methods for infertility treatment to be explained objectively by Arab medical experts.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: The treatment for infertility by Arab medical experts often depends on the type of conception theory they follow. The two-seed theory states that female sexual pleasure needs to be maximized in order to ensure the secretion of more seeds and thus maximize the chances of conception. Ibn Sina recommends that men need to try to enlarge their penises or to narrow the woman's vagina in order to increase the woman's sexual pleasure and thus increase the chance of producing an offspring. Another theory of conception, the "seed and soil" model, states that the sperm is the only gamete and the role of the woman's body is purely for nourishment of the embryo. Treatments used by followers of this method often include treating infertile women with substances that are similar to fertilizer. One example of such a treatment is the insertion of fig juice into the womb. The recipe for fig juice includes substances that have been used as agricultural fertilizer.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Al-Tabari, inspired by Hippocrates, believes that miscarriage can be caused by physical or psychological experiences that causes a woman to behave in a way that causes the bumping of the embryo, sometimes leading to its death depending on what stage of pregnancy the woman is currently in. He believed that during the beginning stages of pregnancy, the fetus can be ejected very easily and is akin to an "unripe fruit". In later stages of pregnancy, the fetus is more similar to a "ripe fruit" where it is not easily ejected by simple environmental factors such as wind. Some of the physical and psychological factors that can lead a woman to miscarry are damage to the breast, severe shock, exhaustion, and diarrhea.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: While the belief that carrying children and childbirth was very important and healing part of the Islamic culture, many medical scholars also recognize the importance of family planning, primarily through contraceptives and abortion. The use of contraceptives and abortion as opposed to abstinence was preferred due to the belief in the tremendous healing properties brought by sexual intercourse. The topic of contraceptives and abortion had been very controversial throughout the western world; however, in the Islamic culture, due to the ties between women's reproductive health and one's overall well-being, medieval Muslim physicians devoted time and research into recording and testing different theories in this field.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Prior to the development and research into safe contraceptives in order to prevent pregnancy, the concept of ' miscarriages' grew popular. This was the act of intentionally causing a miscarriage in the very early stages of pregnancy, though medical journals outlined a variety of methods, this was usually achieved through the consumption of plant derived substances. Medical journals and other literature from this time show an extensive and detailled list of a variety of different drugs and plant derived substances that supposedly have abortifacient qualities. Many of these substances were later laboratory tested and found to be correctly identified in their ability to induce a miscarriage. While some of these early texts did recommend a woman get an abortion during early stages, it was clear that it was a dangerous and potentially fatal procedure for the mother, causing a greater reliance on the safer alternative techniques and substances these texts also provided. Further development in this field led to the introduction of contraceptives that would prevent one's need to induce a miscarriage. Many religious scholars and medieval physicians of the time agreed on the importance of contraceptive alternatives due to the legal rights of women. This was due to the belief that "early withdrawal impinged upon [the woman's] rights ... to enjoy full satisfaction." Commencing more research into possible contraceptives. The data from this research made its way into the previously mentioned medical journals, already containing a list of abortifacients, providing a great variety of drugs and other prescribed substances for use as a contraceptive. The lists of drugs and other substances in these journals became widely accessible to be utilized by the public.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: The great availability and accessibility of these medical texts and the depth of research shown by the data shows that contraceptives and abortions, surgical or not, were frequently sought after by women of this time. While there may be a variety of reasons women would require these resources, whether connected to population control or personal reasons, it is clear that the Islamic culture not only incorporated, but brought about positive connotations in regards to women's reproductive health. During a period in which men dominated medicine, the almost immediate inclusion of women's reproductive health in medical texts, along with a variety of different techniques and contraceptive substances, long before the development of 'the pill', reinforces the cultural belief that men and women were to be viewed as equals, in regards to sexual health.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: There are examples male guardians consenting to the treatment of women by male physicians as well as examples of women seeking the care of a male physician or surgeon independently. Women would also seek the care of other women, and the role of women as practitioners appears in a number of works despite the male dominance within the medical field. Two female physicians from Ibn Zuhr's family served the Almohad ruler Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur in the 12th century. Later in the 15th century, female surgeons were illustrated for the first time in Şerafeddin Sabuncuoğlu's "Cerrahiyyetu'l-Haniyye" ("Imperial Surgery"). Treatment provided to women by men was justified to some by prophetic medicine (al-tibba alnabawi), otherwise known as "medicine of the prophet" (tibb al-nabi), which provided the argument that men can treat women, and women men, even if this means they must expose the patient's genitals in necessary circumstances.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: A hospital and medical training center existed at Gundeshapur. The city of Gundeshapur was founded in 271 by the Sassanid king Shapur I. It was one of the major cities in Khuzestan province of the Persian empire in what is today Iran. A large percentage of the population were Syriacs, most of whom were Christians. Under the rule of Khosrau I, refuge was granted to Greek Nestorian Christian philosophers including the scholars of the Persian School of Edessa (Urfa)(also called the Academy of Athens), a Christian theological and medical university. These scholars made their way to Gundeshapur in 529 following the closing of the academy by Emperor Justinian. They were engaged in medical sciences and initiated the first translation projects of medical texts. The arrival of these medical practitioners from Edessa marks the beginning of the hospital and medical center at Gundeshapur. It included a medical school and hospital (bimaristan), a pharmacology laboratory, a translation house, a library and an observatory. Indian doctors also contributed to the school at Gundeshapur, most notably the medical researcher Mankah. Later after Islamic invasion, the writings of Mankah and of the Indian doctor Sustura were translated into Arabic at Baghdad. Daud al-Antaki was one of the last generation of influential Arab Christian writers.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: The cooperation that occurred during the Abbasid empire in 750 A.D rested on the engagement between Nestorian Christians from the Byzantine empire and the Abbasid ruling elite. Nestorian christians from the Byzantine empire escaped persecution and opposition to scientific advancements to receive financial support from the ruling elite of the Byzantine empire. The Greek texts of Galen were introduced by Christians and translated into Arabic for Islamic scholars and physicians to make commentaries. With the emerging combined civilizations, the caliphs of the Abbasid empire were eager to gain knowledge from the pre-existing societies. The Byzantine empire depicted a modernized society that engaged in medical and pharmacological pursuits. The less oppressive Islamic view of Greek secular knowledge promoted the cooperation between Nestorian Christians and the Islamic empire. The Abbasid caliph al-Ma’mun was credited for promoting the translation of Greek texts, which accelerated the solidification of medicine in the Islamicate empires. The cooperation from the Nestorian Christians was enabled by the lack of conflict associated with the subject of medicine. Christians and Muslims were able to collaborate without religious conflicts arising. Greek and Syriac texts were translated into Arabic as the Hellenic period of scientific pursuit transitioned into the Islamic empire. One of the most acclaimed translators of the Islamicate empires was a Nestorian Christian, Hunnayn b. Ishaq, who was well versed in Syriac, Greek, Arabic, and medical training. Hunnayn’s translations were mainly works of the Greek physician Galen. Ultimately, Hunnayn is credited for establishing a successful systematic method of translation for scientific texts.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Medieval Islam's receptiveness to new ideas and heritages helped it make major advances in medicine during this time, adding to earlier medical ideas and techniques, expanding the development of the health sciences and corresponding institutions, and advancing medical knowledge in areas such as surgery and understanding of the human body, although many Western scholars have not fully acknowledged its influence (independent of Roman and Greek influence) on the development of medicine.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Through the establishment and development of hospitals, ancient Islamic physicians were able to provide more intrinsic operations to cure patients, such as in the area of ophthalmology. This allowed for medical practices to be expanded and developed for future reference.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: The contributions of the two major Muslim philosophers and physicians, Al-Razi and Ibn Sina, provided a lasting impact on Muslim medicine. Through their compilation of knowledge into medical books they each had a major influence on the education and filtration of medical knowledge in Islamic culture.


title: Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

text: Additionally there were some iconic contributions made by women during this time, such as the documentation: of female doctors, physicians, surgeons, wet nurses, and midwives.


title: Rising Sun (yacht)

text: Rising Sun is a motor yacht designed by Jon Bannenberg, and built in 2004 by Germany's Lürssen at their Bremen shipyard for Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corporation, and last refitted in 2007. "Rising Sun" has been owned since 2010 by businessman David Geffen, who had bought a half share of the yacht initially in late 2006.


title: Rising Sun (yacht)

text: "W "magazine listed some of the guests on Geffen's yacht: Leonardo DiCaprio, Bruce Springsteen, Gayle King, Julia Roberts, Maria Shriver, Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, JJ Abrams, Martin Short, Diane Sawyer, Diane von Furstenberg, Karlie Kloss, Peter Harrington-Cressman, Jen Meyer, Josh Kushner, and Sir Paul McCartney.


title: Rising Sun (yacht)

text: Geffen and his crew of 45 self-isolated in the Grenadines on "Rising Sun" during the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Saint Kitts and Nevis passport

text: The Saint Kitts and Nevis passport is issued to citizens of Saint Kitts and Nevis for international travel. Prior to 1983, Saint Kitts and Nevis together with Anguilla, was an associated state of the United Kingdom. The passport is a Caricom passport as Saint Kitts and Nevis is a member of the Caribbean Community.


title: Saint Kitts and Nevis passport

text: In 1984, Saint Kitts and Nevis introduced an Immigrant investor program, , Saint Kitts and Nevis is the most popular place to buy a passport; for $150,000 a family of four buy visa-free travel to 132 countries, with no requirement to live in or even visit the country. There is limited disclosure of financial information, and both income and capital gains are tax-free.


title: Saint Kitts and Nevis passport

text: In May 2014, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued a warning that St. Kitts and Nevis had granted passports to foreign individuals who have abused the Citizenship-by-Investment program sponsored "for the purpose of engaging in illicit financial activity." In November 2014, Canada announced it was requiring St. Kitts citizens to obtain a visa from 22 November 2014, due to concerns about “identity management practices within its Citizenship by Investment program.” Following the announcement, the government of St. Kitts and Nevis initiated a recall on all biometric passports issued between January 2012 and July 2014, and replaced them with new passports which showed the holder's place of birth as well as any previous name changes. Any passports not returned by 31 January 2015 were cancelled by the government.


title: Saint Kitts and Nevis passport

text: The investment programme that offers St. Kitts and Nevis citizenship is one of the longest-standing programs. The country opened its doors to foreign investors in 1984. Since this time, they have continued to offer their citizenship to those that are qualified and who have donated a significant amount of capital into the economy. St Kitts and Nevis also offers a fast track service to clients, including the issuance of passports which previously had been subject to lengthy delays.


title: Saint Kitts and Nevis passport

text: As of March 2019, Saint Kitts and Nevis citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 152 countries and territories, ranking the Saint Kitts and Nevis passport 53rd in terms of travel freedom according to the Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index.


title: UFC 225

text: UFC 225: Whittaker vs. Romero 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on June 9, 2018, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.


title: UFC 225

text: A UFC Middleweight Championship bout between current champion Robert Whittaker and former interim title challenger (as well as 2000 Olympic silver medalist and former world champion in freestyle wrestling) Yoel Romero served as the event headliner. The pairing previously met in July 2017 at UFC 213 with Whittaker winning the interim title via unanimous decision.


title: UFC 225

text: However at the weigh-ins, Romero initially weighed in at 186 pounds, 1 pound over the middleweight limit for a title fight. Romero was given additional time to make weight, but he weighed in at 185.2 pounds. The commission initially gave him an additional 2 hours, but after an hour Romero was made to stop cutting weight, and the bout proceeded as a non-title contest. He was fined 30 percent of his purse, which went to Whittaker.


title: UFC 225

text: An interim UFC Welterweight Championship bout between former UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos and Colby Covington (initially linked to UFC 224 a month earlier) served as the co-main event.


title: UFC 225

text: Rashad Coulter was scheduled to face Allen Crowder at the event. However, on May 12, it was announced that Chris de la Rocha has replaced Crowder for undisclosed reasons.


title: UFC 225

text: Bobby Green was scheduled to face Clay Guida at the event. However, on May 29, Green suffered an injury on his right knee and was replaced by Charles Oliveira.


title: UFC 225

text: On July 7, 2021, it was announced that the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation overturned Mike Jackson's unanimous decision win against CM Punk to a no contest due to a marijuana positive test on fight night. He was officially suspended for three months retroactive to the date of the fight. The decision wasn't reported publicly until July 2021.


title: Heroes' Square (Budapest)

text: Hősök tere (), lit. Heroes' Square, is one of the major squares in Budapest, Hungary, noted for its iconic Millennium Monument with statues featuring the Seven chieftains of the Magyars and other important Hungarian national leaders, as well as the Memorial Stone of Heroes, often erroneously referred as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The square lies at the outbound end of Andrássy Avenue next to City Park ("Városliget"). It hosts the Museum of Fine Arts and the "Palace of Art" (Műcsarnok). The square has played an important part in contemporary Hungarian history and has been a host to many political events, such as the reburial of Imre Nagy in 1989. Most sculptures were made by sculptor György Zala from Lendava, with one made by György Vastagh.


title: Heroes' Square (Budapest)

text: In Budapest there are three more squares named Hősök tere, 'Heroes' Square', in the districts or neighbourhoods of Soroksár, Békásmegyer and Rákosliget.


title: Heroes' Square (Budapest)

text: "Hősök tere" is surrounded by two important buildings, Museum of Fine Arts on the left and Palace of Art (or more accurately "Hall of Art") on the right. On the other side it faces Andrássy Avenue which has two buildings looking at the square – one is residential and the other one is the embassy of Serbia (former Yugoslavian embassy where Imre Nagy secured sanctuary in 1956).


title: Heroes' Square (Budapest)

text: The central feature of Heroes' Square, as well as a landmark of Budapest, is the Millennium Memorial (, also translated Millennium Monument or Millennial Monument). Construction began in 1896 to commemorate the thousandth anniversary of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin and the foundation of the Hungarian state in 896, and was part of a much larger construction project which also included the expansion and refurbishing of Andrássy Avenue and the construction of the first metro line in Budapest (). Construction was mostly completed in 1900, which was when the square received its name. The four allegoric sculptures were added in 1906, the monument as a whole basically looked like it does today (except for the kings' statues), complete with the surrounding museums on either side, and it was inaugurated still in the same year, 1906.


title: Heroes' Square (Budapest)

text: When the monument was originally constructed, Hungary was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and thus the last five spaces for statues on the left of the colonnade were reserved for members of the ruling Habsburg dynasty. From left to right these were Ferdinand I (relief: Defense of the Castle at Eger); Leopold I (relief: Eugene of Savoy defeats the Turks at Zenta), Charles III, Maria Theresa (relief: The Hungarian Diet votes support for Maria Therese with their vow "vitam et sanguinem" at Pressburg on 11 September 1741) and Franz Joseph (relief: Franz Joseph crowned by Gyula Andrássy). The monument was damaged in World War II and when it was rebuilt the Habsburgs were replaced by the current figures.


title: Heroes' Square (Budapest)

text: On 16 June 1989 a crowd of 250,000 gathered at the square for the historic reburial of Imre Nagy, who had been executed in June 1958.


title: Heroes' Square (Budapest)

text: At the front of the monument is the Memorial Stone of Heroes (Hősök emlékköve), a large stone cenotaph surrounded by an ornamental iron chain. The cenotaph is dedicated "To the memory of the heroes who gave their lives for the freedom of our people and our national independence." While some guide books refer to this as a tomb it is not a burial place but is erroneously referred as the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier". Hungary has no Tomb of the Unknown Soldier unlike most European countries, nor any memorial to the unknown fallen of wars. No human remnants are interred here, there is only an artesian well under the tombstone-like memorial. The Memorial Stone of Heroes was originally erected in 1929 as a tribute to those who died defending Hungary's 1000-year-old borders. It was removed in 1951 as its message was politically unacceptable for the Communist regime. The current one was built at the same spot in 1956. The memorial is surrounded by a fence and it is off limits for visitors. The Ministry of Defence only opens the gate for foreign dignitaries and official state ceremonies.


title: Heroes' Square (Budapest)

text: Behind the cenotaph but within the decorative chain is a flat bronze plate which marks the site of an artesian well whose drilling was completed in 1878 by Vilmos Zsigmondy. This well provides water for the Széchenyi thermal bath behind the monument and the Dagály Baths in the "Népfürdő utca". The well reached a depth of 971 meters and produces 831 liters of hot water per minute at 74 degrees Celsius.


title: Heroes' Square (Budapest)

text: The Heroes' Square monument has a 90% duplicate in Shanghai Global Paradise, Shanghai. Since its opening in 1996, it has been mostly degraded and most statues removed.


title: Heroes' Square (Budapest)

text: The back of the monument consists of two matched colonnades, each with seven statues representing great figures of Hungarian history.


title: Heroes' Square (Budapest)

text: This is a list of the statesmen portrayed in the semi-circular arcades, with the topic of the relief below each figure given below the name.


title: Heroes' Square (Budapest)

text: Directly behind the cenotaph is a column topped by a statue of the archangel Gabriel. In his right hand the angel holds the Holy Crown of St. Stephen (Istvan), the first king of Hungary. In his left hand the angel holds a two-barred apostolic cross, a symbol awarded to St. Stephen by the Pope in recognition of his efforts to convert Hungary to Christianity. In Hungarian it is referred to as the double cross or the apostolic double cross.


title: Heroes' Square (Budapest)

text: At the base of the column is a group of seven mounted figures representing the Magyar chieftains who led the Hungarian people into the Carpathian basin. In the front is Árpád, considered to be the founder of the Hungarian nation. Behind him are the chieftains Előd, Ond, Kond, Tas, Huba, and Töhötöm (Tétény). Little survives in the historical record about these individuals and both their costumes and their horses are considered to be more fanciful than historically accurate.


title: Heroes' Square (Budapest)

text: Topping the outer (left) edge of the left colonnade is a statue of a man with a scythe and a woman sowing seed, representing Labour and Wealth. At the inner (right) end of the left colonnade, is a male figure driving a chariot using a snake as a whip and representing War. For the initial five statues of Habsburg emperors and the corresponding reliefs, see above in the history paragraph.


title: Heroes' Square (Budapest)

text: At the inner (right) end of the right colonnade is a female figure in a chariot holding a palm frond representing Peace. At the outer (left) end of the right colonnade is a double statue of a man holding a small golden statue and a woman with a palm frond, representing Knowledge and Glory.


title: Young Patriots Organization

text: The Young Patriots Organization (YPO) was an American leftist organization of mostly White Southerners from Uptown, Chicago. Originating in 1968 and active until 1973, the organization was designed to support young, white migrants from the Appalachia region who experienced extreme poverty and discrimination. The organization promoted Southern culture and used a Confederate battle flag as a symbol. Along with the Illinois Black Panther Party and the Young Lords, the Young Patriots Organization formed the Rainbow Coalition, a group of allied but racially separate organizations each focused on helping with issues of poverty and discrimination among their local community while working together towards internationalist and anti-capitalist goals.


title: Young Patriots Organization

text: Chicago was one of many American industrial cities that experienced an influx of White Southerners who came seeking employment throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In 1970, Chicago and the neighboring city of Gary had about 280,000 residents who had been born in the South; they were particularly concentrated in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, where they made up 80% of the population. The group was culturally isolated, treated as outsiders by other Chicagoans. They often experienced severe poverty and were targets of police brutality. They were derided as "hillbillies", particularly among the press: the group was summarized in a subtitle to a 1958 article in "Harper's Magazine" as "proud, poor, primitive, and fast with a knife".


title: Young Patriots Organization

text: The Uptown neighborhood was home to several youth gangs in the 1950s and 1960s, a number of which formed among the Southern newcomers. The gangs formed "not only along the color line, but also along interfaces between different European American groups—between, for example, communities of Irish and Poles, Poles and Italians, Swedes and Italians, Jews and Poles". Inter-gang violence was particularly noticeable as Black Americans began to move into Chicago neighborhoods.


title: Young Patriots Organization

text: Amidst this environment, community organizers attempted to address the issues of poverty and unemployment in the area in groups like the Jobs or Income Now (JOIN) community union, which grew out of the Students for a Democratic Society organization that encouraged local activism in Uptown. Both co-founders of the Young Patriots, Jack "Junebug" Boykin and Doug Youngblood, as well as other members had been involved with JOIN. Boykin and other Young Patriots were also active in Youngblood's National Organizing Committee (later the National Community Union), an interracial and working-class group that rallied around issues including free medical and childcare, higher corporate taxes, rank-and-file union leadership, and the end of the draft.


title: Young Patriots Organization

text: When the Young Patriots Organization and Bob Lee of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party were accidentally double-booked to speak at the Church of the Three Crosses in Lincoln Park on the same night, the two ended up discussing poverty among impoverished White Southerners in Chicago, shared experiences between White Southerners in Uptown and Black people in the South and West Sides, and comparisons between poverty in Chicago and the Vietnam War. This meeting, which was captured on film and later included in the 1969 documentary film "American Revolution 2", was the precursor to the spring 1969 formation of the Rainbow Coalition by Bob Lee and Fred Hampton. At the outset the coalition was made up of the Young Patriots, the Illinois Black Panthers, and the Young Lords, and over the years they were joined by other community organizations. As the coalition expanded, so too did the groups themselves, with the Young Patriots earning new members including the skilled speaker William "Preacherman" Fesperman, who would go on to become a leader among the Patriots. The Young Patriots maintained their focus on White Southerners and those in the Uptown area after joining the Rainbow Coalition, but usually were joined by one or both of the Black Panthers or the Young Lords in public appearances.


title: Young Patriots Organization

text: The Young Patriots were one of several groups in the Rainbow Coalition to mimic various activities of the Black Panthers. In addition to providing free breakfast programs for children, organizing clothing drives, and monitoring police activities, the Young Patriots also followed the Panthers' model of providing social services such as medical clinics directly to their communities. In October 1969, the Patriots opened a medical clinic to provide free care to Uptown residents. The Young Patriots Uptown Health Service's medical staff were primarily volunteer medical personnel from outside the group, and each patient also was assigned a Patriot as a patient advocate who would provide home visits and accompaniment to later appointments. The clinic provided dental and medical care to about 150 people in the first few months it was open, but by December it had been forced to close due to noise complaints from neighboring tenants. The Patriots alleged the closing was solely due to continued harassment from the police, which they said had scared away clients and staff alike. The clinic relocated, though many of their volunteers did not return. After reopening, the unlicensed clinic faced issues with the Board of Health, who were concerned the Patriots would use the facility to "treat gunshot wounds, hand out drugs irresponsibly, perform abortions or give shots with unsterile needles". As the Patriots battled with the Board of Health, they alleged that police harassed their patients, seizing prescribed medications and arresting them for narcotics possession. The Patriots also claimed the police harassed their members by crashing meetings between the Patriots and medical staff, and arresting the Patriots for trespassing in their own buildings or for allegedly assaulting other members of the organization. Eventually the clinic was allowed to remain open and unlicensed in a July 10, 1970 decision that determined that "ordinance covering dispensaries was so vague as to be unenforceable". The clinic treated nearly 2,000 people by November of that year, and came to be the most well-known accomplishment by the Young Patriots.


title: Young Patriots Organization

text: In 1969, a new branch of the Young Patriots emerged, calling themselves the Patriot Party. Over the next year, branches of the Patriots emerged in several cities across the United States, though they generally dissolved fairly quickly due to lack of momentum or were absorbed by other radical groups.


title: Young Patriots Organization

text: The groups in the Rainbow Coalition had already suffered a major blow with the 1969 assassination of Fred Hampton during a police raid of his apartment. In late 1970, the internal security subcommittee of the United States Senate charged a local church association, the North Side Cooperative Ministry, with financially supporting both the Young Patriots and the Young Lords. Although the consortium maintained that they had only supported free breakfast programs and legal defense funds, and rebutted the claims that they had been supporting violent revolutionaries, the press coverage widely describing the two groups as "street gangs" reduced outside support for the community services run by the Patriots and other groups.


title: Young Patriots Organization

text: Media attention to the Young Patriots diminished following the success of their medical clinic, and though they continued to provide community services, none would be as effective or widely-known as the clinic. The strongly Appalachian Uptown neighborhood gradually became more diverse as people from other countries immigrated to the area, and White Southerners moved elsewhere. By 1973, the Young Patriots Organization was, for the most part, defunct.


title: Young Patriots Organization

text: In 1970, the Young Patriots formed an eleven-point platform similar to the Black Panther Party's 1969 Ten-Point Program. The Patriots' platform shared the Panthers' opposition to the Vietnam War, police oppression, and capitalist exploitation. The two platforms also shared welfare-related goals including improved education, housing, medical care, and access to clothing, and union reform that would address issues of racism and inefficacy in the existing unions. The Young Patriots' platform included points that spoke about cultural nationalism and revolutionary solidarity, and denounced racism.


title: Young Patriots Organization

text: The Young Patriots' condemnation of cultural nationalism has since been described by Martin Alexander Krzywy, publishing in the "Journal of African American Studies", as somewhat incongruous with their strong focus on Appalachian and southern heritage and their adoption of symbols including cowboy hats and the Confederate battle flag. However, according to Krzywy, this was not dissimilar from inconsistencies between the Black Panthers' and Young Lords' stated beliefs on cultural nationalism and the practices of some of their members. The Confederate battle flag also served the Young Patriots as a recruiting tool, attracting other white southerners. Though the multiracial groups among the Rainbow Coalition did not raise the Confederate imagery as an issue in the intergroup organizing, many radicals outside of the coalition saw the flag as incompatible with solidarity with the Black Panthers.


title: Young Patriots Organization

text: The Young Patriots were extremely focused on class divides, and were critical of activist groups like the Students for a Democratic Society and the Southern Student Organizing Committee, who were largely focused on campus organizing. The Patriots denigrated their work as "petty bourgeoisie" and their members as having "had all the education, had all the schooling."


title: Young Patriots Organization

text: The Young Patriots Organization described their membership as a diverse collection of people including Italians, Latinos, and American Indians. However, the backgrounds of its leaders and the symbols adopted by the group made it clear that the group was primarily centered around shared White Southerner identity. The Patriots were largely perceived by outsiders to be a group of white hillbilly gang members turned revolutionaries.


title: Young Patriots Organization

text: Krzywy, publishing in the "Journal of African American Studies", wrote that "the Young Patriots tended to conflate Southernness and whiteness, to the exclusion of both poor white ethnics in Chicago and black Southerners who had moved to the city and shared many folkways with the Uptown residents." However, despite the group's exclusive intragroup identity, through the Rainbow Coalition the group organized effectively along with Blacks and Latinos in Chicago.


title: Yakamoz S-245

text: Yakamoz S-245 is a Turkish apocalyptic sci-fi drama thriller streaming television series created by Jason George, inspired by the 2015 Polish science fiction novel "The Old Axolotl" by Jacek Dukaj. The series premiered on Netflix on April 20, 2022 and is a spin-off of the Belgian series "Into the Night".


title: Yakamoz S-245

text: In the week of its opening, the series was reported to be the third most watched non-English TV series on Netflix.


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: Sega launched the development of "Phantasy Star" so their Master System could compete with the burgeoning popularity of console RPGs, particularly "Dragon Quest" (1986) on the Famicom. Designer Kotaro Hayashida and programmer Yuji Naka formed a team, staffed by a large number of women for the time, including graphic designer Rieko Kodama. The team wanted "Phantasy Star" to be a unique RPG experience, so they added elements like 3D dungeon crawling, a female protagonist, and ample animation. The game's setting was a fusion between medieval fantasy and science fiction, an idea inspired by "Star Wars". The team had to use several techniques to fit all their content on a four megabit cartridge, a large game size for the time.


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: The game was released for the Master System two days after "Final Fantasy" arrived for the competing Famicom. It was praised for its grand sense of adventure due to its advanced visual effects and deep gameplay. The battery backup system drew praise but also contributed to the game's notably high retail price which made it difficult for some critics to recommend. The game was re-released on several platforms in the following years, including a series of "Phantasy Star" compilations. In 2003, a remake was released for the PlayStation 2.


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: "Phantasy Star" is considered a landmark RPG for its use of predetermined characters and a science fantasy setting. Sega launched a series of sequels, some of which were developed by staff who worked the original. Kodama directed "" (1993) and Naka produced "Phantasy Star Online" (2000).


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: "Phantasy Star" is a traditional Japanese role-playing game. It alters between a top-down perspective when the player is exploring the overworld, and changes to a first-person view when engaged in battle or exploring dungeons. The dungeons are long and twisted, and require the player to map most of them on paper. When exploring the overworld, the player can venture into a town to buy items and weapons. Outside the towns, monsters may randomly engage the player in battle. The player controls the main character Alis, and as the game progresses, other characters are recruited to her party: a wizard named Noah, a warrior Odin, and a talking cat-like creature named Myau. Each character has different strengths, weaknesses, and abilities. The party has a shared inventory of items and equipment.


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: When encountering enemies, all party members enter into battle. Battles are handled using a menu system which allows the player to fight or attempt to talk and negotiate with an enemy. When an enemy is defeated, party members gain experience points and are rewarded with a treasure chest that may contain money or a booby trap. As the characters gain experience points, they increase in level, gaining access to new magic spells and raising their offensive and defensive statistics.


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: "Phantasy Star" is set in the Algol star system which consists of three planets: the lush and green Palma, the arid and barren Motavia, and the icy and desolate Dezoris. Algol is ruled by King Lassic, who while originally benevolent, becomes a cruel, sociopathic tyrant. After a string of harsh political changes, small pockets of rebellion emerge but are mostly ineffective against Lassic's iron rule. One such rebel named Nero is killed by Lassic's forces, and his sister Alis swears revenge. Alis builds a party of adventurers including a warrior named Odin, a wizard named Noah, and a catlike creature named Myau. Together, they embark on an adventure spanning the three planets, meeting with townspeople, battling enemies, and finding special items that will help in the fight against Lassic. Eventually, the party engages and defeats Lassic, after which an ethereal voice tells them to return to Motavia. There, they encounter a more evil force, Dark Falz, and after destroying him, finally return peace to the Algol system.


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: Role-playing games (RPG) were beginning to gain popularity with console players in Japan in the late 1980s. Many Japanese game designers were inspired by Western RPGs such as "Ultima" and "Wizardry." Enix's "Dragon Quest" series was proving to be very popular on the Famicom, inspiring other developers to design similar games. Falcom began development on "", as Square was doing the same with "Final Fantasy". Around the release of "Dragon Quest II" in January 1987, Sega felt they needed an RPG for their Master System to compete in this emerging market. They believed they could not rely on third-party support because Sega's hardware market share was only one-tenth that of Nintendo's. They looked internally and found designer Kotaro Hayashida and programmer Yuji Naka were interested in creating an RPG. They had previously been recognized for their work within Sega — Hayashida for "Alex Kidd in Miracle World" (1986), and Naka for his 8-bit home console conversions of arcade games like "Out Run" and "Space Harrier". With Sega's approval, Hayashida and Naka began forming a team to develop an RPG.


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: The team consisted of around ten people. Hayashida was lead designer and Naka was lead programmer. Other staff members from "Miracle World" joined the project including lead graphic designer Rieko Kodama, and composer Tokuhiko Uwabo. There were more women on the development team than was typical at the time. Among them were Kodama, who drew most of the artwork, designer Miki Morimoto, who did much of the playtesting and enemy statistics configuration, and Chieko Aoki, who wrote the game's original story and script. Aoki had already been working on an original story with most of the dialogue already completed, and this became the first draft for the RPG project. The game would be character designer Naoto Ohshima's first project at Sega. Although there was no team director, Hayashida believes he had the largest role in shaping the game as lead designer and scenario writer, although Ohshima recalls Naka leading the project. The name "Phantasy Star" was formed after Naka took the word "Fantasy" from a song he enjoyed titled "Nagisa no Fantasy" by Noriko Sakai. The team shared the same room, so they could see each other's work. They were given the freedom to build the game how they wanted without restrictions, which Hayashida believes led to them enjoying themselves more and producing a higher quality game in the end.


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: The team wanted "Phantasy Star" to be different from other RPGs. They took many new approaches to the design of the game and its art to provide a unique experience. One approach was with the setting. The team was strongly influenced by "Star Wars" and how it combined Western culture with Japanese touches, such as how clothing resembled judo uniforms, and lightsabers were used like samurai swords. Kodama took this approach and designed the world of "Phantasy Star" using a science fiction motif mixed with medieval fantasy elements. Rather than use an airship to navigate over mountainous landscape, something common in other games, they added in a vehicle that could mow down impassable terrain. The team also added detailed event scenes, and animated monsters to help set the game apart. Their philosophy was to use extensive animation, so the ocean and walkways on the world map are always moving. Because the Master System could not draw large sprites, some parts of large characters were drawn to the background and only the animated portions were drawn as sprites.


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: Another unique addition to "Phantasy Star" was the 3D dungeons. They became a central concept in the game's early planning stages, in part because the Famicom was incapable of handling them. The team drew inspiration from Western dungeon crawling RPGs like "Wizardry" and wanted to add animated navigation to help the player know their location and orientation more easily. Naka had experimented with creating dungeons inspired by these RPGs. Typically these scenes were rendered in small boxes, so Naka was motivated to engineer a full-screen dungeon that could be used for an action game or an RPG. Originally the artists were drawing full 2D backgrounds using a 3D perspective, but the number of frames necessary to achieve the animated effect used too much space on the cartridge. Naka solved this by programming true wireframe 3D dungeons. The artists then used a program by Naka to superimpose their art on top of the wireframes. They also saved three-quarters of the memory they would normally need by making each quadrant of the screen identical. The new dungeons scrolled faster than expected and needed to be slowed down.


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: The female heroine, Alis, was a sharp contrast compared with the typical male protagonists of other RPGs. Kodama had designed female characters before but never one in a strong and prominent role. This was an uncommon portrayal when games at the time usually had a damsel in distress. Kodama went through about a dozen designs until she achieved a strong but feminine character, one with whom female gamers could empathize. Noah was also designed by Kodama, as a mysterious and intelligent character. In the original draft, Noah was an androgynous character and would become male or female depending on how the player progressed. Eventually, it was decided the character would be male. Ohshima designed Odin because Kodama did not enjoy drawing muscular men. Kodama envisioned the visual contrast between Noah and Odin as comparable to that between Raistlin Majere and Caramon Majere in the "Dragonlance" book series. Ohshima was also responsible for a third of the monster designs, at most. The lead monster designer enjoyed classic fantasy monsters such as golems and Medusa, so these types of characters appeared in the final game. Myau was designed by Takako Kawaguchi.


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: At four megabits, the game's data was large for the time. "Phantasy Star" was only the second game for the Master System to use a chip this large. It was one of four games where it would be used. In spite of the chip's capacity, the team made many compromises to save space. The original story featured four planets, but this was reduced to three. The artists had to make compromises with the backgrounds and battle animations. Background scenes were mirrored vertically to save space. This created inconsistencies with shadowing. There were plans for a password system to save progress, but this was cut due to memory limitations; batteries were used instead. The team wanted to have a password feature as a failsafe in case saving the data corrupted it as was often the case in playtests. Instead, Naka programmed a backup of the save data that could be used to restore a corrupted save file.


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: Composer Uwabo noted that the game was developed during the Japanese economic bubble, which fueled his enthusiasm which he believes is reflected in the music. The game was compatible with the Master System FM synthesis expansion unit which housed a Yamaha YM2413 chip that added nine more mono channels to the console's programmable sound generator (PSG), the SN76489. The expansion gave the soundtrack a wider range and heavier bass. The unit was not released outside Japan.


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: "Phantasy Star" was first released in Japan for the Master System on December 20, 1987, two days after "Final Fantasy" was released for the Famicom. The game was released in the West in November 1988, introducing players outside Japan to the emerging JRPG scene, having been localized before "Dragon Quest" or "Final Fantasy". It was the most expensive game for the Master System in every market, its price being driven by the large 4 megabit chip, the save battery, and a concurrent chip shortage across the industry. In Japan, the game was difficult to find in stores. Sega often got requests from fans for a Mega Drive port, so they eventually shipped a limited release for the Mega Drive as part of a contest in 1994. This version was identical to the Master System version but lacked FM sound enhancements. Tectoy translated the Master System version to Portuguese and released it in Brazil in 1991. Since the original Western release retained the text formatting of the Japanese version, it used fewer characters than a proper English translation required. In 2008, fans modified the text engine to fit longer lines of dialogue, and released a newly translated version with the Japanese FM soundtrack as well.


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: A series of "Phantasy Star" compilations were released for the Sega Saturn, Game Boy Advance, and PlayStation 2. The Saturn version was released in 1998. It includes both hiragana and katakana alphabets, an improvement from the original which had only katakana due to limited memory. The 2008 PlayStation 2 version is based on the Saturn version and has additional features. The Game Boy Advance compilation was a straight emulation and was the only compilation released outside Japan. "Phantasy Star" also appeared in emulated form on "Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection" for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and on the Wii via the Virtual Console in 2009. In 2018, a port developed by M2 was released through the "Sega Ages" label for the Nintendo Switch. This version includes enhancements such as options to make the game easier and faster, guides for items, spells, and monsters, the FM soundtrack, hiragana support, and a dungeon auto-mapping feature. Naka's tricky programming efficiencies to save memory in the original proved difficult for the programmers handling the port.


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: "Phantasy Star" was remade for the PlayStation 2 as "Phantasy Star Generation: 1" and released on August 28, 2003, in Japan. It was the inaugural release in the "Sega Ages 2500" series, Sega's budget label for re-releasing old games for the PlayStation 2. The remake features new graphics, real-time 3D dungeons, new music, and more cutscenes with extended dialogue. The battles now depict all the characters. Conspiracy Entertainment planned an American release as part of a "Phantasy Star Trilogy" pack, including remakes of "Phantasy Star II" and "" but it never happened. After the remake of "II" was released in Japan, the remake of "IV" was canceled, thus the trilogy set was also canceled. The two remakes were released on the PlayStation Network in Japan as PS2 Classics in 2014. A complete fan translation of "Phantasy Star Generation: 1" was released by fan site Phantasy Star Cave.


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: "Phantasy Star" was well received. "Computer Gaming World" called it "the big shot in the arm for Sega [...] who was, at that time, being buried under a ton of NES titles and aggressive marketing". "Electronic Game Player" felt the game was leading the industry into a new era of console RPGs. "Sega Pro" called it the best RPG on the Master System, and "Zzap!" called it a must-have for RPG fans. "Boys' Life" wrote that along with "The Legend of Zelda" series, ""Phantasy Star" may represent the future of home video games" by combining "the graphic quality of arcade games with the complexity of computer games". "Computer and Video Games" felt it was a massive and sprawling game, and were left impressed visually and aurally.


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: The game was commended for its strategy, puzzles, and challenge. "VideoGames & Computer Entertainment" and "S: The Sega Magazine" praised the game for being easy to play and not relying on quick action reflexes. Critics liked the variety of monsters and the combat system. "Computer Gaming World" wrote that "not since "Dungeon Master" had such a good and explicit graphic combat system been seen". "Computer Entertainer" felt the game's large scope and deep gameplay was more typically seen in computer games than on consoles. This large scope made critics thankful for the cart's battery back-up, an unusual hardware feature at the time. The save battery and complex gameplay led some critics to compare "Phantasy Star" to "The Legend of Zelda" (1986).


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: Critics praised the game for its presentation, building a grand sense of adventure and atmosphere. "VideoGames & Computer Entertainment" commended the mix of science fiction and fantasy elements, and felt it had a grander scale than other RPGs. "Electronic Game Player" wrote that the atmosphere was "simply breathtaking by current video game standards". The graphics were enjoyed by many reviewers, especially for their vivid colors and animation; the monster animations, in particular, received considerable positive attention. Many reviewers enjoyed the dungeons, thinking the lighting and perspective effects made for a realistic presentation. "Electronic Game Player" called "Phantasy Star" a "visual tour-de-force" and "so technologically superior in graphics, that the Nintendo titles pale by comparison". "Zzap!" called it a technical achievement considering the Master System's hardware limitations. It was awarded Best Graphics for 1988 by "Electronic Gaming Monthly"s Player's Choice Awards.


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: The game was difficult to recommend for some because of its high price. "Computer Entertainer" found the purchase difficult to justify as it was the highest price they had ever seen for a game on any cartridge-based system or disk-based computer. "Computer and Video Games" felt they could only recommend it for hardcore RPG fans for this reason. "VideoGames & Computer Entertainment", however, called it "such a remarkable video game that it may justify its existence as the most expensive cartridge on the shelf."


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: "Phantasy Star" was reviewed again for its re-releases. Most critics continued to hold the graphics in high regard. "GameSpot" and "G-Force" wrote that the graphics pushed the Master System to its limits, and helped set the game apart in its time. "RPGFan" and "Nintendo Life" called the 3D dungeons "revolutionary". "Nintendo Life" felt that the graphics did show their age, but noted that it "looks much better than an 8-bit RPG has any right to and it easily surpasses any NES effort of the era". "1UP.com" and "IGN" agreed, writing that it outclassed both the original "Final Fantasy" and "Dragon Quest". Some critics commented that the game felt too standard compared to modern RPGs. Some also felt it was more difficult and dull than modern offerings due to heavier grinding. The Game Boy Advance version was commended for being a good emulation but criticized for poor sound and missed opportunities for enhancements. "Nintendo World Report" praised the Switch release for adding FM sound and enhancements to make for a more streamlined experience.


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: "Phantasy Star" is considered a landmark RPG; it has been called "revolutionary", "pioneering", and "ahead of its time". It is credited with helping to define the genre and introduce the West to console RPGs. "IGN" wrote: ""Phantasy Star" was the game that defined an entire generation's early experiences with the RPG genre as a whole, a role-playing adventure without equal at the time of its initial debut [...] a time when competition was virtually non-existent in the category". It has been called one of the best games on the Master System. "Nintendo Life" called it a killer app which "not only tested the hardware but also the boundaries and expectations of the genre". "Retro Gamer" called it "a key release for the genre's popularity in the West and a key reason to own a Master System".


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: In 1996 "Next Generation", listing the entire series as number 72 on their "Top 100 Games of All Time", opined that "the best game in the series is still the first ... There was a lot more variety in the settings, a deeper storyline, and just plain more of everything." The following year it was ranked the 62nd best console video game of all time by "Electronic Gaming Monthly", the only appearance of a Master System game on the list. In 2001, "Game Informer" included it on its own list of greatest video games at #94. The staff praised it for its innovation and graphical superiority (specifically to "Dragon Warrior"). In 2006, "1UP" and "Electronic Gaming Monthly" placed it at #26 on "The Greatest 200 Videogames of Their Time" list, which puts it as the second highest-ranking RPG on the list, behind only "Phantasy Star Online" at #21.


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: The game introduced many elements that later became staples of the RPG genre. Its fusion of science fiction with medieval fantasy contrasted with the traditional fantasy seen in other RPGs of its era. "Nintendo Power" explained that "Phantasy Star" "was the first RPG to break out of the "Dragon Quest" / "Dungeons & Dragons" mold of generic Arthurian fantasy by introducing sci-fi elements". The inclusion of pre-defined characters with unique personalities and abilities in the game is also considered revolutionary when compared to the customizable characters in other RPGs. The graphics are considered ahead of their time, particularly the 3D dungeons and monster animations. It was also one of the earliest video games to feature a female protagonist, which "Nintendo Life" called "perhaps [its] most revolutionary aspect".


title: Phantasy Star (video game)

text: "Phantasy Star" launched the careers of its staff. Some worked on a series of sequels starting on the Mega Drive, known as some of the best RPGs of their era. Both programmer Yuji Naka and artist Rieko Kodama worked on the sequel "Phantasy Star II" (1989),"" and Kodama directed "" (1993), considered by some to be one of the greatest games ever made. She later served as producer on "Skies of Arcadia" (2000), a critically acclaimed RPG for the Dreamcast. Meanwhile, Naka served as producer on "Phantasy Star Online" (2000), the first online RPG for home consoles. Character designer Naoto Ohshima went on to create the character Sonic the Hedgehog and collaborated with Naka on several games including "Sonic the Hedgehog" (1991), "Nights into Dreams" (1996) and "Burning Rangers" (1998)"."


title: A. O. Scott

text: Anthony Oliver Scott (born July 10, 1966) is an American journalist and cultural critic. He has been chief film critic for "The New York Times" since 2004, a title he shares with Manohla Dargis.


title: A. O. Scott

text: Scott was born on July 10, 1966 in Northampton, Massachusetts. Both of his parents were professors. His mother, Joan Wallach Scott, is the Harold F. Linder Professor at the School of Social Science in the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. His father, Donald Scott, is a professor of American history at the City University of New York. He is a great nephew of the married acting couple Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson (his maternal grandfather was Eli's brother). Scott is Jewish. He attended public schools in Providence, Rhode Island, including Classical High School before graduating "magna cum laude" from Harvard in 1988 with a degree in literature.


title: A. O. Scott

text: Scott began his career at "The New York Review of Books", where he served as an assistant to Robert B. Silvers. Scott then served as book critic for "Newsday", while also serving as a contributor to "The New York Review of Books" and "Slate". In 1993, he wrote television reviews for "Variety", using the name Tony Scott.


title: A. O. Scott

text: He joined "The New York Times" Arts section in January 2000, following Janet Maslin's retirement from film criticism. (Maslin continues to review genre fiction for the paper.) In 2004, he became chief critic, following Elvis Mitchell's resignation. Scott and the other film critics at the "Times" host a video podcast on the subject of film, called "Critics' Picks". He is also Distinguished Professor of Film Criticism at Wesleyan University.


title: A. O. Scott

text: On March 9, 2020, "The New York Times" announced that Scott would take a one-year break from his role as co-chief film critic and assume the title of critic at large, writing "bigger, cross-topic essays."


title: A. O. Scott

text: In 2006 and 2007, Scott served as a guest critic on "Ebert & Roeper" during Roger Ebert's absence due to thyroid cancer.


title: A. O. Scott

text: Between 2002 and 2014, Scott made 15 appearances on "Charlie Rose", where he predicted the Academy Award winners and spoke about recently released films. He often appeared alongside David Denby of "The New Yorker" and Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" and guest-hosted the program on a number of occasions.


title: A. O. Scott

text: On August 5, 2009, it was announced that Scott, along with "Chicago Tribune" critic Michael Phillips, would take over hosting duties on "At the Movies" from Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz, who would no longer be involved with the show. Scott and Phillips began their duties when the show started its new season on September 5, 2009. The show was canceled after one season due to low ratings, concluding its run in August 2010.


title: A. O. Scott

text: In a 2009 interview with Rotten Tomatoes, Scott named the following five films as his favorites of all time.


title: Ancient Greek comedy

text: Ancient Greek comedy was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece (the others being tragedy and the satyr play). Athenian comedy is conventionally divided into three periods: Old Comedy, Middle Comedy, and New Comedy. Old Comedy survives today largely in the form of the eleven surviving plays of Aristophanes; Middle Comedy is largely lost, i.e. preserved only in relatively short fragments by authors such as Athenaeus of Naucratis; and New Comedy is known primarily from the substantial papyrus fragments of Menander.


title: Ancient Greek comedy

text: The philosopher Aristotle wrote in his "Poetics" (c. 335 BC) that comedy is a representation of laughable people and involves some kind of blunder or ugliness which does not cause pain or disaster. C. A. Trypanis wrote that comedy is the last of the great species of poetry Greece gave to the world.


title: Ancient Greek comedy

text: The Alexandrine grammarians, and most likely Aristophanes of Byzantium in particular, seem to have been the first to divide Greek comedy into what became the canonical three periods: Old Comedy (ἀρχαία "archaia"), Middle Comedy (μέση "mese") and New Comedy (νέα "nea"). These divisions appear to be largely arbitrary, and ancient comedy almost certainly developed constantly over the years.