pest...yay. >.<

In the 900’s, Abd Al-Rahman had conquered Córdoba and Al-Andulas. What he didn’t know was that Cordoba was about to become the most prosperous city of his time. Abd al-Rahman III faced and prevented many revolts. Christian forces attacked the border but Abd Al-Rahman III prevented them from pushing further in. He built a standing army to help fight off the attacks. Standing armies were kept in peace and in war. In my opinion, that is very efficient. The standing army is used to fight off attacks and maintain peace. Very similar to the U.S., we, too, have a standing army. The U.S. standing army has to face attacks. They also have to travel to places to fight, similar to Abd Al-Rahman’s standing army. So, even though Abd Al-Rahman and his standing army died a long time ago, this tactic still lies in the U.S. and in many countries, worldwide.

Cordoba was very wealthy due to trading and business. They worked trade with everyone around them. Farmers grew rice, figs, cotton, etc. All these led to the wealth and beauty of Cordoba. They also traded paper and silk. In the U.S., we have markets and stores where we have to buy our supplies. Some of the money goes to the government. This way, our government gains money. This is very effective for gaining wealth. Instead of the government relying on taxes, trading brought Cordoba the golden age.

In Cordoba, they had magnificent libraries in which thousands of books lay. They had 70 libraries in Cordoba, the biggest library containing about 400,000 books. Scholars eagerly read them. The books were in many different languages. After they translated the books some found their way to Europe where students there studied them. We have libraries in the U.S. too. There are many cultural books in our libraries, some which have been translated from another language into English. In this way, culture spreads to many places by the use of books. We have people that come over from other countries to study in America. By the use of books, we spread cultures worldwide.

Cordoba was very great and wealthy. Their wealth brought them riches that other cities wouldn’t have. To start, Cordoba had over 500,000 people living there. In addition, they had paved streets and lamps lit during night. In the U.S., we also have paved streets where we travel, either by foot or by vehicle. We also have street lights that help us see where we are going during night. In Cordoba, they also had fountains. This showed other cities that they had their own water source and had enough of it that they could supply water to their fountains that were scattered throughout the city. We, too, have fountains in the U.S. So even though it is almost 1000 years after them, their legacy still lives here with us, even if we aren’t aware of it.