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The Graeco-Arabic translation movement was a large, well-funded, and sustained effort responsible for translating a significant volume of secular Greek texts into Arabic. The translation movement took place in Baghdad from the mid-eighth century to the late tenth century.

While the movement translated from many languages into Arabic, including: Pahlavi, Sanskrit, Syriac, and Greek, it is often referred to as the Graeco-Arabic translation movement because it was predominantly focused on translating the works of Hellenistic scholars and other secular Greek texts into Arabic.

Pre-Islamic Factors
With the closure of the Acadmey of Athens in 529 CE by Justinian I, the emperor of Byzantium, and the defunding of key public educational institutions, many scholars fled the region with their knowledge and materials. These migrant scholars sought asylum in Persia, whose ruler actively insured their safe passage out of Byzantium and supported their academic ambitions.

Early Empire and the Umayyad Period (632-750 CE)
Although Greek to Arabic translations were common during the Umayyad Period due to large, Greek-speaking populations residing in the empire, the translation of Greek scientific texts was scarce. The Graeco-Arabic translation movement began, in earnest, at the beginning of the Abbasid Period. However, many events and conditions during the rise of the Islamic empire helped to shape the setting and circumstances in which the movement blossomed. The Arab conquests before and during the Umayyad Period that spread into Southwest Asia, Persia, and Northeast Africa laid the groundwork for a civilization capable of fueling the Graeco-Arabic translation movement. These conquests united a massive area under the Islamic State, connecting societies and peoples previously isolated, invigorating trade routes and agriculture, and improving material wealth among subjects. The newfound regional stability under the Umayyad dynasty likely fostered higher literacy rates and a larger educational infrastructure. Syriac-speaking Christians and other Hellenistic Christian communities in Iraq and Iran were assimilated into the structure of the empire. These Hellenized peoples were crucial in supporting a growing institutional interest in secular Greek learning. The advent and rapid spread of paper making learned from Chinese prisoners of war in 751 CE also helped to make the translation movement possible.

Abbasid Period (750-1258 CE)
The Abbasid revolution and the move to a new capital in Baghdad introduced the ruling administration to a new set of demographic populations more influenced by Hellenism. At the same time, the ruling elite of the new dynasty strove to adopt a Sassanian Imperial Ideology, which itself was also influenced by Greek thought. These factors culminated in a capitol more receptive to and actively interested in the knowledge contained in scientific manuscripts of Classic Greece.