Tips 1 - 2 of 2 Khiva Off The Beaten Path
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Off The Beaten Path: Statue of Al-Khorezmi
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If you’ve always hated algebra, here’s the man to blame! Mukhammad ibn Musa Al-Khorezmi lived about 780-850 and was the chief mathematician in an academy of sciences in Baghdad, though he came originally from Khorezm province. He is credited with introducing a decimal-based numbering system in the Arab world, and his name, corrupted by western attempts at pronunciation, gave rise to our word “algorithm”. He also wrote what is thought to be possibly the first book introducing the notion of algebra, which he called “al-jabr”, an Arabic word which I have found variously translated as "filling in" or “calculation”.
This striking statue of him is just outside the city walls of Khiva – to your right as you look at the western gate from the exterior.
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Off The Beaten Path: Crossing the Oxus
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This river flows to the north and east of Khiva, and cuts off this corner of Khorezm province from the rest of Uzbekistan. It is properly known by the name of Amu Darya, but in ancient times it was the Oxus, one of those places you’ve heard of in old history lessons but never dreamed you would see (another was the Euphrates which we saw some years ago in Syria). So I was thrilled to realise that to leave Khiva and drive to Bukhara we would have to cross the Oxus, and as we did so I grabbed a couple of photos. The bridge itself was unusual and thus also worth mentioning here. Our guide in fact told us it’s the only one of its kind in the world though I have no way of checking that. Its uniqueness stems from the fact that it is single track for road vehicles and trains.
We stopped a bit further down the road where there was a view of the river from above (second photo), though I would have welcomed a chance for a closer look than this.
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 Comments for toonsarah about Khiva | | | | |
sachara Sat Sep 6, 2008 23:20 UTC
Fantastic page of Khiva, Sarah. I love your writings and pictures. While reading your page I almost feel the heat again. | yumyum Thu Sep 4, 2008 19:52 UTC
How come I missed this amazing page before?! I visited Khiva in Soviet time and I guess it has changed a lot. We stayed overnight in Urgentch. | willy_wonka Fri Jul 18, 2008 06:50 UTC
this is such a fantastic page sarah! i loved your detailed tips, but its the photos that really drew me in. i so cant wait for my uzbek journey, im going next year no matter WHAT! | calcaf38 Sun May 18, 2008 01:32 UTC
Sarah, this is one of your very best! Fantastic page. We should all be grateful to you. Oh, by the way, Guatemala is definitely a prime destination, at least as much so as Ecuador... |
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