Concept · geographic view · v2
Cities & roads
Each city is a wedge of one shared circle — its own majlis. Wedge width is the city's share of the roster; dashed meridians are the roads between them. Within-city ties recede; ties that cross a road keep the full evidence grammar. Filter by decade to see who was alive in these cities at the same time.
Baghdad 5 · Damascus 4 · Cairo 3 · Cordoba 2
Cities
Decadesall decades · 756 – 930
9 ties cross the roads
Baghdadبغداد5 figures · 36%
Damascusدمشق4 figures · 29%
Cairoالقاهرة3 figures · 21%
Cordobaقرطبة2 figures · 14%
خ
al-Khwarizmi780 – 850read in every cityك
al-Kindi801 – 873ح
Hunayn ibn Ishaq809 – 873م
al-Ma'mun786 – 833و
The Banu Musa800 – 873ش
al-Shafi'i767 – 820travelled the roadsج
al-Jahiz776 – 868ن
Abu Nuwas756 – 814ح
Ibn Hanbal780 – 855ف
al-Farghani800 – 870س
Sind ibn Ali795 – 860ق
Abu Kamil850 – 930ز
Ziryab789 – 857carried Baghdad westب
al-Battani858 – 929How to read
Crosses a road — full strength
Within one city — receded
Through books — arrow = direction of reading
Faded — not alive in the chosen decades
Position = geography (wedge + angle). Medallion colour still = category; line texture still = evidence — the graph grammar is unchanged, only the meaning of position swaps from certainty to place. A tie fades unless both lives overlap the chosen decades.※ City assignments are partly illustrative — the roster is historically Baghdad-heavy.
Why wedges, not islands
Sharing one circle keeps every city comparable: wedge width is the share, and the split-bar restates it. Separate clusters would hide the proportion.
Why roads radiate from a crossroads
Cross-city ties converge through the middle — the crossroads becomes the visual home of exchange, and a busy centre means a connected age.
Why decades filter co-presence
Pick a decade and the map answers “who was alive in these cities, together, then?” A tie only holds if both lives overlap the selection — time is the test of who could have met.