العباس بن فرناس

On the road to Baghdad airport, there is a statue of 'Abbas Ibn Firnas who was a medieval Iraqi scholar who, according to Arabic lore, designed and flew a hang glider in the year 875. According many Arabs, it was him and not the Wright brothers that first flew.
Since the Middle East lies between the Far East and Europe, much knowledge passed through the region along with commerce. The region prospered for many years because of this trade and exchange of ideas. What happened? I haven’t gotten that far with my Iraqi fishing buddies.