Photo: The original uploader was Atilin at French Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0

Omar Khayyam

1048 – 1131 · died at about 83^[1][2]

Science & Invention

Fun Facts About Omar Khayyam

• Omar Khayyam led the reform that produced the Jalali calendar, which is more accurate than the Gregorian calendar and became the basis of the Persian calendar still in use.^[1]
• The name Khayyam means "tent-maker" in Arabic, which is why the poet became known in English as "Omar the Tentmaker."^[1]
• Khayyam was the first to give a general solution for all cubic equations, using intersecting conic sections, a method often later attributed to René Descartes.^[1][3][4]
• Khayyam may not have written the famous Rubaiyat: skeptical scholars point out that the whole tradition of poems attributed to him may be pseudepigraphic.^[1]
• Agatha Christie took the title of her novel The Moving Finger from a Khayyam quatrain, and Martin Luther King Jr. quoted the same verse in a speech.^{[1][5][6][7][8]}
• According to a disciple, Khayyam predicted his tomb would lie where the north wind could scatter roses over it, and it was later found under fallen blossoms by a garden wall.^[1]
• Omar Khayyam lived to about 83, from 1048 until 1131.^[1][2]
• Omar Khayyam's lifetime included this world event: First Crusade begins (1096).^[1][2][9]

Omar Khayyam (1048–1131) was a Persian poet and polymath, known for his contributions to mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, and Persian literature. He was born in Nishapur, Iran and lived during the Seljuk era, around the time of the First Crusade.^[1]

Contemporaries

Shen Kuo

47 yr overlap

William the Conqueror

39 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Omar Khayyam

When was Omar Khayyam born?

Omar Khayyam was born in 1048 and died in 1131.

How old was Omar Khayyam at death?

Omar Khayyam died in 1131 at about 83 years old (1048–1131).

What was Omar Khayyam known for?

Omar Khayyam was known for: Persian mathematician, astronomer and poet. Omar Khayyam (1048–1131) was a Persian poet and polymath, known for his contributions to mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, and Persian literature. He was born in Nishapur, Iran and lived during the Seljuk era, around the time of the First Crusade.

Who was alive at the same time as Omar Khayyam?

Omar Khayyam's closest contemporary was Shen Kuo. Their lives overlapped for 47 years.