title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: As power shifted from the Umayyads to the Abbasids, the architectural styles changed also, from Greco-Roman tradition (which features elements of Hellenistic and Roman representative style) to Eastern tradition which retained their independent architectural traditions from Mesopotamia and Persia. The Abbasid architecture was particularly influenced by Sasanian architecture, which in turn featured elements present since ancient Mesopotamia. The Christian styles evolved into a style based more on the Sasanian Empire, utilizing mud bricks and baked bricks with carved stucco. Another major development was the creation or vast enlargement of cities as they were turned into the capital of the empire, beginning with the creation of Baghdad in 762, which was planned as a walled city with four gates, and a mosque and palace in the center. Al-Mansur, who was responsible for the creation of Baghdad, also planned the city of Raqqa, along the Euphrates. Finally, in 836, al-Mu'tasim moved the capital to a new site that he created along the Tigris, called Samarra. This city saw 60 years of work, with race-courses and game preserves to add to the atmosphere. Due to the dry remote nature of the environment, some of the palaces built in this era were isolated havens. Al-Ukhaidir Fortress is a fine example of this type of building, which has stables, living quarters, and a mosque, all surrounding inner courtyards. Other mosques of this era, such as the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia, while ultimately built during the Umayyad dynasty, were substantially renovated in the 9th century. These renovations, so extensive as to ostensibly be rebuilds, were in the furthest reaches of the Muslim world, in an area that the Aghlabids controlled; however, the styles utilized were mainly Abbasid. In Egypt, Ahmad Ibn Tulun commissioned the Ibn Tulun Mosque, completed in 879, that is based on the style of Samarra and is now one of the best-preserved Abbasid-style mosques from this period. Mesopotamia only has one surviving mausoleum from this era, in Samarra. This octagonal dome is the final resting place of al-Muntasir. Other architectural innovations and styles were few, such as the four-centered arch, and a dome erected on squinches. Unfortunately, much was lost due to the ephemeral nature of the stucco and luster tiles.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: The Caliph al-Mansur founded the epicenter of the empire, Baghdad, in 762 CE, as a means of disassociating his dynasty from that of the preceding Umayyads (centered at Damascus) and the rebellious cities of Kufa and Basrah. Mesopotamia was an ideal locale for a capital city due to its high agricultural output, access to the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers (allowing for trade and communication across the region), central locale between the corners of the vast empire (stretching from Egypt to Afghanistan) and access to the Silk Road and Indian Ocean trade routes, all key reasons as to why the region has hosted important capital cities such as Ur, Babylon, Nineveh and Ctesiphon and was later desired by the British Empire as an outpost by which to maintain access to India. The city was organized in a circular fashion next to the Tigris River, with massive brick walls being constructed in successive rings around the core by a workforce of 100,000 with four huge gates (named Kufa, Basrah, Khorasan and Syria). The central enclosure of the city contained Mansur's palace of in area and the great mosque of Baghdad, encompassing . Travel across the Tigris and the network of waterways allowing the drainage of the Euphrates into the Tigris was facilitated by bridges and canals servicing the population.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: The Near East has, since Roman times, been recognized as a center of quality glassware and crystal. 9th-century finds from Samarra show styles similar to Sassanian forms. The types of objects made were bottles, flasks, vases, and cups intended for domestic use, with decorations including molded flutes, honeycomb patterns, and inscriptions. Other styles seen that may not have come from the Sassanians were stamped items. These were typically round stamps, such as medallions or disks with animals, birds, or Kufic inscriptions. Colored lead glass, typically blue or green, has been found in Nishapur, along with prismatic perfume bottles. Finally, cut glass may have been the high point of Abbasid glass-working, decorated with floral and animal designs.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Early Abbasid painting has not survived in great quantities, and is sometimes harder to differentiate; however, Samarra provides good examples, as it was built by the Abbasids and abandoned 56 years later. The walls of the principal rooms of the palace that have been excavated show wall paintings and lively carved stucco dadoes. The style is obviously adopted with little variation from Sassanian art, bearing not only similar styles, with harems, animals, and dancing people, all enclosed in scrollwork, but the garments are also Persian. Nishapur had its own school of painting. Excavations at Nishapur show both monochromatic and polychromatic artwork from the 8th and 9th centuries. One famous piece of art consists of hunting nobles with falcons and on horseback, in full regalia; the clothing identifies them as Tahirid, which was, again, a sub-dynasty of the Abbasids. Other styles are of vegetation, and fruit in nice colors on a four-foot high dedo.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Whereas painting and architecture were not areas of strength for the Abbasid dynasty, pottery was a different story. Islamic culture as a whole, and the Abbasids in particular, were at the forefront of new ideas and techniques. Some examples of their work were pieces engraved with decorations and then colored with yellow-brown, green, and purple glazes. Designs were diverse with geometric patterns, Kufic lettering, and arabesque scrollwork, along with rosettes, animals, birds, and humans. Abbasid pottery from the 8th and 9th centuries has been found throughout the region, as far as Cairo. These were generally made with a yellow clay and fired multiple times with separate glazes to produce metallic luster in shades of gold, brown, or red. By the 9th century, the potters had mastered their techniques and their decorative designs could be divided into two styles. The Persian style would show animals, birds, and humans, along with Kufic lettering in gold. Pieces excavated from Samarra exceed in vibrancy and beauty any from later periods. These predominantly being made for the Caliphs use. Tiles were also made using this same technique to create both monochromatic and polychromatic lusterware tiles.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Egypt being a center of the textile industry was part of Abbasid cultural advancement. Copts were employed in the textile industry and produced linens and silks. Tinnis was famous for its factories and had over 5,000 looms. Examples of textiles were "kasab", a fine linen for turbans, and "badana" for upper-class garments. The kiswah for the kaaba in Mecca was made in a town named Tuna near Tinnis. Fine silk was also made in Dabik and Damietta. Of particular interest are stamped and inscribed fabrics, which used not only inks but also liquid gold. Some of the finer pieces were colored in such a manner as to require six separate stamps to achieve the proper design and color. This technology spread to Europe eventually.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: In technology, the Abbasids adopted papermaking from China. The use of paper spread from China into the caliphate in the 8th century CE, arriving in al-Andalus (Islamic Spain) and then the rest of Europe in the 10th century. It was easier to manufacture than parchment, less likely to crack than papyrus, and could absorb ink, making it ideal for making records and copies of the Qur'an. "Islamic paper makers devised assembly-line methods of hand-copying manuscripts to turn out editions far larger than any available in Europe for centuries." It was from the Abbasids that the rest of the world learned to make paper from linen. The knowledge of gunpowder was also transmitted from China via the caliphate, where the formulas for pure potassium nitrate and an explosive gunpowder effect were first developed.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Advances were made in irrigation and farming, using new technology such as the windmill. Crops such as almonds and citrus fruit were brought to Europe through al-Andalus, and sugar cultivation was gradually adopted by the Europeans. Apart from the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates, navigable rivers were uncommon, so transport by sea was very important. Navigational sciences were highly developed, making use of a rudimentary sextant (known as a kamal). When combined with detailed maps of the period, sailors were able to sail across oceans rather than skirt along the coast. Abbasid sailors were also responsible for reintroducing large three masted merchant vessels to the Mediterranean. The name caravel may derive from an earlier Arab ship known as the "qārib". Arab merchants dominated trade in the Indian Ocean until the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th century. Hormuz was an important center for this trade. There was also a dense network of trade routes in the Mediterranean, along which Muslim countries traded with each other and with European powers such as Venice or Genoa. The Silk Road crossing Central Asia passed through the Abbasid caliphate between China and Europe.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Engineers in the Abbasid caliphate made a number of innovative industrial uses of hydropower, and early industrial uses of tidal power, wind power, and petroleum (notably by distillation into kerosene). The industrial uses of watermills in the Islamic world date back to the 7th century, while horizontal-wheeled and vertical-wheeled water mills were both in widespread use since at least the 9th century. By the time of the Crusades, every province throughout the Islamic world had mills in operation, from al-Andalus and North Africa to the Middle East and Central Asia. These mills performed a variety of agricultural and industrial tasks. Abbasid engineers also developed machines (such as pumps) incorporating crankshafts, employed gears in mills and water-raising machines, and used dams to provide additional power to watermills and water-raising machines. Such advances made it possible for many industrial tasks that were previously driven by manual labour in ancient times to be mechanized and driven by machinery instead in the medieval Islamic world. It has been argued that the industrial use of waterpower had spread from Islamic to Christian Spain, where fulling mills, paper mills, and forge mills were recorded for the first time in Catalonia.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: A number of industries were generated during the Arab Agricultural Revolution, including early industries for textiles, sugar, rope-making, matting, silk, and paper. Latin translations of the 12th century passed on knowledge of chemistry and instrument making in particular. The agricultural and handicraft industries also experienced high levels of growth during this period.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: In contrast to the earlier era, women in Abbasid society were absent from all arenas of the community's central affairs. While their Muslim forbears led men into battle, started rebellions, and played an active role in community life, as demonstrated in the Hadith literature, Abbasid women were ideally kept in seclusion. Conquests had brought enormous wealth and large numbers of slaves to the Muslim elite. The majority of the slaves were women and children, many of whom had been dependents or harem-members of the defeated Sassanian upper classes. In the wake of the conquests an elite man could potentially own a thousand slaves, and ordinary soldiers could have ten people serving them.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: "There is no man whose two daughters reach the age of puberty and he treats them kindly for the time they are together, but they will gain him admittance to Paradise."


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: "Whoever has three daughters and is patient towards them, and feeds them, gives them to drink, and clothes them from his wealth; they will be a shield for him from the Fire on the Day of Resurrection.'"


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Even so, slave courtesans (qiyans and jawaris) and princesses produced prestigious and important poetry. Enough survives to give us access to women's historical experiences, and reveals some vivacious and powerful figures, such as the Sufi mystic Raabi'a al-Adwiyya (714–801 CE), the princess and poet 'Ulayya bint al-Mahdi (777–825 CE), and the singing-girls Shāriyah (–870 CE), Fadl Ashsha'ira (d. 871 CE) and Arib al-Ma'muniyya (797–890 CE).


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Each wife in the Abbasid harem had an additional home or flat, with her own enslaved personals staff of eunuchs and maidservants. When a concubine gave birth to a son, she was elevated in rank to umm walad and also received apartments and (slave) servants as a gift.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: The status and treatment of Jews, Christians, and non-Muslims in the Abbasid Caliphate was a complex and continually changing issue. Non-Muslims were called dhimmis. Dhimmis did not have all of the privileges that Muslims had and commonly had to pay jizya, a tax for not being a Muslim. One of the common aspects of the treatment of the dhimmis is that their treatment depended on who the Caliph was at the time. Some Abbasid rulers, like Al-Mutawakkil (822–861 CE) imposed strict restrictions on what dhimmis could wear in public, often yellow garments that distinguished them from Muslims. Other restrictions al-Mutawakkil imposed included limiting the role of the dhimmis in government, seizing dhimmi housing and making it harder for dhimmis to become educated. Most other Abbasid caliphs were not as strict as al-Mutawakkil, though. During the reign of Al-Mansur (714–775 CE), it was common for Jews and Christians to influence the overall culture in the Caliphate, specifically in Baghdad. Jews and Christians did this by participating in scholarly work


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: It was common that laws that were imposed against dhimmis during one caliph's rule were either discarded or not practiced during future caliphs' reigns. Al-Mansur and al-Mutawakkil both instituted laws that forbade non-Muslims from participating in public office. Al-Mansur did not follow his own law very closely, bringing dhimmis back to the Caliphate's treasury due to the needed expertise of dhimmis in the area of finance. Al-Mutawakkil followed the law banning dhimmis from public office more seriously, although, soon after his reign, many of the laws concerning dhimmis participating in government were completely unobserved or at least less strictly observed. Even Al-Muqtadir (), who held a similar stance as al-Mutawakkil on barring non-Muslims from public office, himself had multiple Christian secretaries, indicating that non-Muslims still had access to many of the most important figures within the Caliphate. Past having a casual association or just being a secretary to high-ranking Islamic officials, some of them achieved the second highest office after the caliph: the vizier.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Jews and Christians may have had a lower overall status compared to Muslims in the Abbasid Caliphate, but dhimmis were often allowed to hold respectable and even prestigious occupations in some cases, such as doctors and public officeholders. Jews and Christians were also allowed to be rich even if they were taxed for being a dhimmi. Dhimmis were capable of moving up and down the social ladder, though this largely depended on the particular caliph. An indication as to the social standing of Jews and Christians at the time was their ability to live next to Muslim people. While al-Mansur was ruling the Caliphate, for instance, it was not uncommon for dhimmis to live in the same neighborhoods as Muslims. One of the biggest reasons why dhimmis were allowed to hold prestigious jobs and positions in government is that they were generally important to the well-being of the state and were proficient to excellent with the work at hand. Some Muslims in the Caliphate took offense to the idea that there were dhimmis in public offices who were in a way ruling over them although it was an Islamic state, while other Muslims were at time jealous of some dhimmis for having a level of wealth or prestige greater than other Muslims, even if Muslims were still the majority of the ruling class. In general, Muslims, Jews, and Christians had close relations that could be considered positive at times, especially for Jews, in contrast to how Jews were being treated in Europe.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Many of the laws and restrictions that were imposed on dhimmis often resembled other laws that previous states had used to discriminate against a minority religion, specifically Jewish people. Romans in the fourth century banned Jewish people from holding public offices, banned Roman citizens from converting to Judaism, and often demoted Jews who were serving in the Roman military. In direct contrast, there was an event in which two viziers, Ibn al-Furat and Ali ibn Isa ibn al-Jarrah, argued about Ibn al-Furat's decision to make a Christian the head of the military. A previous vizier, Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Bazuri, had done so. These laws predated al-Mansur's laws against dhimmis and often had similar restrictions, although Roman emperors were often much more strict on enforcing these laws than many Abbasid caliphs.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Most of Baghdad's Jews were incorporated into the Arab community and considered Arabic their native language. Some Jews studied Hebrew in their schools and Jewish religious education flourished. The united Muslim empire allowed Jews to reconstruct links between their dispersed communities throughout the Middle East. The city's Talmudic institute helped spread the rabbinical tradition to Europe, and the Jewish community in Baghdad went on to establish ten rabbinical schools and twenty-three synagogues. Baghdad not only contained the tombs of Muslim saints and martyrs, but also the tomb of Yusha, whose corpse had been brought to Iraq during the first migration of the Jews out of the Levant.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: While the Abbasids originally gained power by exploiting the social inequalities against non-Arabs in the Umayyad Empire, during Abbasid rule the empire rapidly Arabized, particularly in the Fertile Crescent region (namely Mesopotamia and the Levant) as had begun under Umayyad rule. As knowledge was shared in the Arabic language throughout the empire, many people from different nationalities and religions began to speak Arabic in their everyday lives. Resources from other languages began to be translated into Arabic, and a unique Islamic identity began to form that fused previous cultures with Arab culture, creating a level of civilization and knowledge that was considered a marvel in Europe at the time.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: There were large feasts on certain days, as the Muslims of the empire celebrated Christian holidays as well as their own. There were two main Islamic feasts: one marked by the end of Ramadan; the other, "the Feast of Sacrifice". The former was especially joyful because children would purchase decorations and sweetmeats; people prepared the best food and bought new clothes. At midmorning, the caliph, wearing Muhammad's thobe, would guide officials, accompanied by armed soldiers to the Great Mosque, where he led prayers. After the prayer, all those in attendance would exchange the best wishes and hug their kin and companions. The festivities lasted for three days. During those limited number of nights, the palaces were lit up and boats on the Tigris hung lights. It was said that Baghdad “glittered ‘like a bride." During “the Feast of Sacrifice.”, sheep were butchered in public arenas and the caliph participated in a large-scale sacrifice in the palace courtyard. Afterward, the meat would be divided and given to the poor.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: In addition to these two holidays, Shias celebrated the birthdays of Fatimah and Ali ibn Abi Talib. Matrimonies and births in the royal family were observed by all in the empire. The announcement that one of the caliph's sons could recite the Koran smoothly was greeted by communal jubilation. When Harun developed this holy talent, the people lit torches and decorated the streets with wreaths of flowers, and his father, Al-Mahdi, freed 500 slaves.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Of all the holidays imported from other cultures and religions, the one most celebrated in Baghdad (a city with many Persians) was Nowruz, which celebrated the arrival of spring. In a ceremonial ablution introduced by Persian troops, residents sprinkled themselves with water and ate almond cakes. The palaces of the imperial family were lit up for six days and nights. The Abbasids also celebrated the Persian holiday of Mihraj, which marked the onset of winter (signified with pounding drums), and Sadar, when homes burned incense and the masses would congregate along the Tigris to witness princes and viziers pass by.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: In Baghdad there were many Abbasid military leaders who were or said they were of Arab descent. However, it is clear that most of the ranks were of Iranian origin, the vast majority being from Khorasan and Transoxiana, not from western Iran or Azerbaijan. Most of the Khorasani soldiers who brought the Abbasids to power were Arabs.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: The standing army of the Muslims in Khorosan was overwhelmingly Arab. The unit organization of the Abbasids was designed with the goal of ethnic and racial equality among supporters. When Abu Muslim recruited officers along the Silk Road, he registered them based not on their tribal or ethno-national affiliations but on their current places of residence. Under the Abbasids, Iranian peoples became better represented in the army and bureaucracy as compared to before. The Abbasid army was centred on the Khurasan Abna al-dawla infantry and the Khurasaniyya heavy cavalry, led by their own semi-autonomous commanders (qa'id) who recruited and deployed their own men with Abbasid resource grants. al-Mu‘tasim began the practice of recruiting Turkic slave soldiers from the Samanids into a private army, which allowed him to take over the reins of the Caliphate. He abolished the old "jund" system created by Umar and diverted the salaries of the original Arab military descendants to the Turkic slave soldiers. The Turkic soldiers transformed the style of warfare, as they were known as capable horse archers, trained from childhood to ride. This military was now drafted from the ethnic groups of the faraway borderlands, and were completely separate from the rest of society. Some could not speak Arabic properly. This led to the decline of the Caliphate starting with the Anarchy at Samarra.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Although the Abbasids never retained a substantial regular army, the caliph could recruit a considerable number of soldiers in a short time when needed from levies. There were also cohorts of regular troops who received steady pay and a special forces unit. At any moment, 125,000 Muslim soldiers could be assembled along the Byzantine frontier, Baghdad, Medina, Damascus, Rayy, and other geostrategic locations in order to quell any unrest.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: The cavalry was entirely covered in iron, with helmets. Similar to medieval knights, their only exposed spots were the end of their noses and small openings in front of their eyes. Their foot soldiers were issued spears, swords, and pikes, and (in line with Persian fashion) trained to stand so solidly that, one contemporary wrote "you would have thought them held fast by clamps of bronze."


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: The Abbasid army amassed an array of siege equipment, such as catapults, mangonels, battering rams, ladders, grappling irons, and hooks. All such weaponry was operated by military engineers. However, the primary siege weapon was the manjaniq, a type of siege weapon that was comparable to the trebuchet employed in Western medieval times. From the seventh century onward, it had largely replaced torsion artillery. By Harun al-Rashid's time, the Abbasid army employed fire grenades. The Abbasids also utilized field hospitals and ambulances drawn by camels.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: In keeping with Persian tradition, Harun's vizier enjoyed close to unchecked powers. Under Harun, a special "bureau of confiscation" was created. This governmental wing made it possible for the vizier to seize the property and riches of any corrupt governor or civil servant. In addition, it allowed governors to confiscate the estates of lower-ranking officials. Finally, the caliph could impose the same penalty on a vizier who fell from grace. As one later caliph put it: "The vizier is our representative throughout the land and amongst our subjects. Therefore, he who obeys him obeys us; and he who obeys us obeys God, and God shall cause him who obeys Him to enter paradise."


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Every regional metropolis had a post office and hundreds of roads were paved in order to link the imperial capital with other cities and towns. The empire employed a system of relays to deliver mail. The central post office in Baghdad even had a map with directions that noted the distances between each town. The roads were provided with roadside inns, hospices, and wells and could reach eastward through Persia and Central Asia, to as far as China. The post office not only enhanced civil services but also served as intelligence for the caliph. Mailmen were employed as spies who kept an eye on local affairs.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Early in the days of the caliphate, the Barmakids took the responsibility of shaping the civil service. The family had roots in a Buddhist monastery in northern Afghanistan. In the early 8th century, the family converted to Islam and began to take on a sizable part of the civil administration for the Abbasids.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Capital poured into the caliphate's treasury from a variety of taxes, including a real estate tax; a levy on cattle, gold and silver, and commercial wares; a special tax on non-Muslims; and customs dues.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Under Harun, maritime trade through the Persian Gulf thrived, with Arab vessels trading as far south as Madagascar and as far east as China, Korea, and Japan. The growing economy of Baghdad and other cities inevitably led to the demand for luxury items and formed a class of entrepreneurs who organized long-range caravans for the trade and then the distribution of their goods. A whole section in the East Baghdad suq was dedicated to Chinese goods. Arabs traded with the Baltic region and made it as far north as the British Isles. Tens of thousands of Arab coins have been discovered in parts of Russia and Sweden, which bear witness to the comprehensive trade networks set up by the Abbasids. King Offa of Mercia (in England) minted gold coins similar to those of the Abbasids in the eighth century.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Muslim merchants employed ports in Bandar Siraf, Basra, and Aden and some Red Sea ports to travel and trade with India and South East Asia. Land routes were also utilized through Central Asia. Arab businessmen were present in China as early as the eighth century. Arab merchants sailed the Caspian Sea to reach and trade with Bukhara and Samarkand.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Many caravans and goods never made it to their intended destinations. Some Chinese exports perished in fires, while other ships sank. It was said that anybody who made it to China and back unharmed was blessed by God. Common sea routes were also plagued by pirates who built and crewed vessels that were faster than most merchant ships. It is said that many of the adventures at sea in the Sinbad tales were based on historical fiction of mariners of the day.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: The Arabs also established overland trade with Africa, largely for gold and slaves. When trade with Europe ceased due to hostilities, Jews served as a link between the two hostile worlds.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Abbasids found themselves at odds with the Shia Muslims, most of whom had supported their war against the Umayyads since the Abbasids and the Shias claimed legitimacy by their familial connection to Muhammad. Once in power, the Abbasids disavowed any support for Shia beliefs in favor of Sunni Islam. Shortly thereafter, Berber Kharijites set up an independent state in North Africa in 801. Within 50 years, the Idrisids in the Maghreb and Aghlabids of Ifriqiya and soon the Tulunids and Ikshidids of Misr were effectively independent in Africa. The Abbasid authority began to deteriorate during the reign of al-Radi when their Turkic Army generals, who already had de facto independence, stopped paying the caliphate. Even provinces close to Baghdad began to seek local dynastic rule. Also, the Abbasids found themselves to be often at conflict with the Umayyads in Spain. The Abbasid financial position weakened as well, with tax revenues from the Sawād decreasing in the 9th and the 10th centuries.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: The following list represents the succession of Islamic dynasties that emerged from the fractured Abbasid empire by their general geographic location. Dynasties often overlap, where a vassal emir revolted from and later conquered his lord. Gaps appear during periods of contest where the dominating power was unclear. Except for the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt, recognizing a Shia succession through Ali, and the Andalusian Caliphates of the Umayyads and Almohads, every Muslim dynasty at least acknowledged the nominal suzerainty of the Abbasids as Caliph and Commander of the Faithful.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Centuries after the "Abbasids" fall, several dynasties have claimed descent from them, as "claiming kinship relation with Muhammad", that is, claiming an affiliation to the 'People of the House' or the status of a sayyid or sharif, has arguably been the most widespread way in Muslim societies of supporting one's moral or material objectives with genealogical credentials." Such claims of continuity with Muhammad or his Hashemite kin such as the Abbasids foster a sense of "political viability" for a candidate dynasty, with the intention of "serving an internal audience" (or in other words, gaining legitimacy in the view of the masses). The Wadai Empire which ruled parts of modern-day Sudan also claimed Abbasid descent, alongside the Khairpur and Bahawalpur states in Pakistan and the Khanate of Bastak.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: A common trope among Abbasid claimant dynasties is that they are descended from Abbasid princes of Baghdad, "dispersed" by the Mongol invasion in 1258 CE. These surviving princes would leave Baghdad for a safe haven not controlled by the Mongols, assimilate to their new societies, and their descendants would grow to establish their own dynasties with their Abbasid 'credentials' centuries later. This is highlighted by the origin myth of the Bastak khanate which relates that in 656 AH/1258 CE, the year of the fall of Baghdad, and following the sack of the city, a few surviving members of the Abbasid dynastic family led by the eldest amongst them, Ismail II son of Hamza son of Ahmed son of Mohamed migrated to Southern Iran, in the village of Khonj and later to Bastak where their khanate was established in the 17th century CE.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: Meanwhile, the Wadai Empire related a similar origin story, claiming descent from a man by the name of Salih ibn Abdullah ibn Abbas, whose father Abdullah was an Abbasid prince who fled Baghdad for Hijaz upon the Mongol invasion. He had a son named Salih who would grow to become an "able jurist" and a "very devout man". The Muslim ulama on pilgrimage in Mecca met him and, impressed by his knowledge, invited him to return with him to Sennar. Seeing the population's deviation from Islam, he "pushed further" until he found the Abu Sinun mountain in Wadai where he converted the local people to Islam and taught them its rules, after which they made him sultan, thus laying the foundations of the Wadai Empire.


title: Abbasid Caliphate

text: With regards to the Bastak khanate, Shaikh Mohamed Khan Bastaki was the first Abbasid ruler of Bastak to hold the title of "Khan" after the local people accepted him as a ruler (Persian: خان, Arabic: الحاكم), meaning "ruler" or "king", a title which was reportedly bestowed upon him by Karim Khan Zand. The title then became that of all the subsequent Abbasid rulers of Bastak and Jahangiriyeh, and also collectively refers in plural form – i.e., "Khans" (Persian: خوانين) – to the descendants of Shaikh Mohamed Khan Bastaki. The last Abbasid ruler of Bastak and Jahangiriyeh was Mohamed A’zam Khan Baniabbassian son of Mohamed Reza Khan "Satvat al-Mamalek" Baniabbasi. He authored the book "Tarikh-e Jahangiriyeh va Baniabbassian-e Bastak" (1960), in which is recounted the history of the region and the Abbasid family that ruled it. Mohamed A’zam Khan Baniabbassian died in 1967, regarded as the end of the Abbasid reign in Bastak.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: Raspberry Pi () is a series of small single-board computers (SBCs) developed in the United Kingdom by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in association with Broadcom. The Raspberry Pi project originally leaned towards the promotion of teaching basic computer science in schools and in developing countries. The original model became more popular than anticipated, selling outside its target market for uses such as robotics. It is widely used in many areas, such as for weather monitoring, because of its low cost, modularity, and open design. It is typically used by computer and electronic hobbyists, due to its adoption of the HDMI and USB standards.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: After the release of the second board type, the Raspberry Pi Foundation set up a new entity, named Raspberry Pi Trading, and installed Eben Upton as CEO, with the responsibility of developing technology. The Foundation was rededicated as an educational charity for promoting the teaching of basic computer science in schools and developing countries. Most Pis are made in a Sony factory in Pencoed, Wales, while others are made in China and Japan.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: There are three series of Raspberry Pi, and several generations of each have been released. Raspberry Pi SBCs feature a Broadcom system on a chip (SoC) with an integrated ARM-compatible central processing unit (CPU) and on-chip graphics processing unit (GPU), while Raspberry Pi Pico has a RP2040 system on chip with an integrated ARM-compatible central processing unit (CPU).


title: Raspberry Pi

text: As of 4 May 2021, the Foundation is committed to manufacture most Pi models until at least January 2026. Even the 1 GB Pi 4B can still be specially-ordered.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The Raspberry Pi hardware has evolved through several versions that feature variations in the type of the central processing unit, amount of memory capacity, networking support, and peripheral-device support.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: This block diagram describes models B, B+, A and A+. The Pi Zero models are similar, but lack the Ethernet and USB hub components. The Ethernet adapter is internally connected to an additional USB port. In Model A, A+, and the Pi Zero, the USB port is connected directly to the system on a chip (SoC). On the Pi 1 Model B+ and later models the USB/Ethernet chip contains a five-port USB hub, of which four ports are available, while the Pi 1 Model B only provides two. On the Pi Zero, the USB port is also connected directly to the SoC, but it uses a micro USB (OTG) port. Unlike all other Pi models, the 40 pin GPIO connector is omitted on the Pi Zero, with solderable through-holes only in the pin locations. The Pi Zero WH remedies this.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: Processor speed ranges from 700 MHz to 1.4 GHz for the Pi 3 Model B+ or 1.5 GHz for the Pi 4; on-board memory ranges from 256 MB to 8 GB random-access memory (RAM), with only the Raspberry Pi 4 having more than 1 GB. Secure Digital (SD) cards in MicroSDHC form factor (SDHC on early models) are used to store the operating system and program memory, however some models also come with onboard eMMC storage and the Raspberry Pi 4 can also make use of USB-attached SSD storage for its operating system. The boards have one to five USB ports. For video output, HDMI and composite video are supported, with a standard 3.5 mm tip-ring-sleeve jack carrying mono audio together with composite video. Lower-level output is provided by a number of GPIO pins, which support common protocols like I²C. The B-models have an 8P8C Ethernet port and the Pi 3, Pi 4 and Pi Zero W have on-board Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The Broadcom BCM2835 SoC used in the first generation Raspberry Pi includes a 700 MHz 32-bit ARM1176JZF-S processor, VideoCore IV graphics processing unit (GPU), and RAM. It has a level 1 (L1) cache of 16 KB and a level 2 (L2) cache of 128 KB. The level 2 cache is used primarily by the GPU. The SoC is stacked underneath the RAM chip, so only its edge is visible. The ARM1176JZ(F)-S is the same CPU used in the original iPhone, although at a higher clock rate, and mated with a much faster GPU.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The earlier V1.1 model of the Raspberry Pi 2 used a Broadcom BCM2836 SoC with a 900 MHz 32-bit, quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 processor, with 256 KB shared L2 cache. The Raspberry Pi 2 V1.2 was upgraded to a Broadcom BCM2837 SoC with a 1.2 GHz 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor, the same one which is used on the Raspberry Pi 3, but underclocked (by default) to the same 900 MHz CPU clock speed as the V1.1. The BCM2836 SoC is no longer in production as of late 2016.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B uses a Broadcom BCM2837 SoC with a 1.2 GHz 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor, with 512 KB shared L2 cache. The Model A+ and B+ are 1.4 GHz


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The Raspberry Pi 4 uses a Broadcom BCM2711 SoC with a 1.5 GHz (later models: 1.8 GHz) 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A72 processor, with 1 MB shared L2 cache. Unlike previous models, which all used a custom interrupt controller poorly suited for virtualisation, the interrupt controller on this SoC is compatible with the ARM Generic Interrupt Controller (GIC) architecture 2.0, providing hardware support for interrupt distribution when using ARM virtualisation capabilities.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The Raspberry Pi Zero and Zero W use the same Broadcom BCM2835 SoC as the first generation Raspberry Pi, although now running at 1 GHz CPU clock speed.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The Raspberry Pi Zero W 2 uses the RP3A0-AU CPU, a 1 GHz 64 bit ARM Cortex A53, on 512MB of SDRAM. Documentation states this "system-on-package" is a Broadcom BCM2710A1 package, using a BCM2837 Broadcom chip as core, which is an ARM v8 quad-core. The Raspberry Pi 3 also uses the BCM2837, but clocked at 1.2 GHz.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: While operating at 700 MHz by default, the first generation Raspberry Pi provided a real-world performance roughly equivalent to 0.041 GFLOPS. On the CPU level the performance is similar to a 300 MHz Pentium II of 1997–99. The GPU provides 1 Gpixel/s or 1.5 Gtexel/s of graphics processing or 24 GFLOPS of general purpose computing performance. The graphical capabilities of the Raspberry Pi are roughly equivalent to the performance of the Xbox of 2001.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: Raspberry Pi 2 V1.1 included a quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU running at 900 MHz and 1 GB RAM. It was described as 4–6 times more powerful than its predecessor. The GPU was identical to the original. In parallelised benchmarks, the Raspberry Pi 2 V1.1 could be up to 14 times faster than a Raspberry Pi 1 Model B+.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The Raspberry Pi 3, with a quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, is described as having ten times the performance of a Raspberry Pi 1. Benchmarks showed the Raspberry Pi 3 to be approximately 80% faster than the Raspberry Pi 2 in parallelised tasks.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The Raspberry Pi 4, with a quad-core Cortex-A72 processor, is described as having three times the performance of a Raspberry Pi 3.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: Most Raspberry Pi systems-on-chip could be overclocked to 800 MHz, and some to 1000 MHz. There are reports the Raspberry Pi 2 can be similarly overclocked, in extreme cases, even to 1500 MHz (discarding all safety features and over-voltage limitations). In Raspberry Pi OS the overclocking options on boot can be made by a software command running "sudo raspi-config" without voiding the warranty. In those cases the Pi automatically shuts the overclocking down if the chip temperature reaches , but it is possible to override automatic over-voltage and overclocking settings (voiding the warranty); an appropriately sized heat sink is needed to protect the chip from serious overheating.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: Newer versions of the firmware contain the option to choose between five overclock ("turbo") presets that, when used, attempt to maximise the performance of the SoC without impairing the lifetime of the board. This is done by monitoring the core temperature of the chip and the CPU load, and dynamically adjusting clock speeds and the core voltage. When the demand is low on the CPU or it is running too hot, the performance is throttled, but if the CPU has much to do and the chip's temperature is acceptable, performance is temporarily increased with clock speeds of up to 1 GHz, depending on the board version and on which of the turbo settings is used.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: In the highest ("turbo") mode the SDRAM clock speed was originally 500 MHz, but this was later changed to 600 MHz because of occasional SD card corruption. Simultaneously, in "high" mode the core clock speed was lowered from 450 to 250 MHz, and in "medium" mode from 333 to 250 MHz.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The CPU of the first and second generation Raspberry Pi board did not require cooling with a heat sink or fan, even when overclocked, but the Raspberry Pi 3 may generate more heat when overclocked.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The early designs of the Raspberry Pi Model A and B boards included only 256 MB of random access memory (RAM). Of this, the early beta Model B boards allocated 128 MB to the GPU by default, leaving only 128 MB for the CPU. On the early 256 MB releases of models A and B, three different splits were possible. The default split was 192 MB for the CPU, which should be sufficient for standalone 1080p video decoding, or for simple 3D processing. 224 MB was for Linux processing only, with only a 1080p framebuffer, and was likely to fail for any video or 3D. 128 MB was for heavy 3D processing, possibly also with video decoding. In comparison, the Nokia 701 uses 128 MB for the Broadcom VideoCore IV.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The later Model B with 512 MB RAM, was released on 15 October 2012 and was initially released with new standard memory split files (arm256_start.elf, arm384_start.elf, arm496_start.elf) with 256 MB, 384 MB, and 496 MB CPU RAM, and with 256 MB, 128 MB, and 16 MB video RAM, respectively. But about one week later, the foundation released a new version of start.elf that could read a new entry in config.txt (gpu_mem="xx") and could dynamically assign an amount of RAM (from 16 to 256 MB in 8 MB steps) to the GPU, obsoleting the older method of splitting memory, and a single start.elf worked the same for 256 MB and 512 MB Raspberry Pis.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The Raspberry Pi 3 has 1 GB of RAM in the B and B+ models, and 512 MB of RAM in the A+ model. The Raspberry Pi Zero and Zero W have 512 MB of RAM.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The Raspberry Pi 4 is available with 2, 4 or 8 GB of RAM. A 1 GB model was originally available at launch in June 2019 but was discontinued in March 2020, and the 8 GB model was introduced in May 2020.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The Model A, A+ and Pi Zero have no Ethernet circuitry and are commonly connected to a network using an external user-supplied USB Ethernet or Wi-Fi adapter. On the the Ethernet port is provided by a built-in USB Ethernet adapter using the SMSC LAN9514 chip. The Raspberry Pi 3 and Pi Zero W (wireless) are equipped with 2.4 GHz WiFi 802.11n and Bluetooth 4.1 based on the Broadcom BCM43438 FullMAC chip with no official support for monitor mode (though it was implemented through unofficial firmware patching) and the Pi 3 also has a 10/100 Mbit/s Ethernet port. The Raspberry Pi 3B+ features dual-band IEEE 802.11b/g/n/ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, and Gigabit Ethernet (limited to approximately 300 Mbit/s by the USB 2.0 bus between it and the SoC). The Raspberry Pi 4 has full gigabit Ethernet (throughput is not limited as it is not funnelled via the USB chip.)


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The RPi Zero, RPi1A, RPi3A+ and RPi4 can be used as a USB device or "USB gadget", plugged into another computer via a USB port on another machine. It can be configured in multiple ways, such as functioning as a serial or Ethernet device. Although originally requiring software patches, this was added into the mainline Raspbian distribution in May 2016.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: Raspberry Pi models with a newer chipset can boot from USB mass storage, such as from a flash drive. Booting from USB mass storage is not available in the original Raspberry Pi models, the Raspberry Pi Zero, the Raspberry Pi Pico, the Raspberry Pi 2 A models, and the Raspberry Pi 2 B models with versions lower than 1.2.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: Although often pre-configured to operate as a headless computer, the Raspberry Pi may also optionally be operated with any generic USB computer keyboard and mouse. It may also be used with USB storage, USB to MIDI converters, and virtually any other device/component with USB capabilities, depending on the installed device drivers in the underlying operating system (many of which are included by default).


title: Raspberry Pi

text: Other peripherals can be attached through the various pins and connectors on the surface of the Raspberry Pi.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The video controller can generate standard modern TV resolutions, such as HD and Full HD, and higher or lower monitor resolutions as well as older NTSC or PAL standard CRT TV resolutions. As shipped (i.e., without custom overclocking) it can support the following resolutions: 640×350 EGA; 640×480 VGA; 800×600 SVGA; 1024×768 XGA; 1280×720 720p HDTV; 1280×768 WXGA variant; 1280×800 WXGA variant; 1280×1024 SXGA; 1366×768 WXGA variant; 1400×1050 SXGA+; 1600×1200 UXGA; 1680×1050 WXGA+; 1920×1080 1080p HDTV; 1920×1200 WUXGA.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: Higher resolutions, up to 2048×1152, may work or even 3840×2160 at 15 Hz (too low a frame rate for convincing video). Allowing the highest resolutions does not imply that the GPU can decode video formats at these resolutions; in fact, the Raspberry Pis are known to not work reliably for H.265 (at those high resolutions), commonly used for very high resolutions (however, most common formats up to Full HD do work).


title: Raspberry Pi

text: Although the Raspberry Pi 3 does not have H.265 decoding hardware, the CPU is more powerful than its predecessors, potentially fast enough to allow the decoding of H.265-encoded videos in software. The GPU in the Raspberry Pi 3 runs at higher clock frequencies of 300 MHz or 400 MHz, compared to previous versions which ran at 250 MHz.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The Raspberry Pis can also generate 576i and 480i composite video signals, as used on old-style (CRT) TV screens and less-expensive monitors through standard connectorseither RCA or 3.5 mm phono connector depending on model. The television signal standards supported are PAL-B/G/H/I/D, PAL-M, PAL-N, NTSC and NTSC-J.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: When booting, the time defaults to being set over the network using the Network Time Protocol (NTP). The source of time information can be another computer on the local network that "does" have a real-time clock, or to a NTP server on the internet. If no network connection is available, the time may be set manually or configured to assume that no time passed during the shutdown. In the latter case, the time is monotonic (files saved later in time always have later timestamps) but may be considerably earlier than the actual time. For systems that require a built-in real-time clock, a number of small, low-cost add-on boards with real-time clocks are available.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The RP2040 microcontroller has a built-in real-time clock but this can not be set automatically without some form of user entry or network facility being added.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: Raspberry Pi 1 Models A+ and B+, Pi 2 Model B, Pi 3 Models A+, B and B+, Pi 4, and Pi Zero, Zero W, Zero WH and Zero W 2 have the same 40-pin pinout called "J8 header". Raspberry Pi 1 Models A and B have only the first 26 pins. The J8 header is commonly referred to as GPIO connector as a whole even though only a subset of the pins are GPIO pins. In the Pi Zero and Zero W, the 40 GPIO pins are unpopulated, having the through-holes exposed for soldering instead. The Zero WH (Wireless + Header) has the header pins preinstalled.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: Model B rev. 2 also has a pad (called P5 on the board and P6 on the schematics) of 8 pins offering access to an additional 4 GPIO connections. These GPIO pins were freed when the four board version identification links present in revision 1.0 were removed.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: Models A and B provide GPIO access to the ACT status LED using GPIO 16. Models A+ and B+ provide GPIO access to the ACT status LED using GPIO 47, and the power status LED using GPIO 35.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The Raspberry Pi Foundation provides Raspberry Pi OS (formerly called Raspbian), a Debian-based Linux distribution for download, as well as third-party Ubuntu, Windows 10 IoT Core, RISC OS, LibreELEC (specialised media centre distribution) and specialised distributions for the Kodi media centre and classroom management. It promotes Python and Scratch as the main programming languages, with support for many other languages. The default firmware is closed source, while unofficial open source is available. Many other operating systems can also run on the Raspberry Pi. The formally verified microkernel seL4 is also supported. There are several ways of installing multiple operating systems on one SD card.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: Raspberry Pi can use a VideoCore IV GPU via a binary blob, which is loaded into the GPU at boot time from the SD-card, and additional software, that initially was closed source. This part of the driver code was later released. However, much of the actual driver work is done using the closed source GPU code. Application software makes calls to closed source run-time libraries (OpenMax, OpenGL ES or OpenVG), which in turn call an open source driver inside the Linux kernel, which then calls the closed source VideoCore IV GPU driver code. The API of the kernel driver is specific for these closed libraries. Video applications use OpenMAX, use OpenGL ES and use OpenVG, which both in turn use EGL. OpenMAX and EGL use the open source kernel driver in turn.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The Raspberry Pi Foundation first announced it was working on a Vulkan driver in February 2020. A working Vulkan driver running Quake 3 at 100 frames per second on a 3B+ was revealed by a graphics engineer who had been working on it as a hobby project on 20 June. On 24 November 2020 Raspberry Pi Foundation announced that their driver for the Raspberry Pi 4 is Vulkan 1.0 conformant. Raspberry Pi Trading announced further driver conformance for Vulkan 1.1 and 1.2 on 26 October 2021 and 1 August 2022.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The official firmware is a freely redistributable binary blob, that is proprietary software. A minimal proof-of-concept open source firmware is also available, mainly aimed at initialising and starting the ARM cores as well as performing minimal startup that is required on the ARM side. It is also capable of booting a very minimal Linux kernel, with patches to remove the dependency on the mailbox interface being responsive. It is known to work on Raspberry Pi 1, 2 and 3, as well as some variants of Raspberry Pi Zero.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: In February 2015, a switched-mode power supply chip, designated U16, of the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B version 1.1 (the initially released version) was found to be vulnerable to flashes of light, particularly the light from xenon camera flashes and green and red laser pointers. The U16 chip has WL-CSP packaging, which exposes the bare silicon die. The Raspberry Pi Foundation blog recommended covering U16 with opaque material (such as Sugru or Blu-Tak) or putting the Raspberry Pi 2 in a case. This issue was not discovered before the release of the Raspberry Pi 2 because it is not standard or common practice to test susceptibility to optical interference, while commercial electronic devices are routinely subjected to tests of susceptibility to radio interference.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: Technology writer Glyn Moody described the project in May 2011 as a "potential ", not by replacing machines but by supplementing them. In March 2012 Stephen Pritchard echoed the BBC Micro successor sentiment in "ITPRO". Alex Hope, co-author of the Next Gen report, is hopeful that the computer will engage children with the excitement of programming. Co-author Ian Livingstone suggested that the BBC could be involved in building support for the device, possibly branding it as the BBC Nano. The Centre for Computing History strongly supports the Raspberry Pi project, feeling that it could "usher in a new era". Before release, the board was showcased by ARM's CEO Warren East at an event in Cambridge outlining Google's ideas to improve UK science and technology education.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: Harry Fairhead, however, suggests that more emphasis should be put on improving the educational software available on existing hardware, using tools such as Google App Inventor to return programming to schools, rather than adding new hardware choices. Simon Rockman, writing in a "ZDNet" blog, was of the opinion that teens will have "better things to do", despite what happened in the 1980s.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: In October 2012, the Raspberry Pi won T3's Innovation of the Year award, and futurist Mark Pesce cited a (borrowed) Raspberry Pi as the inspiration for his ambient device project MooresCloud. In October 2012, the British Computer Society reacted to the announcement of enhanced specifications by stating, "it's definitely something we'll want to sink our teeth into."


title: Raspberry Pi

text: In June 2017, Raspberry Pi won the Royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award. The citation for the award to the Raspberry Pi said it was "for its inexpensive credit card-sized microcomputers, which are redefining how people engage with computing, inspiring students to learn coding and computer science and providing innovative control solutions for industry."


title: Raspberry Pi

text: Clusters of hundreds of Raspberry Pis have been used for testing programs destined for supercomputers.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The Raspberry Pi community was described by Jamie Ayre of FOSS software company AdaCore as one of the most exciting parts of the project. Community blogger Russell Davis said that the community strength allows the Foundation to concentrate on documentation and teaching. The community developed a fanzine around the platform called "The MagPi" which in 2015, was handed over to the Raspberry Pi Foundation by its volunteers to be continued in-house. A series of community "Raspberry Jam" events have been held across the UK and around the world.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: , enquiries about the board in the United Kingdom have been received from schools in both the state and private sectors, with around five times as much interest from the latter. It is hoped that businesses will sponsor purchases for less advantaged schools. The CEO of Premier Farnell said that the government of a country in the Middle East has expressed interest in providing a board to every schoolgirl, to enhance her employment prospects.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: In 2014, the Raspberry Pi Foundation hired a number of its community members including ex-teachers and software developers to launch a set of free learning resources for its website. The Foundation also started a teacher training course called Picademy with the aim of helping teachers prepare for teaching the new computing curriculum using the Raspberry Pi in the classroom.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: In 2018, NASA launched the "JPL Open Source Rover Project", which is a scaled down version of Curiosity rover and uses a Raspberry Pi as the control module, to encourage students and hobbyists to get involved in mechanical, software, electronics, and robotics engineering.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: There are a number of developers and applications that are using the Raspberry Pi for home automation. These programmers are making an effort to modify the Raspberry Pi into a cost-affordable solution in energy monitoring and power consumption. Because of the relatively low cost of the Raspberry Pi, this has become a popular and economical alternative to the more expensive commercial solutions.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: In June 2014, Polish industrial automation manufacturer TECHBASE released ModBerry, an industrial computer based on the Raspberry Pi Compute Module. The device has a number of interfaces, most notably RS-485/232 serial ports, digital and analogue inputs/outputs, CAN and economical 1-Wire buses, all of which are widely used in the automation industry. The design allows the use of the Compute Module in harsh industrial environments, leading to the conclusion that the Raspberry Pi is no longer limited to home and science projects, but can be widely used as an Industrial IoT solution and achieve goals of Industry 4.0.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: In March 2018, SUSE announced commercial support for SUSE Linux Enterprise on the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B to support a number of undisclosed customers implementing industrial monitoring with the Raspberry Pi.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: In January 2021, TECHBASE announced a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 cluster for AI accelerator, routing and file server use. The device contains one or more standard Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4s in an industrial DIN rail housing, with some versions containing one or more Coral Edge tensor processing units.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The Organelle is a portable synthesizer, a sampler, a sequencer, and an effects processor designed and assembled by Critter & Guitari. It incorporates a Raspberry Pi computer module running Linux.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: OTTO is a digital camera created by Next Thing Co. It incorporates a Raspberry Pi Compute Module. It was successfully crowd-funded in a May 2014 Kickstarter campaign.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: Slice is a digital media player which also uses a Compute Module as its heart. It was crowd-funded in an August 2014 Kickstarter campaign. The software running on Slice is based on Kodi.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: AutoPi TMU device is a telematics unit which is built on top of a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 and incorporates the philosophy of which Raspberry Pi was built upon.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic, demand increased primarily due to the increase in remote work, but also because of the use of many Raspberry Pi Zeros in ventilators for COVID-19 patients in countries such as Colombia, which were used to combat strain on the healthcare system. In March 2020, Raspberry Pi sales reached 640,000 units, the second largest month of sales in the company's history.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: A project was launched in December 2014 at an event held by the UK Space Agency. The Astro Pi was an augmented Raspberry Pi that included a sensor hat with a visible light or infrared camera. The Astro Pi competition, called Principia, was officially opened in January and was opened to all primary and secondary school aged children who were residents of the United Kingdom. During his mission, British ESA astronaut Tim Peake deployed the computers on board the International Space Station. He loaded the winning code while in orbit, collected the data generated and then sent this to Earth where it was distributed to the winning teams. Covered themes during the competition included spacecraft sensors, satellite imaging, space measurements, data fusion and space radiation.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The organisations involved in the Astro Pi competition include the UK Space Agency, UKspace, Raspberry Pi, ESERO-UK and ESA.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: In 2017, the European Space Agency ran another competition open to all students in the European Union called Proxima. The winning programs were run on the ISS by Thomas Pesquet, a French astronaut. In December 2021, the Dragon 2 spacecraft launched by NASA had a pair of Astro Pi in it.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The computer is inspired by Acorn's BBC Micro of 1981. The Model A, Model B and Model B+ names are references to the original models of the British educational BBC Micro computer, developed by Acorn Computers.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: According to Upton, the name "Raspberry Pi" was chosen with "Raspberry" as an ode to a tradition of naming early computer companies after fruit, and "Pi" as a reference to the Python programming language.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: In 2006, early concepts of the Raspberry Pi were based on the Atmel ATmega644 microcontroller. Its schematics and PCB layout are publicly available. Foundation trustee Eben Upton assembled a group of teachers, academics and computer enthusiasts to devise a computer to inspire children.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The first ARM prototype version of the computer was mounted in a package the same size as a USB memory stick. It had a USB port on one end and an HDMI port on the other.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: The Foundation's goal was to offer two versions, priced at US$25 and $35. They started accepting orders for the higher priced Model B on 29 February 2012, the lower cost Model A on 4 February 2013. and the even lower cost (US$20) A+ on 10 November 2014. On 26 November 2015, the cheapest Raspberry Pi yet, the Raspberry Pi Zero, was launched at US$5 or £4.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: According to the Raspberry Pi Foundation, more than 5 million Raspberry Pis were sold by February 2015, making it the best-selling British computer. By November 2016 they had sold 11 million units, and 12.5 million by March 2017, making it the third best-selling "general purpose computer". In July 2017, sales reached nearly 15 million, climbing to 19 million in March 2018. By December 2019, a total of 30 million devices had been sold.


title: Raspberry Pi

text: In 2021 and continuing through 2022, there are significant availability issues and Raspberry Pi products are difficult to obtain. The company explained its approach to the shortages in 2021


title: Steve Kerr

text: Stephen Douglas Kerr (born September 27, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a nine-time NBA champion, having won five titles as a player (three with the Chicago Bulls and two with the San Antonio Spurs) as well as four with the Warriors as a head coach. Kerr is the only NBA player to win four straight NBA titles after 1969. Kerr has the highest career three-point field goal percentage (45.4%) in NBA history for any player with at least 250 three-pointers made. He also held the NBA record for the highest three-point percentage in a season at 52.4% until the record was broken by Kyle Korver in 2010. He is known as one of the most prolific shooters of all time, and one of the greatest coaches in NBA history.


title: Steve Kerr

text: Kerr played college basketball with the Arizona Wildcats. He was a two-time first-team all-conference player in the Pac-10 (now known as the Pac-12), and earned All-American honors as a senior in 1988. Selected by the Phoenix Suns in the second round of the 1988 NBA draft, he played 15 seasons in the NBA. Kerr became a minority owner of the Suns as part of the group led by Robert Sarver that purchased the team in 2004. In June 2007, Phoenix named Kerr the team's president of basketball operations and general manager, and was one of majority owner Sarver's trusted basketball advisors. Kerr announced he was leaving the position in June 2010, but retained his minority share until 2014. Afterward, Kerr returned as a color commentator for "NBA on TNT" until 2014, when he pursued a career in coaching.


title: Steve Kerr

text: In May 2014, Kerr received his first head coaching job with the Golden State Warriors. Under his leadership, the franchise entered the most successful period in its history, reaching six NBA Finals and winning four championships in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2022. The 2015–16 Warriors won an unprecedented 73 games, breaking the record for the most wins in an NBA season, previously held by Kerr's 1995–96 Chicago Bulls.


title: Steve Kerr

text: As member of the U.S. national team, Kerr won the 1986 FIBA World Championship as a player, and was an assistant coach on the gold medal-winning 2020 Olympic team. He was named the head coach of Team USA for 2023–24.


title: Steve Kerr

text: Kerr was born in Beirut, Lebanon, to Malcolm H. Kerr, an Lebanese-American academic who specialized in the Middle East, and his wife, Ann (Zwicker). He has three siblings. His grandfather, Stanley Kerr, volunteered with the Near East Relief after the Armenian genocide and rescued women and orphans in Aleppo and Marash before eventually settling in Beirut. Kerr spent much of his childhood in Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries. While in Beirut in the summer of 1983, he met a number of US Marines who were later killed in the Beirut barracks bombings. Kerr attended Cairo American College in Egypt, the American Community School in Beirut, Lebanon, and Palisades High School (now Palisades Charter High School) in Los Angeles, graduating in 1983.


title: Steve Kerr

text: Malcolm Kerr was killed by members of the Shia Lebanese militia called Islamic Jihad on the morning of January 18, 1984, at the age of 52 while he was serving as president of the American University of Beirut. He was shot twice in the back of his head, by gunmen using suppressed handguns, in the hallway outside his office. Kerr was 18 years old at the time, and a college freshman; regarding his father's death, he has said: "Before my father was killed, my life was impenetrable. Bad things happened to other people."


title: Steve Kerr

text: Minimally recruited out of high school, Kerr played basketball at the University of Arizona from 1983 to 1988. In the summer of 1986, he was named to the U.S. national team that competed in the FIBA World Championship in Spain. It was the last American men's senior squad composed strictly of amateur players to capture a gold medal. He blew out his knee in the tournament, forcing him to miss the Wildcats' entire 1986–87 season.


title: Steve Kerr

text: During pre-game warmups at arch-rival Arizona State University in 1988, Kerr was taunted by Sun Devils fans with chants that included "PLO" and "Where’s your father?" Though tearful, Kerr led the Wildcats to victory, scoring 20 points in the first half, making all six of his three-point attempts. The Arizona State athletic director Charles Harris sent a letter of apology to him a few days later. Along with fellow All-American teammate Sean Elliott, Kerr helped the Wildcats reach the Final Four of the 1988 NCAA tournament. A two-time first-team All-Pac-10 selection, Kerr also set an NCAA single-season record for 3-point percentage (57.3%, 114–199) in 1987–88.


title: Steve Kerr

text: Kerr graduated from the University of Arizona in 1988 with a Bachelor of General Studies, with emphasis on history, sociology and English.


title: Steve Kerr

text: In 1993, Kerr signed with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls made the playoffs in the 1993–94 and 1994–95 seasons, but without Michael Jordan's presence for all of 1994 and much of 1995, the team could not advance to the Finals. However, with Jordan back full-time for the 1995–96 season, the Bulls set a then-NBA record of 72–10 and defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA Finals in six games.


title: Steve Kerr

text: In the next season, the Bulls logged a 69–13 record for the regular season, and reached the 1997 NBA Finals, where they faced the Utah Jazz. At the end of Game 6, with the score tied at 86, Kerr took a pass from Jordan and hit the winning shot to make the Bulls lead 88–86. The Bulls defeated the Jazz in six games, with Toni Kukoč sealing the victory with a slam dunk with just 0.6 seconds left to make the score 90–86. Kerr also won the Three-Point Contest at the 1997 NBA All-Star Weekend.


title: Steve Kerr

text: In the last minute of Game 2 of the 1998 NBA Finals against Utah, Kerr missed a 3-pointer, grabbed his own rebound and made a pass to Jordan who made a crucial three-point play, putting them in the lead for good. The play helped Chicago win the game and tie the series at 1. The Bulls won the series in six games.


title: Steve Kerr

text: In January 1999, Kerr was acquired by the San Antonio Spurs in a sign-and-trade deal with the Bulls, whereby Chuck Person and a first-round pick in the 2000 NBA draft was sent to Chicago. The Spurs reached 1999 NBA Finals and won their first NBA Championship with a 4–1 series victory over the New York Knicks. Kerr became the second player to win four straight NBA titles without being a part of the 1960s Boston Celtics dynasty, the other being Frank Saul, who won four straight with Rochester and Minneapolis from 1951 to 1954. Kerr and Saul were the only two players in NBA history to have won two championships with two different teams in consecutive seasons, until Patrick McCaw achieved the same feat in 2019 and Danny Green in 2020.


title: Steve Kerr

text: Kerr was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers alongside Derek Anderson on July 24, 2001, in a deal that brought Steve Smith to the Spurs. He would remain in Portland for the 2001–02 season, playing in 65 games.


title: Steve Kerr

text: On August 2, 2002, Kerr was traded back to San Antonio along with Erick Barkley and a 2003 second-round pick. In return, the Trail Blazers received Charles Smith, Amal McCaskill, and Antonio Daniels. Kerr played in nearly every game (75) the following year, which was his final season in the league. In Game Six of the 2003 Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, Kerr made four second-half three-pointers that helped eliminate Dallas. The Spurs eventually won the NBA championship by beating the New Jersey Nets in the 2003 NBA Finals, 4–2.


title: Steve Kerr

text: Kerr announced his retirement after the 2003 NBA Finals. During his NBA career, he played 910 regular season games. He retired as the league's all-time leader in single-season three-point shooting percentage (.524 in 1994–95) and career three-point shooting percentage (.454). Kerr won five NBA championships as a player.


title: Steve Kerr

text: In 2003, Kerr became a broadcast analyst for Turner Network Television (TNT), offering commentary alongside analyst Marv Albert. During his tenure, he performed a segment sponsored by Coors Light called "Steve's Refreshing Thoughts" in which he brought up interesting facts in NBA history. This segment continued through sponsorship and became known as "Steve Wonders", sponsored by Sprint. In the same time period, Kerr also contributed to Yahoo! as an NBA commentator.


title: Steve Kerr

text: He has provided his voice for the in-game commentary of EA Sports video games "NBA Live 06, NBA Live 07, NBA Live 08, NBA Live 09" and "NBA Live 10" with Albert. He has also provided his voice as a color analyst for "NBA 2K12", "NBA 2K13", "NBA 2K14" and "NBA 2K15". He remained a commentator in "NBA 2K15" despite becoming the Golden State Warriors coach for the 2014–15 season several months prior to the game's release. Kerr's commentary also appears during All-Star play in the seventh gen port of "NBA 2K16".


title: Steve Kerr

text: Kerr left broadcasting in 2007 to become general manager for the Phoenix Suns, but it was confirmed on June 28, 2010, that he would return as an NBA analyst for TNT starting with the 2010–11 NBA season. Since 2011, Kerr has also called the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship on Turner Sports and CBS, teaming up with lead broadcasters Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg for the First Four and Final Four games, and with Albert in other rounds.


title: Steve Kerr

text: On April 15, 2004, Kerr was announced as a member of a potential group of buyers that would acquire his old team, the Phoenix Suns, from Jerry Colangelo for $300 million. He became part of Suns management, acting as a consultant. During the 2006 NBA All-Star Weekend, he was a member of the San Antonio team that won the Shooting Stars Competition.


title: Steve Kerr

text: On June 2, 2007, Kerr announced that he would become the general manager of the Phoenix Suns beginning with the 2007–2008 season. In 2008, the Suns traded forward Shawn Marion and guard Marcus Banks to the Miami Heat in exchange for Shaquille O'Neal. The Suns were eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs in five games in the first round of the playoffs. On December 10, 2008, Kerr continued to remake the Suns roster by trading Boris Diaw, Raja Bell, and Sean Singletary to the Charlotte Bobcats in exchange for Jason Richardson, Jared Dudley, and the Bobcats' 2010 second-round draft pick, which was used to draft Gani Lawal of Georgia Tech. On June 25, 2009, Kerr traded O'Neal to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, a future second-round draft pick and cash.


title: Steve Kerr

text: On May 5, 2010, the Suns wore their "Noche Latina" "Los Suns" jerseys in Game 2 against the Spurs to be united against the controversial Arizona immigration law. Kerr himself compared the law to Nazi Germany.


title: Steve Kerr

text: On June 15, 2010, Kerr stepped down as president and general manager of the Suns. He continued to own a one percent share of the Suns' organization until 2014.


title: Steve Kerr

text: On May 14, 2014, Kerr reached an agreement to become the head coach for the Golden State Warriors, succeeding Mark Jackson in a five year $25 million deal. Kerr coached in the 2014 Summer League for the Warriors. During the 2014–15 season, the team's offense employed elements of the triangle offense from his playing days in Chicago under Phil Jackson, the spacing and pace of Gregg Popovich in San Antonio, and the uptempo principles Mike D'Antoni and later Alvin Gentry used in Phoenix when Kerr was the GM.


title: Steve Kerr

text: After the Warriors beat the Houston Rockets to win their 14th consecutive game, Kerr became the first coach to start his career with a 19–2 record. This beat out Al Cervi and his 18–2 start with the Syracuse Nationals. On December 10, 2014, Kerr became the first NBA rookie head coach to win 21 of his first 23 games. He was named the head coach of the Western Conference team for the 2015 NBA All-Star Game after Golden State had the best record in the conference. On April 4, the Warriors beat the Dallas Mavericks 123–110 to clinch home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, and Kerr got his 63rd win of the season to become the highest winning rookie head coach in NBA history, passing Tom Thibodeau and his 62 wins with the Chicago Bulls in the 2010–11 season. In the NBA Coach of the Year voting, Kerr was runner-up to Mike Budenholzer.


title: Steve Kerr

text: The Warriors ultimately finished with one of the best regular seasons in NBA history, and the greatest in the team's 69-year history. Golden State ended with an overall record of 67–15, becoming the 10th team to win 67 or more games in a single season. It was the first time the Warriors had ever won as many as 60 games in a season; their previous high was 59 in the 1975–76 season. The Warriors also ended with a 39–2 home record, which is tied for the second-best home record in NBA history. The Warriors were first in defensive efficiency for the season and second in offensive efficiency, barely missing the mark that the Julius Erving–led Sixers achieved by being first in both offensive and defensive efficiency. They became the first team in NBA history to have two win streaks over 15 at home (18 and 19).


title: Steve Kerr

text: In the opening round of the playoffs against the New Orleans Pelicans, Kerr led the Warriors to their first four-game playoff sweep since the 1975 NBA Finals. Afterwards, the team beat the Memphis Grizzlies (4–2, in the second round). Down 2–1 in the series, Kerr made an unconventional adjustment in Game 4 to leave the Grizzlies' Tony Allen open and have his defender, center Andrew Bogut, guard the interior. His strategy was lauded after Allen, Memphis' best wing defender but a poor jump-shooter, was benched and limited to 16 minutes after missing wide open shots. The Warriors then defeated the Houston Rockets (4–1, in the Western Conference Finals), making the NBA Finals for the first time in 40 years.


title: Steve Kerr

text: The Warriors faced the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Finals. Kerr and rival coach David Blatt were both in their first season as NBA head coaches, and this was the first time a pair of rookie head coaches faced each other in the NBA Finals since the NBA's first year of existence, in 1947 with Eddie Gottlieb of the Philadelphia Warriors and Harold Olsen of the Chicago Stags competing. After the Warriors went down 2–1 to Cleveland, Kerr started swingman Andre Iguodala in place of Bogut, jump-starting their stagnant offense for a 103–82 road win that evened the series. It was Iguodala's first start of the season, and the small unit came to be known as the Death Lineup. After the game, Kerr admitted to lying to the press in response to pregame questions about potential changes to his starting lineup. The Warriors went on to win the championship in six games, defeating the Cavaliers, 4–2, in the series, to give Kerr his sixth championship and first as a head coach.


title: Steve Kerr

text: After the first two days of the defending champion Warriors' training camp, Kerr took an indefinite leave of absence to rehabilitate his back, which had caused problems since the 2015 NBA Finals. Around this time, assistant coach Luke Walton assumed Kerr's coaching duties. Kerr missed all of 2015 and most of January 2016, although technically the NBA credited Walton's win–loss record to Kerr. Kerr said "I think it's ridiculous", when asked about getting all of Walton's wins. On January 22, 2016, Kerr returned to coaching after missing 43 games, but warned he might need to miss games occasionally if there was a recurrence of the headaches and pain related to the spinal fluid leak that sidelined him. The Warriors went 39–4 with interim coach Luke Walton. The Warriors went 34-5 after Kerr returned to coaching. Golden State broke the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls 72–10 record by winning 73 games. Kerr became the first person in NBA history to be a part of 70-win teams as a player and head coach. He was named 2015–16 NBA Coach of the Year. Kerr would lead the Warriors to the 2016 NBA Finals where they would again face the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Warriors lost in seven games.


title: Steve Kerr

text: On November 20, 2016, the NBA announced that Kerr had been fined $25,000 for public criticism of officiating during a radio interview with KNBR 680 on November 17. Kerr missed time during the 2017 playoffs due to recurring back issues. Associate head coach Mike Brown acted as acting head coach during periods of Kerr's absence, and Brown continued head coaching into the playoffs leading the Warriors to a 12–0 record in the postseason. Kerr returned for the 2017 NBA Finals where he led the Warriors to victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games. The Warriors finished the playoffs with a 16–1 record, the best postseason winning percentage in NBA history. Kerr is the fourth coach in NBA history to win two championships in his first three seasons of coaching. Kerr won his third championship as a head coach when the Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2018 NBA Finals in four games to give Kerr his eighth championship of his career. The Warriors reached their fifth straight Finals under Kerr in 2019, but they were defeated by the Toronto Raptors in six games. During Game 6, starting shooting guard Klay Thompson suffered an ACL tear.


title: Steve Kerr

text: During the 2019–20 season, with Thompson out for the year and franchise point guard Stephen Curry only playing five games due to a hand injury, the Warriors finished with the worst record (15–50) in the league. It marked the first time in Kerr's coaching career that he had missed the playoffs. In 2020–21, with Thompson still out due to an Achilles tear but Curry healthy, the Warriors qualified for the newly implemented play-in tournament, but ultimately did not qualify for the playoffs for the second straight season. The Warriors returned to the playoffs in 2021–22 and reached the 2022 NBA Finals where they defeated the Boston Celtics. Kerr won his fourth championship as head coach, and his ninth overall.


title: Steve Kerr

text: Kerr has won 429 regular season games and 80 playoff games as head coach. Mainly on the strength of his first three seasons, he has the second-most regular season wins in franchise history behind only Al Attles, while his 80 playoff wins are a franchise record. He is first head coach in NBA history to lead his team to 67 or more wins in three consecutive seasons. He was named to the Top 15 Coaches in NBA History in 2022, when the league commemorated its 75th anniversary.


title: Steve Kerr

text: Kerr married Margot Brennan, his college sweetheart, in 1990. They have three children: Nick, Maddy, and Matthew. Kerr is a keen soccer fan and an avid supporter of Liverpool F.C.


title: Steve Kerr

text: Prior to and following the 2016 United States presidential election, Kerr has been publicly critical of Donald Trump. In an interview following that election, Kerr voiced the opinion that Trump's rise to power was based on insults against women and minorities. He compared Trump's campaign performances and the crude responses of his supporters to the sensationalism of "The Jerry Springer Show". He made clear his "disgust" with Trump's disrespectful public discourse and disappointment with Trump's leadership of the country. On October 27, 2020, an ad created by the anti-Trump Republican Lincoln Project Super PAC was first broadcast. In it, along with Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers, Kerr endorsed Joe Biden for President in the November presidential election. In the advertisement, Kerr said, "I stand for truth over lies", "categorically reject white supremacy", and "believe a presidency should be transparent."


title: Steve Kerr

text: Kerr has been a strong supporter of gun control, expressing criticism with the government's response to school shootings. On May 24, 2022, during a press conference for Game 4 of the NBA's 2022 Western Conference Finals after that day's Robb Elementary School shooting in Texas where 19 children and two teachers were murdered by a gunman wielding semi-automatic weapons, Kerr reiterated these points emotionally. He said, regarding the filibuster, that Republicans in the U.S. Senate were "holding us hostage", by using it to prevent a vote on gun control legislation.


title: Steve Kerr

text: Kerr has voiced support for the Black Lives Matter movements across the United States, praising the efforts of peaceful protests and hopes that more people will take action to stand up to systemic racial injustice to black people.


title: Judy Greer

text: Judith Therese Evans (born July 20, 1975), known professionally as Judy Greer, is an American actress. She is primarily known as a character actress, who has appeared in a wide variety of films. She first rose to prominence in a variety of supporting roles in the films "Jawbreaker" (1999), "What Women Want" (2000), "13 Going on 30" (2004), "Elizabethtown" (2005), "27 Dresses" (2008), and "Love & Other Drugs" (2010).


title: Judy Greer

text: Greer also expanded into other genres as a character actress with roles in such films as "Adaptation" (2002), "The Village" (2004), "The Descendants" (2011), "Jeff, Who Lives at Home" (2011), "Carrie" (2013), "Men, Women & Children" (2014), "Grandma" (2015), "Lemon" (2017), "Where'd You Go, Bernadette" (2019), "Uncle Frank" (2020) and "Hollywood Stargirl" (2022). She's also appeared in blockbusters such as the "Planet of the Apes" reboot series (2014–2017), "Jurassic World" (2015), the 2018 and 2021 "Halloween" films and joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) appearing in "Ant-Man" (2015) and "Ant-Man and the Wasp" (2018). She made her directorial debut with the comedy-drama film "A Happening of Monumental Proportions" (2017).


title: Judy Greer

text: On television, Greer is best known for her starring voice role as Cheryl Tunt in the FXX animated comedy series "Archer" (2009–present), and as Lina Bowman in the FX sitcom "Married" (2014–2015). She also has appeared in "The Big Bang Theory" (2007–2019), "Arrested Development" (2003–2006, 2013–2019), "Two and a Half Men" (2003–2015), "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (2007–2011), "Kidding" (2018–2020), and "Reboot" (2022–present).


title: Judy Greer

text: Greer was born Judith Therese Evans on July 20, 1975, in Detroit, Michigan. Her mother, Mollie Ann ("née" Greer), is a hospital administrator, and her father, Rich Evans, is a mechanical engineer. Her mother was once a nun, who had left the convent after eight years, being "kicked out" for wild behavior, including owning a red bathing suit.


title: Judy Greer

text: Greer was raised Roman Catholic and grew up in Redford Township and Livonia. She attended Churchill High School, where she was a part of the Creative and Performing Arts Program and graduated from The Theatre School at DePaul University in 1997 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She later adopted her mother's maiden name for her stage name, as several other actresses are named Judy or Judi Evans.


title: Judy Greer

text: Greer made her film debut in the horror film "Stricken" (1998), playing a college student involved in a fatal prank. This was followed by a small role in the Chicago-filmed drama "Kissing a Fool" (1998). She was cast in her first major role as Fern Mayo, a nerdy teenager who uncovers her classmates' murder of their friend, in Darren Stein's black comedy "Jawbreaker" (1999). The film went on to earn a cult following. Greer followed this with small parts in the romantic comedy films "What Women Want" (2000) and "The Wedding Planner" (2001), opposite Jennifer Lopez. She was cast in a 2002 pilot for NBC alongside Stephen Colbert, "Untitled Ken Finkleman Project" (Imagine Entertainment), based on the Canadian show "The Newsroom" from Ken Finkleman. Colbert portrayed Finkleman and Greer played his sister.


title: Judy Greer

text: Greer had a recurring role on the Fox comedy series "Arrested Development" (2003–2005, 2013, 2018), playing Kitty Sanchez in ten episodes total and appearing in each of the series' three original seasons. In a 2009 interview, Greer said that she is most recognized for this role. She also had a supporting role in "Adaptation" (2002).


title: Judy Greer

text: In 2004, Greer co-starred in the romantic comedy "13 Going on 30", starring Jennifer Garner as a girl who wakes up one morning as a 30-year-old woman. Greer played Lucy, an untrustworthy fellow editor of Garner's at a fashion magazine where both work. The film was a commercial success, grossing $96.5 million worldwide, and received mostly positive reviews from critics. Greer next played a supporting role in M. Night Shyamalan thriller "The Village", about a village whose population lives in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it. Despite mixed reviews, the film was a success at the box office, grossing $256.7 million worldwide. Retrospective reviews for the film have since been more positive, and it has become regarded as one of Shyamalan's best films. Greer then played another supporting role in Jenna Fischer's directorial debut, the comedy "LolliLove", which premiered at the St. Louis International Film Festival to positive reviews from critics, though it was ultimately released straight-to-DVD.


title: Judy Greer

text: In 2005, Greer first played a female werewolf in Wes Craven's horror film "Cursed", starring Christina Ricci and Jesse Eisenberg. The film was a failure at the box office and was widely panned by critics, with Craven later expressing disappointment in the film. Greer then starred in the comedy-drama "The Great New Wonderful", which depicts the lives of several New Yorkers one year after the September 11th attacks. In her character's vignette, Greer played a woman struggling to keep her marriage together. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival to mostly positive reviews. Ty Burr of the "Boston Globe" called the film "an actor's playpen", and remarked that "Greer has been stuck so long in goofball supporting roles that she tears into this part – a smart, loving mother frightened of her own son – as if it were prime rib." Following an appearance in the drama "In Memory of My Father", Greer featured in Cameron Crowe's tragic-romantic comedy "Elizabethtown", starring Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, Alec Baldwin, and Susan Sarandon. The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and garnered negative reviews from critics.


title: Judy Greer

text: Following an appearance in Paul Weitz's comedy "American Dreamz", Greer starred in the comedy-drama "The TV Set" (both 2006), as a personal manager to the scriptwriter (David Duchovny) of a television series. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival to generally positive reviews from critics. Dana Stevens of "Slate" noted that "[...] Judy Greer, an Anne Heche lookalike with Lisa Kudrow's comic timing, nearly steals the movie as Mike's desperately chirpy manager." Greer also starred in short-lived CBS comedy-drama series "Love Monkey" (2006). The following year, Greer made brief appearances in the independent road film "The Go-Getter" and the comedy "The Grand" (both 2007). During this period, Greer became a frequent guest star for producer Chuck Lorre, having appeared in his sitcoms "Two and a Half Men" (2007–2015), "The Big Bang Theory" (2010), and "Mom" (2015).


title: Judy Greer

text: In 2008, Greer starred opposite Zach Galifianakis in the independent satire "Visioneers", and played the best friend of Katherine Heigl's character in the romantic comedy "27 Dresses". The latter film received mostly negative reviews from critics, but was a commercial success, grossing $162.6 million worldwide. Greer played a similar role in the romantic drama "Love Happens" (2009), starring Jennifer Aniston. Greer also took on the leading role in the ABC sitcom "Miss Guided" (2008), in which she played a guidance counselor working at a high school. The series was cancelled after one season. That same year, Greer appeared as a yoga instructor in the "Get a Mac" advertisements, which also featured John Hodgman and Justin Long. Beginning in 2009, Greer has provided the voice of Cheryl Tunt in the FX animated adult sitcom "Archer", as well as Wendy Park in the Nick at Nite stop-motion animated sitcom "Glenn Martin, DDS" (2009–2011).


title: Judy Greer

text: In 2010, Greer first starred in the comedy "Barry Munday", in which she played a woman who becomes pregnant by a lonely womanizer (Patrick Wilson). The film premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival to mixed reviews. Joe Leydon of "Variety" praised Greer's performance, commending the actress for bringing "some welcome emotional truth" to her "almost too convincing" role. Following roles in the family comedy "Marmaduke" and the romantic crime comedy "Henry's Crime", Greer featured in the comedy-drama "Peep World". Greer played Laura Meyerwitz, a pregnant wife whose husband (Michael C. Hall) is revealed to have an addiction to pornography from his brother's thinly-veiled novel about their family. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and in spite of largely negative reviews, critics singled out Greer's performance for praise. Both Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times" and Elizabeth Weitzman of the "New York Daily News" considered Greer's performance to be the most "genuine" of the cast. Greer also played a supporting role in the romantic comedy-drama "Love & Other Drugs", which was a commercial success, grossing $102.8 million worldwide.


title: Judy Greer

text: In 2011, Greer first starred in the crime thriller "The Key Man", as the wife of a salesman who becomes involved in an insurance scam. The film premiered at South by Southwest. Though Seth Freilich of "Pajiba" considered Greer to be "lovely as always", he felt that she was "underused", and called for the film industry to offer her better roles. Greer next played a supporting role in Alexander Payne's drama "The Descendants", starring George Clooney. Greer played Julie Speer, a woman who discovers that her husband had an extramarital affair with the now-comatose wife of Clooney's character. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival to critical acclaim. Greer herself received particularly strong reviews for her performance; David Thomson of "The New Republic" found Greer to be "touching", while Philip Kemp of "Sight & Sound" praised Greer for turning "her few brief scenes [...] into a moving portrayal of undeservedly broken trust." For her performance in the film, Greer received the Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, and a nomination for the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture.


title: Judy Greer

text: That same year, Greer also starred in the comedy-drama "Jeff, Who Lives at Home", directed by brothers Jay and Mark Duplass, in which Ed Helms and she played a couple whose marriage is failing. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to positive reviews, with Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" calling it a "a whimsical comedy [that depends] on [...] the discontent of Helms and Greer." For her work in both "The Descendants" and "Jeff, Who Lives at Home", Greer received the John Cassavetes Award at the Denver Film Festival, becoming the first female actor to be the recipient of the award. Greer then starred in the short-lived CBS sitcom "Mad Love", about a group of people in their 30s trying to find love. David Hinckley of "New York Daily News" felt that Greer played her role "perfectly" in the series, which was cancelled after one season. Greer also hosted an online series of exercise videos titled "Reluctantly Healthy", which was later adapted by Litton Entertainment as part of their Saturday-morning "One Magnificent Morning" block for The CW.


title: Judy Greer

text: Following a role in the critically panned romantic comedy "Playing for Keeps", starring Gerard Butler, Greer made her Broadway debut in Theresa Rebeck's comedy "Dead Accounts", alongside Katie Holmes, Norbert Leo Butz, Jayne Houdyshell, and Josh Hamilton (both 2012). The play received negative reviews, with Ben Brantley of "The New York Times" criticizing Greer for not "transcend[ing] her character's function as a visitor-from-another-planet plot device." In "Carrie" (2013), starring Chloë Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore, Greer portrayed Miss Desjardin, a gym teacher who becomes involved with the titular character (Moretz), a shy high-school student and outcast, who secretly possesses telekinesis. The film, which serves as an adaptation of Stephen King's 1974 novel of the same name and a re-make of Brian de Palma's 1976 film, received mixed reviews from critics, who considered it to be a "unnecessary" adaptation. Nevertheless, Michael Phillips of the "Chicago Tribune", who gave the film a positive review, remarked, "The acting's strong; in addition to Moretz and Moore, Judy Greer is a welcome presence in the [...] role of the sympathetic gym instructor."


title: Judy Greer

text: In 2014, Greer first appeared in the supernatural drama "Jamie Marks Is Dead", about a deceased boy who returns to his friends as a ghost. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to positive reviews. Greer next portrayed the motion-capture role of the female chimpanzee Cornelia in the science fiction action film "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" (2014). The film received positive reviews and was a success at the box office, grossing $708.8 million worldwide. Greer then played a supporting role in Jason Reitman's drama "Men, Women & Children", which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film was widely panned by critics, with Jason Bailey of "FlavorWire" criticizing the plot surrounding Greer's character, a single mother promoting her daughter on a modeling website: "I cannot begin to tell you how effectively this wholly unbelievable thread manages to single-handedly unravel the narrative, but I can assure you that when even Judy Greer can't sell a plot point, it should not be employed."


title: Judy Greer

text: That same year, Greer made her directorial debut with the AOL short film "Quiet Time", which focuses on how transcendental meditation can be used for stress relief. In an interview with "Glamour", Greer revealed that she had wanted to venture into directing and contacted AOL herself, which was impressed by her passion for the meditation. Greer also released her first autobiographical collection of essays, titled "I Don't Know What You Know Me From: Confessions of a Co-Star", which details her life experiences and career in the film industry. The book received positive reviews; "Kirkus Reviews" noted that "This is not a Hollywood roman à clef; Greer doesn't dish and is amazed by and grateful for her good fortune [...] Greer is an engaging and witty storyteller, at turns wistful (of her beloved hometown, she writes, "Detroit is America's sad family member who can't catch a break") and unsparingly honest ("I used to be more ugly”)." Greer starred in the FX comedy series "Married" (2014–2015), in which she and Nat Faxon played a long-married couple. Willa Paskin of "Slate" praised Greer's chemistry with Faxon, referring to them both as "charismatic, jangly, scene-stealing performers."