The medieval period saw the creation of a body of Hebrew scientific literature. There is a certain chronological overlap between the production of this corpus of Hebrew writings and the first instances of Jewish writers composing scientific treatises in Arabic. Jews who contributed to the scientific enterprise during the main period of concern resided in communities ranging from the Atlantic seaboard to Mesopotamia, reaching as far north as England and as far south as Yemen. The medieval period saw a most meaningful engagement of Jewish thought with the sciences. Some scientific teachings caused a real crisis in Jewish thought; for example, the persuasive arguments against creation ex nihilo. Many Jews had believed that recognition of the deity and its design of and upon the cosmos were the exclusive privilege of their tradition, having been delivered directly from God through the Jewish prophets.