ISLAMIC ACHIEVEMENTS

■Essential Question:–What were the important

contributions of Muslim scholars during the Islamic Empire?

■Warm-Up Question:–What are the Five Pillars of Islam? –What is a “caliph”?–Why did the division between the

Sunni and Shi’a Muslims occur?

Islamic AchievementsMuslims during the

Islamic Empire developed innovations that are still

used today

The lands and people of the Islamic Empire were

diverse, rich, and creative; Greeks, Chinese, Hindus,

Arabs, Persians, Turks and others all contributed to the culture of the Islamic

Empire

Islamic AchievementsMuslims helped spread ideas as well as goods along their trade routes that connected

Asia, Europe, and Africa

Islamic Achievements

Scholars studied and preserved Greek and Roman ideas

Many large cities developed in Muslim lands that inspired new kinds of architecture

City Building and Architecture

City Building and ArchitectureThe city of Baghdad was the

Abbasids’ capital and one of the most glorious cities in the world

It took 100,000 workers and architects four years to build Baghdad

City Building and Architecture

They built mosques (Muslim places of worship), markets, homes, and shops

City Building and Architecture

Mosques usually had towers, courtyards, and prayer rooms; the designs reflected the diversity of the Empire

Study and Learning

The common use of the Arabic language

helped promote learning

Scholars from around the world met in

Baghdad to research and translate texts

from Greece, Persia, India, and China

Study and Learning

Ibn Sina, a Persian, became Islam’s most famous philosopher;

like the Greeks, he used logic and his

writings were widely translated and studied

Science and TechnologyMuslim scholars made great advances in astronomy,

improving upon Greek ideas

For example, compasses and astrolabes (a device that

positions objects in the sky to

figure out one’s location) could be used to find the direction to

MeccaTHE ASTROLABE: AN EARLY VERSION OF A GPS SYSTEM

Science and Technology

Muslims restored old irrigation systems, built dams and aqueducts, and used

waterwheels to help the water supply

Geography and Navigation

Muslim scholars examined plants and animals in

different regions and divided the

world into climate zones

They created extremely accurate maps that

included trade routes and information about land under Muslim rule

Geography and Navigation

Travelers, like Ibn Battuta, recorded

information (and in Ibn’s case, wrote a book) about their

journeys to the Muslim lands and

beyond

MathematicsMuslims based their work in math in part on the

ideas from India and Classical Greece

One scholar, Al-Khwarizmi, is called the “father of algebra”, which is used to solve problems with unknown numbers

MathematicsAlgebra helped make Arabic numerals popular in

Europe and spread the Indian concept of zero

The word “zero” comes from the Arabic word that means

“something empty”

Medicine

Muslims established the

world’s first hospitals and based their

medical knowledge on

that of Mesopotamia,

Egypt, and Greece

Doctors treated ailments through drugs, diet, and exercise; they also used stitches after performing surgeries

MedicineThe Persian philosopher Ibn Sina

was also a doctor who wrote a book about the treatment of diseases

Bookmaking and Literature

Muslims learned how to make paper from the Chinese and began producing books;

Baghdad had over 100 bookshops

Bookmaking and Literature

In this book, a wife tells her husband a new tale each

night, including the story of Aladdin and the magic lamp, Ali Baba and the

Forty Thieves, and Sinbad the Sailor; these stories are

well known today

Arab and Persian stories and poetry were

collected in books, such as “A Thousand and One

Arabian Nights”

The Arts

Muslims developed a type of art known as “arabesque”; it

used ornate drawings and

geometric patterns to

decorate objects and books

The Arts

Textiles and music were two other influential art

forms that Muslims developed during the

time of the Islamic Empire

Calligraphy, the art of beautiful handwriting,

was considered to be the best art form of its day

RecreationFun and recreation were also part of the Islamic cultureThe sport of polo was borrowed from the Persians and made popular by the Muslims; teams on horseback use

wooden mallets to strike a ball through a goal

RecreationChess was invented in India and borrowed by the Persians, but this board game (which requires much thought, smarts, & skill to play well) was spread across Muslim territory and introduced to Europe

Historians refer to this era of the Abbasids’ rule over the Islamic

Empire as a “golden age”