CHAPTER 10
Muslim Contributions
 During much of the medieval period,
Muslim civilization was in some ways more
advanced than others
 Made major advancements in: astronomy,
zoology, geography, arithmetic, navigation,
art, architecture, and technology
Muslim Contributions
 Had Muslim Scholars not translated
classic Greek texts, the European
Renaissance would not have happened
in the way that it did
 In spite of this, Muslims have not
always been recognized for their
contributions to world civilizations
ACTIVITY DIRECTIONS
 With your partner(s), examine one of the 16 placard on the
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walls.
Turn to Reading Notes 10 (p 62) and decide which of the 16
topics the placard relates to. Pencil in the letter of the
placard next to that topic.
Scan sections 10.3-10.11 to find the passage that matches the
contribution. Check your answer with the sticky note (DO
NOT CHEAT) and then read the passage if you are correct.
On the map, draw a symbol for the contribution in the
appropriate location. If a contribution isn’t related to a
specific location on the map, draw your symbol in an open
space.
On the page opposite the map, write a summary of the
contribution
Reviewing Muslim Contributions
 Each group has several placards
 You are going to present your placard to the
class by describing the Muslim Contribution
 You will have a few minutes to prepare your
sections and then you will present them to the
class.
 Talk to the class, do not read to the class.
 Be prepared to note the significant
contributions and the symbol you put on the
map and where you put the symbol.
 Make sure your presentation is professional and
prepared.
Flowering of Islamic Civilization –
10.2 (no card)
 Arab conquests had created a vast Muslim
empire – Spain, N. Africa and much of western
and central Asia came under Muslim rule.
 Islamic civilization flourished – great cities
where scholars and artists made many advances
 Baghdad – important city
 Cairo – important city
 Jews, Christians and Muslims worked and studied
togther
10.3 City Building and Architecture
 #2 Baghdad – Card I
#11 Mosques – Card K
 Baghdad: Abbasid capital – more central for the
entire empire
 Village between Tigris and Euphrates Rivers –
cross road of trade routes connecting the empire
 At center of the city is where the caliph’s palace
and grand mosque is – city is round
 Double wall with guards, guarded inner part of
city
 One of world’s largest cities
10.3 City Building and Architecture
 #2 Baghdad – Card I
#11 Mosques – Card K
 Mosques: Muslim house of worship
 Had a minaret (tower) with a small balcony where
the call to prayer comes from.
 Fountain for washing
 Prayer room inside – worshipers sit on mats and
carpets
 Imam – prayer leader.
10.4 Scholarship and Learning
 #14 Scholarship and Learning – Card J
 “The ink of scholars is more precious than the
blood of martyrs.”
 8th century, Arabic was the language of
scholarship and science
 Shared language and love of learning allowed
ideas to exchange and build upon others work
 Built schools and libraries in Muslim cities
 People came from all over world to work together
10.4 Scholarship and Learning
 #14 Scholarship and Learning – Card J
 Hall of Wisdom – Cairo – could visit to read
books and study
 Cordoba, Spain library had 400,000 volumes of
books
 Muslim people studied Plato and Aristotle and
used reasoning and logic
10.4 Scholarship and Learning
 #14 Scholarship and Learning – Card J
 Sometimes wondered how to make reason and
logical proof agree with their religious faith.
 Humans had 2 sources of knowledge: reason and
revelation by God
 Ibn Sina, become Islam’s most famous
philosopher – believed all knowledge came from
God and that truth could be known through
revelation and reason
10.5 Science and Technology
 #1 Astronomy – Card F #16 Zoology Card H
#7 Irrigation and Underground Wells – Card M
 Astronomy – compasses and astrolabes helped
locate Makkah. Allowed worshipers far from
Holy city pray facing right direction.
 Also able to find out the exact times for prayer
and month of Ramadan using astronomy
 Also just wanted to learn about the universe.
 Also thought Earth was center of universe with
the sun and stars going around Earth – is this
true?
10.5 Science and Technology
 #1 Astronomy – Card F #16 Zoology Card H
#7 Irrigation and Underground Wells – Card M
 Zoology – scientific study of animals
 Wrote books describing animal bone structure
 How to make medicine for animals
 Evolution of animals
 Established zoos
10.6 Geography and Navigation
 # 5 Geography and Navigation – Card P
 Examined plants and animals in different regions
 Divided world into climate zones
 Calculated Earth’s circumference accurately
Irrigation and Underground Wells
 Created accurate maps
 Travelers could get information for water
resources to help in travel and trade
 Wrote guidebooks for travelers
 Used compasses – probably learned from Chinese
10.6 Geography and Navigation
 # 5 Geography and Navigation – Card P
 Examined plants and animals in different regions
 Divided world into climate zones
 Calculated Earth’s circumference accurately
Irrigation and Underground Wells
 Created accurate maps
 Travelers couldget information for water
resources to help in travel and trade
 Wrote guidebooks for travelers
 Used compasses – probably learned from Chinese
10.7 Mathematics
 #9 Mathematics – Card O
 Based work on India and classical Greece
 Learned from Euclid
 Khwarizmi – worked at House of Wisdom –
father of algebra
 Helped populate Arabic numbers in Europe
 Populated the use of the number Zero
 Zero makes it easier to write large numbers
10.8 Medicine
 #10 Medicine – Card L
 Some of most contributions in this field
 Learned from Greeks, Mesopotamians, Egyptians
 Established 1st hospitals – Baghdad had 5
 Doctors treated disease with diet, drugs and
exercise
 Did surgery – hospitals were advanced
 al-Razi, realized bacteria spread infection –
studied smallpox and measles
10.9 Bookmaking and Literature
 #8 Bookmaking and Literature – Card N
 Paper making helped literature grow
 Bookmaking was an artform
 Bookmaking was a big business
 Arabs had rich story telling tradition – now they
could share it in writing
 Arabian Nights – famous Arabic book
 Sufism or Islamic mysticism – helped enhance
this through poetry
10.10 Art and Music
 #3 Calligraphy – Card D
#12 Music – Card G
#6 Geometric/floral design – B #15 Textiles - E
 Geometric and Floral Design- famous for
decorative art
 Illustrated Manuscripts
 Applied talent to everyday items – plates,
glassware, clothes, walls of mosques
 Arabesque – natural world – leaves, flowers, etc.
 Made metal boxes, ceramic bowls, tiles, carpets
 Used geometric shapes in designs
10.10 Art and Music
 #3 Calligraphy – Card D
#12 Music – Card G
#6 Geometric/floral design – B #15 Textiles - E
 Calligraphy – highest form of decorative art
 Qur’an – felt only calligraphy would do for
writing
 Used Calligraphy to decorate everyday items
10.10 Art and Music
 #3 Calligraphy – Card D
#12 Music – Card G
#6 Geometric/floral design – B #15 Textiles - E
 Textiles: cloths or textiles, rugs, etc.
 Great effort in making these artistic
 Sometimes had inscriptions or designs showing
important events
 Sometimes embroidered
 Clothes showed rank and served as a status in
Muslim world
10.10 Art and Music
 #3 Calligraphy – Card D
#12 Music – Card G
#6 Geometric/floral design – B #15 Textiles - E
 Music: Baghdad, Damascus – centers of Muslim
Music world
 Ziryab, talented musician and singer from
Baghdad – established first music school
 Singing was essential part of Muslim Spain’s
musical culture
 Created songs about love, nature and glory of the
empire
10.11 Recreation
 #13 Polo – Card C #4 Chess – Card A
 Polo – learned about it from the Persians
 Played on horses – Muslims saw horses as a status
symbol
 Chess: invented in India. Persians introduced it
to Muslims
 Caliphs invited chess champions including
women and slaves to their palaces to play in
matches - intellectual challenge
Friday, November 11, 2011
On a separate sheet of paper answer the
following question WITH DETAIL – to
be turned in when finished!
In your opinion, what was the most
important Muslim achievement? Why?
Give detail.
Human Spectrum
 With your partner(s) go through the list of
contributions and rank them. You are going to do this 2
ways
 1. in order of importance (1 -16) 1 meaning the most
important, 16 being the least important
 2. go through each contribution and rank it on a scale of
1-4; 1 being really important, 4 being least important
 Example: Mathematics – Rank #8; and 1 on a scale of 1-4