Gallery 1: Astronomy
The holiest month for Muslims is Ramadan. Ramadan occurs during the 9th lunar month of the
Muslim calendar, and is based off of the cycle of the moon. Muslim’s believe that it was during
this month that Muhammad had his first revelation. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims
fast from sun rise to sunset. This means that they do not eat or drink all day. In order to
celebrate this holy month at the correct time, early Muslims had to be expert astronomers.
Tools like the Astrolabe, development of the Lunar Calendar, and the Armillary Sphere came
out of the Islamic Empires.
Gallery 5: Architecture
The architects of the Islamic Empire preserved Greco-Roman architecture. They utilized
architectural techniques such as the dome and the arch. Mosques, or Islamic holy buildings,
were built using these architectural features. The Islamic empire has left buildings such as
public baths, the Mosque of Damascus, and the Dome of the Rock.
Gallery 6: Medicine
Scholars of the Islamic Empire were well versed in Greco-Roman and Persian education. They
preserved the discoveries made by these mighty empires of the past. Scientists and doctors of
the Islamic Empire built upon the knowledge of the past, and revolutionized the science of the
practice of medicine. Al-Razi was the most successful physician in the Islamic world. He wrote a
work titled, The Comprehensive Book, which was an encyclopedia for medicine. In this work he
discussed the nature of illness, looking beyond the symptoms, and attempting to discover the
cause of illness.
Astrolabe:
The Astrolabe was an instrument used for astronomical measurements. It measured the
altitudes of celestial bodies (moon/stars/sun/planets) and could calculate the latitude of a fixed
point. It was used to measure the position of the celestial bodies in the sky in order to
determine time of day, and well as time of year.
The Lunar Calendar:
It was very important for Islamic astronomers to be able to track the phases of the moon over
the year. The holiest month of the year is Ramadan. This month commemorates the first
revelation that Muhammad had. During Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. The
fasting lasts one month, or one lunar cycle. Because of this, it was important that astronomers
were able to track the phases of the moon in order to recognize Ramadan at the appropriate
time.
Astronomers developed a calendar that predicted when each phase of the moon would occur.
This allowed them to plan when Ramadan would occur.
Armillary sphere
The armillary sphere is a model of celestial bodies in the sky (Sun, moon, stars, and planets). It
is a metal sphere made with a framework of rings that represent the latitude and longitude of
different celestial bodies. The device allows the user to locate where any celestial body will
appear in the sky at any point in the year. The machine shows the user the real motion of the
Earth in relation to the other planets, the sun, starts, and the moon.
Gallery 2: Calligraphy
Muslims believed that drawing representations of holy figures was considered icon worship,
and therefore against the teachings of God. Religious artwork could not contain any images
depicting Muhammad, Allah, or other theological figures. Rather than creating artwork with
images of people, they used an artist form of writing, called calligraphy, to bring sophistication
to the copies of the Koran. Arabic calligraphy is based off of Arabic lettering. Islamic calligraphy
can be found in the pages of the Koran, and adorning walls and ceilings of Mosques across the
Islamic world.
Gallery 4: Advances in Geometry
Muslims believed that drawing pictures of religious figures was considered icon worship, and
therefore against the teachings of God. Religious artwork could not contain any images
depicting Muhammad, Allah, or other theological figures. Rather than adorning the walls of
Mosques with images of religious figures, mathematicians and artists adorned the walls with
intricate geometric patterns. Muslim artists had to be skilled in geometry in order to create
these masterpieces. The geometric works of art depict the Muslim view of the world. These
forms create infinite patterns to represent Allah’s infinite nature. Artists were able to convey
spirituality without having to depict icons in the artwork. Frequently, artists would purposefully
create a mistake in the art to represent the imperfect nature of humans.
The Mosque of Damascus
The Mosque of Damascus was built during the Umayyad Empire, which is why it is also
sometimes referred to as the Umayyad Mosque. It is the earliest surviving stone mosque, built
between 705 and 715 AD. The site is holy to Muslims and Christians, because it stands on the
site where the Church of St. John the Baptist, who Christians believed was the man to baptize
Jesus, once stood. The Mosque has a huge open courtyard surrounded by slender columns.
There are massive isles held up with columns and archways. The walls of the Mosque were
once covered with over an acre of mosaics depicting a landscape believed to be paradise, as
described in the Qur’an. The original Mosque was destroyed in 1401, however was later rebuilt.
The Dome of the Rock
The Dome of the Rock is located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This site is a holy site for
the three Abrahamic Religions. It is the site of the Second Jewish Temple, and Wailing Wall,
which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. The structure also stands at the location where
believers of Judaism and Christianity believe Abraham offered his son as a sacrifice to God.
Muslims believe that this was also the location of Muhammad’s “Night Journey,” in which he
ascended into the Heavens and had his revelations with the Angel Gabriel. The structure
enshrines a rock, which Muslims believe is the location where Muhammad ascended into
Heaven. It was built by the Umayyad Caliphate, and is the first work of true Islamic
Architecture. The Dome of The Rock displays a massive Dome structure atop an octagonal
building structure. In 1561, Suleiman the Magnificent commissioned geometric tiles to be
placed around the entire structure.
Optics
Ibn al-Haytham (965-1039 AD) is known as the “father of optics.” He, accurately, explained how human
vision works. He used physical, mathematical, experimental, and psychological experimentation in order
to come to his conclusions. He disproved the Greek belief that light comes out of the eye, and bounces
off the object, and comes back to the eye to produce an image. Instead, he discovered that light enters
the eye, is focused, and then is project to the back of the eye. This will later lead to the invention of the
pinhole camera.
Circulation
Ibn al-Nafis was another scientist who left a mark on modern medicine, making major advances in the
knowledge of blood flow and circulation in the human body. He discovered that the heart was divided
into two halves, and that they pumped blood independently around the body. He understood that blood
could only travel from one side of the heart to the other by first traveling through the body.
Canon on Medicine
Ibn Sina (980-1037 AD) was a scientist of the Islamic Empire. He compiled Aristotelian and Greek
theories about medicine with his own views. He wrote The Canon on Medicine, which became the most
famous medical book in around the world and was translated over 87 times.
Gallery 7: Arabic number
During the Roman Empire mathematicians and traders utilized Roman numerals to represent
values. Roman numerals were a system in which combinations of Latin letters represented
numeric values. During the Arabic Empire, a new method to keep track of values was adopted;
the Hindu-Arabic number system. This system was originally created in India, however, during
Muslim expansion it was adopted by the Muslim empire. The Hindu-Arabic number system uses
a combination of the numerals, 0-9, to represent different values. Interestingly, this is one of
the earliest systems to have a concept of 0 as a numeral. The Muslim Empire adopted this
system from India, and through expansion and trade, the system soon spread through Europe.
This is the modern number system that we use today.
Gallery 3: literature
Arabia has a rich literary history. Bedouins living in Arabia have left behind works that pre-date
the spread of Islam and the Muslim empire. Poets wrote poems discussing the spirit of life in
the desert and celebrating the ideas of bravery, love, generosity, and hospitality. These were all
values that would keep a person alive in the harsh deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. Early
Muslims wrote poetry that praised Muhammad. Later, Caliphs would commission writers to
create works praising their successes. Literature expanded during the Abbasid Caliphate to
include themes of the pleasures of life, love, and nature.
A famous Muslim work is called The Thousand and One Nights. It is a collection of fairy tales,
parables, and legends. The ideas for some of the pieces were most likely adapted from Persian
and Indian folk lore. The story follows a Persian king who discovers that his wife has cheated on
him. He has her killed, and decides that all women are the same. He marries a succession of
young women, only to have them executed the day after their wedding. In order to preserve
her life, one young woman begins to tell the king a story on their wedding night, but does not
finish it. The king does not kill her because he wants to hear the ending. The next night, she
finishes the first story, but starts a new one. She continues this for 1001 nights. Stories such as
Aladdin, The Voyages of Sinbad, and Ali-Baba and the Forty-Thieves all originated in this work.
Name:___________________________________
Block:________
Directions: Visit each of the galleries with your group. As you visit each gallery describe what innovation
is being described, and how that innovation has impacted the Western World. This will remain in your
note section of your binders.
Islamic Empire Legacies
Gallery
1. Astronomy
2. Writing
3. Literature
Innovation (s)
Impact of Western World
4. Geometry
5. Architecture
6. Medicine
7. Numbers
Part 2: Use the galleries you just visit to answer the following writing prompt. Answers should be written
with an introduction, body, and conclusion.
"What were the most important Islamic achievements? Why were the Muslims able to make such
great contributions, and how did these contributions impact the world?"
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