1. ISLAMIC ACHIEVEMENTS

2. 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?

3. Islamic Achievements
Muslims 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

4. Islamic Achievements
Muslims helped spread ideas as well as goods along their trade routes that connected Asia, Europe, and Africa

5. Scholars studied and preserved Greek and Roman ideas
Islamic Achievements
Scholars studied and preserved Greek and Roman ideas

6. City Building and Architecture
Many large cities developed in Muslim lands that inspired new kinds of architecture

7. City Building and Architecture
The 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

8. City Building and Architecture
They built mosques (Muslim places of worship), markets, homes, and shops

9. City Building and Architecture
Mosques usually had towers, courtyards, and prayer rooms; the designs reflected the diversity of the Empire

10. The common use of the Arabic language helped promote learning
Study and Learning
Scholars from around the world met in Baghdad to research and translate texts from Greece, Persia, India, and China
The common use of the Arabic language helped promote learning

11. 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

12. Science and Technology
Muslim 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 Mecca
THE ASTROLABE: AN EARLY VERSION OF A GPS SYSTEM

13. Science and Technology
Muslims restored old irrigation systems, built dams and aqueducts, and used waterwheels to help the water supply

14. 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

15. 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

16. Mathematics
Muslims 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

17. Mathematics
Algebra 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”

18. 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

19. Medicine
The Persian philosopher Ibn Sina was also a doctor who wrote a book about the treatment of diseases

20. Bookmaking and Literature
Muslims learned how to make paper from the Chinese and began producing books; Baghdad had over 100 bookshops

21. Bookmaking and Literature
Arab and Persian stories and poetry were collected in books, such as “A Thousand and One Arabian Nights”
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

22. The Arts
Muslims developed a type of art known as “arabesque”; it used ornate drawings and geometric patterns to decorate objects and books

23. The Arts
Calligraphy, the art of beautiful handwriting, was considered to be the best art form of its day
Textiles and music were two other influential art forms that Muslims developed during the time of the Islamic Empire

24. Fun and recreation were also part of the Islamic culture
The 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

25. Recreation
Chess 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

26. Historians refer to this era of the Abbasids’ rule over the Islamic Empire as a “golden age”