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- Time Period contains "15-18th century CE"
Connected Histories: an Introduction
In this video, Giancarlo Casale introduces the "Connected Histories" theme against a background of images and music. He discusses an illustration from the Tarih-I Hind-I garbi or "Iklilm-I Cedid," a 16th century Turkish manuscript.
Timeline of Leo Africanus’ Life
1489 Leo is born in Granada as Hassan al-Wazzan 1494 Leo/Hassan leaves Granada in exile to settle in Fez 1504 Leo/Hassan begins his travels with his uncle, a diplomat for the Sultan of…
Map of Leo Africanus' African Itinerary
To view places on the Sub-saharan itinerary of Leo Africanus, Harvard University’s WorldMap "Leo Africanus' Places" website includes a set of map overlays on a 16th century map, with descriptive information and contemporary photographs from the…
Tags: Hassan al-Wazzan, Leo Africanus, Mediterranean, papacy, pirates, seafaring, slavery, travelers
Al-Wansharisi Answers a Query about Qibla
On Prayer To determine the direction of the qibla, is it necessary to make use of an azimuth? Or is it sufficient that one does not deviate from the southeast quarter of the compass? Response: The question is actively disputed among the…
Map of Andalusia and Grenada
Fifteenth century map by Piri Reis of the coastline of Andalusia and the city of Grenada
The Friedberg Genizah Project and the Princeton University Genizah Project
The Cairo Genizah, mostly discovered late in the nineteenth century but still resurfacing in our own day, is a collection of over 200,000 fragmentary Jewish texts (which may well equal three times that number of folios). Many of these were stored in…
The Indian Ocean in World History Website
Gordon Stewart’s When Asia Was the World includes accounts of various travelers on land and sea. Among the travelers mentioned in the book, Xuanzang, Ibn Fadlan, Abraham bin Yiju, Ibn Battuta, Ma Huan, and Tomé Pires all traversed Indian…
Leo Africanus Describes the Region of Sous in Morocco
Of the region of Sous. Now comes the region of Sus to be considered of, being situated beyond [the] Atlas, over against the territorie of Hea, that is to say, in the extreme part of Africa. Westward it beginneth from the Ocean sea, and southward from…
Tags: Africa, Al-Hasan al-Wazzaz al-Fasi, books, cities, England, exploration, geography, history, Islam, Leo Africanus, migration, Morocco, printing, Sahara, West Africa
“Leo Africanus” Presents Africa to Europeans
In 1550, a remarkable book about Africa, La Descrittione dell’Africa, came off the Giunta press in Venice, as the first volume of Giovanni Battista Ramusio’s celebrated series of Voyages. It had been written by an African, Ramusio assured…
The Arts of the Book and Miniature Painting
This brief video describes the Islamic arts of the book and book illustration in the form of miniature painting. Related primary resource: Ibn al-Nadim on the Transmission and Authorization of Books, The Qur'an on Paradise (image).
Geometry
This brief video expores the effect of geometric lines and curves on ornamental design in Islamic art, and illlustrates how they also characterize the timeless, breathtaking architecture of the Muslim world. Related primary resources: Al-Wansharisi…
Islamic Textiles
This brief video describes the arts of weaving, knotting, and dyeing fabrics, including patterned carpets, woven calligraphy and their uses in Muslim cultures at all levels of society. Related primary resource: A Geniza Letter Regarding Trade and…
Tags: Arabic, carpets, clothing, courtly life, dress, fabrics, gender, ikat, Islamic arts, material culture, Qur’an, religion, textiles, veil, video essays
Islamic Gardens
This brief video describes the forms, functions, features, and significance of the garden in Islamic societies, and the motif of gardens in various artistic genres. Related primary resources: The Qur'an on Paradise, Babur on the Construction of the…
The Arts of Trade and Travel
The obligation to make the pilgrimage (known as the hajj) to Mecca, combined with the tradition of global trade in Muslim societies, makes international travel important in the lives of many Muslims. This brief video highlights the arts associated…
Mosques and Religious Architecture
This brief video describes the structure, architecture and decoration of mosques and other religious buildings and discusses theirvariations in Muslim societies across geography and time. Related primary sources: The Qur'an on the Qibla,…
Tags: Arabic, calligraphy, cities, decoration, geometry, inscription, Islamic architecture, material culture, mihrab, Minaret, mosques, prayer, Qur’an, religion, ritual, tiles, video essays
Calligraphy
This brief video describes the arts of Islamic calligraphy, the artistic practice of handwriting based on the Arabic script. Related primary sources: The Qur'an on Paradise,Ibn al-Nadim on the Transmission and Authorization of Books.
Excerpts from Ibn Sina’s Canon of Medicine in Arabic and Latin
In the first place we render thanks to Allah, for the very excellence of the order of His creation, and the abundance of His benefits. His blessings and the abundance of His mercies are upon all the prophets. In the next place, I may say that it is…
US Department of State Booklet: Being Muslim in America
Muslim life in America is summarized in a U.S. State Department booklet. The booklet was published by the State Department and the Bureau of International Information Programs (a State Department agency) in 2009. It includes profiles of American…
Map of the Transfer of Scientific Knowledge to Renaissance Europe
As background to the discussion of scientific knowledge in Jim al-Khalili's House of Wisdom: How Arabic Science Saved Ancient Knowledge and Gave Us the Renaissance, the diagram traces the movement of knowlege from East to West over several centuries.…
Tags: Abbasid, Arabic, Baghdad, Cairo, China, Cordoba, diagram, Hellenistic, House of Wisdom, India, Jundishapur, Latin, map, mathematics, Persia, Renaissance, science, Sicily, Spain, Toledo, Western Europe
'Hajj' from Oxford Islamic Studies Online
Unique among the world's great pilgrimages, the hajj is in many ways also the most important. Even compared to the ancient and highly developed international pilgrimage systems of Christianity and Hinduism, the hajj is remarkable in its doctrinal…
Tags: Abraham, circumambulation, Five Pillars, Hajar, Hajj, Islam, Ismail, Kaaba, Mecca (Makkah), Muhammad, pilgrimage, religion, ritual, tawaf, travel, worship, Zamzam
Historical Maps of Medieval Spain
These historical maps of the medieval Iberian Peninsula provide background to The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain by María Rosa Menocal. The maps show the advance of…
Timeline of Medieval Spain and the Iberian Peninsula
711 North African commander Tariq ibn Ziyad leads Umayyad forces across the Strait of Gibraltar into Spain. Muslim forces defeat the Visigoth army, marking the beginning of Muslim rule in Iberia. 750 - 755 Umayyad prince…
Timeline of Publication History: The Arabian Nights
10th century,Baghdad, Iraq Ibn al Nadim (ca. 932-990) in the Fihrist, or Catalogue of Books, mentions a book of Persian stories entitled Hazār Afsān, a tale of 200 stories in which Sheherezade tells a thousand nights of stories to…
Paper as a New Technology in Muslim Lands
Al-Jahiz, “The Disadvantages of Parchment” What is it to you that all my books are written on China paper or Khurasan paper? Explain why you have pressed on me the advantages of using parchment and urged me to write on hide, when you…
Tags: Abbasid dynasty, al-Jahiz, Arabic, arts of the book, culture, essays, Iraq, literature, paper, science, stories, technology
From Kalila and Dimna, The Crane and the Crab
“The Crane and the Crab” A crane once dwelt upon a pleasant lake placed among little hills spread over with herbs and flowers. He lived upon such fish as he could catch, and for many years got plenty. But at length, becoming old and…
Miniature Painting Illustrating "Conference of the Birds"
A key scene in a Persian epic poem is illustrated in a 400-year-old watercolor from the holdings of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This miniature illustrates the manuscript Mantiq al-Tayr (The Language of the Birds, also known as The Conference of…
Leo Africanus, a Man between Worlds (Video)
The BBC Arabic film Leo Africanus: A Man between Worlds by Moroccan journalist Badr Sayegh retraces key locations visited by Leo Africanus, the Muslim born as Hasan al-Wazzan in the 1480s. Captured by pirates, he was given as a slave to the Pope and…
Timeline of Iranian History
550-330 B.C.E. Achaemenid dynasty rules the first Persian Empire. The city of Persepolis, was founded in 518 B.C.E. 1914-1918 Iran declares neutrality during World War I. 1923–1926 Reza Khan is named…
The Suleymaniye Mosque Virtual Walking Tour
Rivaling the Hagia Sophia for architectural splendor, the Süleymaniye Mosque was built in the sixteenth century CE for the sultan known as Süleyman the Magnificent, ruler of the Ottoman Empire from 1520 to 1566. The mosque, in Istanbul, is…
Alhambra Virtual Walking Tour
A walker’s-eye view of a 1,000-year-old palace is provided in the Alhambra Virtual Walking Tour. The Alhambra is a hilltop stronghold in Granada, a city in the Spanish province of Andalusia. Called Al-Andalus in Arabic, Andalusia was ruled by…
Tags: al-Andalus, Alhambra, architecture, art, Granada, material culture, palace, Spain
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