Cultural Influence and Contributions of Islam

7.2.6

Cultural Blending

• Muslims gained ideas from those they traded with and created a rich culture

Write down 1 thing that you know how to do or make and could teach someone else about.

Now travel around the room and learn from others

Cultural Leaders

• Built cultural centers in Baghdad (Iraq), Cairo (Egypt), and Cordoba (Spain)–Universities and libraries here were

attended by people from all over the world

Name 2 cultural centers (cities) in the United States. Why would you say that they are cultural centers?

Cooperation

• Religious tolerance and growth of scholarship among Jews and Muslims resulted in the “Golden Age of Cooperation” in Spain

Can you relate this to doing group projects in class?

Preserved And Spread Ideas of Others

• Greek and Roman writing: Ideas about philosophy and government (which will later be useful to the Renaissance in Europe)

• Chinese inventions: papermaking and compasses

Tell a neighbor about something you learned during your travels in the first activity.

Innovations• Qanat system - system of underground

water channels that could be accessed by wells

Why do you think this was created by Arab scholars?

Writers and artists created unique works of art

• Muslim poetry and stories were made into books (stories like Aladdin)

• Books became an art form

Astronomy

• NOTE: The astrolabe - borrowed from the Greeks could determine time, direction and location on earth (Based on location of stars.)– RESPONSE: What type of technology do

we have for this now?

Geography

• Map making improved thanks to Muslim explorers documenting detailed accounts of their travels.– Turn back to back with a partner. Describe

the classroom to a partner and have them draw a map of it using only the information you give them. Start with a compass rose so that you can use directions as descriptions.

Mathematics• Muslim scholars name the concept of “zero”

borrowed from India. –Ex: 2 - 2 = ??? (What if there no word for zero? What

answer would you give?

• Arabic numerals are still used today.• Al-jabr is created (algebra)

–Ex: Solve the problem provided. What is the goal of algebraic equation?

4 + x = 12

Medicine

• Wrote about diseases, made medicine, and built hospitals

• Used opium to help patients sleep through operations, amputated infected limbs, stitched closed with animal gut

– Why is this an important area of achievement?

Writing• Made great use of calligraphy, floral and

geometric patterns (Arabesque• No people or animals were depicted in

Muslim art.– Print your name, thenwrite it in cursive. How arethe two forms of writing different? Now add a design around your cursive.