Many large cities developed in Muslim territory, and inspired new kinds of architecture. Schools, orphanages, hospitals, mosques, and other buildings were built by thousands of workers.
Art & Music
*This woman painted this by herself. She is an artist. She also makes music.*
hadhih almar'at rasimat hadha binafsiha. hi fanaanatun. hi 'aydan tasnae almusiqaa.*
Muslim geographers examined plants and animals in different regions, as well as divided the world up into climate zones.
Bookmaking & Literature
hadha alrajul yaqra nuskhatan min alqurani.*
*This man is reading a copy of the Qur'an. *
Muslim doctors established hospitals open to everybody. There were also hospital caravans for those in remote villages. Muslim hospitals had separate wards for men and women, surgical patient, and those with diseases that others could catch.
Recreation
*These two men are playing chess. Chess is a form of recreation. *
hadhan alrajulan yaleaban alshatranji. alshatranj hu shakl min 'ashkal altarfihi.*
Muslims earned fame for their decorative arts. Art was sometimes religious, as in the elaborately illuminated manuscripts of the Qur'an. Artists and craftspeople used their talents on everyday things like plates, candlesticks, glassware, and clothing.
Bookmakers gathered sheets of paper and often sewed them into leather bindings. They illuminated the bindings and pages with designs in gold, as well as with miniature paintings.
Recreation was also part of medieval Islamic culture. Two of their favorite pastimes was polo and chess. Polo is a sport in which teams on horseback use mallets to strike a ball through a goal, and chess was introduced to the Muslim world by the Persians in the 600's.