NOV. 1: THE RISE OF ISLAM
Geographical perspective: the power of the desert
AD600 AD700
Arabia and its Neighbors:
Arabian landscape:
The Kaaba: holiest shrine of Islam
The Qur'an: the Word of God revealed to Muhammad
The Night Journey: Muhammad taken by angels to Jerusalem. Note that the Prophet's face is not represented.
The Word as Art: Islamic Calligraphy
Bilal, the first Muezzin, leads the faithful in the Call to Prayer
The great mosque of Damascus:
Jerusalem: a third religion now lays claim to the holy city
The Dome of the Rock, built on the Temple Mount in the late seventh century
The inscription inside the Dome: There is no God but God; Muhammad is his Prophet; Jesus is also his Prophet, but God has no Son: He neither Begets nor is Begotten
The Mediterranean world in AD 800