Medieval Islamic people
Medieval Islamic people: A plate from the Fatimid period (1000s AD), Egypt Children in the medieval Islamic world Children in the Islamic Empire generally did what their parents did (as many [...]
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Medieval Islamic families
Medieval Islamic families: The Birth of Mohammed (Iran, about 1315 AD, now in Edinburgh) Did men have four wives? According to the Quran, Muslim men could have as many as four wives if they were [...]
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Sinbad the Sailor – Arabian Nights
An island turned out to be a whale Sinbad was (as Sheherazade told the story) a trader from Baghdad. He sailed his trading ships all around the Persian Gulf and [...]
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Shahnameh – Islamic Literature
Death of Iskandar (Alexander), from the Great Mongol Shahnameh (Iran, 1330s AD) In the 900s AD, Central Asia was the most civilized part of the world. The universities and libraries of [...]
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Rustem swims away – a story in the Shahnameh
The Devil carries Rostem Like Odysseus or Anansi, Monkey or Br'er Rabbit, the Iranian hero Rustem was a trickster. He uses quick thinking to get out of this fix: Once when he was sleeping alone outside [...]
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Rustem’s death in the Shahnameh
Rustem kills the treacherous Shaghad When he was an old, old man, Rustem really did die (according to the story in the Shahnameh). Rustem died from treachery and betrayal, by his [...]
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07, 2017
Rudaba and Zal in the Shahnameh
Rudaba lets down her hair A story from the Shahnameh Rudaba's name means "The River Water Girl". She was a character in the Persian epic Shahnameh, written by the poet Ferdowsi [...]
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07, 2017
Islamic poetry – Medieval Islam
The poet Rumi (1200s AD) Arabic poetry has a long tradition in the Arabian peninsula even before the development of Islam. People composed and recited long poems that they remembered without writing down. [...]
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07, 2017
Noureddin and the Persian Woman
A pile of gold coins Here's another of the stories Sheherazade told the king: Once the sultan had two viziers, a good one (Khacan) and a bad one (Saouy). Naturally Saouy hated [...]
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07, 2017
Mullah Nasruddin – Islamic Stories
Grapes on a Seljuk period plate Nasruddin lived in the time of the Seljuk Sultans. One day Nasruddin was coming from the vineyard with baskets of grapes on his donkey. The children crowded around [...]
