Mosques – medieval Islamic architecture
Mosque history - Al-Azhar Mosque, Cairo (Egypt, 900s AD) What is a mosque? A mosque (MAH-SK) is a kind of building where people who follow the Islamic faith pray to God. Mosque [...]
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07, 2017
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07, 2017
What is a minaret? Islamic architecture
Kairouan's minaret - the oldest minaret still standing today. What is a minaret? A minaret is a tower that Islamic holy men called muezzins climb in order to call out [...]
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07, 2017
Islamic architecture – History
Kairouan (about 800 AD) The first Islamic buildings Greek architects designed the first buildings in the new Islamic Empire. They had already been living in the area when the Arabs conquered it. Because [...]
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07, 2017
Thermopylae – Xerxes and the Second Persian War
Map of Greece showing where Thermopylae is The Persians are coming! The Greeks heard that Xerxes and the Persians were coming. They disagreed about what to do. The Spartans and Corinthians [...]
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07, 2017
Second Persian War – ancient Greece
Gold coin of Xerxes (or another Persian king) After the Athenians beat the Persians in the First Persian War, at the battle of Marathon, the Persians left the Greeks alone for [...]
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07, 2017
What was the Ionian revolt?
Theater of Miletus Cyrus the Great In 539 BC, Cyrus the Great made himself the King of Kings. He ruled all of West Asia. Along the coast of Anatolia (modern [...]
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06, 2017
History of dice – When were dice invented?
Early dice from ancient Egypt: History of dice How old are dice? People have been playing dice games for a very long time. The very first dice were just sheep [...]
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06, 2017
Wine-making and wine presses – History
Roman slaves treading grapes Wine-making started out pretty simple: you picked the grapes and put them in a big concrete box, and then barefooted people - usually enslaved people - [...]
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06, 2017
History of wine and grapes – West Asia
History of wine: White grapes on the vine Grapes grow abundantly and reliably in the West Asian climate, and taste good, and even gatherers ate wild grapes (which are smaller [...]
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06, 2017
History of wheat farming – West Asia
Wheat history: a field of wheat Did early humans eat wheat? Ever since people left Africa for West Asia, about 70,000 BC, they have probably always eaten wheat, which tastes [...]
