Sufi dancers Not long after the foundation of Islam and the life of Mohammed, about 650 AD, there were people who became known as Sufis (SOO-fees). Sufis can be Sunni or Shiite. These people wanted a more [...]
Mohammed with his daughter Fatima (she's in the front) Mohammed's views on women Mohammed loved and admired the women in his life. He tried to give women more rights than [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
Indian food: rice, chapatis, sauces, lentils A second poem: When to this self I was firmly attached, from me, hidden You were still staying. While I was seeking You, time [...]
Cotton bolls hanging from the plants I began as a bloom of cotton, outdoors. Then they brought me to a room where they washed me. Then the hard strokes of the [...]
Spinning thread in the garden, like Lalla Arifa (1400s AD) Lalla Arifa growing up Lalla Arifa lived in the 1300s AD, in Kashmir, in northern India. Most people in medieval Kashmir [...]
Harappan Seal One of the earliest known writing systems came from India, probably around 2500 BC. Unfortunately, nobody can read the Harappan writing yet. But we know people were using this writing to [...]
