The Umayyads – Early Islamic History
Tomb of Ali, the first Imam and the fourth caliph, in Iraq (it was rebuilt about 1500 AD by the Safavids) Mohammed died in 632 AD. His second wife's father, a rich [...]
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07, 2017
Islamic Spain and the Umayyads
Cordoba mosque, Spain By the late 600s AD, the Moors, people from North Africa who had converted to Islam, were regularly attacking Visigothic Spain. At first these raids were not very serious, and the Spanish [...]
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07, 2017
Hafsid Dynasty – Medieval Islam
The Hafsid Dynasty minted gold coins like this one The Hafsids replace the Almohads In the early 1200s AD, the Almohad empire fell apart into Marinid, Christian, and Hafsid kingdoms. The middle of North Africa [...]
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07, 2017
The Abbasids – Medieval Islamic history
Minaret at Samarra, 847 AD The first Abbasid caliphs In 750 AD, the Abbasid caliphs murdered all of the surviving Umayyad men but one. Who were the Umayyads? All our medieval Islam articles [...]
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07, 2017
Nasrid palaces – the Alhambra
Court of the Lions, Alhambra (1200s AD) By 1250 AD, the Christian kings of Spain had pushed the Almohads south so that they only ruled just the city of Granada, far in the south [...]
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07, 2017
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
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
Almohad architecture
Minaret of Koutoubia mosque, Marrakesh (Morocco, 1100s AD) Almohads built a lot of buildings When the Almohads first conquered Morocco and Spain from the Almovarids in the 1100s AD, they showed their strength by building [...]
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06, 2017
From honey to sugar – History of Honey
History of honey: Beehives in Europe, about 1400 AD Honey in antiquity All through antiquity, honey kept on being very important as a sweetener, a preservative, and a medicine throughout [...]
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06, 2017
Chocolate and sugar: Chocolate comes to Europe
History of chocolate: an Aztec man serving a cup of cacao Chocolate and Europeans When Spanish invaders came to the court of the Aztec ruler Montezuma in 1519, Montezuma naturally [...]
