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Maqamat al-Hariri, Kuttab School

In this painting of a kuttab, or primary school, boys sit on a mat or carpet huddled close together with their writing boards. Boys, and sometimes girls, learned to recite the Qur'an at an early age, as well as the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic in schools called kuttabs.

Thumbnail of women and children in mosque
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Majalis al-‘ushshak: Gathering in a Mosque

This image from a 16th-century Persian manuscript illustrates the visit of a renowned teacher to a mosque. Such visits were much anticipated, and this image demonstrates the wide range of people who attended. Seating arrangements illustrate the social organization for the event.

Thumbnail of fanoos making father and son
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Child in Ramdan Lantern Family Workshop

In the weeks and months before the start of Ramadan, the ninth lunar month when Muslims fast, traditional workshops like the one on Ahmad Maher Street in the medieval quarter of Cairo, turn recycled tin cans into glittering lanterns.

Thumbnail of girl looking at lantern
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Egyptian Ramadan Lanterns

The photograph at the top shows two children gazing into the soft light of a fanoos [fan-NOOS], or traditional Ramadan lantern. In the photograph below, Ramadan lanterns are hung outside a shop in a section of medieval Cairo.

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Eid Holiday Amusements

On the two major celebrations of the Islamic lunar calendar—Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha—public festivities in cities and towns across Muslim regions of Asia, Africa, and elsewhere include rides of various kinds.

Thumbnail of ijazahs diploma
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Ijazahs (Diploma)

During the medieval period, gifted children who successfully memorized the entire Qur'an left their home at the age of about 12-14 to travel to a nearby town and eventually around the Middle East to study with renowned academic authorities to hear historical, religious, philosophical, and legal t

Thumbnail of sarcophagus detail
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M. Cornelius Statius

Death is part of every society, but the rituals and objects surrounding death have varied across centuries and continents.

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Child’s Life Course

Death is part of every society, but the rituals and objects surrounding death have varied across centuries and continents.

Thumbnail of dance of the dead mural
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The Dance of the Dead

Children are not frequent subjects of medieval art, but the figure of the child does occur in a medieval artistic and literary form known as the Danse macabre or Dance of the Dead.

Thumbnail of dance of death illustration
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The Dance of Death

Children are not frequent subjects of medieval art, but the figure of the child does occur in a medieval artistic and literary form known as the Danse macabre or Dance of the Dead.