Post-Classical (500 CE - 1450 CE)
Barada Panel in Great Mosque in Damascus
The panel shown here is five meters (16.7 feet) above ground level on the wall in the courtyard of the Great Mosque in Damascus. The original image is created in mosaic technique.
Analyzing Religious Texts
The modules in Methods present case studies that demonstrate how scholars interpret different kinds of historical evidence in world history. In the video below, historian Sumaiya Hamdani analyzes a Hadith. Hadith are reports about what the Prophet Muhammad said or thought.
The Prophet Muhammad and A’isha
This is a depiction of A’isha, one of Muhammad’s wives. She was close to the Prophet and is the author of roughly 1,200 Hadith. Her involvement tells us something about the public role that some women played in the early Muslim community and the respect she was given.
Excerpts from the Hadith by A’isha
Hadith are reports about what the Prophet Muhammad said or thought. They provide Muslims with a sense of how Muhammad applied the guidelines of the Koran to daily life. They are based on the memories and stories of those who knew the Prophet and were recorded a few generations after his death.
Hagia Sophia
This an image of the Hagia Sophia, the cathedral of the Byzantine Empire in Constantinople. It was built in the early 6th century by the Emperor Justinian and stands today, almost 1,500 years later, despite earthquakes, wars, and revolutions.
Analyzing Objects
The modules in Methods present case studies that demonstrate how scholars interpret different kinds of historical evidence in world history.
Hariti Relief Panel at Candi Mendut, Java
The carved stone relief is from the interior of Candi Mendut, a Buddhist temple in Central Java. Mendut was built during the early Shailendra dynasty in about 824 CE. It may have been built on the site of a Hindu temple from a previous century.
Kuwera Relief Panel at Candi Mendut, Java
The carved stone relief is from the interior of Candi Mendut, a Buddhist temple in Central Java. Mendut was built during the early Shailendra dynasty in about 824 CE. It may have been built on the site of a Hindu temple from a previous century.
Sippy Cup
This ceramic cup with a drinking spout is from the cargo of an Arab or Indian ship that sank in the Strait of Malacca between 826 and 850 CE. The ship, which contained thousands of other ceramic pieces, was probably bound for the Persian Gulf.
Maqamat al-Hariri, Garden Scene by al-Wasiti
The image by 13th–century illustrator al-Wasiti (fl. 1237) is from the Maqamat (Assemblies), a collection of stories of a picaresque hero.