Golden Age of Muslim Civilization

How did geography and trade contribute to the growth of the Muslim Empire, the spread of Islam and the achievements of the Golden Age?

The geography of the Arabian Peninsula is very harsh and hard to live on. Most of the Arabian Peninsula is covered in vast deserts, the occasional oasis and very little rainfall. But how did this empire grow to become so successful? Due to the geography being so harsh, all people became nomads. 

The traveled around in their caravans and since there is not much they could earn by moving around, they became traders or Bedouins. The deserts led people to guide traders to their desired locations. Also, many nomads became traders and traveled all over the Empire, going place to place, sharing ideas, attaining ideas, spreading their new religious beliefs and selling their objects to benefit the Empire. The geography caused the people to move around and mingle with other people which caused the Empire to grow in the sense of wealth, trade and religion. Christians on the eastern and southern coats of the Mediterranean converted to Islam and that made the empire grow. Soldiers from the Muslim Empire tried to defeat the Roman, Byzantine and Persian empires, they could not, but instead waited and when they became weaker and defeated, the Muslims would attack and conquer. The achievements of the Golden Age were all based on how successful the Muslim Empire was. Since all faiths could be practiced in the Muslim Empire, many people moved and shared their ideas which led to new ideas, people working on old ideas such as Greek and Indian. The Golden Age was a time when people started to improve on math, poetry and science. Scholars like al- Kindi said that people should not be ashamed of studying other peoples' history and with that scholars created algebra, numbers, poetry and the famous Whirling Dervishes.

 All these achievements were used to benefit the people, for example: poetry was used to teach ideas and beliefs. Hardly any of this would be possible without trade which brought money. Money paid musicians and singers which made it so popular. Yes, the geography seems to not be beneficial, but in fact it is. It gave the Muslim Empire money and patience. Without it, nothing would have been possible! 

Bedouin Life

It's a hot summers day
and we set out to pray,
hoping that todays day will bring us salvation.
Two traders appear, one from far and one from near,
to ask our help in finding the trade route.
We agree to help out and without any doubts, we set off to their desired location.
The camel's feet step into the glossy, yellow sand,
whilst the sun burns hard upon us.
The wind blows softly making a hushing sound,
and the view seems as if it's just a back round.

We walk slow,  but in order to go, we need to make a stop for some water.
The camel falls to its knees, while we get off and step on our feet we notice a snake coming towards us.
The traders scream and shout, though we have no doubts, we are Bedouins;
we handle this situation.

We grab a spear, and without any fear, we attack the snake head on.
The snake falls quickly to our surprise and it is time for us to begone.
We walk day and night, stopping at each oasis site,
refilling our water and energy.

We pray once more as we set out for more;
hoping Allah will guide us.
The site in front of us is the town Mecca,
where each one of us must meet and heal our aura.

The traders thank us and give us a few bucks,
we have now made our pay to feed the little mouths that need food and love.
The traders open their sacks and inside are gold, expensive cloths, spice, incense and tusks.

We walk around the center, seeing people of all kinds and with husks.

The trek back to our nomadic families is long and hard,

but we know we have succeed from the start.

And so each week is based like this,

we will work for Allah and never dismiss.

He keeps us safe and keeps us going,

even when we are aging.

End of Byzantine Empire Reflection

Imagine someone saying to you, "Learning about the Byzantine Empire isn't very important since it's long gone!" What would you tell them in order to change their mind? (include at least 2 visuals in your post)


I would tell me that without learning about the past, humans can't improve the future or in this case know about our ancestors or how Christianity and the Eastern Orthodox Church came to be. We need to learn about these things so that we can be educated to know what are the differences between religions and how they came to be. For example, Constantine introduced Christianity to Constantinople and then the church broke off into two branches of Eastern Orthodox. Justinian then built the Hagia Sophia which is one of the biggest orthodox churches to have ever been built and one of the oldest to be still standing. Lets say you go for a holiday, you choose to go to Istanbul. While your sight seeing, your family member asks you what is that giant building. How would you know what it is? Aren't you curious? You can't forget important happenings in history because it shapes our future. Also, learning about the Byzantine Empire will give you a perspective on how democracy and laws were made. For example, we still use the Justinian code. We also use the Jurist's decision which is when a judge can grant a privilege to make a law on court cases. These two are called statutory laws and common laws which are still used today. If you choose to become a lawyer as your future career motive, then you must know these laws and if you were taught in school about the Byzantine Empire then you will have less struggles in learning about the laws. In addition to that you need to know how cities came to be. For example, Istanbul was a Christian city which then changed to an Eastern Orthodox city and then finally the Ottoman Turks conquered the city and named it Istanbul which it is today. Lastly, learning about the past makes you an intelligent person. You never know when you might need to talk about the Byzantine Empire, or when you are applying for college or taking an IQ test, you might need to know these things. 
Below: Hagia Sophia and a view of Istanbul

My Mosaic

The cross that I chose is called the Slavonic Cross or the Slavic Cross. It is mostly used by Eastern Catholics and Russian Orthodox, it is also the Byzantine cross with the footrest diagonal. The slant is said to represent heaven which is the top of the cross and the bottom is for the sinners or hell. The "X" shape also symbolizes the cross which St. Andrew was crucified. The first bar on the cross is where Jesus's head was. The top of it that has three sides one to the left, right and up means the father, the son and the holy spirit. The middle bar was where the hands were nailed. The lower bar, as I mentioned, has many meanings but I think the most logical one is who is on Jesus's right side will go to heaven and those on the left will go to hell.

Mosaic Field Trip

Questions:
1. Describe the mosaic you have chosen to include details about figures, colours, clothing, objects etc.
2. Does the mosaic follow the "rules" according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art?
3. Is this mosaic a good example of Byzantine Art? Why/not?


Answers:
1. The mosaic I have chosen is Jesus being put on the crucifix. On the mosaic there are a lot of shadowing. For example the cloth that Jesus wearing is blue and white with some brown to make it look like it is folded. The stars are gold and the back round is light blue. To make the stars look like they are shining, there is a circle around the star which is dark blue, making it look like it shines and is a holy star. Around the crucifix is a brown boarded to make it look 3D, but the original colour is green. There are four objects which are nails in Jesus's hands and feet. They are also made to look 3D and brown with red. The red is the blood dripping. The details on this mosaic are Jesus's facial features, his upper body and knees. His hair has different shades and his torso has different shades. His knees also have different shades to show they are facing another way that shows a shadow. Below the crucifix isa pile of rocks that are different colours to show different kinds of rocks. The grass is green with different shades to indicate shadows and where the grass is.
2. This mosaic does follow the rules but lacks the floating feet. It has a frontal figure in full length, a meaningful gesture which is the famous one of Jesus being on the cross, the placement shows he is hanging on the cross, the shadows are define by outlines, the composition is balanced, the natural setting is not as important as the scene itself,  the colours are strong and brilliant along with the patterns on the cloth which are blue and white lines and the story is clear.
3. This mosaic is a good example of Byzantine Art because it depicts an important story in history. It also follows the rules of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is also interesting and also made up to mosaic expectations.

Becoming a Saint?

When the Roman Catholic church and the Eastern Orthodox church split, becoming a saint was two different ways in two different lights. To become a saint in the Roman Catholic church you had to go through a process called canonization which is to become a saint. In fact, both churches use this method. In the E.O church, one of the most famous saints was Basil of Ostrog, Saint Basil or in Serbian, Sveti Vasilije Ostroski. He was born in Herzegovina and became a monk at a Monastery name Dormition Tvrdos near Trebinje. He was chosen to become a saint through acts of kindness, holiness, charity and the determination to his religion. To have an even stricter life, he moved to the mountains called Ostrog. There he lived in a cave to his death, praying for everyone and living a very humble life. After his death there, the cave in which he lived in became a monastery and his remains had miracles. It was said that the remains had a sweet scent and when touched, people would be cured from illnesses. Since I am an Eastern Orthodox follower, I was told of the story how every time something horrible happens to an E.O family or they are in search of guidance, you need to pray to Saint Basil and he will always help. To become a saint you need to be very humble, caring, religious and work any kind of miracle.

Question #7 The Byzantine Empire

Question:
Which civilization do you think was the most advanced-that of the Greeks, the Romans, or the Byzantines. Write a speech explaining your answer.
Answer:
I think that the most advanced civilization was the Greek. Firstly, because they were the "first" to start off the civilizations in Europe. The Greeks were scattered around mountains making them isolated. Being intelligent, they  used the water to get to other people, products and ideas. They then sailed to Persia and Egypt. Without them, no one would have thought about the ideas we use nowadays. Secondly, the influence they gave to other civilizations. Without the Greeks, arts, literature, ideas, language, religion, architecture and education the Romans and Byzantines wouldn't have been anything. The Greek influence were very strong in both civilizations which caused them to be remember and reign even when they fell. It takes a lot of advancement to be a influence to other civilizations. They managed to accomplish that and their legacy remained. The arts gave the Romans and Byzantines their ideas and ways to make art. Their literature gave educated people who could read and write, this gives even us a view on ancient lives. The ideas pretty much gave the civilization life, thanks to the Greeks. The language made trade, ideas shared, writing, reading and education to the Romans and Byzantines. The religion started off polytheistic which was used as the Roman religion. The Romans built many things based on the Greek architecture and without them nothing would be none of this would be possible. Thirdly, their history. Many mistakes made by the Greeks were used to improve the Roman and Byzantine civilizations. Since they were the oldest, they gave the younger civilizations a good idea how to be led and to be advanced. In conclusion, I think that the Greek civilization was the most advanced because they were the "first" to start off, they gave the most influence and their history gave the other civilizations advancement. Without the Greek civilization, the Romans and Byzantines would have never developed.