1. UKS2 Topic: Early Islamic Civilisation
Block D: The rise and fall of Baghdad
Session 1
© Original resource copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users.
We refer you to our warning, at the foot of the block overview, about links to other websites.

2. Baghdad
بغداد
The script below ‘Baghdad’ is the Arabic for Baghdad.

3. Baghdad

4. Here are some artists’ impressions of ancient Baghdad.
Look at them carefully and ask questions about them…

7. http

10. "Maqamat al-Hariri, Garden Scene by al-Wasiti [Painting]," in Children and Youth in History, Item #240, (accessed April 6, 2016). Annotated by Susan Douglass.
The image by 13th–century illustrator al-Wasiti (fl. 1237) is from the Maqamat (Assemblies), a collection of stories of a picaresque hero. In the upper half of the illustration, a boy in a short tunic and cap with tiraz embroidered bands, leads animals yoked to the saqiyya, a geared water-raising device that irrigated fields and gardens. The boy grasps the tail of the animal and carries a switch as the animals pace around the circle, turning the wheel to raise the water. The water flows into the lower part of the illustration, where guests sit in a garden around a basin and decorative fountain, listening to poetry and music accompanied by a lute. Baghdad had many garden suburbs along the canals, so this scene reflects urban as well as rural social life. The social class of the boy is likely beneath that of the group attending the social gathering. He might be the son of the family who cultivated the land, or a servant.

11. "Maqamat al-Hariri, Rural Scenes by al-Wasiti [Painting]," in Children and Youth in History, Item #241, (accessed April 6, 2016). Annotated by Susan Douglass.
The illustration belongs to the Baghdad School of miniature illustration, and depicts scenes of ordinary life. A date palm, the mosque, and the individual brick or adobe houses line the village street. Al-Wasiti portrayed the intimacy of life in the village, with each door open to show the family dynamics and work being done. A girl stands in one doorway with a woman, probably her mother. A woman in another doorway appears to call to someone, while a husband and wife nearby converse or argue. Poultry roost on the roofs of houses, a woman spins thread, and people tend domestic animals, including sheep, goats and water buffalo, often the work of women and children.

12. "Maqamat al-Hariri, Kuttab School [Painting]," in Children and Youth in History, Item #243, (accessed April 6, 2016). Annotated by Susan Douglass.
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. It might be held in a mosque, a building especially for the purpose. This type of school was common in urban and rural settings throughout Muslim lands. An interesting feature in several illustrations of kuttabs is the fan suspended from the ceiling, with one of the boys pulling a rope to swing it. Perhaps the boy chosen for this task was the one least proficient in his lessons!