Incredible Inventions
This invention helped mapmakers measure distances by reflecting light beams.
What is the infra-red light beam?
This city was famous for its enormous bazaar and was a key stop on the Silk Road.
What is Samarkand?
This city is home to the Dome of the Rock, one of Islam’s oldest landmarks.
What is Jerusalem?
Fatima and Hadi received a letter from this city, describing its magnificent mosques and bustling streets.
What is Bukhara?
This technique for making beautiful patterns in silk spread from China to the Islamic world.
What is silk-weaving?
This triangular sail design allowed ships to sail against the wind.
What is the lateen sail?
These specialized traders traveled in caravans, selling silk, spices, and precious metals.
Who are merchants?
This observatory in Baghdad was a center for studying astronomy.
What is the House of Wisdom?
This traveler’s narrow escape from bandits became one of his most famous stories.
Who is Ibn Battuta?
This musical instrument, commonly used today, was traded across the Silk Road.
What is the oud?
This early navigation tool helped sailors determine their direction using the stars.
What is the astrolabe?
This African empire traded gold and salt across the Sahara.
What is the Mali Empire?
This stunning square in Samarkand is surrounded by beautiful mosques and madrassahs.
What is the Registan?
This legendary hero inspired Hadi to dream of distant adventures.
Who is Sinbad?
This sweet treat, first enjoyed in the East, made its way to Europe through trade.
What is sugar?
Al-Idrisi’s maps were so detailed they were used for this many (number) centuries.
What is three centuries?
Markets in these structures provided safety for travelers and their goods.
What are caravanserais?
This ancient stone city in Zimbabwe was a center of trade and culture.
What is Great Zimbabwe?
This merchant’s son gave Hadi a toy that inspired his flying toy invention.
Who is the Sofala merchant’s son?
This type of pottery, developed in China, was highly prized and inspired artisans in the Islamic world.
What is porcelain?
This revolutionary form of map storage and creation allows people to view maps on screens today.
What are computer maps?
This term refers to exchanging goods without using money.
What is bartering?
Built by the Fatimid dynasty, this mosque is a landmark of Islamic Cairo.
What is the Al-Azhar Mosque?
Fatima wondered if one day people could travel like the birds in the sky. What invention did this foreshadow?
What is the airplane?
Fatima and Hadi’s father wrote about these shared aspects of human society, which remain unseen on maps.
What are cultures and traditions?