Middle East and Islamic world at KS3 and KS4

Discover the many cultures of the Middle East and Islamic world, from the ancient civilizations of Persia (Iran), Mesopotamia (Iraq), Levant (Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel) and Anatolia (Turkey) to the contemporary cultures of the Middle East today.

Visit our ongoing Artists in Schools project. 

Our resources here support KS3 history, GCSE history, KS3 citizenship, KS3 R.E. and KS3-4 art and design.

Resources for visits

Islamic angel

Islamic Civilizations

Explore the medieval Islamic world. Find out about the importance of religion, science and technology, architecture, travel and trade, and courtly life.

Suitable for KS3 history: Islamic civilizations and Britain 1066-1500.

Download this resource:
PDF (396Kb) Word (1.58Mb)


Classroom resources

Discover the Arab World

NEW Discover the Arab World

Use the rich collection of the British Museum to explore key themes about Arab people and culture: achievement, art, conflict, diversity, gender and global interaction.

Supports teaching about the region at KS3/4 in art and design, history, citizenship and religious education.

  • booklet including teachers' notes and activities for students
  • 30 full colour image cards with key questions and activities
  • themes, curriculum links, maps and weblinks

Download   
Booklet  pdf (2 Mb)
Image cards  pdf (4 Mb)

To order a free hard copy of this resource, email:
learning@britishmuseum.orgKarim Rida Said Foundation


Online resources

Explore

Camel decoration Search highlights of the Museum's Middle East collection online

Discover hundreds of objects both from the ancient Middle East and Islamic cultures. Find good quality images, detailed information about particular objects and background articles.

Online tours for teachers

Themed selections of objects and information to explore

Word into art

Word into Art

A tour of contemporary artworks that show how writing continues as a powerful basis for Middle Eastern art today.

 

Arabic calligraphic art

Arabic Script: Mightier than the Sword

Explore the beauty and meaning of Arabic writing through inscribed objects and examples of calligraphy from all over the Islamic lands.


Iran before Islam

Iran before Islam: The Sasanians

A look at the Sasanian dynasty, which ruled Iran before Islam and followed Zoroastrianism.

 

Arab dagger and sheath

Agatha Christie and Archaeology

See some of the artefacts from the sites that the writer and her husband Max Mallowan excavated in the Middle East between 1928-58, together with photographs that she took there.

British Museum websites

Designed for students and teachers.

Mughal India screengrabMughal India

www.mughalindia.co.uk
Take a tour of the Taj Mahal, explore the methods of Mughal miniature painting and delve into a Mughal coin cabinet. Includes resources and lesson plans.

Ancient mesopotamia websiteAncient Mesopotamia

www.mesopotamia.co.uk
Explore the ruins of a palace, the library of an astronomer and the Royal Tombs of Ur, then build your own ziggurat and calculate the movements of the planets.

Ancient Egypt screengrabAncient Egypt

www.ancientegypt.co.uk
Explore temples and pyramids, make sense of hieroglyphs, travel by boat up and down the Nile, learn about ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses.

Other useful websites

Karim Rida Said Foundation

Council for Arab-British Understanding

1001 Inventions (Muslim Heritage)

V&A Islamic Middle East Gallery

Tate Britain (Nahnou-Together Project)

Leighton House Museum

L’Institute Du Monde Arabe (Paris)


Useful books

S. Canby, Islamic Art in Detail (London, The British Museum Press, 2005)

V. Porter, Word into Art (London, The British Museum Press, 2006)

B. Brend, Islamic Art (London, The British Museum Press, 1991)

P. Hitti, History of the Arabs, (London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2002)

A. Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples (Faber and Faber, 2005)

R. Hoyland, Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam (Routledge, 2001)

R. Irwin, Islamic Art (Laurence King Publishing, 1997)

B. Lewis, The Arabs in History, (Oxford University Press, 2002)

P. Mansfield, The Arabs (Penguin Books, 1992)

Books which are published by the British Museum Press, can be purchased at the museum shop, online or at any bookshop.