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 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
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.org
Online resources
Explore
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
A tour of contemporary artworks that show how writing continues
as a powerful basis for Middle Eastern art today.
Explore the beauty and meaning of Arabic writing through
inscribed objects and examples of calligraphy from all over the
Islamic lands.
A look at the Sasanian dynasty, which ruled Iran before Islam
and followed Zoroastrianism.
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
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
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
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.