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), the Levant (Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel) and
Anatolia (Turkey) to the contemporary cultures of the Middle East
today.
Visit our vibrant ongoing Arab artists
in schools project.
Our resources here support KS3 History, GCSE History, KS3
Citizenship, KS3 RE and KS3-4 Art & Design.
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)
Image slideshow ppt
(4.8Mb)
To order a free hard copy of this resource
learning@britishmuseum.org
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.
Download this resource:
Word
(1620kb) pdf (441kb)
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
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
Browse around our award-winning Ancient Civilizations series of
websites. Designed for students and teachers.
Ancient Egypt (KS2)
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.
Ancient Mesopotamia (KS2)
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.
Mughal India (KS3)
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.
Other useful websites
1001 Inventions (Muslim Scientific Heritage)
Council for
Arab-British Understanding
Leighton
House Museum
L’Institut Du Monde Arabe
(Paris)
Said Foundation
Tate
Britain (Nahnou-Together Project)
V&A
Islamic Middle East Gallery
Useful books
For children
N Badcott, Pocket
timeline of Islamic Civilizations (London, The British Museum
Press, 2009)
For teachers
B. Brend, Islamic
Art (London, The British Museum Press,1991)
S. Canby, Islamic
Art in Detail (London, The British Museum Press,
2005)
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)
V. Porter, Word into
Art (London, The British Museum Press, 2006)
Books which are published by the British Museum Press can be
purchased at the Museum shop, online or at any bookshop.
Teachers receive a 10% discount* when they quote
teacher0910 in Museum shops.
For discount online, visit www.britishmuseumshoponline.org
and enter teacher0910 on checkout.
*Discount cannot be used in conjunction with any other
offers.