Today in class we played a game that simulated the wars fought to get control of the “Holy Land.”

During the Middle Ages there were many factions (or groups) fighting for the land we now call Israel and Palestine. Jews, Christians, and Muslims all held this area to be sacred. They particularly believed that Jerusalem was important. In fact, several wars were fought to control this Holy city. We call these wars The Crusades.

Jerusalem has several places that all three religions believe to be important. For Jews there is the last remaining wall of the Temple. In 70 ce The Romans destroyed the Holy Temple to God. This temple was built on the same ground as the Temple that King Solomon Built the original Temple. For Christians there is the Church of The Holy Sepulchre. This is a huge Church that covers the area where Jesus was crucified and the tomb where he was buried. For Muslims there is the Dome of The Rock. This is an important Mosque where the rock that Abraham was going to sacrifice his son Isaac. It is also the place where Muhammad was brought by the winged horse during his Night Journey.

This area is still being fought over today.

What do you think about the game we played?

Today we completed our look at the contributions of Islam. We picked the six things which are most important to us today and ranked them 1 - 6. We then put this ranking on a spectrum from Most important to Least important.

For our Warm up we answered these three questions:

1. How did Muslims modify the land to adapt to the climate?
2. What is not allowed in Islamic Art?
3. What unified the Muslim empires?

In class we completed page 66 in our ISN.

Do Not Forget That We Have a Test

Tomorrow!

We answered three questions for our warm uo.

1. What are mosques used for?
2. What do Baghdad, Cairo, and Cordoba have in common?
3. What important mathematical symbol or concept did Muslims name?

Today we completed all sixteen items in the ISN Reading Notes 10.

Many of the things we take for granted come from the worlds of Islam. From Math to Astronomy, from chess to medicine.

For our warm up we read 10.3 - 10.5

Then we discussed the following picture from a Medieval Arabic text.

Chess: Placard A, Section 10.10.

We them broke into partners and circulated around the room examining the other placards. We worked on pages 62 through 65 in the ISN: Reading Notes 10.