Welcome to the Golden Age of Muslim civilization, during which men and women of different

faiths and cultures worked together to create thousands of inventions and discoveries that
changed the world. Stretching over three continents, from Spain and northern Africa through
the Middle East to Indonesia and China, Muslim civilization contributed to advances in science,
mathematics, medicine, technology, architecture, and more.

ALEPPO
ASTROLABES
Merriam al-Astrulabiya was skilled at making very accurate astrolabes,
complex gadgets for finding directions, telling time, and observing the sun and
stars. Astrolabes are very hard to make. It could take up to six months to build
an astrolabe! First the makers had to do extensive calculations, then engrave all
the parts, and then assemble them all by hand!

CORDOBA, SPAIN
WINGED FLIGHT
In 852 a Spanish Muslim named ‘Abbas ibn Firnas made an early parachute jump
when he leaped off the Great Masjid of Cordoba (Spain) wearing a reinforced cloak.
Twenty-three years later, 65-year-old Ibn Firnas made the first controlled flight using
what we would call a hang glider.