Journey Along the Silk Road

Resources and Bibliography

By Karima Diane Alavi  - June, 2003

Books

Dunn, Ross. The Adventures of ibn Battuta, a Muslim Traveler of the 14^th Century. (University of California Press, Berkeley) 1989.

Eickelman, Dale and Piscatori, James. Muslim Travelers: Pilgrimage, Migration and the Religious Imagination. (University of California Press, Berkeley) 1990.

Fletcher, Richard. Moorish Spain. (Henry Holt & Co., NY) 1992.

Le Goff, Jacques. Intellectuals in the Middle Ages. (Blackwell, MA) 1993.

Levathes, Louise. When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne. (Simon and Schuster, NY) 1994.

Smith, Huston. The Illustrated World’s Religions. (Harper and Collins, NY) 1994.

Magazines

Saudi Aramco World (www.aramcoservices.com) Great color photos to use for bulletin boards, art projects and student posters. Free to teachers and students. Class set available at no cost.

Web sites

Background Information for the Teacher on the Silk Road

http://www.newton.mec.edu/Angier/DimSum/Silk%20Road%20Info.html

Travelers on the Silk Road

http://www.silk-road.com/artl/srtravelmain.shtml

Traveling the Silk Road

http://www.hawaii.edu/hga/GAW97/silkroad.html

The Islamic City

http://www.muslimheritage.org/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=206

Mapping the World

http://www.muslimheritage.org/topics/default.cfm?TaxonomyTypeID=6&TaxonomySubTypeID=39&TaxonomyThirdLevelID=-1&ArticleID=217

Journey of a Thousand Li

http://www.bangorschools.net/hs/SR/travelerproject.html

The Rihla of Ibn Battuta

http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/Ibn_Battuta/Ibn_Battuta_Rihla.html

NASA photo of evening light going across the entire earth. You can scroll to the north, south, east and west. You can see the pattern of settlement along the Silk Route this way.

http://www.ecai.org/silkroad/routes/LightsofEarthOriginal.jpg

Marco Polo and China

http://www.eduplace.com/ss/hmss/7/unit/act4.1.html

Arab and Islamic names of moon craters.

http://www.jas.org.jo/cra.html

Ben Ezra Synagogue of Cairo; one of the oldest in the world.

http://www.hsje.org/a_last_stand_by_the_jews_in_egyp.htm

Ben Ezra Synagogue of Cairo

http://www.icomos.org/~fleblanc/projects/p_restoration_ben_ezra.html

Khan al Khalili Market of Cairo:

Article on the great market of Cairo in The World and I Magazine

http://www.worldandi.com/newhome/peoples/2001/1_Jun/Html/page2.asp

Photo tour of the market

http://www.touregypt.net/khan.htm

A virtual tour of Cairo’s mosques, markets and old universities, with maps

http://touregypt.net/cairo/cairoislamic.htm

Information on Cairo’s history with many links to other sites

http://touregypt.net/cairo/cairoislamic.htm

Al Azhar Mosque and University:

History of the mosque, with photos

http://touregypt.net/azharmosque.htm

Expansion on the history of the mosque

http://www.touregypt.net/azhar/al%20azhar1.htm

Home page of Al Azhar University

http://www.alazhar.org/english/profile.htm

The African city of Timbuktu:

BBC report on the historical and the modern city of Timbuktu

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1911321.stm

Description of Timbuktu by Hasan al Wasan, (Leo Africanus), the 16^th C. Muslim scholar

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/leo_africanus.html

A history of Timbuktu with links to other sites

http://africanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa031901a.htm

Short history of Mansa Musa, famed African King

http://www.mrdowling.com/609-mansamusa.html

Information on Mansa Musa and African History

http://purpleplanetmedia.com/bhp/pages/mansamusa.shtml