Baghdad in 900AD, the golden age of Islam | History – Lost Lands

Suitable for teaching 7-11s. The fourth of seven films introducing life in ancient civilisations. Ali lives in the most advanced city in the world: Baghdad. He wants to be a scholar and contribute to the Golden Age of Islam...

We are taken back over 1,000 years, where a servant in Baghdad is trying to solve a riddle that will allow him to become a scholar. Baghdad at the time was the largest city in the world, with a population of about 1 million. It was a perfectly round city, with all the important buildings in the centre. Situated between two rivers, it was also at the centre of the world’s great trade routes and the caliph was therefore extremely wealthy. We learn about how knowledge and learning was key to the success of the Golden Age of Islam. This clip is from the BBC series Lost Lands: A series of short animations that take the viewer back in time to explore seven different ancient civilisations related to the Key Stage 2 / 2nd Level history curriculum. Each episode is narrated from the point of view of a young child or teenager living in that era. The animations also feature archaeological remains and archives that reveal where historians find evidence for these ancient ways of life.

Cem Nizamoglu