Surat Al-Ardh: The Muslim Masters of Mapmaking

Cartography — a word of Greek origin — is the science and art of mapmaking, and it is an endeavor central to the intellectual development of human beings. Knowing what the world looks like changes what a civilization believes it can do.

Where It Began

When the Muslims of ninth-century Baghdad set out to preserve the whole of classical Greek science in Arabic — the new language of civilization — they discovered Ptolemy. His Geography was a guide to making maps, and it proved enormously important to every Muslim mapmaker who followed.

Over the next five hundred years Muslims extended their knowledge of geography and refined their mapmaking, eventually producing maps of great complexity and beauty. Modern cartography has its origin in those breakthroughs.

What the Book Is

Not a technical history. It is written to show a young reader that the maps he takes for granted have a lineage, and that a substantial part of that lineage runs through the Muslim world at a time when most of Europe had no comparable tradition.

Who It Is For

Older children and teenagers, particularly those drawn to geography, science or history. School libraries. Adults will find it a quick and worthwhile read.

Related Reading

• The Silver Dirham — Viking traders and Muslim silver, in the same series
• Science and Technology in Islamic History — the wider history of Muslim science and technology
• Book of Ibns — the scholars behind the achievements