0:00:00 > 0:00:01CRICKETS CHIRRUP
0:00:01 > 0:00:04OWL HOOTS
0:00:05 > 0:00:10This is a series about the Dark Ages, when civilisation was
0:00:10 > 0:00:14said to have stopped and ignorance flooded the world.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20I've been trying to convince you that it didn't happen,
0:00:20 > 0:00:24that the Dark Ages were a fine era for art.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28But in this film, I am going further.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33The art we'll be looking at in this film is some of the most
0:00:33 > 0:00:35sophisticated ever made.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40If any art challenges the myth of the Dark Ages,
0:00:40 > 0:00:43it's the art of Islam.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46EXPLOSION
0:00:46 > 0:00:49HORSE WHINNIES
0:01:29 > 0:01:31This is Cordoba in Spain.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35That's the great Mosque of Cordoba up there.
0:01:35 > 0:01:41And this handy little Dark Age gadget is an astrolabe.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45Some people call this the first computer and what this thing
0:01:45 > 0:01:51does is calculate exactly where you are, by using the stars.
0:01:54 > 0:01:59Islamic stargazers perfected the astrolabe in the Dark Ages to
0:01:59 > 0:02:06work out the direction of Mecca, so they always knew which way to pray.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10It filled their art with cosmic patterns.
0:02:11 > 0:02:16Later on, I will be showing you how to use one of these, I hope,
0:02:16 > 0:02:20but first we need to travel back in time to
0:02:20 > 0:02:26the beginnings of Islam, to the first fascinating creations
0:02:26 > 0:02:28of Islamic art and architecture.
0:02:28 > 0:02:34So right now, we're here in Cordoba, Spain.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36To go back to the beginnings of Islamic art,
0:02:36 > 0:02:41we need to go right across the Mediterranean to here.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45Jerusalem -
0:02:45 > 0:02:49the heart of the religious Dark Ages.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52What huge dramas have been enacted here.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56What important art has been created?
0:02:56 > 0:03:00Most of it's gone unfortunately, but not all of it.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02Some of it has survived,
0:03:02 > 0:03:07notably that magnificent golden dome on the horizon -
0:03:07 > 0:03:09the Dome of the Rock.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16It's one of the most significant buildings ever put up,
0:03:16 > 0:03:19a piece of architecture that changed history.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23You couldn't really ask for a more dramatic location, could you?
0:03:23 > 0:03:28If you think it looks good from up here on the Mount of Olives,
0:03:28 > 0:03:30just wait until we get closer.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38Mohammed died in 632 AD
0:03:38 > 0:03:42and for the first 50 years or so after his death,
0:03:42 > 0:03:45Islam was preoccupied with conquest.
0:03:47 > 0:03:52The speed at which the Islamic empire expanded was remarkable.
0:03:52 > 0:03:58In just a few decades, it went from nothing to gigantic.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01It was the most dramatic, most aggressive
0:04:01 > 0:04:06and fastest feat of empire building the world has seen.
0:04:10 > 0:04:16This is the Islamic empire, just 100 years after Mohammed's death.
0:04:16 > 0:04:21Up here, the whole of Spain, all of North Africa,
0:04:21 > 0:04:26the entire Middle East, as far across as the borders of India.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37But all this astonishingly successful conquest, didn't leave
0:04:37 > 0:04:40much time for art.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44Almost nothing survives from the first years of Islam.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Clearly, art was not a priority.
0:04:47 > 0:04:52And then, out of nothing, as if by magic,
0:04:52 > 0:04:55this appears - the Dome of the Rock.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02Nothing in Islamic art prepares us for this.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04It's just suddenly there.
0:05:04 > 0:05:11A definitive Islamic creation, seemingly conjured out of thin air.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15It's like a flying saucer or something,
0:05:15 > 0:05:19that's landed out of nowhere and something you sense immediately,
0:05:19 > 0:05:24even from this distance, is the powerful geometry of it,
0:05:24 > 0:05:29that air of mathematical clarity
0:05:29 > 0:05:32and that's something that continues in Islamic architecture.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43As you can see, it's an octagon, it's got eight sides.
0:05:43 > 0:05:49Octagons have a special symbolic presence, because they combine
0:05:49 > 0:05:53the geometry of a circle with the geometry of a square.
0:05:54 > 0:06:00I'll show you. If I draw a circle here...
0:06:06 > 0:06:12And then... two intersecting squares...
0:06:15 > 0:06:16..here...
0:06:20 > 0:06:21..and here...
0:06:25 > 0:06:29The shape they form, the shape in the middle...
0:06:39 > 0:06:41That's the octagon.
0:06:45 > 0:06:50The octagon is a surprisingly popular Dark Age shape with
0:06:50 > 0:06:52powerful, sacred meanings.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56If the Earth is a square and heaven is a perfect circle,
0:06:56 > 0:07:02the octagon is a symbolic bridge between the two.
0:07:02 > 0:07:07All the proportions of the Dome of the Rock are meaningful.
0:07:07 > 0:07:12So these walls here... the walls of the octagon...
0:07:12 > 0:07:17each of those is about 20 metres long.
0:07:19 > 0:07:25And the Dome in the middle, the height of that's
0:07:25 > 0:07:32again about 20 metres and the diameter of it's also 20 metres.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36All these proportions have been carefully calculated,
0:07:36 > 0:07:37have a purpose.
0:07:39 > 0:07:45It's as if the entire building has been shaped by a divine mathematics.
0:07:47 > 0:07:52And those divine mathematics have given it a sacred meaning.
0:07:53 > 0:07:59This location, Temple Mount, is the holiest spot in Jerusalem.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03This is where King Solomon built the first Jewish temple,
0:08:03 > 0:08:07the one destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and then Herod, the infamous
0:08:07 > 0:08:10King Herod, built the second temple here as well.
0:08:13 > 0:08:18Herod's temple was made entirely from white marble and was
0:08:18 > 0:08:24so huge, it covered 67 acres of the sacred location.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27So grand, so pompous
0:08:27 > 0:08:31and to my eyes, so inelegant!
0:08:33 > 0:08:37So the Dome of the Rock sits on layer upon layer
0:08:37 > 0:08:40of crucial religious history
0:08:40 > 0:08:44and when the Muslims conquered Jerusalem in 638 AD
0:08:44 > 0:08:47and claimed this site for Islam, they took possession
0:08:47 > 0:08:53of what is probably the most loaded religious spot on Earth.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55And that's just the outside!
0:09:00 > 0:09:05For me, this mysterious interior is one of the most atmospheric
0:09:05 > 0:09:08achievements of the Dark Ages.
0:09:08 > 0:09:14There's something so haunting about the way the light works in here,
0:09:14 > 0:09:16the shimmer of the mosaics,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19the whispers of the calligraphy.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29Basically, it's a circular shrine.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31It's not a mosque,
0:09:31 > 0:09:36it's a place of pilgrimage that has been built around a sacred site.
0:09:36 > 0:09:42The site it's all been built around is the site of this holy rock here.
0:09:44 > 0:09:49The Jews believe this is the rock on which Abraham prepared to
0:09:49 > 0:09:51sacrifice his son, Isaac.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56And the Ark of the Covenant is thought to lie hidden
0:09:56 > 0:09:58somewhere underneath, as well.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06- SPEAKING SOFTLY:- Islam has a different tradition.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09Islam believes this is the holy rock
0:10:09 > 0:10:13from which the prophet Mohammed set off on his great night journey
0:10:13 > 0:10:15to heaven.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19The angel Gabriel came to visit Mohammed at Mecca
0:10:19 > 0:10:21and brought him here to Jerusalem.
0:10:21 > 0:10:26From this rock, the prophet ascended to heaven and there,
0:10:26 > 0:10:32in paradise, he met God and God instructed him
0:10:32 > 0:10:35on the Muslim duty of prayer.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42So this holy rock, like the architecture around it,
0:10:42 > 0:10:47is a point of contact between man and God
0:10:47 > 0:10:51and that's the religious message of the whole building.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55If you saw the first film in this series,
0:10:55 > 0:10:59you'll recognise this shape, because we've seen it before.
0:10:59 > 0:11:04This type of encircling architecture, built over a precious
0:11:04 > 0:11:10site, something we found in the round churches at Byzantium.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13Remember, San Vitale in Ravenna
0:11:13 > 0:11:16and Santa Costanza in Rome.
0:11:19 > 0:11:24The Muslim Caliph Abd al-Malik who built the Dome of the Rock was
0:11:24 > 0:11:28deliberately taking on the architecture of the Christians.
0:11:28 > 0:11:34This round shape, the proportions, none of it was an accident.
0:11:37 > 0:11:43Abd al-Malik also added an explicit inscription, which runs all the
0:11:43 > 0:11:49way round, which gives the date on which the dome was finished -
0:11:49 > 0:11:55691 AD. It also includes a stern message to the Christians.
0:11:56 > 0:12:02"O, you people of the Book", it says, meaning the Bible.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06"Jesus is only a messenger of God.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09"God is only one God."
0:12:12 > 0:12:17It's a deliberate challenge to the Christians. Jesus is just a prophet.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21There's only one God and Gods don't have sons.
0:12:21 > 0:12:26This entire building is taking on Christianity.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30Look at that!
0:12:30 > 0:12:35Floor to ceiling is covered in the most exquisite mosaics.
0:12:35 > 0:12:40Gold and green... there's a palm tree
0:12:40 > 0:12:43and these beautiful jewelled crowns.
0:12:43 > 0:12:49And all the pieces of the mosaic are set at different angles,
0:12:49 > 0:12:53so they reflect the light differently at different times
0:12:53 > 0:12:59of day and all this, all these glorious mosaics,
0:12:59 > 0:13:04were intended to the evoke a vision of paradise.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12"When you look there in paradise", says the Koran,
0:13:12 > 0:13:15"you will see delights that cannot be imagined.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18"Fruits of every kind
0:13:18 > 0:13:21"and all that you ask for."
0:13:23 > 0:13:27At a stroke, Islam had invented for itself
0:13:27 > 0:13:30an unmistakable new architecture.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34And at the centre of this new architecture,
0:13:34 > 0:13:36was a vision of paradise.
0:13:44 > 0:13:49The Islamic paradise is a green and verdant alternative to
0:13:49 > 0:13:54the harsh desert landscape in which Islam was born.
0:13:54 > 0:13:59These are lands where water is precious and so is hope.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07Just a few years after the Dome of the Rock was finished,
0:14:07 > 0:14:13the Umayyad Caliphs in Damascus gave the world another wonderful Islamic
0:14:13 > 0:14:16structure - the Damascus Mosque.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20I think it's one of the most exciting buildings
0:14:20 > 0:14:21I've ever been in.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25And look what's on the walls.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30Inside the fabulous Damascus Mosque,
0:14:30 > 0:14:35the Umayyad Caliphs set out actually to describe paradise.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41And to surround the Islamic pilgrim with delightful
0:14:41 > 0:14:43and irresistible visions of it.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49It's one of Islam's most dramatic artistic moments.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53These are the joys that await us in heaven.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56These are the beautiful cities in which we'll live
0:14:56 > 0:14:59and this is the water,
0:14:59 > 0:15:03the cool and endless water, that we'll drink.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15Those magnificent images of paradise in the Great Mosque
0:15:15 > 0:15:20at Damascus are like images of a wonderful oasis in the desert,
0:15:20 > 0:15:24water, palm trees, flowers -
0:15:24 > 0:15:27everything that's so hard to find out here
0:15:27 > 0:15:34and the Islamic paradise promises so many pleasures in the next life
0:15:34 > 0:15:39to the true believer - all you can drink, all you can eat
0:15:39 > 0:15:41and all you can dream of.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51This is Qusayr Amra.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55It's one of the desert palaces which the Umayyad rulers of Damascus
0:15:55 > 0:15:58built out here to get away from the city -
0:15:58 > 0:16:01its heat and its pressures.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07No-one's certain which of the Umayyad princes chose this
0:16:07 > 0:16:10distant desert location.
0:16:10 > 0:16:15Was it the Caliph Al-Walid the First or Al-Walid the Second?
0:16:15 > 0:16:20What is sure is why they chose this particular spot.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24Qusayr Amra is built in a wadi -
0:16:24 > 0:16:29the Wadi Al Battum - and wadis are desert valleys that fill up
0:16:29 > 0:16:31seasonally with water.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35So when it rains in the desert, the precious water floods through
0:16:35 > 0:16:37the wadi and fertilises it.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45Round the back of the building, over here, the various
0:16:45 > 0:16:51contraptions for channelling this water through the palace,
0:16:51 > 0:16:59because, believe it or not, what you have before you here is a bathhouse!
0:17:02 > 0:17:06Qusayr Amra is a bathing establishment in the desert -
0:17:06 > 0:17:12one of the earliest surviving secular buildings of Islam.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21The reason we've driven all this way across the desert to find it is
0:17:21 > 0:17:26because this fabulous bath house in the sands has something
0:17:26 > 0:17:32remarkable inside it, something you'd never expect to find here.
0:17:33 > 0:17:38Floor to ceiling Islamic frescoes.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45A troupe of acrobats gives a busy performance
0:17:45 > 0:17:49and there's a bear strumming a lute.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51There's so much going on in here.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57And a group of statuesque female dancers,
0:17:57 > 0:18:01show off their figures and their beauty.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08The dancing girls are particularly surprising.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12We're just not used to Islamic imagery as abandoned as this,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15but it's important to remember this is just
0:18:15 > 0:18:19as old and just as traditional as everything else we've seen.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23This, too, is a precious Islamic heritage.
0:18:25 > 0:18:30A negative way to understand Qusayr Amra's remarkable frescoes
0:18:30 > 0:18:35is to see them as signs of moral relaxation.
0:18:35 > 0:18:40Away from Damascus, deep in the desert, a wayward Umayyad prince
0:18:40 > 0:18:46is indulging an appetite for wine and music and women.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52But I don't think that is what it's about.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56If we go back to the many descriptions of paradise in the
0:18:56 > 0:19:01Koran, there are constant references to the pleasures available there.
0:19:01 > 0:19:07Rivers of wine served in crystal cups, beautiful flowers,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10beautiful jewels and beautiful girls.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17"For the righteous", says the Koran, "there shall be gardens
0:19:17 > 0:19:22"and vineyards and high-bosomed virgins for companions,
0:19:22 > 0:19:28"dark eyed and bashful, as fair as corals and rubies."
0:19:30 > 0:19:35Inside here is the caldarium - the hot room.
0:19:35 > 0:19:40In here the Umayyad prince would soak himself in hot water,
0:19:40 > 0:19:44heated up by all those gubbins we saw outside and as he lay
0:19:44 > 0:19:50here in his bath, the Umayyad prince would stare up at the Dome
0:19:50 > 0:19:54where he'd see something wondrous -
0:19:54 > 0:19:58an evocation of the stars at night.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04This is the earliest known Islamic star chart,
0:20:04 > 0:20:07painted onto the dome at Qusayr Amra.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12Around the edge are the 12 signs of the Zodiac.
0:20:13 > 0:20:14And in the middle,
0:20:14 > 0:20:19frescoed representations of the constellations.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21The Great Bear,
0:20:21 > 0:20:23the Little bear.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28What a thing to find in an eighth century bathhouse,
0:20:28 > 0:20:32a fabulous image of the heavens at night above your head.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36It's as if someone has taken the roof off the dome
0:20:36 > 0:20:40and looked out into the sky at night in the desert,
0:20:40 > 0:20:41full of twinkling stars.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44What a beautiful idea.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57It takes a bit of getting to Qusayr Amra
0:20:57 > 0:21:01but I wanted to make it clear right from the start that Islamic art,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04with its beginnings in the Dark Ages,
0:21:04 > 0:21:07has this sensuous dimension to it,
0:21:07 > 0:21:13a relationship to pleasure that you just don't find in other art.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21Scattered across this great Syrian Desert are the remains
0:21:21 > 0:21:23of fantastical Umayyad palaces,
0:21:23 > 0:21:27filled once with beautiful mosaics
0:21:27 > 0:21:30and marvellous colonnades.
0:21:30 > 0:21:35What tangible sensuousness you find here in this first Islamic art.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46These eighth century desert palaces must once have been filled
0:21:46 > 0:21:48with the accoutrements of pleasure -
0:21:48 > 0:21:52vases, hangings, plates and cups,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54almost all of which have disappeared.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00But in 1986, here in Jordan,
0:22:00 > 0:22:02they dug up this.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06It's an eighth century Islamic brazier
0:22:06 > 0:22:08and it gives us a tiny hint
0:22:08 > 0:22:12of what life was like in the Qusayr Amra bathhouse.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19The brazier was used to heat up the prince's room
0:22:19 > 0:22:22and for burning incense.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26Originally there were wheels on it and it could be wheeled around
0:22:26 > 0:22:30from room to room to fill them with sweet smells.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34It's made of iron and bronze
0:22:34 > 0:22:37and at the front here, as you can see, there are these arches
0:22:37 > 0:22:40a little bit like the ones in Qusayr Amra,
0:22:40 > 0:22:46and inside the arches are scenes of lovemaking and couples canoodling,
0:22:46 > 0:22:50and it's all so atmospheric and so beautifully done.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53Look at these eagles at the bottom,
0:22:53 > 0:22:56the way they've been shaped, their wings, their feathers.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01This is metalwork of the highest quality.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08At the four corners, four cuddly nudes prepared to release
0:23:08 > 0:23:13a small bird into the incense-filled air above them.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19And there's a floaty feeling to this marvellous metalwork.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23What a beautiful thing.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25And the figurative sculptures you see here,
0:23:25 > 0:23:28the female figures are, again, very surprising
0:23:28 > 0:23:33because this is an is aspect of Islamic art that was there at the start,
0:23:33 > 0:23:36that is very traditional, but which modern Islam often forgets.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43The beautiful brazier was an object of private delectation.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45It had no religious purpose.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51But it's important to remember that sensuality played a role
0:23:51 > 0:23:53in the art of these times.
0:23:53 > 0:23:58In the beginning, this was Islamic art too,
0:23:58 > 0:24:00and this,
0:24:00 > 0:24:02and this.
0:24:06 > 0:24:11When joy was called for, Islamic art inspired great joy.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15And when sobriety was more appropriate,
0:24:15 > 0:24:18it achieved great sobriety.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24This is the finest early mosque in Cairo,
0:24:24 > 0:24:27the mosque of ibn Tulun.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31I like everything about it,
0:24:31 > 0:24:36but most of all I admire its architectural seriousness.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40The way you know, as soon as you step in here,
0:24:40 > 0:24:46that this is a space devoted to important understandings.
0:24:49 > 0:24:54Ahmed ibn Tulun who founded this mosque in 879 AD
0:24:54 > 0:24:58was the son of a Turkish slave, who became governor of Egypt.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02Originally the mosque stood at the centre of a new city
0:25:02 > 0:25:06that ibn Tulun also founded, the city of Al-Qatta'i.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10But Al-Qatta'i was destroyed in the 10th century.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13This is all that's left of it.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19They say ibn Tulun chose this site
0:25:19 > 0:25:22because this is where Noah's Ark came to rest.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26There was certainly water here,
0:25:26 > 0:25:31that domed creation in the centre is the ablutions fountain,
0:25:31 > 0:25:35where all Muslims must wash themselves before prayers.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39All mosques, not just this one,
0:25:39 > 0:25:41are based on the very first mosque
0:25:41 > 0:25:44which was the prophet's own house in Medina.
0:25:44 > 0:25:49It was a typical mud brick dwelling, with a courtyard,
0:25:49 > 0:25:53and in that courtyard the prophet's followers would gather
0:25:53 > 0:25:54to hear him speak.
0:25:54 > 0:25:59So, all these great courtyards of Islam,
0:25:59 > 0:26:04all of them, are descended directly from the prophet's own courtyard.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11Their evocative sparseness is an echo of their origins.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17Their sun-baked simplicity has been there from the start.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21The walls that encircle you here
0:26:21 > 0:26:25are like the walls of the prophet's own courtyard.
0:26:25 > 0:26:30Their task is to keep the outside world at bay,
0:26:30 > 0:26:32and here at ibn Tulun,
0:26:32 > 0:26:38there's actually two sets of walls, a kind of double glazing
0:26:38 > 0:26:41that separates you from the hustle and bustle out there.
0:26:44 > 0:26:49I like these playful crenulations arranged along the top as well.
0:26:51 > 0:26:52They look like paper cut-outs,
0:26:52 > 0:26:55something my daughter might have made.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01To protect his followers from the sun
0:27:01 > 0:27:05the prophet built a simple shelter at the end of his courtyard
0:27:05 > 0:27:10with a roof made out of palm branches and leaves.
0:27:10 > 0:27:16That simple shelter was the inspiration for these great arcades
0:27:16 > 0:27:20which still protect the prophet's followers from the sun.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27The shelters in his courtyard were also used
0:27:27 > 0:27:30as somewhere to meet and discuss community affairs.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36And that marvellous communal atmosphere
0:27:36 > 0:27:40of a space with many purposes is something else that survives
0:27:40 > 0:27:43to this day in the Islamic mosque.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51The largest covered space was the prayer hall, which
0:27:51 > 0:27:56was basically the prophet's own house at the end of the courtyard.
0:27:56 > 0:28:03Every prayer hall today is a continuation of this marvellous Islamic sense.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07Underneath all this mighty religious architecture
0:28:07 > 0:28:10you can still feel the humble presence
0:28:10 > 0:28:13of the prophet's own dwelling.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18These prayer halls are so welcoming,
0:28:18 > 0:28:22they have a sense of the living room about them.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24A home from home.
0:28:27 > 0:28:33Most mosques are square or rectangular in plan
0:28:33 > 0:28:37and that's because they're all arranged in relation
0:28:37 > 0:28:41to this wall here, which is called the Qibla wall.
0:28:44 > 0:28:48The Qibla wall indicates the direction of Mecca.
0:28:49 > 0:28:54In Arabic the word Qibla means direction.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58And in Mohammed's house a simple spear stuck in the ground
0:28:58 > 0:29:00would mark the way to pray.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08The centre of the Qibla wall is marked by the mihrab
0:29:08 > 0:29:12which is always the most ornate part of the wall.
0:29:12 > 0:29:13Usually a niche.
0:29:15 > 0:29:19These niches were probably inspired by the culminating niches
0:29:19 > 0:29:23of Byzantine churches, Christian architecture.
0:29:25 > 0:29:30To the right of the mihrab is the minbar or pulpit
0:29:30 > 0:29:33and this is based, once again, on the prophet's own house.
0:29:35 > 0:29:39They say that when Mohammed had gathered
0:29:39 > 0:29:42so many followers he could no longer be heard by everyone
0:29:42 > 0:29:47he stepped up onto some blocks of wood
0:29:47 > 0:29:49and those are the origins of the minbar.
0:29:53 > 0:29:58How fascinating that all the great mosques of Islam
0:29:58 > 0:30:04inherited their wonderful clarity, their simplicity and their
0:30:04 > 0:30:09underlying sacred geometry from the humble house of the prophet.
0:30:10 > 0:30:14Look at all that wonderful stucco work around the arches,
0:30:14 > 0:30:17all that repetition and variety,
0:30:17 > 0:30:20this is art used in a different way,
0:30:20 > 0:30:24not to illustrate something but to create a visual rhythm.
0:30:27 > 0:30:33Christian churches are full of pictures that tell you stories
0:30:33 > 0:30:37but there are no pictures in these great Islamic interiors.
0:30:38 > 0:30:42The decoration here communicates in other ways.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46There's a sense of endlessness to it.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49It develops in all directions.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54And it makes you feel part of something that's bigger than you.
0:30:58 > 0:30:59So there are no pictures.
0:30:59 > 0:31:04Instead, all the way round runs this Koranic inscription,
0:31:04 > 0:31:06carved into wood.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10You know I said this mosque was built on the site
0:31:10 > 0:31:13when Noah's Ark was said to have come to rest,
0:31:13 > 0:31:17another story they tell here is that this Koranic inscription
0:31:17 > 0:31:21is carved on the actual wood from Noah's Ark.
0:31:24 > 0:31:26At the mosque of ibn Tulun
0:31:26 > 0:31:31the Koranic inscription runs for two kilometres around the building,
0:31:31 > 0:31:37that's 1/15th of the entire Koran written up on these walls.
0:31:39 > 0:31:44This is the Word of God in its most sacred and purest form.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49The power of the word is one of the great
0:31:49 > 0:31:53creative obsessions of the Dark Ages.
0:31:53 > 0:31:57And in the Metropolitan Museum in New York,
0:31:57 > 0:32:00the most beguiling of the first Korans,
0:32:00 > 0:32:03the so-called Blue Koran,
0:32:03 > 0:32:07turns the words of God into such glorious art.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25Don't know if you remember the building of the Aswan Dam
0:32:25 > 0:32:29in the 1960s? It was rather controversial,
0:32:29 > 0:32:32the president of Egypt, President Nasser,
0:32:32 > 0:32:36joined up with the Russians to build a dam across the Nile,
0:32:36 > 0:32:41and various archaeological sites were lost forever,
0:32:41 > 0:32:45or had to be moved to new locations, stone-by-stone.
0:32:45 > 0:32:50All sorts of ecological disasters were predicted for the dam.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52Most of which haven't happened.
0:32:57 > 0:32:59The conquest of water
0:32:59 > 0:33:02was another of Islam's great achievements in the Dark Ages.
0:33:04 > 0:33:09In Cairo, the Nile would overflow its banks every summer
0:33:09 > 0:33:12and the agriculture of the entire Nile Delta
0:33:12 > 0:33:15depended on the success of this fertile flooding.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21Thick black silt, rich with nutrients,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24would be deposited across the flood plain,
0:33:24 > 0:33:27ensuring a splendid harvest.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29That was in the good years.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33In the bad years, the levels were either too low,
0:33:33 > 0:33:34which meant disaster,
0:33:34 > 0:33:38or too high, which also meant disaster.
0:33:38 > 0:33:43The Aswan Dam was built to control that process,
0:33:43 > 0:33:47so, you might wonder, what did they do before?
0:33:51 > 0:33:55In Islamic times they used this - the celebrated Nilometer
0:33:55 > 0:33:58of Rhoda Island on the Nile.
0:34:00 > 0:34:02Opened for business in 861 AD,
0:34:02 > 0:34:06it's one of the oldest Islamic monuments in Egypt.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12And what dramatic evidence it offers of the aquatic brilliance
0:34:12 > 0:34:14of Islam's engineers.
0:34:16 > 0:34:21What this thing does is measure the height of the Nile flood.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23It's basically a big well,
0:34:23 > 0:34:27sunk some ten metres under the level of the river.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31In the middle is an octagonal marble column,
0:34:31 > 0:34:35a kind of giant ruler which, as you can see,
0:34:35 > 0:34:39is marked off at different heights.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46The measurements are in cubits and one cubit is about half a metre,
0:34:46 > 0:34:52so around 16 cubits is the perfect flood.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55Fertile, controllable.
0:34:55 > 0:35:01Below 16 cubits there's not enough water, so famine conditions ahead,
0:35:01 > 0:35:05and higher up, once we get past 19 cubits,
0:35:05 > 0:35:10that's really bad, a catastrophic flood.
0:35:14 > 0:35:19Islamic authorities in Cairo used the great Nilometer
0:35:19 > 0:35:22to calculate their annual tax demands.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28The perfect flood meant perfect profits ahead.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32Thus, this brilliant piece of design
0:35:32 > 0:35:37was an early Islamic alternative to the pocket calculator.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42Before they'd built the Aswan Dam,
0:35:42 > 0:35:47these tunnels here led off into the Nile at three different levels.
0:35:47 > 0:35:52So if they weren't closed off now, I would be under water.
0:35:53 > 0:35:57Look at those pointed arches above the tunnels.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01That's pure Gothic, 400 years early.
0:36:05 > 0:36:10The Nilometer was designed by the famed Persian astronomer
0:36:10 > 0:36:15Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathir al-Farghani,
0:36:15 > 0:36:18better known to us by his Latin name, Alfraganus.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26Alfraganus's most famous achievement as an astronomer
0:36:26 > 0:36:29was calculating the diameter of the Earth.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32Copernicus was said to have used his results.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35There's even a crater on the moon named after him,
0:36:35 > 0:36:36the Alfraganus Crater.
0:36:39 > 0:36:41But it isn't just science that created this,
0:36:41 > 0:36:45and it isn't just commerce either.
0:36:45 > 0:36:46All the way round,
0:36:46 > 0:36:50there are also these beautiful Koranic inscriptions,
0:36:50 > 0:36:52in a lovely Kufic script.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57"Thou seest the Earth barren and lifeless...",
0:36:57 > 0:36:59it says, at the 17 cubit mark.
0:37:00 > 0:37:04"..But when we pour rain on it, it is stirred to life".
0:37:08 > 0:37:12At the Nilometer in Cairo, science, commerce and faith
0:37:12 > 0:37:17have combined in a uniquely Islamic fashion
0:37:17 > 0:37:20to create a technological wonder.
0:37:20 > 0:37:26This entire series is about how the Dark Ages weren't dark.
0:37:26 > 0:37:28But sometimes, I should just shut up
0:37:28 > 0:37:31and let you see the proof for yourselves,
0:37:31 > 0:37:34because it couldn't be more obvious.
0:37:36 > 0:37:38CALL TO PRAYER
0:37:44 > 0:37:46This is Kairouan in Tunisia.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50Once, this was a city of enormous power,
0:37:50 > 0:37:55the most important Islamic outpost in North Africa.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58Now, it's a marvellous place to visit
0:37:58 > 0:38:01for any true student of the Dark Ages.
0:38:03 > 0:38:07Kairouan, they say, was founded by the great Arab warrior,
0:38:07 > 0:38:12Sidi Uqba ibn Nafi, who conquered these parts for Islam
0:38:12 > 0:38:15just 50 years after the death of the Prophet.
0:38:16 > 0:38:20When Sidi Uqba got here, this was all desert.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23But something made him pause and look down at his feet.
0:38:25 > 0:38:27When Sidi looked down,
0:38:27 > 0:38:32he saw a miraculous spring of fresh water bubbling up,
0:38:32 > 0:38:34and in that water, a golden cup
0:38:34 > 0:38:39which he had lost many years before at the holy spring in Mecca.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44The underground waters seemed to have carried it here.
0:38:44 > 0:38:46So it was clearly a sign.
0:38:46 > 0:38:52And on this holy spot, Sidi Uqba founded Kairouan.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02At the centre of the new city, he built a new mosque,
0:39:02 > 0:39:04the oldest such mosque in North Africa.
0:39:06 > 0:39:09From the outside, there's not much sign of it.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13Islam isn't a religion that flaunts itself in the streets.
0:39:13 > 0:39:18But when you get inside into the great courtyard
0:39:18 > 0:39:22of the Sidi Uqba Mosque, what a powerful sight awaits you.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29Another practical use for these great mosque courtyards,
0:39:29 > 0:39:31particularly here in Kairouan, where it is so dry,
0:39:31 > 0:39:34is for collecting water.
0:39:34 > 0:39:39When it rains, all the water is channelled down here to the centre.
0:39:40 > 0:39:45See these decorative openings? They actually have a practical purpose.
0:39:45 > 0:39:47When the water flows through them,
0:39:47 > 0:39:52all these arabesques filter out the impurities, the dust, the feathers.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55Then the water, pure and clean,
0:39:55 > 0:39:58is saved below in two giant cisterns,
0:39:58 > 0:40:02so all of Kairouan can make use of it.
0:40:04 > 0:40:06Because it was built from nothing,
0:40:06 > 0:40:10Kairouan is a particularly pure Islamic city.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14There are few cases here
0:40:14 > 0:40:19of the Romans or the Vandals or the Byzantines.
0:40:19 > 0:40:23In Kairouan, Islam started from scratch.
0:40:28 > 0:40:32Except here, in the courtyard of the mosque. Look at this column.
0:40:32 > 0:40:34Look at the top. What is that, Corinthian?
0:40:34 > 0:40:41And next to it, Venetian? Over here, Roman, perhaps.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45Could even be Egyptian, who knows? Of the 414 columns
0:40:45 > 0:40:50arranged around this great courtyard of the mosque in Kairouan,
0:40:50 > 0:40:52no two are the same.
0:40:52 > 0:40:54Every column is different.
0:40:57 > 0:40:59That's because they were all taken
0:40:59 > 0:41:03from other people's temples and palaces and city halls.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07This entire mosque was built from bits and pieces
0:41:07 > 0:41:09of other ancient buildings.
0:41:11 > 0:41:12In the old days,
0:41:12 > 0:41:16it was actually forbidden to count the columns in here.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20Anyone caught doing it was blinded.
0:41:22 > 0:41:23If you look closely,
0:41:23 > 0:41:26you find some really surprising things about this courtyard.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30For example, up here, there's a Christian cross.
0:41:30 > 0:41:35So this column must have come from a Byzantine church.
0:41:35 > 0:41:39But through some miracle of architectural power,
0:41:39 > 0:41:43despite all this busy borrowing,
0:41:43 > 0:41:48the end result is an unmistakable sense of Islamic unity.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52This space could have come from nowhere else.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55This is unmistakably...
0:41:55 > 0:41:58an Islamic space.
0:42:03 > 0:42:07There are many remarkable things about the Kairouan Mosque.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10But particularly remarkable, I think,
0:42:10 > 0:42:13is the proof that is offered here
0:42:13 > 0:42:17that architecture is an art form of spaces, not of details.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21Of courtyards, not of capitals.
0:42:27 > 0:42:28See the tower here?
0:42:28 > 0:42:31It's got these slabs of stone at the base,
0:42:31 > 0:42:33with Latin inscriptions on them.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37See this one here, it's upside down.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40So these must have come from a Roman building.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45This is actually the oldest surviving Islamic minaret.
0:42:45 > 0:42:49It's got a bulky, militaristic presence,
0:42:49 > 0:42:53rising up in these three squat pieces.
0:42:53 > 0:42:58But like all minarets, its original purpose is glorious,
0:42:58 > 0:43:03to spread the word, to share the news, to shine a light.
0:43:07 > 0:43:11The minaret is one of the defining Islamic achievements
0:43:11 > 0:43:12of the Dark Ages.
0:43:13 > 0:43:18Islam did much that was inventive and progressive in architecture.
0:43:18 > 0:43:22But in its minarets, it surpassed itself.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29This word "minaret" comes from the Arabic "manarah",
0:43:29 > 0:43:31which means lighthouse.
0:43:31 > 0:43:34And that's its function, to be a beacon of hope,
0:43:34 > 0:43:37to offer safety and protection.
0:43:37 > 0:43:42And of course, the faithful were called to prayer from up there.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45In the very first mosque, built by Mohammed,
0:43:45 > 0:43:47the faithful were called from the rooftops.
0:43:47 > 0:43:51But as cities got bigger, mosques got bigger,
0:43:51 > 0:43:55you needed somewhere higher up from which to broadcast the faith.
0:43:58 > 0:44:01And look what inventive shapes were found
0:44:01 > 0:44:03for this conquest of the sky.
0:44:05 > 0:44:09This is the minaret of the Great Mosque of Samarra in Iraq.
0:44:09 > 0:44:13Its nickname, for obvious reasons, is "the snail shell".
0:44:15 > 0:44:18No-one else in the Dark Ages
0:44:18 > 0:44:22built anything as airily ambitious as this.
0:44:22 > 0:44:25And it wasn't just the mosques.
0:44:25 > 0:44:30This extraordinary brick masterpiece in Iran
0:44:30 > 0:44:35is the tomb of the Ziyarid prince, Qabus ibn Voshmgir.
0:44:36 > 0:44:38It's a thousand years old,
0:44:38 > 0:44:42but looks like something the Bauhaus might have come up with,
0:44:42 > 0:44:43don't you think?
0:44:45 > 0:44:50Inside, Qabus had himself suspended at his death
0:44:50 > 0:44:53in a coffin of pure rock crystal.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59What a thrilling Islamic conquest of the heavens.
0:45:09 > 0:45:14Speaking of rock crystal, it's a very special substance, isn't it?
0:45:16 > 0:45:20According to the Koran, when the chosen arrive in Paradise,
0:45:20 > 0:45:25they will be given drinks of ginger,
0:45:25 > 0:45:29served in goblets of crystal.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36Crystal, or rock crystal to be more specific,
0:45:36 > 0:45:40was a substance with which Islam seemed to have a special affinity.
0:45:42 > 0:45:44They say it was Ahmed ibn Tulun himself
0:45:44 > 0:45:49who introduced the art of carving rock crystals into Egypt.
0:45:49 > 0:45:52What's certain is that it was in Egypt
0:45:52 > 0:45:56that this difficult art reached perfection.
0:45:59 > 0:46:01I don't know about you,
0:46:01 > 0:46:04but I can't think of many substances in the world
0:46:04 > 0:46:08with a presence as magical as rock crystal.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13Particularly when it has passed through the hands
0:46:13 > 0:46:16of the master carvers of Islam.
0:46:16 > 0:46:22Only a handful of these gorgeous Islamic ewers have survived.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26And that just makes them feel even more precious.
0:46:29 > 0:46:32Rock crystal itself is actually very common.
0:46:32 > 0:46:34It's just a type of quartz,
0:46:34 > 0:46:38and quartz is the most common mineral in the Earth's crust.
0:46:38 > 0:46:44You get it everywhere. Look. There's a stripe of it here.
0:46:46 > 0:46:50What isn't common is pieces of quartz
0:46:50 > 0:46:53so pure and perfect and transparent
0:46:53 > 0:46:58that they satisfy the demands of the great crystal carvers of Islam.
0:47:00 > 0:47:05No-one has ever carved rock crystal more finely than this.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09What they'd do is find a perfect lump of crystal
0:47:09 > 0:47:15and shape it on the outside, and then begin hollowing out the inside.
0:47:15 > 0:47:19They'd hollow it further and further and further,
0:47:19 > 0:47:22till in the very best Islamic art,
0:47:22 > 0:47:28the walls of the crystal were only a couple of millimetres thick.
0:47:28 > 0:47:31Now, that was unbelievably difficult.
0:47:34 > 0:47:39The shimmering images carved into these gorgeous crystal ewers
0:47:39 > 0:47:42would transport the drinker to paradise.
0:47:44 > 0:47:49Hunting scenes, flowers, beautiful birds,
0:47:49 > 0:47:53so crystal clear that none could resist them.
0:47:56 > 0:47:58And it wasn't just Islam
0:47:58 > 0:48:02that saw something magical in this rock crystal.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05In Ireland, when Ireland was still pagan,
0:48:05 > 0:48:08they used to put pieces of rock crystal
0:48:08 > 0:48:10at the entrance of the burial chambers.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16And in Egypt, they carved it into perfect spheres,
0:48:16 > 0:48:20which apparently kept your hands cool when you touched it.
0:48:20 > 0:48:26And of course, it was used for telling the future, and it still is.
0:48:32 > 0:48:37All sorts of Dark Age societies were fascinated by rock crystal.
0:48:38 > 0:48:43The Roman naturalist, Pliny the Elder, believed that rock crystal
0:48:43 > 0:48:49was actually frozen water, trapped for aeons under the glaciers.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54Even the early Christians worshipped it.
0:48:54 > 0:49:01For them, rock crystal had a natural relationship with divine perfection.
0:49:01 > 0:49:04So they'd put it on the outside of their reliquaries
0:49:04 > 0:49:07and up in their golden crosses,
0:49:07 > 0:49:13where its perfect presence seemed somehow to connect them to God.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19Christian rock crystal has a different feel to it.
0:49:20 > 0:49:22In Christian hands,
0:49:22 > 0:49:26the light-filled paradise of Islam seemed to fill up with shadows.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31With Christian rock crystal,
0:49:31 > 0:49:33the Dark Ages are what you expect them to be -
0:49:35 > 0:49:41Mysterious, spooky and talismanic.
0:49:45 > 0:49:50The water engineers of Islam perfected their hydraulic skills
0:49:50 > 0:49:54in lands where water was precious and rare.
0:49:55 > 0:50:00So their relationship to it had something of the dream about it.
0:50:01 > 0:50:06For Islam, water wasn't just a necessity -
0:50:06 > 0:50:08it was an enticement, too.
0:50:10 > 0:50:12This is Cordoba in Spain.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16The Muslim armies got here in 711 AD
0:50:16 > 0:50:18and conquered it from the Visigoths -
0:50:18 > 0:50:20remember them from the last film?
0:50:20 > 0:50:23And when Islam arrived in Spain
0:50:23 > 0:50:28it could not believe how fertile this new territory was,
0:50:28 > 0:50:32how full of paradisiacal waters.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37This is the Guadalquivir in Andalusia,
0:50:37 > 0:50:41the largest navigable river in Spain.
0:50:41 > 0:50:43The name is Islamic.
0:50:43 > 0:50:48It comes from al-wadi al-kabir, which means "The Great Valley".
0:50:50 > 0:50:55These days the Guadalquivir River is only navigable up to Seville,
0:50:55 > 0:51:00but in Islamic times you could sail all the way up here to Cordoba
0:51:00 > 0:51:02and in this great city,
0:51:02 > 0:51:06Islamic water architecture surpassed itself.
0:51:07 > 0:51:09All along the Guadalquivir,
0:51:09 > 0:51:13a cunning system of mills, dams and water wheels
0:51:13 > 0:51:16channelled the energy of the waters.
0:51:17 > 0:51:22The water wheels of Cordoba lifted water from the river
0:51:22 > 0:51:26high up to the bank where the gardeners of Islam used it
0:51:26 > 0:51:30to recreate paradise on Earth.
0:51:34 > 0:51:37This isn't actually an Islamic garden -
0:51:37 > 0:51:39it's an Islamic-style garden
0:51:39 > 0:51:43built by the Christian kings here in Cordoba.
0:51:43 > 0:51:47Unfortunately, the original Islamic garden has disappeared.
0:51:47 > 0:51:51But Islam was here for 500 years
0:51:51 > 0:51:56so this style of garden-making is ingrained in the culture.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00What you still get here is a vivid sense
0:52:00 > 0:52:02of how the Islamic garden felt.
0:52:04 > 0:52:09Fountains, waterways, flowers -
0:52:09 > 0:52:14these are the divine atmospheres of those magical paradisiacal mosaics
0:52:14 > 0:52:18we saw in the Great Mosque at Damascus.
0:52:18 > 0:52:20Except this time they're real.
0:52:25 > 0:52:30To enter the mosque at Cordoba you need to pass through
0:52:30 > 0:52:35another beautiful evocation of the paradise ahead -
0:52:35 > 0:52:39an orange grove. So divinely harmonious.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44This was obviously a very desirable location.
0:52:45 > 0:52:49They say there was a Visigoth church here originally
0:52:49 > 0:52:54and later, when the Muslims were finally kicked out of Spain,
0:52:54 > 0:52:59a Catholic cathedral was plonked in the middle of the mosque
0:52:59 > 0:53:02creating this ungainly hybrid.
0:53:03 > 0:53:07It was the Umayyad prince, Abd al-Rahman I,
0:53:07 > 0:53:10who began building the Cordoba mosque.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13He actually bought the land from the Christians
0:53:13 > 0:53:17and in those early days of religious tolerance,
0:53:17 > 0:53:20Muslims and Christians shared the building.
0:53:23 > 0:53:27The Cordoba mosque is famous for its columns.
0:53:27 > 0:53:30856 of them.
0:53:31 > 0:53:34"Like rows of palm trees in the oasis of Syria,"
0:53:34 > 0:53:37is how someone's described them.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41Columns are very laborious to make
0:53:41 > 0:53:46and they use up a lot of precious stone, so they're very heavy,
0:53:46 > 0:53:49and if you can avoid making them, you will.
0:53:50 > 0:53:52For the Cordoba mosque,
0:53:52 > 0:53:56the columns came from the Visigoth church that was there before
0:53:56 > 0:53:59and also from nearby Roman temples.
0:53:59 > 0:54:04But these reused Visigoth columns weren't quite tall enough
0:54:04 > 0:54:08so to make the Cordoba mosque higher and more airy
0:54:08 > 0:54:14the architects of Islam came up with a brilliant new idea -
0:54:14 > 0:54:16the double arch.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21Two arches for the price of one.
0:54:22 > 0:54:24At the bottom, the horseshoe arch,
0:54:24 > 0:54:29borrowed, as we saw in the last film, from the Visigoths.
0:54:29 > 0:54:34Then, on top of that, a round arch, arch number two,
0:54:34 > 0:54:37making the mosque taller, less solid-looking.
0:54:37 > 0:54:41More see-through.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44For the first time in European architecture
0:54:44 > 0:54:48the aesthetics of light were shaping a building.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07Do you know, Cordoba, when the Muslims were here,
0:55:07 > 0:55:09had a half a million people living in it.
0:55:09 > 0:55:14It was by far the largest and most prosperous city in western Europe
0:55:14 > 0:55:18and all of those inhabitants had running water.
0:55:18 > 0:55:23They had toilets that flushed, street lamps -
0:55:23 > 0:55:25in the 10th century.
0:55:27 > 0:55:33In urban planning, architecture, mathematics and water engineering,
0:55:33 > 0:55:37Islamic knowledge was peerless.
0:55:37 > 0:55:44And in one area it was spectacular - astronomy, the study of the stars.
0:55:46 > 0:55:5390 percent of the 200 brightest stars in the sky have Arabic names.
0:55:53 > 0:55:58Vega, Betelgeuse, Algol, Deneb -
0:55:58 > 0:56:02they're all creations of the Dark Ages
0:56:02 > 0:56:08because Arabic astronomy allowed the Dark Ages to glimpse the cosmos.
0:56:10 > 0:56:16Remember those stars painted on to the roof at the palace in Qusayr Amra?
0:56:16 > 0:56:19Well, that was just the beginning.
0:56:19 > 0:56:26While Christian science was insisting on a backward, biblical understanding of the cosmos,
0:56:26 > 0:56:32Islamic science was investigating the heavens more adventurously.
0:56:36 > 0:56:39This little baby here, the astrolabe,
0:56:39 > 0:56:42has been called the first computer.
0:56:42 > 0:56:46It was developed to pinpoint the direction of Mecca.
0:56:46 > 0:56:49Muslims needed to pray five times a day
0:56:49 > 0:56:53in a specific direction at specific times.
0:56:53 > 0:56:57The astrolabe could work all that out in relation to the stars
0:56:57 > 0:57:04so this was the first compass as well, and the first clock.
0:57:06 > 0:57:08So the way it works, the first thing you need to do
0:57:08 > 0:57:10is decide on which star you want to focus on
0:57:10 > 0:57:14and I'm going to choose Vega.
0:57:14 > 0:57:19So I find Vega in the sky and with these sights here
0:57:19 > 0:57:23I line it up until I can see Vega in the middle.
0:57:25 > 0:57:27It's exactly there.
0:57:27 > 0:57:30And that gives me a reading here in degrees,
0:57:30 > 0:57:32degrees from the horizontal.
0:57:32 > 0:57:38So I can see that Vega, right now, is 35 degrees.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41So the next thing to do is to set the date, measured, of course,
0:57:41 > 0:57:45in the old-fashioned way, in phases of the zodiac.
0:57:45 > 0:57:47Right now we're in Gemini, so...
0:57:47 > 0:57:51In fact, we're in the 15th degree of Gemini.
0:57:51 > 0:57:55About there, otherwise known as the end of May.
0:57:58 > 0:58:03So this is basically that in diagrammatic form
0:58:03 > 0:58:08and whatever is true on here is also true out there.
0:58:08 > 0:58:11So I know the date, I know where Vega is,
0:58:11 > 0:58:16so, with the help of this handy Dark Age sat-nav
0:58:16 > 0:58:18I can finally work out where I am.
0:58:20 > 0:58:26It was Alfraganus, the multi-skilled designer of the Nilometer in Cairo
0:58:26 > 0:58:31who undertook the first great Islamic exploration of the stars.
0:58:33 > 0:58:36He was followed by many others.
0:58:36 > 0:58:41Without Islamic science and its sensuous delight in the cosmos,
0:58:41 > 0:58:45perhaps this really would have been a dark age.
0:58:45 > 0:58:49With Islamic science, it was anything but.
0:58:50 > 0:58:53In the next film we'll be heading north
0:58:53 > 0:58:58to celebrate those fine craftsmen the Vikings
0:58:58 > 0:59:04and to investigate those particularly skilled jewellers of the Dark Ages,
0:59:04 > 0:59:07the Anglo-Saxons.
0:59:21 > 0:59:24Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd