At a glance
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
Walk this pathway
9steps · 75min · teacher · student · standard
The Arabic script
How the script in which the Qur'an was written came to be, and what the sources say of its beginnings.
Islamic calligraphy
Kufic, naskh and thuluth: writing as the noblest of the arts.
The arabesque
The endless plant: ornament that fills a surface without an image.
Girih and the stars
The geometry of interlacing straps: mathematics on the wall.
The mosque and its parts
Mihrab, minbar, minaret and courtyard: function before form.
The Dome of the Rock
The oldest standing Islamic building with its ornament: Jerusalem, 691.
The Great Mosque of Cordoba and the Alhambra
Arches and calligraphy on the walls: al-Andalus in two buildings.
The Suleymaniye
The Ottoman dome and its architect Sinan: light as a material.
An ornamented astrolabe
A scientific instrument from Yemen bearing script and ornament: science and art in one hand.
What you now know
Mastery check
Five questions on what you walked through. Marked on your device; nothing is kept but the stamp in your passport when you pass.
Marking needs JavaScript; the questions and their key read and print without it.
Answer key (for the teacher)
- Why did calligraphy become 'the noblest of the arts' for Muslims? — It is tied to writing the Qur'an(Learn it at step 2: Islamic calligraphy)
- What is the arabesque? — A continuous plant ornament that fills a surface(Learn it at step 3: The arabesque)
- What is the mihrab in a mosque? — A niche in the wall marking the direction of prayer(Learn it at step 5: The mosque and its parts)
- Where is the Dome of the Rock and when was it built? — In Jerusalem, in the seventh century(Learn it at step 6: The Dome of the Rock)
- Who was the architect of the Suleymaniye Mosque? — Sinan(Learn it at step 8: The Suleymaniye)
Tell it back
Tell what you learned in your own words. What you write stays on this device only, and no one else reads it.
- I can name three elements of Islamic art and explain their religious root.
- I can describe the parts of a mosque and the function of each.
- I can compare two buildings from two regions and show what is shared and what differs.
Writing here needs JavaScript; the prompts read and print without it.
Write at least two sentences, or tick that you told it, to earn the stamp in your passport.
Overview
An HRT3M pathway on how a religion expresses itself in culture: the Arabic script and Islamic calligraphy, the arabesque and interlacing stars, the parts of a mosque, buildings from Jerusalem, Cordoba, Granada and Istanbul, and an ornamented scientific instrument.
For the teacher
Seventy-five minutes, best in a room with a screen: the museum's images come from licensed museums and from labelled illustrations. No images of people appear on this pathway, by the museum's rules.
Sources
- The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 to 12: Social Sciences and Humanities (2013)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Islamic art and architecture: calligraphy, pattern and the mosque”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/exhibits/pathway-g11-hrt3m-islamic-art-architecture/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.