Saturday, October 25, 2008

Sharjah Museum Of Islamic Civilisation

Out Museum hunting again today, the Heritage area by the Creek entry was the target. To be frank the Heritage Museum and surrounding area were quite disappointing. However a short walk away from the Heritage area is the Museum of Islamic Civilisation. The Museum is new, a beautiful souk that was converted into the museum, before it became Souk, following intervention from the ruler of Sharjah. The interior decoration and the elaborate ceiling itself are well worth 5dhms (less than £1) entry fee.
There are 4 main Galleries + 1 visiting exhibition gallery + small shop and nice restaurent. 2 Galleries show the development of Islamic civllisation since 1st century AD until now, one devoted to Religous artefacts and writings and my personal favourite the science and medicine gallery. I had not realised how advanced the Middle East was in terms astronomy, particularly given European education systems' emphasis on Galileo. Middle East Astronomers seemed a lot more advanced in the same timeframe (model shown below).

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