the Almoravids

Examples of the Almoravids in the following topics:

• The Mediterranean

  • After their fall, the Spanish Umayyads were replaced by various autonomous kingdoms, the taifas (1031–91), but the artistic production from this period does not differ significantly from that of the Umayyads.
  • At the end of the 11th century, two Berber tribes, the Almoravids and the Almohads, captured the head of the Maghreb and Spain, successively, bringing Maghrebi influences into art.
  • The pyxis of al-Mughira is a masterwork of the genre.
  • The Almoravid and Almohad dynasties are characterized by a tendency toward austerity, for example in mosques with bare walls.
  • The Alhambra is a reflection of the culture during the last centuries of the Moorish rule of Al-Andalus, reduced to the Emirate of Granada.

• The Ghana Empire

  • According to Arab tradition, Ghana fell when it was sacked by the Almoravid movement in 1076–1077, but this interpretation has been questioned.
  • Dierke Lange agreed with the original military incursion theory but argued that this does not preclude Almoravid political agitation, claiming that Ghana's demise owed much to the latter.
  • Burkhalter argued that while the idea of the conquest was unclear, the influence and success of the Almoravid movement in securing West African gold and circulating it widely necessitated a high degree of political control.
  • Furthermore, the archaeology of ancient Ghana does not show signs of the rapid change and destruction that would be associated with any Almoravid-era military conquests.
  • It collapsed into tribal groups and chieftaincies, some of which later assimilated into the Almoravids, while others founded the Mali Empire.

• The Reconquista

  • The Reconquista ("reconquest") is a period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula, spanning approximately 770 years, between the initial Umayyad conquest of Hispania in the 710s and the fall of the Emirate of Granada, the last Islamic state on the peninsula, to expanding Christian kingdoms in 1492.
  • The Almohads, who had taken control of the Almoravids' Maghribi and al-Andalus territories by 1147, surpassed the Almoravides in fundamentalist Islamic outlook, and they treated the non-believer dhimmis harshly.
  • The Taifa kingdoms lost ground to the Christian realms in the north.
  • After the loss of Toledo in 1085, the Muslim rulers reluctantly invited the Almoravides, who invaded Al-Andalus from North Africa and established an empire.
  • In the 12th century the Almoravid empire broke up again, only to be taken over by the Almohad invasion, who were defeated by an alliance of the Christian kingdoms in the decisive battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212.

• Ancient Africa

  • The origins of African art lie long before recorded history, beginning with the evolution of the human species.
  • Africa is considered to be the oldest inhabited territory on Earth, with the human species originating on the continent.
  • In the forested regions of the West African coast, independent kingdoms such as the Nri Kingdom of the Igbo grew up with little influence from the Muslim north.
  • The Almoravids were a Berber dynasty from the Sahara that spread over a wide area of northwestern Africa and the Iberian peninsula during the eleventh century.
  • Following the breakup of Mali, the Songhai Empire was founded in the region of middle Niger and the western Sudan.

• Spread of Islam

  • In the years following the Prophet Muhammad's death, the expansion of Islam was carried out by his successor caliphates, who increased the territory of the Islamic state and sought converts from both polytheistic and monotheistic religions.
  • The expansion of the Arab Empire in the years following the Prophet Muhammad's death led to the creation of caliphates occupying a vast geographical area.
  • Muslim dynasties were soon established and subsequent empires such as those of the Abbasids, Fatimids, Almoravids, Seljukids, and Ajurans, Adal and Warsangali in Somalia, Mughals in India, Safavids in Persia, and Ottomans in Anatolia were among the largest and most powerful in the world.
  • Within the first century of the establishment of Islam upon the Arabian Peninsula and the subsequent rapid expansion of the Arab Empire during the Muslim conquests, one of the most significant empires in world history was formed.
  • One is animists and polytheists of tribal societies of the Arabian Peninsula and the Fertile crescent; the other is the monotheistic populations of the Middle Eastern agrarian and urbanized societies.

• Ulna and Radius (The Forearm)

  • The forearm contains two bones—the radius and the ulna—that extend in parallel from the elbow, where they articulate with the humerus to the wrist, where they articulate with the carpals.
  • The space between the two bones is spanned by the interosseous membrane.
  • The cornoid process, together with the olecranon, forms the trochlear notch where it articulates with the trochlea of the humerus.
  • Laterally to the trochlear notch lies the radial notch, which articulates with the head of the radius to form the proximal radioulnar joint.
  • Distally the radius expands, medially the ulnar notch articulates with the head of the ulnar.

• Human Appendicular Skeleton

  • The humerus is the largest and longest bone of the upper limb and the only bone of the arm.
  • The pelvis joins together in the anterior of the body the pubic symphysis joint and with the bones of the sacrum at the posterior of the body.
  • The lower limbs consists of the thigh, the leg, and the foot.
  • The tarsals are the seven bones of the ankle, which transmits the weight of the body from the tibia and the fibula to the foot.
  • The metatarsals are the five bones of the foot, while the phalanges are the 14 bones of the toes .

• Orbits

  • The orbit is the cavity or socket of the skull in which the eye and its appendages are situated.
  • To the rear of the orbit, the optic foramen opens into the optical canal through which the optic nerve and ophthalmic artery pass.
  • The frontal bone forms the superior border of the orbital rim and also the superior wall (roof) of the orbital surface.
  • The zygomatic bone forms the lateral (and half of the basal) border of the orbital rim, and also the lateral wall of the orbital surface—this is the thickest region of the orbit as it is most exposed to external trauma.
  • Finally, the sphenoid bone forms the posterior wall of the orbit and also contributes to the formation of the optic canal.

• Ischium

  • The ischium forms the lower and posterior portion of the hip bones of the pelvis.
  • The ischium forms the lower and back part of the hip bone .
  • The inferior ramus of the ischium is thin and flattened and ascends from the superior ramus of the ischium to join the inferior ramus of the pubis.
  • The ischium is located below the ilium and behind the pubis.
  • The ischium is labeled at the bottom left of the ilium.

• Ascending Aorta

  • The ascending aorta is the first portion of the aorta; it includes the aortic sinuses, the bulb of the aorta, and the sinotubular junction.
  • The ascending aorta is a portion of the aorta beginning at the upper part of the base of the left ventricle, on a level with the lower border of the third costal cartilage behind the left half of the sternum; it passes diagonally upward, forward, and to the right, in the direction of the heart's axis, as high as the upper border of the second right costal cartilage.
  • The aortic root is the portion of the ascending aorta beginning at the aortic annulus, the fibrous attachment between the heart and the aorta, and extending to the sinotubular junction.
  • The ascending aorta is covered at its beginning by the trunk of the pulmonary artery and, higher up, is separated from the sternum by the pericardium, the right pleura, the anterior margin of the right lung, some loose areolar tissue, and the remains of the thymus.
  • The aorta has three parts: the ascending, the arch and the descending.