Islamic calligraphy enriches our culture and our world with it's beauty. It is also a reminder of the Islamic tenet prohibiting any portrait-like representation of Allah and the commitment to their beliefs.
Since the Byzantines and Sassanian Persians considered each other the only real civilizations in the region, they fought each other numerous times in the early 600s C.E. over control of what is today East Turkey and Iraq. These were intense religious wars (Christian vs. Zoroastrian) and greatly weakened both empires at just the wrong time, leading to a very porous southern defense and miscalculation of the Islamic Armies. Because of this, the Muslims were able to completely destroy Sassanid Persia and conquer over two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire.
There is not just one Islamic Empire but over 25 different Islamic Empires in different parts of the world. The first Islamic Empire, the Rashidun Caliphate existed from 633 CE to 661 CE. This was followed by the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 CE to 750 CE. The Umayyads were in turn replaced by the Abbassids who ruled all or part of the Middle East from 750 CE to 1256 CE. In turn, they were replaced by the Ilkhanate, the Seljuks, and the Ottomans all the way until the 20th Century,
The European and Asian empires were echoes of the Alexander empire, which was itself an echo of the Assyrian and Persian empires. The European and Asian empires morphed into the nation-states of today under different political systems, so the link is very tenuous.
Radium and polonium have many applications but they are not so important to affect us today.
The Roman heating system does not affect us today. It fell out of use soon after the end of Roman civilisation.
Calligraphy back then was like printers to us. Calligraphy needed to be almost, if not completely, perfect. It was used to copy books back then. Since the invention of the printing press and more advanced printers, calligraphy became less and less useful, and eventually has almost died out. It is still used in parts of the world today, but is not a prominent as it used to.
The Dome of the Rock is the earliest major Islamic building that still exists today.
At one time Bibles were copied by hand. Monks became experts in calligraphy. The Book of Kells gives an example of excellent calligraphy. People enjoy looking at it for its artwork.
Today is 13 January 2013 that is the first of the 3rd month of the Islamic Hijra calendar called Rabii Awwal.
Iran
Called Imam
There are a few things about Islamic scholar. The Islamic scholar knew that the earth was round and they developed some math that is still used today.
It is 28 Shawal (the tenth month in the Islamic calendar) year 1433 AH.
14 Muharram1434
About 1274 BCE in today's Syria, between the Egyptian and Hittite empires.
No, it is not common to write with brushes/paintbrushes. Japanese calligraphy, an art, is practiced with brushes. Much Chinese and Japanese calligraphy is highly prized and often found on display. Today most of the writing is done using pens, but the original work was done with a brush, and the directions and pressure affected the writing, creating differences to what is often seen today.
No. There are muslims in every country in Europe today.