The Primary National Curriculum pinpoints Early Islamic Civilisation as Baghdad c. AD 900 - yet it was so much more. For approximately a thousand years after AD 700 there was an extraordinary amount of activity that radiated out from Baghdad and along a glittering crescent through North Africa and into Spain, resulting in a vast civilisation that stretched from Spain to China. Here men and women of different faiths and cultures built on knowledge from ancient civilisations, making breakthroughs that have left their mark on our world today.

Baghdad was a city where great advances in mathematics and science were made and where an inspiring atmosphere of learning was cultivated. Baghdad's position on the Silk Road connected traders...