A Report On The Mosque

Mayans earned many great achievements, including monuments and temples.They also built pyramids, palaces, and observatories. Their largest temple, named Chichen Itza, forms a unique shadow. When the sun is aligned in the right spot, which is only in spring and fall, it forms a serpent’s body, and when the sun sets, the serpent appears to slither up the earth. Their language might even involve that serpent as a hieroglyphic symbol. The Mayans wrote in hieroglyphics ad were known for having one of the first written languages in Mesoamerica. The Mayan language had over 800 hieroglyphics and could spell a word 3-4 different ways! They rarely, however, used hieroglyphics in their calendars. There was about 260 days in their yearly calendars, and

The Mayan writing system was perplexing. No one had seen anything like it. It took a long time to crack the code because people were not very familiar with the Mayan language and culture. When the glyphs were

Literature helps us remember the past and honor the victims of the Holocaust in many contrasting ways. “The Grand Mosque of Paris”, an explanatory text by Karen Ruelle, “A Great Adventure in the Shadow of a War” , a reflective essay by Mary Helen Dirkx, “ The Diary of a Young Girl”, a diary excerpt by Anne Frank, “The Diary of Anne Frank”, an autobiography by Anne Frank, the “Acceptance Speech for the Nobel Peace Prize”, a speech by Elie Wiesel, and “Maus”, a graphic novel by Art Spiegelman all present the past in different ways to help us honor the victims of the Holocaust.

The Mayans had a distinct way of writing, using ideograms to record data of their everyday life. ”They developed complex hieroglyphic writing that they used to record historical and religious events,” (Hopkins 28-29). In the article Mayan Civilization, Hopkins provides evidence that we can learn their way of living, their history and religion, and also their beliefs and rituals. The Aztecs also recorded their history, but instead resorted to different ways of recording it. “They used picture writing to record political and religious history; they used calendars and had a mathematical system based on the number 20,” (Maldonado 20-23). In the passage Aztecs, Maldonado stated that like the Mayans, Aztecs recorded history and their religious rituals. The Mayans and Aztecs both have affected how we understand their time and

“The Women’s Mosque of America seeks to uplift the Muslim community by empowering women and girls through more direct access to Islamic scholarship and leadership opportunities. The Women’s Mosque of America provides a safe space for women to feel welcome, respected, and actively engaged within the Muslim Ummah. It complements existing mosques, offering opportunities for women to grow, learn, and gain inspiration to spread throughout their respective communities.”

These brothers came to be known as the "monkey scribes," and they were the patrons of Maya art and writing, involved in telling the Maya's story. In the ancient Mayan language, there was no distinction between writing and painting; the word ts' ib was used for both. The Maya scribes created writing and artwork on surfaces all over their cities, particularly in the Classic era from 250 to 900 C.E. Some inscribed the stone pillar monuments in the plazas, door lintels, stone or stucco buildings and pyramids, thrones, altars, and even jade jewelry; the painter scribes worked on wall murals and pottery; those who used a pen worked in handmade books known as codices. Glyph-writing was almost always accompanied by pictures that added to the meaning of the words. Maya scribes were members of the noble classes and were treated with great respect. Maya scribes probably played a role in society similar to priests, and many may have actually been priests. Priests were responsible for many scholarly activities: observing the stars and planets, creating the calendar systems used by the Mayas for timing religious rituals, seeing into the future, and recording Maya history. All of these functions involved the writing and painting done by scribes.  The scribes were given a good deal of creative leeway and were encouraged to excel in their fields by the ruling

The Maya had 800 distinct hieroglyphs, with the first evidence of language written on stela and walls of buildings beginning ca 300 BC. Bark cloth paper codexes were being used no later than the 1500s, but all but a handful were destroyed by Spanish.

There will be two other necessary features in the mosque. The direction of Makkah, in which all Muslims have been commanded to pray by Allah Almighty, will be obvious by the mihrab, which is usually a small niche in the wall, indicating the direction of prayer.

What Mayan writing seems to represent is a sacred language used only by the elite, initiated, and known only by them. The language of the Mayan was identical with that of the Yucatan Indians, given the fact that writing was identical. The Maya kept records on large stone monuments called stelae. They used the Steele to record important dates and to take note of great events in the lives of their rulers.(Price 91)They also used the stelae to recount the positions of the “heavenly bodies”_ particularly the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter.(Miller)

Religious rituals hold a very sacred place in the hearts of believers, being able to witness one from an outsider perspective is something that is truly eye opening. Personally, following our unit in class, I had a desire to witness at least one practice associated with the Muslim religion. The Nueces Mosque was perfect for this purpose because of its proximity but is mostly dominated by a younger demographic. I reached out to the president of the mosque, Ammarah Tariq, who very graciously welcomed me to join them for their Friday ritual prayer service, Jumu’ah. Members of the community noticed I was clearly an outsider and did not hesitate to greet me and explain to me procedures to adhere to such as removing my shoes. Following the removal

The Classical Maya was lost to the archaeological records until the last 200 years due to it’s abandonment. When the Mayans left there great cities, thick vines and jungles overtook the great monuments they once built. But in the last 200 years, in depth research has lead to breakthroughs into what the Classic Maya was like. The earliest Mayans were agriculturalist, growing crops such as corn (maize), beans, squash and cassava. The Mayans also invented a very accurate calendar, a math code using 0’s, constructed buildings still intact today, and a writing system that took decades to decode. The Mayans were situated in one geographical block covering all of the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico), modern-day Guatemala, Belize, parts of the Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas, and the western part of Honduras and El Salvador. Due to their location on the

to 300 C.E. The Maya had used a system of pictograms and ideograms, along with a large set of phonetic signs (“Maya”). The Aztec had a system like the Maya had, a system that used pictograms (“Aztec System of Writing: Pictograms”). However, the Inca did not have a writing system. The Inca had Quipu, a specific way of knotting ropes to keep records (Hirst, K. Kris).

The Egyptians also had a calendar system. Today, the calendar is still used today by multiple groups in areas of Guatemala. The Mayans writing system was extremely similar to those of the Egyptians, as both used a system of hieroglyphics, pictures that represented something. Their writing systems were both used to record calendar information, administrative data and

Brick Lane Mosque, similarly to other mosques across the globe, displays non-existent segregationist attitudes and is open to the public regardless of taste and social class. This is further emphasised through the cultural and religious practices of the Muslims in the mosque, referring to each other as 'brothers and sisters', indicating zero arrogance or ignorance though social status. This is due to the primary belief which binds each agent, which is, in this case, the followers of Islam, who despite taste and social class, share one invaluable thing in common... religion.

The artist of the piece chosen, The Mosque Lamp, is undefined. This particular artwork was created in Egypt and the date of its origin is recorded as C.1320. Creating this piece included the use of blown glass, enamel, gold, and silver stain. Using these particular materials the creator produced a lamp that looks like an inverted bell. Most onlookers would see this piece and come to the conclusion that the artist created a vase with an hour glass shape. Other shapes on the piece are the protruding small loops that were created in order for chains to be fed through so that this lamp could be hung for all to see. Viewers would predict that the maker of this wondrous lamp was wealthy due to the amount of gold used throughout the work. Besides the use of gold as a major color choice, the artist used iridescence which encompasses all colors. This use of iridescence creates a texture on the piece, which allows the viewer to see multiple colors at different angles. Another item on the lamp that creates texture is the sacred inscription that is in blue, circling the entire piece. This inscription is also the subject of the art itself.