FEATURES & DETAILS:
- Copyright: 1997, 1999
- Language: English, Spanish
- Color
- MARC records, Catalog Card Kit and Single Main Entry Cards are available
- Features: Chapter Select, Discussion Questions & Activities
- Technical: Single Layer, Single Sided, Full Screen
- DVD Region: 1
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PRODUCT SUMMARY
Bukhara, Timbuktu and Djenne -- three famed cities of the ancient world where artists, scholars and architects made their mark. In Bukhara, examine famous works of ceramic artists and mosaic experts, such as the Mir-i Arab madrasa -- the most renowned Islamic college in all of Central Asia. In Timbuktu, Mali, discover a magical, mysterious city in sub-Saharan Africa, highlighted by the increasingly vulnerable earthen mosques of Djingareyber, Sankore and Sidi Yahia, while a visit to Djenne, Mali, features the Grand Mosque, the largest clay building in the world. Part of the multivolume Arab World DVD Series. A Teacher's Guide is included and available online.
EDITORIAL REVIEWS
"This series features beautiful photography of exotic locales with a haunting soundtrack in the background…fascinating…"- School Library Journal (Sept 2005)
"Inclusion of historic and modern-day Arabs will help viewers understand the complexity of Arab life and history and perhaps dispel some stereotypes…useful in geography and history classrooms…Recommended."- Library Media Connection (Jan 2005)
"...enthusiastically recommended…a welcome and popular addition to school and community library systems and…truly ideal for supplementing homeschooling curriculums."- Midwest Book Review (June 2005)
FULL REVIEWS
School Library Journal (September 2005)
Gr 7 Up-The series features beautiful photography of exotic locales with a haunting soundtrack in the background. What it doesn't have are maps showing the locations of places like Timbuktu, Dhofar, and Petra. In many instances, viewers are not told in which modern-day country the city under discussion is located. Each video, narrated by a single male or female narrator with a British accent, is divided into three segments which can be shown separately or together. There is fascinating footage of sites such as the souk (bazaar) in Aleppo, clay bricks being made in Djenne, and statues marking the site of what once was East Africa's largest slave market in Zanzibar. Viewers also visit the capital of Islamic Spain, the Alhambra Palace, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa to look at tombs, mosques, and monuments and learn about Arab civilization and culture. However, much of the information begs for clarification. For example, much is made of the fact that the old city section of the African oasis of Ghadames is dying, but we are never told why all of the inhabitants moved out to the nearby modern town. In the segment on Aleppo, the narrator says, "In the city of traders, Muslims, Jews, and Christians have always lived peacefully side by side," ignoring the fact that most of the city's Jewish community was destroyed in riots in 1947 and there are currently no Jews known to be living there. The unifying theme of the series is the heavy influence of Islam throughout the Arab world, both ancient and modern. The series would be most useful for high school students who have previous knowlege about the Arab world and related vocabulary.
Copyright 2005 School Library Journal. Used with permission.