Welcome back, time travellers!
Today is the last article in our series of 9. What a journey we’ve had!
For our last adventure, we leave Europe and visit three amazing civilisations that grew up in different parts of the world. They are:
- The Mayans — in Central America
- The Kingdom of Benin — in West Africa
- The Islamic Golden Age — in Baghdad
Most UK Year 3 schools study one of these three (your school chooses!). But all three are amazing. Let’s visit each one.
1. The Mayan Civilisation
Where and when?
The Mayans lived in Central America, in countries we now call Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. They lived in rainforest — full of monkeys, parrots and jaguars.
The Mayan civilisation existed for a long time! But in UK schools, we usually study the “Classic Period”, which was around AD 250 to AD 900. So about 1,200 years ago.
Mayan cities
The Mayans built huge cities in the middle of the jungle. The most famous were:
- Tikal (Guatemala)
- Palenque (Mexico)
- Chichen Itza (Mexico)
- Copán (Honduras)
Pyramids — but different!
The Mayans built pyramids too, like the Egyptians. But Mayan pyramids:
- Have steps going up the sides
- Have a flat top with a temple
- Were used for religious ceremonies (not for burying kings)
The biggest is El Castillo at Chichen Itza. 365 steps — one for every day of the year!
Mayan inventions
The Mayans were brilliant!
- They had a calendar with 365 days — almost as good as ours
- They had a writing system with 800 picture-symbols (called glyphs)
- They invented the number ZERO before most other civilisations!
- They were great at astronomy (looking at stars and planets)
- They made chocolate from cacao beans! (We can thank them for chocolate.)
- They played a tough sport called pok-a-tok with a heavy rubber ball
The mystery
Around AD 900, most of the big Mayan cities were left empty. Why?
Nobody knows for sure. People think:
- A bad drought (no rain for many years)
- Wars between cities
- Diseases
- Maybe all of these together
The jungle grew over the cities. Many were lost for hundreds of years until explorers found them in the 1800s. Some are still being found today!
But the Mayan people did not disappear. Millions of Mayans still live in Central America today, speaking 30+ Mayan languages.
Fun Mayan facts
- Mayan kids played with clay dolls and wooden tops.
- The Mayans made beautiful face paintings for special days.
- They believed the world began on 11 August 3114 BC!
- A Mayan king once had his teeth covered with jade (a green stone) — like Mayan diamonds.
2. The Kingdom of Benin
Where and when?
The Kingdom of Benin was in West Africa, in what is now southern Nigeria. (Note: it is NOT the same as the country called Benin today!)
In UK schools, we usually study Benin from about AD 900 to AD 1300. So around 800 to 1,100 years ago.
Benin City
Benin’s capital city was just called Benin City. It was AMAZING.
- It had a great wall around the city — bigger than the Great Wall of China!
- It had wide, clean streets
- The houses were painted red and shiny
- The king’s palace was huge, full of beautiful things
A European visitor in 1602 wrote that Benin was bigger and more beautiful than most European cities at that time!
The king (the Oba)
The king of Benin was called the Oba (say “Oh-ba”). The Oba was very, very powerful. People believed he was almost like a god.
The Oba lived in a giant palace with hundreds of rooms. He had brass plaques on his walls showing his great deeds.
Brass and bronze art
The people of Benin were brilliant metalworkers. They made:
- Brass plaques (flat pictures hung on palace walls)
- Bronze heads of past kings
- Ivory carvings (carvings made from elephant tusks — sadly)
- Wooden masks
Some of these were so well-made that European artists later said they were as good as anything in Europe.
A sad story — the Benin Bronzes
In 1897, British soldiers attacked Benin City. They took thousands of beautiful brass and bronze art pieces back to Britain. We call them the Benin Bronzes.
Today many Benin Bronzes are still in British museums (like the British Museum) and museums around the world. But Nigeria is asking for them back. Some museums (in Germany, the USA, even some in the UK) have started giving them back. This is happening right now in our time!
Fun Benin facts
- Benin had traffic-free zones in some streets — like a city centre today!
- Benin City had no taxes for visitors — anyone could come and trade.
- Some Benin Bronzes are over 600 years old but look like new.
- The Oba’s mother had her own special title: Iyoba. She was very important.
3. Early Islamic Civilisation — Baghdad
Where and when?
About 1,200 years ago, a brand-new civilisation grew up in the Middle East, in the lands where Sumer once was. The capital was Baghdad, in what is now Iraq.
This is sometimes called the Islamic Golden Age, from about AD 750 to AD 1258.
The leader was called the Caliph. The most famous caliph was Harun al-Rashid (around AD 786).
Baghdad — a round city
Baghdad was special because it was circular! It was built between AD 762 and 766. The city had:
- Three big walls
- Four gates
- The Caliph’s palace and a great mosque in the middle
- Hundreds of thousands of people living inside
Baghdad was one of the biggest cities in the world at that time. Bigger than London, Paris or Rome!
The House of Wisdom
The most amazing thing in Baghdad was the House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma).
It was a kind of giant library and university. Scholars from all over the world came to:
- Translate Greek, Persian and Indian books into Arabic
- Study mathematics, science and medicine
- Make new inventions
Some incredible things came from there.
Big inventions and ideas
- Algebra — even the word “algebra” comes from Arabic! It was invented by a man called al-Khwarizmi.
- The numbers we use today (0, 1, 2, 3…) came through Arab scholars (who got them from India).
- Hospitals with rooms for different illnesses
- Medical books that European doctors used for 600 years
- Astronomy charts of stars
- Mechanical machines that could pour water by themselves
- Coffee — yes, we got coffee from this region!
- Many of the first proper soaps
Stories from Baghdad
You may know some old stories that come from this time:
- One Thousand and One Nights (also called Arabian Nights)
- Aladdin — yes, the Disney film comes from these stories!
- Sinbad the Sailor
- Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves
What happened to Baghdad?
Sadly, in 1258, a huge army of Mongols (from Central Asia, led by Hulagu Khan) attacked Baghdad. They:
- Killed many people
- Burned the city
- Threw the books from the House of Wisdom into the river
People said the river ran black with the ink of so many books.
But the ideas didn’t die. They had spread to Spain, North Africa and beyond. From there, European scholars rediscovered them many years later, in a time we now call the Renaissance.
Fun Baghdad facts
- The first paper-making factory outside China opened in Baghdad in 793.
- The chess game we know today came through Baghdad from India and Persia.
- A scholar called Ibn al-Haytham worked out how the eye sees — long before European scientists.
- A Baghdad doctor called al-Razi wrote a medical book with 23 books inside it!
Why study these three?
For a long time, history books in the UK mostly talked about Europe. But the world is BIG, and many other people had amazing civilisations too.
Now UK schools want children to know:
- Africa had amazing kingdoms (Benin)
- The Americas had brilliant civilisations (Mayans)
- The Middle East had a golden age (Baghdad)
Knowing this helps us understand the whole world, not just our part of it.
Quick comparison
| Civilisation | Where | When | Famous for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mayans | Central America | AD 250-900 | Pyramids, calendar, zero, chocolate |
| Benin | West Africa | AD 900-1300 | Brass art, Oba, big city walls |
| Baghdad (Islamic Golden Age) | Iraq | AD 750-1258 | House of Wisdom, algebra, medicine |
Words to remember
- Mayan: a civilisation in Central America
- Glyph: a Mayan picture-letter
- Oba: the king of Benin
- Benin Bronzes: famous brass art from Benin
- Caliph: the leader of an Islamic empire
- House of Wisdom: the great library in Baghdad
- Algebra: a kind of maths invented in Baghdad
- Renaissance: when Europe rediscovered ancient ideas
Talk about it
- The Mayans gave us chocolate! What other foods come from far away?
- The Benin Bronzes were taken from Africa. Should they go back to Nigeria?
- The House of Wisdom translated books into Arabic. Why is it good to read books from other countries?
- Three brilliant civilisations — but most British history books didn’t talk about them for a long time. Why is it important to learn about ALL parts of the world?
Quick summary
- Mayans built huge stone cities and pyramids in Central America. They invented zero and chocolate!
- Kingdom of Benin in West Africa had a big walled city and amazing brass art.
- Baghdad was the centre of an Islamic Golden Age. The House of Wisdom gave us algebra and medicine.
End of the series!
You’ve travelled with us from the Stone Age all the way to modern Britain, and around the world to four ancient civilisations, Greece, the Mayans, Benin, and Baghdad.
That’s a lot of history!
Here are all 9 articles. You can read them again any time:
- The Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age
- The Romans in Britain
- The Anglo-Saxons and Sutton Hoo
- The Vikings and Alfred the Great
- Your Local History
- Britain Beyond 1066
- The First Big Cities
- Ancient Greece
- You are here! (Mayans, Benin and Baghdad)
History is full of amazing stories. Keep being a history detective — there is so much more to find.
Thank you for travelling with us. Goodbye, time travellers!