Archive for the ‘Morocco’ Category

Fatima Al-fihri a woman from Morocco who dedicated her wealth to build the first and the the oldest university in the world. This university is called Al-Karaouine.

The historic university is actually recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest degree-granting university in the world. Moreover, UNESCO considers Al-Karaouine to have been a university since its founding.


It was thanks to the work of Al Idrissi (1100-1166) that world geography knew major developments. Al Idrissi incorporated the knowledge of Africa, the Indian Ocean and the Far East gathered by Arab merchants and explorers with information inherited from the classical geographers to create the most accurate world map in pre-modern time.
He was the first to draw a scientifically-based world map in 1154, known as Tabula Rogeriana for the Norman King Roger II of Sicily. He spent eighteen years at the court of King Roger, working on commentaries and illustrations of the map. This is practically a geographical encyclopedia of the time, containing information not only on Asia and Africa but also Western countries.