The Ornament of the World

FAIN: GN-50391-04

Catticus Corporation (Berkeley, CA 94710-2597)
Kiran Kiki Kapany (Project Director: November 2003 to May 2004)
Shirley Kessler (Project Director: May 2004 to July 2004)
Kiran Kiki Kapany (Project Director: July 2004 to May 2005)

Planning of a two-hour television documentary examining the period of Muslim rule in Spain from the early eighth to the fifteenth century, in which Muslims, Jews, and Christians created a complex culture of tolerance born out of a confluence of people from different traditions.

In our time, when Christianity, Judaism and Islam seem more inclined to violent conflict than to peaceful cooperation, few remember the periods when the three monotheistic faiths lived together in relatively harmonious, mutually enriching cultures. One of the longest such periods, and arguably the most important, began with the arrival of Muslims in 8th century Spain, and ended with the expulsion of Muslims and Jews many centuries later. "The Ornament of the World," a two-hour television documentary, will tell the story of this poorly understood period of history when Jews, Christians and Muslims lived side by side and, despite their intractable differences and enduring hostilities, nourished a complex culture of tolerance.