Unit Three

The Middle East and Asia in the

Medieval Age

The Rise of Islam

Chapter 10

Rise of Islam - Terms

1. Muhammad – born into a powerful Meccan

family, spent time alone in prayer &

meditation; at the age of 40 he heard a

voice while meditating, according to Muslim

belief, the voice was that of the angel

Gabriel, who told Muhammad that he was

the messenger of Allah; Muhammad began

to teach that Allah was the one & only God

and that all other gods must be abandoned

2. Allah

3. Islam

4. Muslim

5. Hijrah

6. mosque

7. hajj

8. Qu’ran

9. Sunna

10. Shari'a

The Arabian Peninsula

1. access to three continents: Europe, Asia

and Africa

2. access to Oceans and Rivers

3. harsh landscape

Desert Life1. Bedouins – desert nomads; honor and

family very important

2. trade routes in the desert

• caravans – horse & camel trains of merchants,

baggage & guards

Mecca

1. location of the Ka’aba

2. according to Muslims,

built by Abraham and

Ishmael (Isma’il)

3. many religions found

in Arabia in 6th

Century AD: Judaism,

Christianity,

Paganism

Muhammad1. born around 570 AD

2. became a trader, married his boss

3. at the age of 40, he began having visions of the angel Gabriel, who he thought was a messenger of Allah, “God”

4. Islam – Submission to Allah; Muslim – One who submits

5. began preaching in Mecca

• his monotheistic message was unpopular with town leaders

The Hijrah and Return

1. in 622, Muhammad and his supporters moved to Yathrib

2. after solidifying his support, he began raiding Meccan caravans

3. in 630, Mecca surrendered and he destroyed the idols at the Ka’aba

4. Muhammad: both a spiritual and military leader

5. he died 2 years later (632)

The Beliefs of Islam

1. The Five Pillars

A. Shahadah – testimony of faith

B. Salat – prayer five times a day

facing Mecca

C. Zakat – giving alms to the poor

D. Sawm – fasting during Ramadan

E. Hajj – pilgrimage to Mecca

2. sources of authority

A. Qur’an (Koran) – Muhammad’s revelations, believed

by Muslims to be the literal word of God

B. Sunnah – “way of the prophet,” stories about

Muhammad’s life

C. Shar’ia – Islamic law, regulates individual, family

and community law (no separation of church and

state)

D. Jihad

3. links to Christianity and Judaism

A. regard Allah as the god of Jews and Christians

B. Jesus was a prophet, not divine

C. Muhammad was the final prophet

Rise of Islam - Quiz

1. Arabic term for God

2. Islamic place of worship

3. a pilgrimage to Mecca

4. the holy book of Islam

5. one who submits

A. Muslim

B. hajj

C. mosque

D. Islam

E. Allah

F. Qur’an

Islam Expands

1. Muhammad’s sudden death left

succession in question

2. took the title “caliph”

“Rightly Guided Caliphs”

1. Abu Bakr – Muhammad’s father in law

2. Umar – conquered Jerusalem; compiled

the Quran

3. Uthman – killed by supporters of Ali

4. Ali – Muhammad’s son in law,

overthrown by the Ummayads

Expansion

1. expand west into Egypt,

and north into Syria

- take Jerusalem from the

Byzantines, build the Dome of

the Rock mosque

2. expand eastward, conquer

the Persian Empire

3. religious tolerance for

“people of the book” (Jews

and Christians) – with

restrictions

4. North African Muslims, called Moors,

conquer Spain, stopped in France (Battle

of Tours)

5. Why did Islam expand so fast? weakness

of Byzantines & Persians; unification of

previously feuding Arab tribes

Internal Conflict

1. Muawiya (governor of Syria and Uthman’s cousin) claimed the caliphate over Ali

2. Ali assassinated, Muawiya moved capital to Damascus. The Umayyad Dynasty begins

3. Shi’a Muslims – Ali should have been first Caliph, Caliphs should be descended from Muhammad

4. Sunni Islams – Four Caliphs were correctly chosen

The Abassids

1. put together support from many groups who

despise the Umayyads

2. take power in 750

3. move capital to newly built city of Baghdad

4. Abassid caliphate lasts until 1258

5. Muslim unity broken before then: Umayyads

still in Spain, Fatimids (Shi’ites) in Egypt

Chapter 11

Byzantines, Russians and Mongols, Oh My!

Terms to Know

1. Justinian – Byzantine nobleman who

succeeded his uncle to the throne of the

Eastern Empire (Byzantine Empire) in

527

2. Justinian Code - the body of Roman civil

law collected and organized by order of

the Byzantine emperor Justinian around

A.D. 534

3. Hagia Sophia - the Cathedral of Holy

Wisdom in Constantinople, built by order

of the Byzantine emperor Justinian

4. patriarch - a principal bishop in the

eastern branch of Christianity

5. icon - a religious image used by eastern

Christians

6. excommunication - the taking away of a

person’s right of membership in a

Christian church

7. Cyrillic alphabet - an alphabet for the

writing of Slavic languages, devised in

the ninth century A.D. by Saints Cyril and

Methodius

Byzantine Empire

1. Was the old remaining portion of the

Roman Empire – capital at

Constantinople

2. they did not call themselves “Byzantines”

3. called themselves “Romans”

4. spoke Greek

Location of Byzantines

Emperor Justinian

1. reigned from 527-565

2. Justinian Code

-took the old Roman laws and

updated them

3. powerful and scandalous

wife, Theodora

4. expanded the empire, but

maybe at too great a cost

The Schism- Christianity Splits

1. conflict between Roman Church

& Eastern Church over ikons

2. Roman Church: headed by a

pope, says ikons are bad

3. Eastern Church: headed by a

patriarch, is excommunicated

4. led to a split in 1054 between

Greek church and Rome

5. The new church was called the

Eastern Orthodox Church

End of Byzantines

1. Bubonic Plague in 542

2. Justinian died in 565 – his conquests were lost

3. Islamic expansion took Egypt, Syria, Jerusalem

4. sack of Constantinople in 1204 by Crusaders

5. by 1300s, the Byzantine Empire was just

Constantinople and a strip of the Balkans

6. fell to the Turks in 1453

7. Byzantine (def) - characterized by elaborate

scheming and intrigue, esp. for the gaining of

political power or favor

The Russians

1. area inhabited by Slavs

2. trade connected Vikings in north to

Byzantine Empire

3. Vikings, called themselves Rus settled in

the area, mixed with Slavs

Early Russian Civilization

1. city of Kiev founded by Vikings

2. converted to Christianity (Eastern

Orthodox) under Vladimir in 989

3. Mongol invasions in 1240. Rule until 1480

4. Russian nobles like Alexander Nevsky

became vassals of the Mongols

Mongol Conquests – Terms to

Know1. pastoralist

2. clan

3. Genghis Khan (331)

4. Pax Mongolica

5. Kublai Khan (335)

6. Marco Polo (337)

The Mongol Conquests

1. Steppe Society north of China

2. pastoral nomadism

3. The Five Snouts

4. horses, ox, goats, camels and pigs

Chinggis Khan

1. born in 1165(?)

2. united the tribes of Mongolia (Mongols,

Kerieds, Tatars) in 1205

3. turned south to Jin empire in China

4. in 1218, moved west into Persia

(Khurasan Empire)

5. died in 1225, while dealing with an

uprising by the Xi-Xia

The Empire Expands

1. after Chinggis’ death, his sons continued

the conquest

2. 1230s – conquered rest of Jin China

3. 1240s – moved into Poland and Hungary

4. 1250s – Middle East – destroyed the

Assassins, sacked Baghdad, ended the

Abbasid Caliphate

5. 1260 – stopped in Egypt by Mamluks

Mongol Expansion

Running the Empire

1. empire split into four khanates

A. Khanate of Great Khan (China)

B. Chagatai Khanate (Central Asia)

C. Golden Horde (Russia)

D. Ilkhanate – Middle East

2. established free trade, safe highways,

postal system

The Mongol Empire – Late 1400s

Kublai Khan

1. grandson of Chinggis, finished conquering

southern China (Song Empire)

2. established capital at Peking

3. separation from Chinese – Kublai’s closest

advisors were Persians and Europeans

4. Marco Polo – Italian trader

5. Mongol rule in China lasts until 1368

Legacy of the Mongols

• See Digging for the Truth: Genghis Khan

video