Download The Middle East, Part I

The Middle East, Part I
THE ANCIENT WORLD
I. Early People & Civilizations
A) Egypt
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Geography – the Nile River; drinking water, irrigation, yearly floods = silt, fertile soil
Religion – polytheistic; Chief god was Amon-Re, Osiris was god of the Nile, gods have special functions
Govt – pharaoh (both god & king); pyramids included possessions for the afterlife; dynasties
Society – pharaoh, priests, nobles (warriors), craftspeople, merchants, majority peasant farmers, slaves
women had high status and rights
5) Contributions – mummification, knowledge of anatomy, diagnose & surgery; calendar, hieroglyphics
B) Mesopotamia
1) Geography
a. Fertile Crescent (farmland region between the
Tigris & Euphrates Rivers; a.ka. “the cradle of civilization”
b. Mesopotamia (east side of crescent)
early civilizations developed, “land between the rivers”
2) Sumerians - city-states rise
a. Religion -- polytheistic, specific god of city, ziggurats
b. govt – hereditary ruler, maintained city & irrigation
c. Society – distinct classes; rulers/priests, middle class,
majority peasant farmers
d. Economy – rich from trade
e. Contributions – wheels, dikes/canals,
Cuneiform (writing), algebra/geometry
3) Other People
a. Assyrians – conquered entire crescent,
later united by Darius (Persians)
b. Hammurabi (Babylon) – conquered Mesopotamia;
Code of Hammurabi – first collection of laws in history (justice for all)
c. Hittites (present day Turkey) – mined iron ore, better tools, weapons = the Iron Age
C) Global Trade – Phoenicians, earliest traders of the ME; In current day Lebanon & Syria, made glass, purple
dye, papyrus scrolls, traveled the Mediterranean, created the alphabet (history is recorded)
D) Belief Systems
1) Judaism
2) Christianity
3) Islam
EXPANDING EXCHANGE
I. The Byzantine Empire
A) Creation of Byzantium by Emperor Constantine, Emperor Justinian , Orthodox Christianity
B) Justinian’s Code – gathered and recorded Roman law; “body of civil law,” became basis for Western Europe
II. Islamic Civilization
A) Spread of Islam – founder Muhammad dies, Abu Bakr elected first caliph or successor to Muhammad
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Diverse Land and People – Bakr unites Arabs under Islam, used military force to expand (700s)
Middle East – conquered in the early 600s
North Africa
Spain & Sicily – early 700s (during Middle Ages)
Northern India, Delhi
Southeast Asia – spread through trade from India
B) Reasons for Success – strong fighters, weak opponents, united in belief
C) Islamic Law – meant to help people interpret the Quran
1) The Sharia – Islamic system of law regulating moral behavior, family life, business, govt, &
community
D) Divisions within Islam -- conflict over who should succeed Muhammad, split occurs
1) Sunnis – said caliph should be picked by Muslim leaders, but is not religious authority
2) Shiites – only descendants of Muhammad should succeed and that they were divinely inspired
E) Social Patterns
1) Mobile by religious, scholarly, or military success
2) Religious tolerance of conquered
3) Slavery was common; servants, craftsmen, bought freedom
4) Women – Islam had spiritual equality of men & women; education, inheritance, consent to marriage rights
a. non-Arab traditions like veils (Persia) were adopted
F) Muslim Empires
1) Umayyad dynasty – spread from Atlantic to Indus Valley, wealthy, used local rulers
a. conflicts – Umayyads killed a descendant of Muhammad  Shiites opposed
2) Abbassid Dynasty – captured Umayyad capital (Damascus)
a. ended in Arab domination of Islam, wealth, power, golden age, Baghdad exceeded Constantinople
3) 850 – independent dynasties rule Muslim states, Seljuk Turks adopt Islam and conquer before Mongols
G) Islam’s Golden Age – many cultures (Arabs, Persians, Egyptians, Europeans), blended customs, traditions
1) Preserved Greco-Roman culture
2) Vast libraries & universities
3) Mosques (adapted from Byzantine), calligraphy, drawing/painting
4) Poetry, Tales, Philosophy – Averröes wrote about Aristotle
5) Algebra, Astronomy, Medicine (very advanced)
6) Prosperous Economy: traded goods, spread beliefs, culture, tech, set up banks, used credit
7) Manufacturing guilds, sugar, cotton, herbs, fruits, vegetables
H) Impact on Christian Europe
1) Muslim Spain & Sicily – helped economy, education
2) The Crusades – Art, science, Greco-Roman preservation impressed Christians;
III. The Ottoman Empire
A) Rise of the Ottoman Empire
1) Ottomans, a nomadic Turkish-speaking group that migrated from central Asia to Balkans
2) 1453 – Ottomans capture Constantinople, rename it Istanbul as capital of their Muslim empire
3) Expanded through Mecca, the Nile, Russia
4) New tech (canons, muskets) = success
B) Ottoman Achievements & Impacts
1) Heritage – blended Greco-Roman & Muslim culture
2) Suleiman ruled 1520-1566 as Sultan (Turkish ruler); strengthened govt, improved justice system, used
officials to govern
3) Diverse Society – Islamic culture, social classes…
a. Men of the Pen – highly educated people (scientists, lawyers) mostly Muslims
b. Men of the Sword – high ranked military, mostly Muslims
c. Men of Negotiation – business people
d. Men of Husbandry – farmers, herders
e. Non-Muslims religious communities were millets; Janissaries – Christian boys turned over to
the govt to become Islamic soldiers
C) Decline of the Ottoman Empire
1) govt corruption, poor leadership
2) European rise in power; 1700s European commercial, military power surpassed Ottomans