Download Ch.8 Rise of Islam - Miami Beach Senior High School

Ch.8 The Rise of Islam 600-1200
Ka’ba in Mecca
Main Idea
Details
Origins
•Arabs of 600 CE lived exclusively in the Arabian
peninsula and desert fringes of Syria, Jordan, Iraq.
•The Sasanids (Persian empire) used Bedouins
(nomadic Arabs) to protect their empire from
invasion. The Byzantines (Christian Empire) did the
same.
•The interior Arabs remained isolated and that is
where Islam emerged.
Technology
Notemaking
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•Camel saddle contributed to the dominance of
caravan cities. Wheels disappeared as pack animals
replaced the wheel. Berbers used the camel saddle to
cross the Sahara after it was introduced by the Arabs.
Bedouin Camel Caravan
Main Idea
Details
Notemaking
Politics
•After Muhammad’s death in 632, the Arabs
conquests gave birth to a dynamic and religious
society known as the Islamic Caliphate (empire ruled
by a Caliph- political and religious leader) also known
as Dar al Islam (house of submission). Stretched
from Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) to the
Indus Valley.
•Arabs ruled over largely non-Arab, non-Muslim
populations. Christians and Jews did not have to
convert, but they did have to pay extra taxes.
•Umayyad Caliphate fell in 750 (except in Spain).
Abbasid Caliphate fell to the Mongols in 1258. Marks
the end of Islamic Empires.
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Economy
•Urban, trade based.
•Introduced standard coinage (gold dinars) which
spread from Morocco to China.
•Spread sugar, cotton and citrus crops.
Islamic Empire
Main Idea
Details
Notemaking
Society
•women lived in seclusion and covered themselves if
they left the home. This practice already existed in the
Byzantine empire (Christian) and Sasanid Iran.
•Men could have sexual relations with as many slave
concubine women as he pleased, but could only
marry up to 4 women.
•Islamic law granted women greater status than
Christian or Jewish law. Women could own property,
get a cash payment upon divorce and remarry. Could
testify in court (but counted half as a man). Still,
Koran has misogynist undertones, “I was raised up to
heaven and saw that most of its denizens were poor
people; I was raised into the hellfire and saw that
most its denizens were women.”
•Islam allowed slavery but forbade Muslims from
enslaving other Muslims (or people of the book-Jews
and Christians).
•Offspring of slave women and Muslim men were
born free.
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Alhambra Palace in Andalusia Spain
Alhambra Palace in Andalusia Spain
Mosaic Tiles
Main Idea
Details
Notemaking
Intellectual
•Some writers extolled homosexual relationships since
male lovers could appear in public and travel.
•Madrasas (religious schools) were the first
universities.
•Arabic language spread across North Africa.
•Sufism, mystical form of Islam which tried to create a
direct union with God. Known for poetry.
•Mosaic tiles and architecture formed basis of Islamic
art (not allowed to depict human form).
•Major contributions in poetry, math, science,
medicine, sea exploration astrolabe, and preservation
of Greek and Roman knowledge.
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