| A | B |
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| Why is the Middle East an economic hub for the continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe? | Because of the Suez Canal and the oil deposits of the Persian Gulf |
| How do residents of the middle east define themselves? | In terms of their religion, ethnic or cultural heritage, language and country. |
| What countries are in tthe core region of the Middle East? | Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, North Yemen, South Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait |
| What religion is practiced in tthe middle east? | Most of the people in the Middle East are Muslims, followers of Islam and speak Arabic. Judaism is the main religion in Israel. Sizeable christian communities exist in Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria. |
| What group do most Muslims belong to? | Sunni |
| What group of Muslims form the majority in Iran and are a sizeable groupp in Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, and Oman? | Shiite |
| How does religion differ in the Middle East from the United States? | In the Middle East, religious identity is more closely tied to one's social group and status. |
| What is the unifying language for many Middle Eastern countries? | Arabic |
| What is the holy book of Islam? | Quran |
| What Arabic dialect is the most widely understood? | Since Egypt is by far the largest Arab country, as well as the center of the film industry for the Arabic-speaking world, Egytian Arabic is the most widely understood. |
| Why can Arabs read each other's newspapers but not understand each other in conversation? | because the printed language appears the same but there are different dialects of spoken language |
| What are the main languages of Israel? | Arabic and Hebrew which are both Semitic languages |
| An Indo-European language that was spoken originally in an area between India and Europe and is also known as Farsi and spoken in Iran (formerly known as Persia). | Persian |
| An Altaic language that originated somewhere in eastern Europe and Asia and is spoken in Turkey | Turkish |
| Where do most of the people live in egypt? | along the fertile banks of the Nile since 96% of the land is desert where agriculture is made possible by soil-enriching floods |
| This territory consists mainly of a vast plateau and is bordered by the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman, and the Persian gulf? | the Arabian Peninsula |
| This uninhabited desert of 400,000 square miles is one of the world's driest places that receives less than 4 inches of rain daily | Empty Quarter or Rub-al-Khali |
| A region known for its semicircular shape and heavier rainfall that is north of the dry Arabian Peninsula and includes the Nile River in Egypt. It is one of the most historic regions of the Middle East, the place where ancient civilizations began. | the Fertile Crescent |
| These rivers are more likely to flood and are hard to navigate. They rise in the Little Caucasus mountains of Turkey and Iran. | the Tigris and Euphrates River |
| This country is ringed by geologically active mountains-the Pontic Mountain facing the Black Sea and the Taurus Mountain facing the Mediterranean Sea | Turkey |
| What two continents are separated by Bosporus, the sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles. | Europe and Asia |
| This country consists of a high plateau situated between the elburz mountains in the north and the Zagros mountains in the south | Iran |
| Why is wide-scale agriculture only possible by means of irrigation ? | Because of the dry soil and meager rainfall so irrigation is limited to the river valleys of the Nile and the Tigris and Euphrates |
| What problems does steady irrigation cause? | ground water can be used up and the soil can become useless due to high salt content. |
| How would you describe the weather for most of the areas of the Middle East? | generally have hot, dry summers and fairly long winters with some rain. Snow is common at higher elevations. |
| How much of the land in the middle east is under cultivation? | only 7 percent |
| What do people use for fuel and construction? | dried animal dung and mud bricks |
| What kind of animals do people raise in the Middle East? | sheep, goats, and camels, animals which do well despite limited grazing land. |
| How are camels useful in the Middle East? | travel long distances without water, produces camel milk, it dung is dried for fuel, its meat is eaten, its hair is woven into material for clothing and tents, and its skin is treated and used as leather, harnessed to plows for use in fields or as power to turn wheels for irrigation. |
| What percent of Middle Easterners depend solely on herding for their livelihood? | Only 5% |
| Why was Mesopotamia called the "land between the rivers"? | it is the area through which the Tigres and Euphrates river passes. |
| What became the basis for the Mesopotamian civilization? | farming |
| What became the foundation of the Egyptian civilization? | Great harvests of grain that could be stored |
| What was the first civilization of record? | the Sumerian civilization in Mesopotamia which began around 3500 and 3000 BC in a region along the lower Tigris and Euphrates rivers |
| What was the first known writing marking the line between history and prehistory? | cuneiform symbols that stood for sounds and ideas rather than letters |
| What did the Sumerian priests use the ziggurats for? | as towers to observe the stars and planets. Their findings became the basis for dividing the day into twenty-four hours, the hour into sixty minutes, and the circle into 360 degrees |
| What led to a permanent government in cities? | quarrel over water rights, wealth tempted invasions, dispute over property. |
| How was the king and his army supported? | with taxes and supplied with food from farmers who worked the land surrounding the city |
| Who was the legendary king of the city of Uruk? | Gilgamesh |
| Who was the first pharoah or king of all of Egypt? | Menes |
| What was the Egyptian system of writing known as picture writiing? | heiroglyphics |
| How did the Egyptians work out an accurate calendar? | by timing the annual flood of the Nile |
| Who was the chief Egyptian god? | Ra, the sun god to whom the temples were built |
| What are both burial places and monuments to the pharaohs? | the pyramids of Egypt |
| What led to the beginnings of cities, a written language, job specialization, and a government? | settled farming and a sure food supply |
| He became the first Emperor of Mesopotamia by uniting a number of cities in Akkad? | Sargon I |
| Who developed the first law code that contained nearly 300 parts covering crime and punishment and everyday activities? | Hammurabi of the Babylonian Empire |
| Their kingdom, Judah, occupied land that is now Israel but was known back then as Canaan. | Hebrews or Israelites |
| What was the capital of Judah? | Jerusalem |
| Who captured Judah in 586 bc and moved the people east into the Mesopotamia and slavery? | the Babylonians |
| Who do the Hebrews trace their beginnings to? | Abraham |
| From whom did the Isrealites descend? | Isaac |
| From whom did the Arabs descend? | Ishmael |
| What idea did the Hebrews give to western civilization? | monotheism or a belief in one god |
| How did the Hebrews come to believe themselves a chosen people? | from Moses who had revelations from a god he called Yahweh |
| He led the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt across the Red Sea and back toward Canaan? | Moses |
| Who conquered the Jews (Judah) who practiced Judaism in Jerusalem and forced them back to Canaan? | Persians from Iran |
| What was the Persian religion? | Zoroastrianism, founded by the prophet Zoroaster |
| Who took over most of the middle east in 334 BC? | Alexander the Great of Macdonia from northern Greece |
| Who controlled Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean coastal lands inlcuding Palestine during the first century B.C.? | the Roman Empire--the Jews no longer had a land of their own |
| Who accepted Christianity after victory in a Roman Civil War in 312? | emperor Constantine-christianity became the main religion |
| Who attacked Islam during the 13th century? | Mongols from Mongolia in East Asia, christians from western Europe. |
| What was the last Muslim stronghold in Spain that fell in 1492 to Queen Isabella of Aragon? | Granada |
| What was the goal of the First Crusade? | to capture Jersusalem, a city sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike |
| What is the most holy shrine of the Jewish faith located in Jerusalem? | the Wailing Wall |
| Followers of Osman I who ruled from 1280 to 1324 and ruled over the Turkish/Ottoman empire for 600 years and renamed Constantinople as Istanbul? | Ottomans or Osmanli who created the strongest empire in Islamic history |
| He began the Safavid dynasty and took over all of what is today Iran and the Tigris-Euphrates Valley and then made himself shah of Persia (today Iran)? | Shah Ismeil who forced the people to adopt Shia Islam |
| Who warred against Ismeil and eventually defeated the Persians in 1514? | Selim I as leader of the Sunni Muslims and head of the Ottoman Empire |
| Who defeated the Ottomans in 1683 before the gates of Vienna? | an alliance of Central Europeans-Austrians, Germans, and Poles. |
| What countries in Western Europe eventually won control of the Middle East? | France and England |
| Why was Spain the richest country in Europe at the end of the 15th century? | they sent columbus across the Atlantic and won much of North and south America which had huge quantities of gold and silver from mines in Mexico and Peru. |
| Why did the Turks suffer widespread inflation and poverty? | New trade routes took away much of their trade and the gold and silver in Europe reduced the value of the Ottoman money |
| Who started a war with the Turks after their conquest of Hungary in the 1520s? | the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V |
| Why was Charles V considered the strongest ruler of Europe? | He was a member of the Austrian royal family, the Hapsburgs, and the king of Spain |
| What were special privileges under which foreignors escaped many forms of taxation and gave foreignors the right to be tried in courts set up by their own government rather than in Ottoman courts? | capitulations |
| How did the victory of the Crimean War hurt the Ottoman Empire? | The empire's foreign debt grew enormous during the war. Foreign bankers, mainly the British and French, persuaded their governments to help them collect payment. |
| How did the British gain control of Egypt? | The Egyptian government had borrowed heavily to build the canal but in 1875, the Egyptian ruler was so deeply in debt that he sold Egypt's interest in the canal to Britain. |
| What eventually led to WWI? | squabbles between Greece, Bulgaria, and Serbia and war between those countries and the Ottoman Turks. |
| What countries comprised the central powers in 1914? | Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottomans |
| What countries comprised the Allied powers? | France, Russia, and Britain, and Italy and the United States |
| What did the British promise the Arabs in exchange for aid against the Turks? | the Arabs would have freedom once more after the war ended which they did not keep because the British and French still controlled territories after the war. |
