Middle East

Question 1

Umayyads

Answer 1

a dynasty that established the Muslim empire and later a kingdom in al-Andalus

Question 2

caliphate

Answer 2

a supreme political and religious leader in a Muslim government

Question 3

Sunni

Answer 3

the branch of Islam whose members acknowledge the first four caliphs as the rightful successors of Muhammad

Question 4

Shia

Answer 4

the branch of Islam whose members acknowledge Ali and his descendants as the rightful successors of Muhammad

Question 5

Hijra

Answer 5

Mohammad’s migration from Mecca to Medina

Question 6

Hajj

Answer 6

a pilgrimage to Mecca, performed as a duty by Muslims

Question 7

sultan

Answer 7

“overlord” or “one with power”; title for Ottoman rulers during the rise of the Ottoman Empire

Question 8

shah

Answer 8

the title of the former monarch of Iran

Question 9

amir

Answer 9

an Arab ruler

Question 10

bedouins

Answer 10

a nomadic Arab of the desert

Question 11

Saladin

Answer 11

sultan of Egypt, re conquered Jerusalem from the Christians

Question 12

The Dome of the Rock

Answer 12

a shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem

Question 13

Abu Bakr

Answer 13

father in law to Mohammad

Question 14

jihad

Answer 14

a war or struggle against unbelievers

Question 15

Zoroastrianism

Answer 15

a monotheistic pre-Islamic religion of ancient Persia

Question 16

dhow

Answer 16

a lateen-rigged ship with one or two masts, used in the Indian Ocean

Question 17

Sharia law

Answer 17

a body of law governing the lives of Muslims

Question 18

Suez Canal

Answer 18

The Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea

Question 19

cuneiform

Answer 19

a system of writing with wedge-shaped symbols, invented by the Sumerians

Question 20

Semitic

Answer 20

relating to the peoples who speak the Semitic languages, especially Hebrew and Arabic (southwestern Asia)

Question 21

caravans

Answer 21

a group of people, especially traders or pilgrims, traveling together across a desert in Asia or North Africa

Question 22

bazaars

Answer 22

a marketplace in a middle eastern country

Question 23

vassal

Answer 23

in feudal Europe, a person who received a grant of land from a lord in exchange for a pledge of of loyalty and services

Question 24

regent

Answer 24

a person appointed to administer a country because the monarch is incapable

Question 25

vizier

Answer 25

a prime minister in a Muslim kingdom or empire

Question 26

janissaries

Answer 26

a member of an elite force of soldiers in the Ottoman Empire

Question 27

devshirme

Answer 27

in the Ottoman Empire, the policy of taking boys from conquered Christian peoples to be trained as Muslim soldiers

Question 28

Sykes-Picot agreement

Answer 28

also called the Asia Minor agreement, secret convention made during world war 1 between Great Britain and France, with approval of Russia, to dismember the Ottoman Empire

Question 29

Arab Revolt

Answer 29

in Palestine was a nationalist uprising by Palestinian Arabs against British colonial rule, as a demand for independence and opposition to mass Jewish immigration.

Question 30

Balfour Declaration

Answer 30

a statement, issued by the British government, favoring the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jews but without prejudice to the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine

Question 31

Abbasid

Answer 31

a dynasty that ruled much of the Muslim empire