Middle East Unit 2 Test Terms

Al-Aqmar Mosque Location and Date

Fatimid Period in Cairo Egypt

Al-Aqmar Mosque 2 details

Features sun carvings that represent divine light

Feautres circular engravings with the name Ali with the name Muhammad around it

Al-Aqmar Mosque Significance

Shows how rulers in the Fatimid period utilized buildings and artistic visual symbols to show their spiritual authority.

Battle of Vardan Location and Date

Sasanian Period in Armenia

Battle of Vardan Details

The origins of this battle is that the Sasanian Empire demanded that Christian Armenians converted to Zoroastrianism.

Armenian nobles revolted under a person named Vardan, and the Armenian armies were wiped but the Sasanians stopped trying to force them to convert

Battle of Vardan Significance

It shows how Armenians handled the pressures of the large Sasanian empire to assimilate and how they tried to preserve their Christian identities.

Benjamin of Tudela’s Travels Location and Date

Fatimid Period written by someone who visited the Middle East, including Cairo

Benjamin of Tudela’s Travels Details

It was a travelers diary who talked about life in Cairo

The traveler was from Spain and was a jewish man.

Benjamin of Tudela’s Travels Significance

It shows that people traveled and traded all across the medieval middle east

Cairo Geniza Location and Date

7th - 19th centuries in a synagogue in Cairo Egypt

Cairo Geniza Details

Collection of hundreds of thousands of documents that were in Hebrew and Arabic

Has documents that are related to business and letters written to family

Cairo Geniza Significance

Gives historians a glimpse into the daily lives of traders and merchants as a lot of the documents involved them

Coffee Houses Location and Date

1500s in Istanbul

Coffee Houses Details

They served Coffee to help them stay up for night prayers

They commonly had tobacco hookahs

Coffee Houses Significance

It was a hangout space where people could socialize, converse, and create connections that was outside of a mosque or palace

Composite Bow and Mobile Armies Location and Date

Mongol and Ilkhan Period used by mongols in southwestern Asia

Composite Bow and Mobile Armies

Mobile armies were these nomadic armies that traveled very fast with horses and could ride and shoot simultaneously

Composite bows were small enough so that you could use them on a horse and strong enough to pierce through armor

Composite Bow and Mobile Armies Significance

Shows how some strategy and advanced warfare were able to make these nomadic armies take over the middle east

Dome of the Rock Location and Period

Umayyad Period in Jerusalem

Dome of the Rock Details

Oldest surviving islamic building

It has arabic inscriptions that talk about Propet Muhammad and rejects the Holy Trinity

Dome of the Rock Significance

Shows how Islam was able to establish itself as a distinct religion from judaism and Christianity

Garrison Town Location and Date

Umma Period in Egypt and Iraq

Garrison Towns Details

They were these towns that typically consisted of tribal quarters, and headquarters, and a mosque in the middle

There is no evidence of violence or forced conversion in these sites

Garrison Towns Significance

They helped create a shared Arab identity by putting all these different Arab tribes together

Hanif Location and Date

Around Mecca in 6-7th Centuries

Hanif Details

Someone who believed in one supreme God without converting into Christianity or Judaism

Muhammad followed the Hanif model when meditating in his cave

Hanif Significance

Shows that the belief of there being one Supreme God was already a thing before islam in Arabia.

Madrasa Location and Date

Seljuk period in Iran and Iraq

Madrasa Details

Islamic colleges that taught about arabic grammar, Hadiths, and islamic laws

They were funded through endowments

Madrasa Significance

They created these permanent education and legal systems that helped hold society together even when dynasties were overthrown

Mahdi Date and Location

Appeared in 7th-8th Century in early Shia movements and means the “rightly guided one”

Mahdi Details

The Mahdi is a savior that will rise up and overthrow corrupted leaders and bring justice to the world.

The title was given to Ali’s son in revolts against the Umayyads

Mamluk Definition

It literally means “owned” and the title is used for non-Muslim enslaved men

Mamluk Details

They were bought by rulers, converted to Islam, educated, and freed.

They were expected to be loyal to the king/sultan

Mamluk significance

It illustrates a system of “elite unfreedom” that was used to create loyal and centralized armies.