Unit One Review: Religion and Trade Empires

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering the Byzantine Empire, early Islamic civilizations, trans-regional trade networks (Trans-Saharan and Silk Road), and Song Dynasty China.

Constantinople

The strategically located Byzantine capital connecting Europe and Asia that controlled critical sea routes between the Mediterranean and Black Seas, protected by location and strong defensive walls.

Mehmed II

The Ottoman Sultan who conquered Constantinople in 1453, bringing an end to the Byzantine Empire and converting the Hagia Sophia into a mosque.

Eastern Orthodox Church

The branch of Christianity primarily practiced in the Byzantine Empire that separated from the Roman Catholic Church following the Great Schism of 1054.

Justinian Code

A legal code compiled under Byzantine Emperor Justinian I that organized centuries of Roman laws, centralized the government, and influenced later European legal systems.

Great Schism of 1054

The split between the Christian churches of Western Europe (Roman Catholic) and the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Orthodox), which weakened Byzantine relations with Western Europe.

Fourth Crusade

A 1204 military expedition in which Western European Crusaders attacked and captured Constantinople, severely weakening the Byzantine Empire.

Hagia Sophia

A massive Christian cathedral built in Constantinople under Emperor Justinian I during the 500s CE, famed for its gold mosaics, later converted into a mosque in 1453.

Byzantine Mosaics

Artwork crafted from small pieces of colored glass, stone, and gold featuring religious figures and emperors, characterized by gold backgrounds and halos representing 'Children of God.'

Muhammad

The central prophet of Islam who received revelations from Allah through the angel Gabriel, which were recorded in the Qur'an.

Qur'an

The holy book of Islam containing the divine revelations delivered to the prophet Muhammad by Allah through the angel Gabriel.

Mecca

Islam's holiest city and a major trade center, which is the birthplace of Muhammad and the location of the sacred Kaaba shrine.

Kaaba

Islam's most sacred shrine, situated in Mecca, toward which Muslims worldwide face when praying.

Hajj

The pilgrimage to Mecca that Muslims who are physically and financially able are expected to complete at least once during their lifetime.

Five Pillars of Islam

The fundamental practices of Islam, including the declaration of faith in one God (Allah) and Muhammad as His messenger, praying five times daily facing Mecca, and performing the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Al-Khwarizmi

A prominent Muslim mathematician during the Islamic Golden Age who developed and advanced the study of algebra.

Abbasid Caliphate

An Islamic empire that fell in 1258 when central authority weakened into independent provinces and Central Asian Mongol nomads captured Baghdad.

Ibn Battuta

A 14th-century Muslim scholar and traveler from Morocco who journeyed tens of thousands of miles across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, documenting his observations in a journal.

Rahla

The travel journal written by Ibn Battuta that provides valuable historical information on medieval Islamic cities, cultures, governments, and trade networks.

Cultural Diffusion

The spread and exchange of ideas, beliefs, technologies, languages, customs, and products between different cultures.

Trans-Saharan Trade Route

A network of trade routes across the Sahara Desert that facilitated the spread of Islam and Arabic, centered primarily around the exchange of West African gold and Saharan salt.

Mansa Musa

The ruler of the Mali Empire during the 1300s who promoted Islam, demonstrated his empire's enormous wealth on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and established Timbuktu as a center of learning.

Timbuktu

A major West African center of learning and Islamic culture developed and supported under the rule of Mansa Musa.

Silk Road

A network of overland trade routes connecting China and East Asia with Central Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, facilitating the exchange of commodities, ideas, religions, and technologies.

Song Dynasty

A Chinese dynasty renowned for technological innovations including movable type printing, gunpowder, and the magnetic compass, which fell to Mongol invaders in 1279.

Kublai Khan

The Mongol leader who conquered the remaining territories of the Song Dynasty and established the Yuan Dynasty in 1279.

Yuan Dynasty

The dynasty established in China in 1279 by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan after the defeat of the Song Dynasty.