Chapter 18 Section 2 North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia History and Government

Chapter 18Section 2

North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia

History and Government

This region has seen the birth of some of the world’s greatest

civilizations and three of the world’s

major religions.

By 6000 B.C., hunters and gatherers gave way to farming communities

along the Nile River, the Mediterranean Sea,

and the Taurus and Zagros Mountains.

DomesticateThe region’s farmers

were among the first . . .

to adapt plants and animals from the wild to make them useful

to people.

Earliest Civilizations

Emerged about 6000 years ago in

Mesopotamia, the area between the

Tigris and Euphrates.

Culture Hearth

A center where cultures developed

and from which ideas and traditions

spread outward.

The Fertile CrescentA rich agricultural area . . .

from Mesopotamia to Egypt, home to the Sumerians.

Sumerians Developed Cuneiform.

Invented the wheel. Developed a base 6 number system (time and circle).

CuneiformSumerian

writing system using wedge-

shaped symbols

pressed into clay tablets.

Base 6 Contributions

Divided time into 60 second minutes and 60 minute hours.

Grouped the day into two 12 hour segments.

Divided the year into 12 months.

Divided the circle into 360 degrees.

Egyptian Civilization

Along the Nile River. Developed a calendar that was divided into 365 days.

Built impressive pyramids.

Created hieroglyphics.

Pyramids at Giza

Frank and Earnest on Pyramids

The Sphinx with Khafra

Pyramid

Sphinx in the Louvre

HieroglyphicsEgyptian

writing system using pictures and symbols to

represent words or sounds.

Frank and Earnest on Hieroglyphics

Frank and Earnest on Hieroglyphics

PhoeniciansA trading empire which arose along the eastern

Mediterranean coast.Developed an alphabet in

which letters stood for sounds (phonetics).

Persian Empire Emerged around 500 B.C.

Ancestors of today’s Iranians.

Developed Qanats.

QanatAn

underground canal used

in water systems of

ancient Persians.

Qanat

Silk RoadA trade route from

China to the Mediterranean Sea.

Samarqand in Uzbekistan was one of the trading stations.

Samarqand One of the oldest inhabited cities in the world.

Known as the “Crossroads of Civilization.

Invaded during the 1200s by the Mongols.

MonotheismA belief in one God.

Three major religions developed in the region;

JudaismChristianity

Islam

Judaism Oldest Monotheistic Religion.

Followers known as Jews. Jerusalem is capital and religious center.

Holy book is Torah. House of worship is synagogue.

Christianity Originated in about 30 A.D.. Followers known as Christians. Based on teachings of Jesus. Holy book is Old and New Testament.

House of worship is a church.

Islam Originated in about 610 A.D.. Followers known as Muslims. Based on revelations of the prophet Muhammad.

Holy book is Qur’an (Koran). House of worship is a mosque.

ProphetA person believed to be a messenger from God.

According to Islam, Muhammad is the final prophet of Allah (God).

MosqueAn Islamic house of

public worship.Islam began in Makkah

(Mecca) and is the home of the Grand

Mosque.

Grand Mosque in

Mecca

Mosque of Djenne, Mali

Muhammad-Ali-Mosque

MinaretMinarets (Arabic manara

(lighthouse) منارة, but more usually مئذنة).

Minarets are generally tall, graceful spires, attached to Islamic

mosques from which the Muezzin calls the faithful

to prayer.

Blue Mosque in Istanbul

Minaret

Minaret

Minaret

One fifth of the world’s population follow Islam, and

are called Muslims (“those who submit

to God’s will”).

Five Pillars of Islam

Profession of faith Prayer Helping the poor Fasting during Ramadan

The Hajj

Hajj in Makkah

The Crusades and Mongol invasions brought conflict and foreign control to the

region.During 1800s, a European

trained middle class developed in the region, with European ideas of

nationalism.

NationalismThe belief in the right of each people to be

an independent nation.

During 1960sMany previously European

ruled North African and Southwest Asian

territories gained their independence.

Central Asian territories gained their

independence in 1991.

NationalizeTo place a company or

industry under government control.

Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Saudi Arabia took control of

foreign-owned oil companies within their

borders.

Israel Not a Muslim or Arab state

Zionists began to settle in Palestine in the late 1800s

Jewish state founded in Palestine in 1948

ZionistsAn international political

movement, organized in the 19th century, that

supports a homeland for the Jewish people in

the Land of Israel.

After World War I The British gained control of Palestine.

Supported a Jewish State.

The Holocaust increased Western sympathy for the Zionist cause.

After World War II In 1947, the UN partitioned Palestine into two separate states.

Four major wars erupted between the Jews and the Arabs over the next 25 years.

Palestinian StateThe 1993 peace

settlement gave the Palestinians the Gaza

Strip and the West Bank for Arab recognition that Israel has right to exist.

Barriers to Palestine

Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Status of Jerusalem. In January 2006, the Hamas gained control of the Palestinian National Authority.

HamasA Palestinian Sunni

Islamist organization, whose charter (written in 1988 and still in effect) calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and

its replacement with a Palestinian Islamic state.

Persian Gulf WarIn August 1990, Iraq

invaded Kuwait.In January 1991, a 30 nation coalition force, led by the U.S., forced

Saddam Hussein to withdraw his Iraqi

forces from Kuwait.

EmbargoA ban on trade.

Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait forced the

world community to impose a ban of trade

with Iraq.

War in Afghanistan

In October 2001, American and British armies

invaded Afghanistan to remove the Taliban government and to

capture Osama bin Ladin.The Taliban were removed,

but bin Ladin is still at large.

Iraqi WarThe U.S. led invasion of Iraq,

officially began on March 20, 2003.

The stated objective of the invasion was "to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass

destruction, to end Saddam Hussein's support for

terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people" .

Saddam Hussein Dictator of Iraq from 1979 - 2003.

Invaded Iran in 1980. Invaded Kuwait in 1990. Executed Dec. 30, 2006 for crimes against humanity.

Monarchs Rule Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates

Morocco Jordan