CULTURES OF SOUTHWEST ASIA

SS7G8: The student will describe the diverse cultures of the people

who live in Southwest Asia

ELEMENTS

O Students will explain the differences between an ethnic group and a religious group

O Explain the diversity of religions within the Arabs, Persians and Kurds 

O Compare and contrast the prominent religions in Southwest Asia : Judaism, Islam and Christianity 

O Explain the reasons for the division between the Sunni and Shia Muslims 

O Evaluate how the literacy rate affects the standard of living

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

O What is the difference between an ethnic group and a religious group?

O How are the religions of the Arabs, Persians, and Kurds diverse?

O What are the similarities and differences between Judaism, Islam, and Christianity?

O What is the reason for the division between Sunni and Shia Muslims?

O How does literacy rate affect the standard of living?

Ethnic Groups and Religious Groups

O Southwest Asia is home to a lot of diversity and cultures.

O People show their culture in many waysO A person’s culture can come in their ethnicity

O Ethnic groupO Identified based on race, color, national origin or

customs

O A person’s culture can come from their religionO Religious group

O Identified based on religious beliefs and practices

Ethnic Groups in Southwest Asia

O KurdsO Reside in Turkey, Iran, Syria, and IraqO Started out by being semi-nomadicO Most Kurds practice Islam, some are Jewish and ChristianO Share their culture with the people of Iran

O ArabsO Make up most of the population of Southwest AsiaO Speak their native language of ArabicO Most Arabs practice Islam

O PersiansO Reside in Iran and make up half of the country’s populationO Speak Persian or Farsi languagesO Most Persians practice Islam, small part are Jewish and

ChristianO Very strict laws on women in their group

Religions of Southwest AsiaO There are three major religious

groups in Southwest AsiaO All three religions are based around

monotheismO Means that there is only one God

O Many wars are fought in this region because people take their religion very seriously

JUDAISM

o Began about 1800 years agoo Beliefs are routed in Abraham and Moses as prophets and all Jews are awaiting the Messiah, called Yahweho The sacred book is called the Torah

oThe Old Testament in the Bible

o Most Jews live in Israel o2% of SW Asia follows Judaism

o Some of the sacred places are the Jerusalem temple, Hebron, Palestine and the burial place of Abraham

ISLAMo Started by the prophet Muhammad in the 7th Centuryo Beliefs based on Abraham and Moses as the original prophets and that Muhammad is the last propheto Allah is the messiah and one true Godo The teachings are based in the Quran (Koran)o The sacred places include Mecca and Medina and Jerusalemo 90% of the population of SW Asia practices Islam

CHRISTIANITYo Began with the birth of Christ in the 1st centuryo Beliefs based on Abraham and Moses as prophetso The messiah is Jesus, the son of Godo The teachings are based in the Bible

oOld and New Testaments

o Sacred places include the Holy Land in Israelo 4% of SW Asia are Christian

Practicing Islam and Judaism

SUNNI MUSLIMS vs. SHIA MUSLIMS

SUNNI MUSLIMS SHIA MUSLIMS

O 90% of the Muslim population is Sunni

O Follow the customs of Muhammad

O Belief that leadership should be based on the community of Muslims

O 10% of Muslim population are Shias

O Follow the customs of Ali, Muhammad’s relative

O Belief that Ali is the new leadership of Islam and should be followed

SW Asia and the Standard of Living

O The area of Southwest Asia has had a very low literacy rateO Percentage of adults who can read and write

O Best literacy rates reside in the countries of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria and IsraelO Israel has the highest at 97%

O Literacy rates drop due to a lack of education for children due to constant fighting between countries

O Because literacy rates drop, it effects the standard of living for citizensO The financial health of a nation measured by how much

that nation consumesO The better a country reads = the more successful the

country