World Cultures Unit 2 Vocab

Front 1

oasis

Back 1

fertile desert area

Front 2

fertile crescent

Back 2

one of the major regions of the middle east that stretches from the eastern Mediterranean along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to Persian Gulf

Front 3

mahgreb

Back 3

one of the major regions of the middle east that includes the North African regions of Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco

Front 4

parable

Back 4

short story with a moral lesson

Front 5

martyr

Back 5

someone who suffers or dies for their beliefs

Front 6

pope

Back 6

head of the Roman Catholic church

Front 7

Hebrews

Back 7

member of the Semitic peoples inhabiting ancient Palestine and claiming descent from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; an Israelite

Front 8

diaspora

Back 8

migration or scattering of a homogeneous people

Front 9

Torah

Back 9

sacred book of the Hebrew people

Front 10

Judaism

Back 10

one of the 3 oldest religions, founded in 3760 BCE, started in Mesopotamia by Abraham who was visited by God

Front 11

Christianity

Back 11

a religion that branched off of Judaism and believes that Jesus Christ is the messiah

Front 12

King David

Back 12

Hebrew who defeated Goliath by throwing stone at him, becomes king and names his kingdom Israel

Front 13

King Solomon

Back 13

son of King David, noted for his wisdom, his reign was marked by peace

Front 14

rabbi

Back 14

someone who teaches Judaism

Front 15

Yahweh

Back 15

in Judaism, another name for God

Front 16

synagogue

Back 16

a Jewish place of worship

Front 17

prophets

Back 17

a person who speaks for God

Front 18

gospels

Back 18

Christian historical sources that tell the story of the life of Jesus; written by followers of Jesus after his death

Front 19

Peter and Paul

Back 19

saints that helped spread Christianity throughout the world

Front 20

Bible

Back 20

holy book of Christians

Front 21

church

Back 21

Christian place of worship

Front 22

Muslim

Back 22

someone who practices the religion of Islam

Front 23

Zarathustra

Back 23

founder of Zoroastrianism

Front 24

Ahura Mazda

Back 24

in Zoroastrianism, the god of goodness, light and truth

Front 25

mosque

Back 25

Muslim house of worship

Front 26

imam

Back 26

person who teaches Islam

Front 27

hejira

Back 27

in Islam, event during which Muhammad was exiled from, and eventually returned to Mecca

Front 28

hajj

Back 28

pilgrimage to Mecca which all Muslims must take

Front 29

caliph

Back 29

the secular and religious head of a Muslim state, successor to the prophet Muhammad

Front 30

Muhammad

Back 30

the prophet who started Islam

Front 31

Mecca

Back 31

city in Saudi Arabia and site of the holiest shrine of the Islamic religion

Front 32

Medina

Back 32

Muhammad flees to this city from Mecca

Front 33

Five Pillars

Back 33

sacred duties that Muslims must do in order to submit to God

Front 34

Quran

Back 34

the sacred book of Islam

Front 35

Ahl al-dhimma

Back 35

according to the Islamic law, the non-Muslims who inhabit a Muslim state or protected people such as the Jews and Christians

Front 36

jihad

Back 36

Arabic term for "struggle"

Front 37

Shiite

Back 37

branch of Islam that believes a leader of the Muslim community must be a descendant of Muhammad

Front 38

Sunni

Back 38

branch of Islam that believes anyone has the ability to be a leader of the Muslim community

Front 39

Sufi

Back 39

mystical or ascetic Muslim who seeks a direct experience of Allah

Front 40

crusade

Back 40

military expeditions undertaken by European Christians, beginning in the 1000s, to recover Palestine from the Muslims

Front 41

Ottoman Empire

Back 41

Turkish speaking people from Central Asia who has converted to Islam, this empire extended from central Europe across much of the Middle East and North Africa

Front 42

Janissary

Back 42

a member of an elite military unit of the Turkish army organized in the late 14th century and abolished in 1826 after it revolted against the Sultan; any member of the Turkish army

Front 43

Millets

Back 43

non-Muslim community in the Ottoman empire that owed loyalty to the Ottoman sultan but was ruled by its religious leader

Front 44

Shah

Back 44

title given to the king of Persia/Iran

Front 45

Bedouins

Back 45

"people of the tent" or desert nomads in Arabia

Front 46

mandate

Back 46

territory administered but not owned by a member of the League of Nations

Front 47

Kemal Ataturk

Back 47

abolished the Ottoman empire and made Turkey a republic, originally named Mustafa Kemal, but he later took a new name, which means "father of the Turks"

Front 48

Anti-Semitism

Back 48

hatred or fear of Jews

Front 49

Balfour Declaration

Back 49

in 1917, a British document that gave land to Jews in the Palestine area

Front 50

Zionism

Back 50

movement among European Jews to set up a Jewish homeland in Palestine

Front 51

Pan-Arabism

Back 51

mid-twentieth century movement to unite all Arabs based on their common language and culture

Front 52

Shairah

Back 52

sacred law of Islam that is based on the Quaran

Front 53

Palestine Liberation Organization

Back 53

waged a guerrilla war against Israel by launching terrorist attacks from bases in Lebanon

Front 54

Al-Qaeda

Back 54

"the base"; Islamic terrorist organization led by Osama bin Laden, responsible for numerous terrorist attacks, including the destruction of the World Trade Center buildings in New York City

Front 55

Hezbollah

Back 55

a Shiite terrorist organization with strong ties to Iran

Front 56

Hamas

Back 56

a militant Palestinian Islamic movement founded in 1987 with the aim of establishing a Palestinian state incorporating present-day Israel and the West Bank

Front 57

theocracy

Back 57

a nation ruled by religious leaders

Front 58

Ayatollah Khomeini

Back 58

outspoken Muslim fundamentalist who condemned western influences on his country. He and his supporters made the Quaran the basis of all law

Front 59

Islamic Fundamentalism

Back 59

Muslim movement against westernization and secularism that supports a return to the values of the Quaran

Front 60

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

Back 60

organization of major oil-exporting countries established in 1960 to determine how much oil to produce and at what price to sell it

Front 61

refugees

Back 61

person who flees their homeland to seek safety elsewhere

Front 62

Intifada

Back 62

an uprising among Palestinian Arabs of the Gaza strip and West Bank beginning in late 1987nand continuing sporadically into the early 1990's, in protest against continued Israeli occupation of territories

Front 63

occupied territories

Back 63

land seized by Israel during the 1967 war with Arab nations

Front 64

calligraphy

Back 64

fine, ornate handwriting

Front 65

Mubarak, Gadhafi, Assad

Back 65

three leaders of repressive Middle Eastern regimes (Egypt, Libya, Syria) who have been targets for revolution in their nation