You will read the article but do not write on the sheet.

You will answer the questions to the top right corner of your notes.

Entrance Slip

Using the SPICE Acronym write characteristics for medieval Europe.

Entrance Slip

Complete the reading, Muslim Towns and Trade in

North Africa

1. Kairouan is the largest city and seat of government in the Maghrib region. It has great wealth and a great deal of trade.

2. “fair mulatto girls,…young and handsome European slaves, amber, silks, suits of very fine wool, fineries, woolen skirts, carpets, iron, lead, mercury, eunuchs”

3. The caravans bring great profits.

Answers to the Reading:

The Islamic Empire in the Middle Ages

S P I C E

Write an acronym using your spice characteristics to explain Europe during the Middle Ages.

Describe Europe during the Middle Ages.◦ S – Social pyramid is very rigid and hard to move

up◦ P – ◦ I-◦ C-◦ E-

Recall

Describe Europe during the Middle Ages.◦ S – Social pyramid is very rigid and hard to move

up◦ P – Religious leaders and land owners control

politics◦ I – Very few intellectual advancements (people

focused on avoiding starvation, fending off nomadic warriors)

◦ C – Christianity is the dominant religion, art and architecture aren’t priorities

◦ E – Trade mostly domestic (between towns and cities within the country)

Recall

Europe is “in the dark”.

Overall,

Not all civilization are experiencing a “Dark Age”.

One such place that is making rapid SPICE advancements is the Islamic Empire.

Shade in the area shown below as the Islamic Empire:

Elsewhere,

Men of the Pen lawyers, judges, mathematicians, astronomers,

physicians, poets

Men of the Swordsoldiers, guards of forts and passes

Men of Businessmerchants, capitalists, artisans, craftspeople

Husbandmen farmers, herdsmen, cultivators

Social Pyramid of the Muslim World

Based on the pyramid, who are the most important people in Islamic society?

Men of the Pen lawyers, judges, mathematicians, astronomers,

physicians, poets

Men of the Swordsoldiers, guards of forts and passes

Men of Businessmerchants, capitalists, artisans, craftspeople

Husbandmen farmers, herdsmen, cultivators

Social Pyramid of the Muslim World

Using the pyramid on the right and your memory, what does the Muslim world share with Medieval Europe and Japan?

Men of the Pen lawyers, judges, mathematicians, astronomers,

physicians, poets

Men of the Swordsoldiers, guards of forts and passes

Men of Businessmerchants, capitalists, artisans, craftspeople

Husbandmen farmers, herdsmen, cultivators

Social Pyramid of the Muslim World

Based on the pyramid, how will Medieval European and Medieval Muslim intellectual characteristics differ?

Many people today believe the religion of Islam to be restrictive and conservative, a misinterpretation.

During the Middle Ages, the most popular form of Islam was very liberal, while the most popular form of Christianity was very conservative.

Christian leaders would more commonly demand strict adherence to (following of) religious laws and beliefs while Muslim leaders would promote questioning the faith in order to strengthen it.

Therefore, during the Middle Ages, most intellectual advancements came out of the non-Christian areas of the world.

Religious Misconceptions

Now, you will get to see what the Muslim World we’ve spoken of and read about looks like.

Please answer the Video Questions while watching Islam: Empire of Faith, Part II.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1PxJomypQE

Visualizing the Past

Grab an exit slip and fill it out!

Comparing Cultures