Chapter Introduction
Section 1: History and
Religion
Section 2: Cultures and
Lifestyles
Visual Summary
Place The region of North
Africa, Southwest Asia, and
Central Asia is the birthplace
of three world religions—
Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam. Since their beginnings
thousands of years ago,
these religions have spread
throughout the world. They
also have had a great impact
on the history of the region.
How does religion affect
the lives of people today?
Section 1:
History and Religion
The characteristics and
movement of people affect
physical and human systems.
The people of ancient Egypt and
Mesopotamia built civilizations in
fertile river valleys. They made
many advances that spread to
neighboring areas. Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam have greatly
influenced culture and politics over
the centuries. In recent times,
political unrest and conflict have
troubled the region.
Section 2:
Cultures and Lifestyles
Culture groups shape
human systems. Throughout
North Africa, Southwest Asia,
and Central Asia, religious
beliefs and traditions have
influenced the language, arts,
and daily lives of people.
The characteristics and movement of
people affect physical and human
systems.
Content Vocabulary
• irrigation
• hieroglyphics
• city-state
• monotheism
• polytheism
• covenant
• theocracy
• prophet
• cuneiform
• caliph
• pharaoh
• terrorism
Academic Vocabulary
• legal
• rely
This giant rock tells a story. The words
and pictures that are carved into the
stone describe a great famine on the
Egyptian island of Sehel. Stone
markers, called stelae, were often used
in ancient Egypt to honor the dead or
to remember special events. Egypt is
one of the world’s earliest civilizations
and is known for its achievements in
language, arts, and trade. To learn
more about Egypt’s history,
read Section 1.
Do you believe the United States should
have invaded Iraq because leaders
believed Iraq was hiding deadly chemical
and biological weapons?
A. Yes
A. A
B. B
A
0%
0%
B
B. No
A tomb of dentists has been discovered in an ancient
cemetery in Egypt. Their occupation was recognized
through a hieroglyphic of a tusk under an eye. The
location of their tomb, near the pyramid of a pharaoh,
indicates they attended the royal family. Can you
believe that dentists practiced more than 4,200 years
ago?
Early Civilizations
The early civilizations of
Mesopotamia and Egypt had a
great impact on later
civilizations.
Early Civilizations (cont.)
• Two of the world’s oldest civilizations—
Mesopotamia and Egypt—arose in
Southwest Asia and North Africa about
5,000 years ago.
Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt
Early Civilizations (cont.)
• Mesopotamia—present-day Iraq—began
in the Fertile Crescent, a strip of land that
curves from the Mediterranean Sea to the
Persian Gulf.
• Beginning about 4000 B.C., people settled
along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
where they farmed, watering their crops by
irrigation, or bringing water to the fields.
Early Civilizations (cont.)
• By 3000 B.C., many cities had developed in
southern Mesopotamia in a region known
as Sumer.
• Each city and the land around it, called a
city-state, formed its own government.
Early Civilizations (cont.)
• Mesopotamia’s religion was based on
polytheism, or the worship of many gods
and goddesses, and initially was a
theocracy, a government controlled by
religious leaders.
Early Civilizations (cont.)
• The Sumerians created one of the first
calendars, were the first to use the wheel
and the plow, and developed cuneiform,
an early form of writing.
Early Civilizations (cont.)
• About 1790 B.C., King Hammurabi invaded
Mesopotamia. He created the Code of
Hammurabi, one of the first written legal
codes.
Early Civilizations (cont.)
• Around 5000 B.C., farm villages began to
develop along the Nile River in
northeastern Africa.
• The ancient Egyptians relied on the Nile’s
annual floods to bring water and enrich the
soil.
• Egypt unified under a single ruler around
3100 B.C.
Early Civilizations (cont.)
• Egypt was a theocracy, and the people
worshipped many gods and goddesses.
• The rulers, called pharaohs, were
believed to be gods as well as rulers.
• They owned the land and ordered
thousands of people to build temples,
tombs, and pyramids, or a type of tomb.
Early Civilizations (cont.)
• The Egyptians also developed a system of
writing called hieroglyphics, which used
pictures for words or sounds.
Early Civilizations (cont.)
• Through trade and conquest, the
achievements and ideas of Mesopotamia
and Egypt spread to other lands.
• The measurement of time developed by
the Sumerians, for example, is still used
today.
Early Civilizations (cont.)
• One of the greatest trading empires of the
ancient world, stretching from the
Mediterranean Sea as far as present-day
Spain, developed in the land of
Phoenicia—today’s Lebanon—around
1000 B.C.
Which social group did farmers
belong to in ancient Egyptian?
A. Top
B. Middle
C. Bottom
D. None of the above
0%
A
A.
B.
C.
0%
D.
B
A
B
C
0%
D
C
0%
D
Three World Religions
Three major world religions
began in Southwest Asia.
Three World Religions (cont.)
• Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are major
world faiths. All three are examples of
monotheism, or the belief in one God.
Three World Religions (cont.)
• Judaism is the oldest of the three religions.
• First practiced by a small group of people
in Southwest Asia called the Israelites,
Judaism’s followers today are known as
Jews.
• Their holy book is the Tanakh, or the
Hebrew Bible.
Three World Religions (cont.)
• In the Tanakh, God made a covenant, or
agreement, with Abraham, the father of
Judaism, about 1800 B.C., promising to
bless Abraham and his descendants if they
would move from Mesopotamia to
Canaan.
Three World Religions (cont.)
• Jews believe that God revealed the Ten
Commandments and other laws to Moses,
a prophet, or messenger of God.
• About 1000 B.C. the Israelites under King
David created a kingdom in the area of
present-day Israel, which had Jerusalem
as its capital.
Three World Religions (cont.)
• By 922 B.C., the kingdom had split into two
states—Israel and Judah, and the people
of Judah were called Jews.
• In later years, the Jews were forced to
leave their homeland.
• This scattering of Jews across the world is
called the Diaspora.
Three World Religions (cont.)
• Christianity, another monotheistic religion,
arose from Judaism.
• About A.D. 30, a Jewish teacher named
Jesus began preaching in what is today
Israel and the West Bank.
Three World Religions (cont.)
• Jesus was greeted by some as a savior
sent by God but by others as a traitor
under Roman law, and he was crucified, or
executed on a cross.
• Soon afterward, Jesus’ followers declared
that he had risen from the dead and was
the Son of God, and they spread his
message throughout the Mediterranean
world.
Three World Religions (cont.)
• People who follow Jesus’ teachings are
known as Christians, and Christianity is
the world’s largest religion, with about 2.1
billion followers.
• The New Testament is part of the Christian
Bible, or holy book.
Three World Religions (cont.)
• The third major monotheistic religion to
develop in Southwest Asia was Islam.
• Islam began in the A.D. 600s in the Arabian
Peninsula with the teachings of
Muhammad.
Three World Religions (cont.)
• Muslims, or followers of Islam, believe that
Muhammad was the last and greatest
prophet of Islam, following Abraham,
Moses, and Jesus.
• The holy book of Islam is the Quran.
Three World Religions (cont.)
• After Muhammad died in A.D. 632, leaders
known as caliphs ruled the Muslim
community.
• Over several centuries, Islam expanded
into areas of Asia, North Africa, and parts
of Europe.
The Spread of Islam
in the Ancient World
Three World Religions (cont.)
• From the A.D. 700s to the 1400s, Muslims
were the leading merchants in many parts
of Asia and Africa, including the cities of
Baghdad, Cairo, and Damascus, which
became centers of government and
learning.
Three World Religions (cont.)
• Important developments from Muslim
trading were the creation of coins, which
made trade easier, and the creation of
banking.
Which religion is responsible for the
system used today for writing
numbers and the concept of zero?
A. Judaism
A
0%
C
C. Islam
A. A
B. B
C.
0% C0%
B
B. Christianity
The Region in the Modern World
In modern times, ethnic,
cultural, and economic
differences have led to
conflict in the region.
The Region in the Modern World (cont.)
• Between the late A.D. 900s and the late
1200s, waves of Mongol invaders swept
into the Muslim world from Central Asia,
ending the Arab Empire.
• The Muslim Ottoman Empire next arose
and lasted until the end of World War I.
History at a Glance
The Region in the Modern World (cont.)
• By the end of World War I, European
powers had gained control of large areas
of North Africa, Southwest Asia, and
Central Asia.
• The region’s people resented European
rule and cultural influences and turned to
nationalism, or the belief that every ethnic
group has a right to have its own
independent nation.
The Region in the Modern World (cont.)
• Through wars and political struggles, most
countries in Southwest Asia and North
Africa won political freedom by the 1970s,
and several Muslim nations in Central Asia
gained their independence after the fall of
the Soviet Union in 1991.
The Region in the Modern World (cont.)
• Today, some groups in the region see
themselves as stateless nations, or people
with strong ethnic loyalties but no country
of their own, such as the 25 million Kurds
that live in several different lands.
The Region in the Modern World (cont.)
• Since 1948, when the United Nations
divided Palestine into separate Jewish and
Arab countries, Israel and its Arab
neighbors have fought several major wars.
• In one conflict, Israel won control of
neighboring Arab areas, such as the West
Bank and the Gaza Strip, leaving many
Palestinian Arabs homeless and
demanding their own country.
The Region in the Modern World (cont.)
• Arab-Israeli conflicts have had an impact
on the rest of the world.
• America’s support for Israel has stirred
anger among many people in the region.
The Region in the Modern World (cont.)
• Israel signed peace treaties with Egypt in
1979 and Jordan in 1994.
• A 1993 agreement between Israel and
Palestinian Arab leaders fell apart by 2000,
resulting in continued violence and
distrust.
The Region in the Modern World (cont.)
• Political movements based on Islam have
arisen in response to regional problems.
• Some Muslims believe that American and
European involvement in the region has
kept their nations poor and weak and that
they must return to Islamic culture and
values in order to prosper.
The Region in the Modern World (cont.)
• In 1979, an Islamic revolution in Iran
overthrew that country’s shah, or king, and
made Iran an Islamic republic enforcing
the strict laws of a traditional Islamic
society.
• Then, from 1980 to 1988, Iran clashed with
the dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein,
costing a million lives.
The Region in the Modern World (cont.)
• Since the 1990s, both Southwest Asia and
other areas of the world have seen the
dramatic growth of terrorism, or the use of
violence against civilians to achieve a
political goal.
The Region in the Modern World (cont.)
• A Muslim terrorist group called al-Qaeda
was formed by a Saudi Arabian named
Osama bin Laden whose goal is to remove
American and European influences from
the Muslim world.
• Al-Qaeda trained its fighters in the country
of Afghanistan, where it was helped by a
militant Muslim government called the
Taliban.
The Region in the Modern World (cont.)
• On September 11, 2001, members of
al-Qaeda attacked the United States by
seizing four American passenger planes
and flying them into the World Trade
Center in New York City and the Pentagon
outside Washington, D.C.
• The fourth plane crashed in a field in
Pennsylvania.
The Region in the Modern World (cont.)
• The United States declared a war on
terrorism and, along with other countries,
sent troops to attack Afghanistan, where
they defeated the Taliban and helped set
up a democratic Afghan government.
The Region in the Modern World (cont.)
• In 2003, a group of countries led by the
United States invaded Iraq, believing that
Iraq’s leader, Saddam Hussein, was hiding
deadly chemical and biological weapons.
• The Iraqi army was quickly defeated, and
Saddam Hussein was later captured.
The Region in the Modern World (cont.)
• For the United States and its partners,
rebuilding Iraq was more difficult than
overthrowing Hussein because many
Iraqis continue to battle American forces.
• Also, the Sunni and Shia Muslim groups
compete for power and fight each other.
• These conflicts have made it difficult for
Iraq to create a democracy and rebuild its
society.
Which country fought a war with Iraq
during the 1980s?
A. United States
B. Israel
C. Iran
D. Kuwait
0%
A
A.
B.
C.
0%
D.
B
A
B
C
0%
D
C
0%
D
Culture groups shape human
systems.
Content Vocabulary
• hajj
• mosque
• saint
• calligraphy
• dietary law
• bazaar
• epic
Academic Vocabulary
• distinctive
• revenue
This solid pillar of sandstone was
transformed into a tomb by stoneworkers
more than 2,000 years ago. The tomb
was part of the ancient city of Madain
Salah in northwest Saudi Arabia. This
once-bustling city was an important stop
on the incense trade route to Syria and
Egypt. Today, oil, not incense, drives the
Saudi Arabian economy. Read this section
to learn more about the culture and
lifestyles of the people of North Africa,
Southwest Asia,
and Central Asia.
Do you believe museums should
return the ancient artifacts they own
to the countries where the items were
found?
A. Yes
A. A
B. B
A
0%
0%
B
B. No
Reflecting a growing societal and religious trend,
several popular Egyptian television actresses have
begun wearing a veil in their shows. With 70 to 80
percent of the country’s women preferring veils, these
actresses hope to draw an audience by portraying
women who can be both modern and devout.
Population Changes
Rapid population growth has
created challenges for the
region.
Population Changes (cont.)
• Because water is scarce in North Africa,
Southwest Asia, and Central Asia, people
live along seacoasts and rivers, near
oases, or in rainy highland areas.
• Nomads stay near oases where there is
enough vegetation to feed their herds.
Population Changes (cont.)
• The vast deserts covering much of the
region remain largely empty of people,
except where oil is plentiful.
Population Changes (cont.)
• The region’s population is growing rapidly
because improved health care reduces the
number of infant deaths and increases the
life span of adults.
Population Changes (cont.)
• Rural areas where farming is difficult
cannot support the growing population, so
many villagers are moving to cities such as
Istanbul, Turkey; Cairo, Egypt; Tehran,
Iran; and Baghdad, Iraq.
What is a challenge cities face as a
result of rapid population growth?
A. Lack of jobs
B. Poor housing
C. Inadequate transportation
D. All of the above
0%
A
A.
B.
C.
0%
D.
B
A
B
C
0%
D
C
0%
D
Religion, Language, and Arts
Religion, especially Islam,
remains extremely important
throughout the region.
Religion, Language, and Arts (cont.)
• Islam, divided into the Sunni and Shia
groups, is the major faith in the region.
• Both groups follow the Quran and share
many beliefs, but they disagree on how the
Muslim faithful should be governed.
Religion, Language, and Arts (cont.)
• Most Muslims in the region and throughout
the world are Sunni, but in Iran, Iraq,
Azerbaijan, and parts of Lebanon and
Syria, most are Shia.
• All Muslims must undertake a holy journey
to Makkah, or a hajj, once in a lifetime.
Religion, Language, and Arts (cont.)
• Most Jews in the area live in Israel.
• Christians are dominant in Armenia and
Georgia, with large groups also in Israel,
Lebanon, Syria, and Iran.
Religion, Language, and Arts (cont.)
• Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all believe
in that one God holds all power and
created the universe; that God determines
right and wrong; and that people are
expected to love God, obey God’s will, and
show kindness to others.
Religion, Language, and Arts (cont.)
• Christians celebrate Easter as their major
holy day, but they also set aside special
days to honor saints, or Christian holy
people.
• Armenians and Georgians are Orthodox
Christian, but in Egypt, Christians belong
to the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Religion, Language, and Arts (cont.)
• In Israel, where three-quarters of the
population is Jewish, people follow the
traditional practice of marking the Sabbath
from sundown on Friday to sundown on
Saturday.
• The holiest of Jewish holy days is Yom
Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when Jews
fast, attend services, and ask God’s
forgiveness for their sins.
Religion, Language, and Arts (cont.)
• Both Jews and Muslims have dietary laws
that state which foods they can and cannot
eat and how food should be prepared and
handled.
Religion, Language, and Arts (cont.)
• As Islam spread though Africa and Asia, so
did the Arabic language.
• Non-Arab Muslims learned Arabic in order
to read the Quran.
• As more people became Muslim, Arabic
became the major language in much of the
region.
Religion, Language, and Arts (cont.)
• Other major languages include Hebrew in
Israel, Turkish in Turkey, and Farsi in Iran.
• Armenians, Georgians, and Central Asians
have their own languages.
Religion, Language, and Arts (cont.)
• A number of great works of literature have
been written in the languages of the
region.
• Many of these works are exciting epics—
tales or poems about heroes and heroines.
Religion, Language, and Arts (cont.)
• For many hundreds of years, the region’s
three religions provided inspiration for
artists and architects.
• Today, the region’s arts also reflect
European and American secular, or
nonreligious, influences.
Religion, Language, and Arts (cont.)
• Over the centuries, Muslims have
developed a distinctive style of
architecture that includes large interiors,
highly decorated surfaces, and brilliant
colors.
• Islamic houses of worship, called
mosques, can be seen throughout the
Muslim world.
Religion, Language, and Arts (cont.)
• Believing the showing of human figures in
art might lead to idol worship, Muslim
artists feature geometric patterns and floral
designs in their works.
• They also use calligraphy, or the art of
beautiful writing, for decoration.
Religion, Language, and Arts (cont.)
• Other art forms in the region include stone
churches with domed roofs and religious
music in the Christian countries of Georgia
and Armenia and carpet making in Iran,
Turkey, Afghanistan, and the Central Asian
countries.
How many pillars of Islam do Muslims
strive to fulfill?
A. Three
B. Four
C. Five
D. Eight
0%
A
A.
B.
C.
0%
D.
B
A
B
C
0%
D
C
0%
D
Daily Life
Living standards vary widely
in the region, as do the effects
of European and American
culture.
Daily Life (cont.)
• In North Africa, Southwest Asia, and
Central Asia, some people struggle to earn
a living from nomadic herding and smallscale farming, while others live in great
luxury.
• Some people have adopted modern
culture, but others have maintained
traditional ways.
Daily Life (cont.)
• More than 50 percent of the region’s
people live in urban areas, sometimes in
high-rise apartments, but sometimes in
very old stone or mud-brick buildings that
still lack running water or electricity.
Daily Life (cont.)
• People in the countryside often depend on
their own farms or the village market for
food.
• City dwellers can shop at supermarkets or
the bazaar, or the traditional marketplace
of stalls.
Daily Life (cont.)
• Countries whose economies are based on
manufacturing or oil production have
relatively high standards of living, but
developing countries have little wealth.
• Israel has a strong economy with highly
skilled workers and exports of hightechnology products.
Daily Life (cont.)
• Citizens of Saudi Arabia and Qatar have
prospered from oil production, and those
governments have used oil revenues, or
income, to build schools, hospitals, roads,
and airports.
Daily Life (cont.)
• Many people in these prosperous
nations live in modern cities, work in
manufacturing or service jobs, and
receive free education and health care
from their governments.
Daily Life (cont.)
• In the region’s developing countries, high
population growth has greatly strained the
economies.
• Many North Africans have migrated to
Europe to find work not available in their
own countries.
Daily Life (cont.)
• In some places, such as Afghanistan and
Tajikistan, farming and herding are the
leading economic activities, and daily life
has changed little over hundreds of years.
• Women in the region are expected to
dress modestly, and many Muslim women
wear a head scarf or veil in public.
Daily Life (cont.)
• Primary education is free; many students
now complete both primary and secondary
school, and a small percentage attends
university.
Daily Life (cont.)
• Women in rural areas have always done
farm work alongside their husbands, and
most urban women in the past stayed at
home to manage households.
• Today, however, many women in the cities
have jobs in business, education, and
government.
Daily Life (cont.)
• Saudi Arabian women may not vote, drive,
or travel without a male relative.
• They may attend universities but must go
to separate classes from men, and they
may work, but only in professions such as
teaching and medicine in which they can
avoid close contact with men.
Daily Life (cont.)
• In Turkey, women can vote and hold public
office, and Turkey and Israel have both
had women prime ministers.
Which country does not allow women
to vote?
A. Turkey
B. Israel
C. Qatar
D. Saudi Arabia
0%
A
A.
B.
C.
0%
D.
B
A
B
C
0%
D
C
0%
D
Early History
• Two of the world’s earliest civilizations developed
in Mesopotamia and Egypt.
• Three of the world’s major religions—Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam—began in Southwest Asia.
• The Arab Empire made contributions in
mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and the arts.
Modern Times
• By the end of World War I, European powers had
gained control of much of the region.
• Independent states arose during the 1900s.
• Oil reserves brought wealth to countries such as
Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran.
• Political unrest and conflict have
troubled the region since World
War II.
People
• Because water is scarce, most people live along
seacoasts and rivers or in oases or highland
areas.
• A high birthrate has led to rapid population
growth.
Religion and Culture
• Islam and the Arabic language are dominant in
most of the region.
• Muslim arts use decoration and calligraphy
instead of showing the human form.
• Israel is mainly Jewish, while Armenia and
Georgia are largely Christian.
Daily Life
• Some governments have used oil money to build
schools, hospitals, roads, and airports.
• Family life is important, and the status of women
is changing.
Al Kharijah is located
far from the Nile River,
so it is not as large as
cities located near
water resources.
irrigation
process of collecting water and
distributing it to crops
city-state
independent political unit that
includes a city and the surrounding
area
polytheism
belief in more than one god
theocracy
form of government in which the
leader claims to rule on behalf of a
god
cuneiform
form of writing from ancient
Mesopotamia that consisted of
wedge-shaped markings pressed into
clay tablets
pharaoh
name for powerful ruler in ancient
Egypt
hieroglyphics
system of writing that uses small
pictures to represent sounds or words
monotheism
belief in one god
covenant
agreement
prophet
messenger of God
caliph
successor to Muhammad
terrorism
violence used against the people or
government in the hopes of winning
political goals
legal
based on laws
rely
to depend on
hajj
pilgrimage to the Muslim holy city of
Makkah, the completion of which at
least once in a lifetime is one of the
Five Pillars of Islam
saint
Christian holy person
dietary law
rules in certain religions that detail
which foods people can and cannot
eat and how food should be prepared
and handled
epic
tales or poems about heroes or
heroines
mosque
Islamic house of worship
calligraphy
art of beautiful writing
bazaar
local marketplace in North Africa and
Southwest Asia
distinctive
clearly different, unique
revenue
incoming money
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