Byzantine and Muslim Civilizations
Chapter 10
Do Now: Quote Analysis
 “I would rather let the crime of the guilty go unpunished than
punish the innocent.”
-Justinian
 1-2 sentences each:
 What does this quote mean?
 Do you agree with it?
Do Now: Picture Analysis
 Answer in 2+ sentences
each:
 What do you notice about
the location of this city?
 Describe the buildings that
stand out in this picture.
Do you think the domed
buildings are modern or
historic? Why?
 Why do you think the
location of this city is
important?
Chapter 1: The Byzantine Empire
Constantinople at a Crossroads
 Constantinople – the new capital of the Byzantine Empire
 Christians (Byzantines) and Muslims (Arabs or Turks) often
fought over Constantinople
 In 330, Roman emperor Constantine moved the capital of
the Roman Empire from Rome to Byzantium
 Renamed Constantinople
 Now known as Istanbul (in Turkey)
Constantine and His Capital
 The Roman Empire continued to rule in Constantinople
from 330 until the end of the empire in 476
 Christians who lived there were called Byzantines (even though
the city’s name was changed from Byzantium)
 Constantinople was a center of trade – it was the crossroads
from Europe to Asia
 It had large markets, forums (public squares), paved roads,
cathedrals, and circuses (the major circus was called the
Hippodrome)
 Population: 500,000
Why all the fighting?
 Constantinople was close to the land where Jesus was born and
lived (Judaea) so the Christians wanted it
 It was also close to the Arabian Peninsula, home of the Muslims
Constantinople
Judaea
Arabian Peninsula
 Plus, Constantinople was a FANTASTIC trading port! If you
control Constantinople, you control a lot of money and
commerce (another word for trade and exchange of money).
 Why was the location so perfect for trading?
Trading
 Constantinople was built at a
crossroads of sea and land trading
routes
 It is located on the Bosporus, which
is a strait (a narrow channel) that
connects the Black Sea and the Sea
of Marmara
 It also connects to the
Mediterranean Sea by way of the
Aegean Sea
 Europe and Asia meet at the
Bosporus
 The Byzantines grew rich by taxing
the trade that went through
Constantinople
 Constantinople was known as the
“Crossroads of Europe and Asia”
The Middle Ages
 When Rome fell, the Middle Ages began
 Middle Ages – the period from the fall of the Roman Empire
(476) until 1500 (when the Renaissance started)
 Medieval – a term referring to anything during the Middle Ages
 The Roman Empire may have fallen, but a new empire
continued in Constantinople: the Byzantine Empire
The Age of Justinian
 Justinian – the first great
Byzantine emperor
 Ruled from 527-565
 Justinian’s Code – An
organized collection and
explanation of laws that was
used by the Byzantine Empire
 Justinian used many ancient
Roman laws to shape his law
code
 This code became the basis for
most modern European legal
systems
 Byzantine culture borrowed
culture from the ancient
Greeks and Romans
 Justinian also reclaimed much of the land that had been taken
from the Roman Empire, including parts of North Africa,
Italy, and Spain
The Empire’s Later Years
 Byzantine Christians practiced Christianity differently than the
rest of Europe
 They did not follow the pope, the leader of the Catholic church
 The Byzantine Christian Church used Greek, but the Roman Catholic
Church used Latin in written copies of the Bible
 The Byzantine Empire outlawed the use of praying to a painting or
sculpture of saints or other religious figures, saying that doing so
violated God’s commandments, but Pope Leo II disagreed
 Because the two sides disputed about so many different issues, it led to a
schism, or a split, in the Christian church, in 1054
 They split into the Roman Catholic Church in the west and the
Eastern Orthodox Church in the east
 Despite all the fighting in the church, the Byzantine Empire
became wealthier and more successful
The Fall of Constantinople
 Christians and Muslims
both lived in
Constantinople, and
there was constant
fighting between both
sides
 Turks (Muslims from
inland parts of Asia
Minor – where the
country name “Turkey”
came from) took over
Constantinople in 1453
and renamed it Istanbul
Section 2: The Beginnings of Islam
Do Now:
 On your Guided Notes sheet, write:
 What do you see in this picture?
 What do you think is going on?
The Arabian Peninsula
 Islam formed in Arabia
 Mecca – a busy trading center
in Arabia that became the
center of the Muslim world
 Islam started among a group
of people called Bedouins who
lived in Arabia
 They were nomads – people
who have no permanent home
and move from place to place
 They moved in caravans –
large traveling groups
Muhammad
 Islam was started by the Prophet
Muhammad – a Bedouin nomad,
in 610
 According to Islam, God sent an
angel to make Muhammad his
messenger
 God gave messages to Muhammad to
share, and these teachings formed
Islam
 People who accepted these teachings
became a Muslim
 Muslims traveled to Mecca (in
Saudi Arabia) to worship at the
Kaa’ba (an ancient shrine, or
sacred place)
 Medina, north of Mecca, also
became an important center for
Islam
Muslim Belief
 God is called Allah, which
is Arabic for “God”
 Muslims pray five times a
day
 At certain times of the
day, all Muslims stop what
they are doing to pray
 Muslims worship at a
mosque – a Muslim house
of worship
The Five Pillars of Islam
 Five Pillars of Islam express basic
Islamic belief
 1. Declaration of Faith: Muslims




believe that there is only one God
and Muhammad is God’s messenger
2. Prayer: Muslims must pray five
times each day
3. Almsgiving: Muslims must give
alms, or money, to the poor
4. Fasting: Muslims must fast during
daylight during the month of
Ramadan
5. Pilgrimage: Muslims must make
at least one pilgrimage to Mecca in
their lives, if they are able
 Quran – the holy book of Islam (like the Bible is to Christians)
 Contains messages revealed by God to Muhammad
 Quran teaches that men and women are equals
 Gave women more rights, more protection under the law, and more
opportunities for education than ever before in Arabia
 Muslims also experienced a schism, based on who would lead the
Muslims
 Shi’ites
 Smaller group, believe that the Muslim ruler should be a descendent of
Muhammad
 Sunnis
 Larger group (85%), believe that the leader of the Muslims did not have to be
a descendent of Muhammad. They believed a group of Muslims should work
together to lead
Similarities to Christianity and Judaism
 Muslims worship one god, just like Christians and Jews
 Muslims believe that Allah is the same god that Christians and
Jews believe in, who is referred to in the Bible (“Allah” simply
means “God” in Arabic)
 All three have a holy book
 Muslims have the Qu’ran
 Christians have the Bible (Old and New Testament)
 Jews have the Tanakh (the Old Testament in the Bible)
 Muslims believe in Jesus, but they believe he was an
important prophet, or messenger of God, but not the son of
God
Section 3: Muslim Civilization
The Spread of Islam
 Islam spread to North Africa, Spain, Persia, and China
 Arab merchants helped to spread Islam
 Many of the Christians in Constantinople converted
 Muslims tolerated other religions and allowed them to practice their
faith, even after they were conquered
The Golden Age
 Golden Age of Islam: 800-1100
 Arab world was very wealthy
 Caliphs (a Muslim religious leader) helped develop a wealthy empire
 Baghdad (in Iraq) became the Muslim center of trade
 Advances in math and science
 Al-Khwarizmi – a Muslim mathematician who helped invent algebra
 Omar Khayyam – Muslim astronomer, mathematician, and poet
 Literature
 Sufis were Muslims who believed they could draw close to God through
prayer, fasting, and a simple life
 Sufis used poetry and writing to spread their beliefs
The Ottoman Empire
 Muslims from Asia
Minor (Turkey) called
Ottomans took over
Constantinople in 1453
 Renamed the city
Istanbul
 Sultan – a Muslim
political ruler
 Sultan ruled over the
entire empire
 Ottomans allowed
Christians and Jews to
practice their religion
Video Clips on Islam
 http://www.history.com/videos/principles-of-islam
Reflection on Islam: The Muslim
World Today
 To conclude our unit on Islam,
please write one good paragraph
that includes three things that
you learned during our study of
Islam. How do you think that
this knowledge will benefit you
in the future?
Reflect and Write
 Why do you think many of the Muslim countries are located
in the Middle East (near Arabia) and North Africa? Think
about where Islam originated.
Worldwide Population
 There are 1.6 billion Muslims around the world (23-25% of
the world’s population!)
 Where do you think that ranks in size among world religions?
 Christianity is the only religion that is bigger (about 2 billion)
 Islam is the world’s fastest growing religion
 From 1900-1970, the Muslim population grew from 200
million to 550 million
 From 1970 to now, the Muslim population grew from 550
million to 1.6 BILLION!!
Countries with Largest Muslim
Population
 Indonesia – 204 million (88%)
 Pakistan – 178 million (96%)
 India – 177 million (14%)
 Bangladesh – 148 million (90%)
 Egypt – 80 million (94%)
 Some countries are made up of 99% Muslims! These
countries include Morocco, Afghanistan, Iran, Tunisia, and
Yemen.
Shi’ites and Sunnis
 Sunnis – they originally believed that the leader of the
Muslims should be elected fairly because of their
qualifications and readiness for the job
 Sunnis make up about 85% of the Muslim population
 Shia Muslims – they originally believed that the leaders of the
Muslims should always be a direct descendant of Muhammad
 Shi’ites make up 15% of the Muslim population
Famous Mosques
 The El-Mursi Abul Abbas Mosque
– in Egypt
 Grand Mosque of Kuwait – in
Kuwait
 What do you notice about the
architecture of these mosques?
 Although not all Muslims
speak Arabic as their native
language, most at least know
some of the Qur’an in
Arabic. This is “Allah”
written in Arabic – as you
can see, it is much different
from English!
 Arabic is written from right
to left.
Islam in the USA
 The state with the highest
population of Muslims is
California. There are 260,000
Muslims who live there.
 120,000 Muslims live right
here in NJ!