Top Secret Assignment
(click here to go to the
table of contents)
By Agent YB Singh
Better known as:
Agent Yashie Boy Singh
Table of Contents
Summary of Byzantine Empire
Summary of Islamic Civilization
Summary of African Kingdoms
Focus 1: Byzantine Empire: Justinian
Focus 2: Byzantine Empire: Icons
Focus 1: Islamic Civilization:Caliphs
Focus 2: Islamic Civilization: Kaaba
Focus 1:African Kingdoms: Slave Trade
Focus 2: African Kingdoms:
Sundiata Keita
Summary 1: Byzantine Empire
Rome fell in 476 AD. But did it really fall? Yes, the Western Roman Empire crumbled, but what
about the Eastern Roman Empire? That continued on until 1453. It was known as the Byzantine
Empire.
The location of the Byzantine Empire helped the empire. This empire wasn’t even close to the
size of other empires, so it was pretty small and easy to defend. It was close to Africa, so the empire
traded their goods for gold and ivory in Africa. It was close to the Europe/Asia border.
This empire had good rulers. Emperor Justinian was the best ruler. He stopped a rebellion. He
made a law code (which influences the format of today’s law codes) that cured the empire’s original
code. He built a church (the Hagia Sophia). He gave women and the poor their rights.
The economy was based on trade. Once they found out the secret of silk from china. They made
major silk industries. They traded for goods and money. They used the money for art, music and
education.
The religion was Christianity. The empire used icons, two dimensional mosaics or paintings of a
person or a scene to teach Christianity. People later argued over these and thought that these were
used for idol worship. In the end, icons were used.
The culture was mostly Greek. The leaders and rulers spoke and wrote in Greek. The most
favorite sport was chariot racing. The stadium for chariot racing was known as a hippodrome.
In conclusion, the Byzantine Empire was a well developed civilization that lasted almost 1000
years.
Summary 2:Islamic Civilization
During the peak of the Byzantine Empire, another civilization began to form in
the Arabian Peninsula. This was the Islamic Civilization.
There was a man named Muhammad, who spread the religion of Islam. When his
own city, Mecca, didn’t accept his message, Muhammad and his followers journeyed to a city
named Yathrib. Muhammad was made the leader. He told the Islam religion and raised an
army. He then conquered Mecca. He made Mecca the holy city of Islam, knocking down the
statues of the false gods and putting up statues of Allah, the true god in the Kaaba.
After Muhammad died, Caliphs (successors to Muhammad) took over. They spread
Islam to Spain. The last group of Caliphs didn’t expand the civilization because of other
empires. This age of caliphs was known as the Golden Age of the Islamic Civilization. Islam
expanded on education, architecture, art, and science. After that, the Seljuk and Ottoman
Turks took over Islam.
Muhammad influenced today’s religion. The Quran, the holy book of Islam, was
believed to be written by Muhammad’s followers and told by Muhammad himself. Muslims
prayed in the holy places of worship: Mosques.
There are five pillars that all Muslims must do: pray five times daily, give charity to the
poor, fast during the Islamic month of Ramadan, make a pilgrimage to Mecca once in a
lifetime, and believe that there is one god: Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet.
The Islamic Civilization was a very successful empire, and it still exists today.
Summary 3: African Kingdoms
There was a very great amount of Kingdoms in Africa in the Middle Ages.
There was Great Zimbabwe, which was located in the Southern Savanna. There
were hunters who hunted the animals in the savanna. They were a great kingdom but
suddenly (and mysteriously) disappeared. Some historians believe the reason was
overpopulation.
The two Rainforest Kingdoms were Benin and Congo. They relied on the
vegetation, animals, and trees (which provided shade, food and shelter). Benin was
good at sculpting woods and metal, and Congo was good at weaving plant fibers.
These Kingdoms became a center of slave trade.
There were the West African Kingdoms: Ghana and Mali. Ghana had a famous
ruler named Dinge Cisse who united most of West Africa. The economy was based on
trade.
Mali was a Kingdom who had two famous rulers: Mansa Musa and Sundiatia
Keita. The economy was based on trade. They traded gold and salt, which they got
from mines.
Focus 1: Byzantine Empire: Jusitinian
Emperor Justinian was known as one of the greatest
Byzantine emperors of all.
One reason was because he readjusted the law code.
With the help of the scholar Tribonian, he changed the
awful old law cod to a new law code. His law code even
influences laws today.
Another reason is that he gave women and the poor
their rights. His wife, Empress Theodora, gave him wise
advise because she herself was a woman and was poor
before she had been chosen as a wife and empress by
Justinian.
A third reason is that he stopped a rebellion that the
citizens participated in because of the taxes. Justinian
wanted to escape, but then he soon regained his courage
and stopped the rebellion.
He also reconquered parts of Europe that Rome
used to own, with the help of General Belisarius. For a
moment in world history, the Byzantine Empire was one
of the larger empires in the world.
Therefore, Emperor Justinian was one of the
greatest rulers in Byzantine history.
Emperor Justinian
Back to
Byzantine
Empire
Summary
Focus 2:Byzantine Empire: Icons
Icons were popular to use back in
the Middle Ages to teach Christianity, and
they are still used today.
Icons are two-dimensional, paintings
or mosaics of a person or a scene. One
example of an Icon would be a painting of
Jesus.
There was lots of conflict over these
at one time. People who opposed these
were called “iconoclasts.” The word
“iconoclasts” meant “icon breaker.”
These iconoclasts believed that icons
were used for idol worship. There was
more conflict in the empire, (there were
actually multiple conflicts in religion at the
time) and this conflict had to be resolved.
In the end, icons were used, but they
were used more in the Eastern Orthodox
Church than the Roman Catholic Church
(those two were the centers of Christianity
in the Byzantine Empire)
(Icon of Jesus on the cross)
Back to
Byzantine
Empire
Summary
Focus 1:Islamic Civilization: Caliphs
Caliphs were known as successors to Muhammad.
They carried on the civilization after Muhammad.
The first group of Caliphs were known as the Rightly
Guided Caliphs. They were the first four Caliphs after to
rule after Muhammad’s death. They expanded Islam into
Persia and Egypt. They ruled for about 30 years.
The next group of Caliphs were known as the
Umayyad Caliphs. They ruled for the next 100 years.
They made Islam so big that it stretched from Spain to
Northern India!
The final group of Caliphs were known as the
Abbasid Caliphs. They ruled for 250 years! Unfortunately,
they didn’t expand Islam. This happened because of
other empires (the Byzantine Empire and the Kingdom of
the Franks). Another reason is that these caliphs
emphasized art, scholarship, and science instead of
conquest.
After that, the Seljuk and Ottoman Turks took over
Islam. But there is one conclusion to be made about
Caliphs: they made Islam last for a long time!
Back to
Islamic
Civilization
Summary
(Rightly Guided Caliphs)
Focus 2: Islamic Civilization: Kaaba
The Kaaba was a place that is
believed that it existed in the time period
of Abraham.
The Islamic religion believes in
Abraham (the Abraham in Judaism). It is
believed that Abraham and his son,
Ishmael built the Kaaba.
The Kaaba still exists today. It is a
small building in the center of the Grand
Mosque in Mecca. Every person who
practices the Islamic religion has to make
a pilgrimage to the Kaaba at least once in
a lifetime.
It is believed that many ancient
items are in the Kaaba. There are icons,
statues of Allah, ancient copies of the
Quran, and much more religious items.
Some people even believe that the body
of Muhammad rests there to this day.
The Kaaba still stands in the Grand
Mosque of Mecca, as an ancient, religious,
and great structure.
(The Kaaba)
Back to
Islamic
Civilizations
Summary
Focus 1:African Kingdoms: Slave Trade
The Rainforest Kingdoms (Benin and Congo) were a common place
for Europeans to trade for slaves. The question is, did Europeans start
African slavery?
The answer is no. How is this? The people of Benin and Congo
needed labor. Villages got raided of citizens that would soon become
slaves.
But there were differences between African slavery and slave trade.
In African slavery, you were not taken far away from your home plus
there was a chance of escape and freedom. For European slave trade,
you were taken far from your home and there was almost no chance of
freedom! There was also pay in African slavery and no pay in the
European slave trade.
Another detail is the difference of trading for items and trading for
slaves. It’s okay to trade an item for an item, but when you are trading
a slave for an item, there is a big difference! When you trade a slave,
you are saying that a particular human being is worth another item!
Therefore, like lots of other African Kingdoms, Benin and Congo have
been used for slave trade.
Back to
African
Kingdoms
Summary
(Routes of European Slave Trade)
Focus 2: African Kingdoms: Sundiata Kiata
There was one ruler of Mali named Sundiata
Keita. His name meant “lion king.”
He united the kingdom of Mali. His father was a
ruler of a kingdom named Kangaba, a small empire
settled on the Niger River. A Kingdom in the north
called the Susu invaded Kangaba. Sundiata and his
mother were sent to exile to avoid the risk of being
assassinated by his jealous half-brother, Kankaran
Tuman. His people later called on him to stop his
evil brother’s tyranny. In about 1230, Sundiata put
together an army in the north, and reconquered
Susu provinces. He defeated the main army, which
marked the beginning of the Mali empire.
His story actually inspires the movie Lion King. In
this story, Simba, after his father, the lion king, dies,
he is exiled by his jealous uncle Scar. Scar takes over
the lion pride and becomes king. Simba is later
called on by the pride to stop Scar’s tyranny, and
Simba does.
Therefore, Sundiata Keita was a great ruler of
Mali who inspired one of Disney’s greatest hits.
(Area of Medieval Mali)