Chapter 11 Study Guide Answer Key
Chapter 11 Study Guide Answer Key
1. Why was the location of Arabia important?
Scattered oases, the highlands of Yemen, and interior mountains supported sedentary villagebased agriculture, and in the northern and southern regions of Arabia, small kingdoms had flourished in earlier times. Arabia also sat astride increasingly important trade routes, which connected the Indian Ocean world with that of the Mediterranean Sea and gave rise to cosmopolitan commercial cities, whose values and practices were often in conflict with those of traditional Arab tribes. (Original: p. 303; With Sources: pp.
474475)
2. Why was Mecca an important city? Why was Mecca’s dominant tribe important?
Though somewhat off the major longdistance trade routes, Mecca was the site of the
Kaaba, the most prominent religious shrine in Arabia, which housed representations of some 360 deities and was the destination for many pilgrims. Mecca’s dominant tribe, the
Quraysh, had come to control access to the Kaaba and grew wealthy by taxing the local trade that accompanied the annual pilgrimage season. By the sixth century, Mecca was home to people from various tribes and clans as well as an assortment of individual outlaws, exiles, refugees, and foreign merchants, but much of its growing wealth was concentrated in the hands of a few ruling Quraysh families. (Original: p. 303; With
Sources: p. 475)
3. How does the core message of Islam compare with that of Judaism and Christianity?
● Islam is monotheistic, as is Judaism and Christianity. Allah is the only God, the
allpowerful Creator.
● As the “messenger of God,” Muhammad presented himself in the tradition of
earlier prophets like Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.
● Like the Jewish prophets and Jesus, Muhammad demanded social justice and laid
out a prescription for its implementation. (Original: p. 304305; With Sources: pp.
476477)
4. Why did the message of the Quran challenge the tribal and clan structure of Arab
1. Why was the location of Arabia important?
Scattered oases, the highlands of Yemen, and interior mountains supported sedentary villagebased agriculture, and in the northern and southern regions of Arabia, small kingdoms had flourished in earlier times. Arabia also sat astride increasingly important trade routes, which connected the Indian Ocean world with that of the Mediterranean Sea and gave rise to cosmopolitan commercial cities, whose values and practices were often in conflict with those of traditional Arab tribes. (Original: p. 303; With Sources: pp.
474475)
2. Why was Mecca an important city? Why was Mecca’s dominant tribe important?
Though somewhat off the major longdistance trade routes, Mecca was the site of the
Kaaba, the most prominent religious shrine in Arabia, which housed representations of some 360 deities and was the destination for many pilgrims. Mecca’s dominant tribe, the
Quraysh, had come to control access to the Kaaba and grew wealthy by taxing the local trade that accompanied the annual pilgrimage season. By the sixth century, Mecca was home to people from various tribes and clans as well as an assortment of individual outlaws, exiles, refugees, and foreign merchants, but much of its growing wealth was concentrated in the hands of a few ruling Quraysh families. (Original: p. 303; With
Sources: p. 475)
3. How does the core message of Islam compare with that of Judaism and Christianity?
● Islam is monotheistic, as is Judaism and Christianity. Allah is the only God, the
allpowerful Creator.
● As the “messenger of God,” Muhammad presented himself in the tradition of
earlier prophets like Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.
● Like the Jewish prophets and Jesus, Muhammad demanded social justice and laid
out a prescription for its implementation. (Original: p. 304305; With Sources: pp.
476477)
4. Why did the message of the Quran challenge the tribal and clan structure of Arab