Middle East study guideTest Date Tuesday, Dec. 21 Name______

  1. The Middle East connects the 3 continents of: Europe, Africa and Asia
  2. The largest country, in area, is:Saudi Arabia
  3. The smallest country, in area, isBahrain
  4. What water does the Suez Canal connect? Mediterranean Seaand Red Sea
  5. What country does it go through?Egypt
  6. What does the PLO stand for? Palestinian Liberation Organization
  7. What does OPEC stand for? Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
  8. What does OPEC set the prices for? oil
  9. Where is the Wailing Wall, Dome of the Rock and Holy Sepulcher?Jerusalem
  10. Who is Osama bin Laden? Saudi Arabian millionaire who vowed a Holy War against

the United States, terrorist, leader of the Al Qaeda

  1. Who is considered the founder- most important prophet of Islam? Mohammed
  2. What does the word shah mean? ruler
  3. What is a pilgrimage? Journey for religious reasons
  4. What are the 5 pillars of Islam? Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca), alms-giving (give to

the poor), profession of faith (belief in one God), worship (pray 5 times a day),

fasting (not eating during special times of Ramadan)

  1. What does the term monotheistic mean? Belief in one god
  2. What does the term polytheistic mean? Belief in many gods
  3. What does the term literacy mean? Knowing how to read and write
  4. What are the Jews and Arab fighting over? land
  5. What religion is the Wailing Wall important to? Judaism
  6. What country has the largest oil deposits in the world? Kuwait
  7. The term that describes the Jewish organization to create a homeland. Zionism
  8. What religion do Saudi Arabian citizens practice? Islam
  9. A government based on religious laws. Theocracy
  10. Which city is important to all 3 major Middle Eastern religions?Jerusalem
  11. Which city is the most important to Muslims?Mecca
  12. What religion did Christianity originate from? Judaism
  13. What is a Bedouin? Nomadic herders in the Middle East
  14. The basic beliefs of Muslims are called: Pillars
  15. How did the Dead Sea get its name? so salty nothing can live in it
  16. What is an oasis? Green spot in the desert where underground water comes to the

surface and plants can grow.

  1. What is silt? Soil that is deposited by floods and waters
  2. What is a civilization? Advanced form of culture that developed into cities
  3. What is a Ziggurat? Temples built on top of a series of smaller platforms
  4. Who was Saddam Hussein? President of Iraq, abusive leader that killed people who were against him, started wars to take over oil fields, was arrested, tried, convicted and hanged for his crimes.
  5. What was the former name for Iran? Persia
  6. The USA and Great Britain attacked Iraqsaying they thought they had what? Weapons of mass destruction
  7. Who controlled Israel after WWI? Britain
  8. What were the series of wars called between the Christians and Muslims to control Mesopotamia? Crusades
  9. After World War II, Palestine was divided into what 2 areas? Arab and Jewish
  10. Followers of Islam are called what? Muslims
  11. Followers of Judaism are called what? Jews
  12. Followers of Christianity are called what? Christians
  13. Which two regions are peninsulas? Sinai and Arabia
  14. Knowall of the religious comparison chart (except for the number of followers)
  15. Yom Kippur is Day of Atonement, Rosh Hashanah is Jewish New Year/Day of Judgment, Passover is flight from Egypt to Israel, and Chanukah is victory over Syrian/Greeks and the miracle of the oil lasting for 8 days.
  16. What was the former name for Iraq? Mesopotamia
  17. Be able to label a political map including capitals.
  18. Be able to identify all physical features in the Middle East from your map.

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