The Birth and Spread of Islam

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  1. 3. ________________ is the fifth Pillar of Islam. This is when Muslims make a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. All adult Muslims who are capable are expected to do ___________ at least once in their lives. It takes place in the 12th month of the Islamic calendar, and millions of people come to Mecca to make the long journey. When they get to Mecca they supposedly follow Abraham and Muhammad’s footsteps. While doing this they become closer to God. They dress in plain white robes and perform different rituals as they travel to different sacred sites. As they set foot in Mecca, they recite the words “Here I am, O God at thy command.” After that they travel to what’s called the Great Mosque where the Ka’bah is located and circle it three times as instructed in the Qur’an. The Ka'bah is a holy Shrine that is shaped like a box to honor God. They circle it seven times. Then they run through the passage that is in between two small hills because that’s what Hagar did when she searched for water for her baby Ishmael. The pilgrims then drink from the Zamzam spring that magically appeared at Ishmael’s feet. Later in the day they set up camp in Mina, and in the morning go to Arafat. They pray there asking God for forgiveness until sunset. Some Muslims climb mount Arafat, to where Muhammad made his Last Sermon. That is not mandatory to the ____________ process, but a lot of Muslims do it. After that they throw stones at pillars that resemble satan to cast away evil. Lastly they celebrate with a four day feast.
  2. 7. Ghana’s capital city was __________ and it was the busiest marketplace in West Africa. Ironsmiths would sell their weapons and tools there, goldsmiths and coppersmiths would sell jewelry, weavers sold cloth, leather workers sold leather goods and many other people sold their goods as well. __________ also had one of the largest slave markets in West Africa. In 1240 the Mande people conquered the city of __________.
  3. 8. An __________ is a person who performs the sermon in a mosque during a session of prayer. People who are smart, knowledgeable, and wise are the ones who are chosen to be an ____________. They should also be able to understand Qur’an verses and be able to deliver them slowly and beautifully. Sometimes they have to go through a special training before they are allowed to give sermons.
  4. 11. __________ were animals that traders used to cross the Sahara desert. They used them as opposed to donkeys because ___________ had long eyelashes to keep sand out of their eyes, padded feet to walk on the sand, and strong abilities to carry many goods.
  5. 13. ____________ was a very important leader of the Muslims during the Crusades. He was a political and military leader. He created the largest Muslim empire since the Seljuks ruled. The greatest victory he has had over the European Crusaders was in 1187 during the battle of Hattin. This guided and helped the Muslims immensely to re-conquer the city of Jerusalem and other holy lands. Unfortunately during the 3rd Crusade, this leader was unable to defeat King Richard I and his armies. This resulted in a giant loss of territory. On the bright side, he was able to make a truce with King Richard I that Muslims would be able to rule the land of Jerusalem.
  6. 14. The __________ was a very important instrument for Muslims to use for navigation. It helped sailors at sea determine their location by looking at the objects in the sky and how they’re positioned. They were deeply developed by the muslims, but they were discovered and known about before 150 BC and created in 400 AD.
  7. 17. This was a group of people whose homeland was North of China. Their leader was Genghis Khan and they began their wars to conquer other lands. After Genghis Khan and his army attacked northern china, they decided to go across central Asia damaging cities and destroying farmland. Many Muslims were killed in the process and some were made into slaves. Under Genghis Khan’s rule the army built a huge empire that went all across Asia. They even defeated the Seljuk Turks, and in 1258 turned Baghdad into ruins and murdered their Sultan. The Mamluks whose capital was Cairo led the defence against Genghis Khan’s army. The Mamluks had defeated his army in a battle that took place in Palestine. However, Genghis Khan and his army still ruled a lot of land in Asia. Some places even started converting to Islam.
  8. 19. ________________ was born around 570 C.E. When he was a young baby, his mother sent him to live with a family of nomads in the desert so he could learn about traditional Arab values. After that, he went back to live with his mother, but she soon passed away after his return, so he was left to stay with his grandfather. Sadly his grandfather had died and he was left in the care of his uncle Abu Talib. At the age of 12 _______________ went with his uncle on a trading journey. When he grew up he became a merchant. He met his wife Khadijah when he began managing caravans. Not only did he spend much of his time as a merchant, but he was also very faithful. He spent a lot of his time praying in the mountains. One day as he was praying in the mountains, the angel Gabriel visited him and brought teachings from God (Allah). That was his call to prophethood. At first he thought he was going insane, but as the angel visited him more often, he began to believe. ________________ began sharing his knowledge to all of the people who wanted to listen. He began developing many followers, and they all began to believe in a religion called Islam.
  9. 21. ______________ is the form of decorative art that was the most popular in the Muslim world. It is the art of gorgeous and magnificent handwriting. This is what was used to copy verses from the Qur’an. Muslims honored people who did this art much more than they did other artists because they felt that this art was extremely worthy for words written from God. Writers of this art would dip sharp reeds and bamboo into ink and then write it on parchment paper. Not only would artists use this art to copy Qur’an verses, but they would also use it to decorate items used in everyday life like pottery, tiles, swords, trimmed borders of fabric and even coins. A lot of the time this art was also written on walls or the domes inside of a mosque.
  10. 23. To West Africans __________ was more valuable than gold. People would use it to be able to perspire, to keep food from spoiling, and of course because it tasted good. Another reason it was so valuable to West Africans was they had no local source of it. Evaporating it and mining it were two ways to produce ___________. The village of Taghaza was a place where _________ was plentiful. That was the only purpose people lived there because otherwise it was a very dismal place with very little crops or vegetation.
  11. 25. ____________ has been an extremely valuable item in much of the world. In an area called Wangara ____________ was bountiful. Many other civilizations traded with Wangara for this reason. They would use a method called silent barter because the people of Wangara wanted to keep the location of their _________ mines a secret. The traders would leave an offer and beat a drum while the Wangarans would leave a certain amount of _______. Then they would beat the drum and the trader would come back to see if the offering was satisfying. This would continue until a good deal was made and both sides were happy. Not only did this help keep the Wangaran mines a secret, but it also allowed civilizations who spoke other languages to trade with one another. Muslims made coins out of _________ and it was also used for currency. While the people in the forests wanted salt, people in North Africa wanted ________. Ghana which was located right in the middle of different trade routes got wealthy by taxing the __________- salt trade.
  12. 26. ________________ was the new leader who took over Mali in 1312. He was the first West African leader to devoutly practice Islam. He made his hajj and it was an immense undertaking. About 80 thousand people joined him. When he got to Cairo he met and greeted the Sultan. After he left Cairo, he went to Arabia and visited Mecca and Madinah. People lined the streets to meet him when they had heard he was coming. His wealth impressed everyone and he payed everybody gold who gave him goods and services. Mali became an extremely important kingdom because of his amazing hajj. The result was that Mali appeared on a European map of West Africa by 1375.
  13. 27. The _____________ is a cubed shaped shrine that was built by Abraham to honor God. At first Islam was a polytheistic religion, and the __________ held statues of many gods. The prophet Muhammad convinced people that there is no god but God. Today Islam is a monotheistic religion. When muslims travel on hajj, they circle the __________ 7 times because it’s a ritual that is mentioned in the Qur’an. It is said to be the most sacred site in Islam. Inside the _____________ the floor is made of limestone and marble. The walls are made of clad and have tiled, white marble that goes halfway to the roof. There are three pillars inside the ____________. In between each, there is a small altar and a table. There are sacred writings on tablets right next to the ____________’s entrance, and there are other tablets along several of the other walls. There’s a greenish cloth that runs along the top that is embroidered with verses from the Qur’an.
  14. 28. A _________ is a raised platform where the imam gives the sermon. It’s usually made out of stone, brick or carved wood. There is a gate at the front of it, and then there are stairs that lead up to where the imam stands. The way the ____________ is designed helps the imam project his voice so the worshippers can hear the sermon.
  15. 30. ________________ met a merchant named Muhammad when she was running a trading business. He earned her many good quality prophets, and she was impressed by all of his abilities. She then proposed marriage, and they married when she was at the age of 25. They had several children, but their daughter Fatima was the only one who had children of her own. Muhammad soon became a prophet after being visited by the angel Gabriel in a cave in the mountains. As Muhammad spread the idea of Islam, _____________ helped him along the way. She also was the first person to convert to Islam.
  16. 31. The ____________ was an important series of wars that the Christians had begun to retake the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslim people. In the 8th century, a group of people called the Umayyads created a Muslim Dynasty in Spain. Christians and Jews were also allowed to live there in peace, but they had to pay a special tax in return. Over time Christians would take more and more Muslim lands. By the time it was 1248 the kingdom of Granada in southern Spain was the only place that was owned by the Muslims. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand wanted to join Spain as a Catholic country near the end of the 1400s. They used a Roman Catholic court against any Muslims or Jews who said that they have converted to Christianity. It was an extremely harsh system. In the year of 1492 Granada was finally owned by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, and Jews were told to either convert to Christianity or leave the country to live in a new place.
  17. 32. A ____________ is the holy place where Muslims practice their faith. In other words, it’s the Muslim house of worship. The ___________ is usually decorated inside with many beautiful designs. A muezzin stands on the small balcony and chants the call to prayer. There is also usually at least one minaret. The people who pray in the _________ wash themselves in a fountain located in the courtyard before prayer. Inside there’s a prayer room, and the people sit and kneel on carpets on the floor. From there, the imam gives the sermon. The sermon is given from a raised pulpit that is called a minbar. A Niche is next to the minbar telling the worshipers the direction of Mecca which is the direction they want to pray. This is called the qiblah.
  18. 33. The desert city of _____________ is the center of Islam. It’s also the place where the prophet Muhammad was born and where he founded the religion of Islam. Only Muslims are allowed to visit this holy city. It is an arid, rocky valley located in western Arabia. It became a wealthy city by being a center of trade. Not only was it a center of trade, but it was also a center of religion. As the Qur’an says, Abraham had built a cubed shrine called the Kab’ah that honored God. Back then Muslims were polytheistic, and the Kab’ah contained statues of many different gods. Today Islam is a monotheistic religion, and they believe in only one God (Allah). ___________________ is also the place where Muslims visit to come and do their hajj. The Central Masjid al Haram is the sacred mosque located in ______________ and it surrounds the Kab’ah. Muslims circle the Kab’ah seven times when they visit ______________ on their hajj.
  19. 34. In early West Africa there were communities who had about 16 to 20 members in them. They were called ________________________. They would all work together as a group to harvest crops, clear fields, and plant seeds. Farming communities were usually made up of _____________________. Sometimes, to get needed help, they would band together with other ____________________. They would work together to protect themselves, to mine gold, or to control flooding a river.
  20. 35. _________________ is a group of stories that a wife tells her husband each night. It’s also referred to as “A Thousand and One Nights”. It all started when a king named King Shahryar was unfaithful because his wife had betrayed him and he killed her. Then, he hated all women and decided to marry a new one and kill them each day. Then one day there was a very wise woman named Shahrazad who was one of the daughters of the King’s vizier had a plan to stop him from killing off all of these innocent women. She decided to marry him and then tell him stories each night, so he would be intrigued and not kill her. This went on for about a thousand and one nights. By the end of it all, King Shahryar had fallen in love with Shahrazad and decided to keep her as his wife and not kill her.
  21. 39. One day Muhammad was praying in a cave in the mountains and the angel ____________ came to visit him to give him knowledge about monotheism and God (Allah). “You are the messenger of God” he told Muhammad. The first time __________ came to visit him he thought he was going insane, but Khadijah told him otherwise and said he was meant to be a prophet. The angel revealed messages over Muhammad for the next 22 years, and he began to share his knowledge of Islam to all of his followers. Even though Muhammad was not literate, he explained to everyone that ________’s messages were embedded in his heart and in his mind.
  22. 40. A Turk named Osman I created a dynasty at the beginning of the 1300s in the north end of Anatolia. These people were called the ___________. They conquered many lands in southeastern Europe and parts of Anatolia. As they were traveling East, there was something that stopped them. A man named Timur Lang who claimed to be a descendent of Genghis Khan started building an empire near the end of the 1300s. Timur and his army invaded and conquered a lot of land, and in 1402 beat the ____________ in Anatolia. The ____________ were almost completely collapsed until Timur died in the year of 1405 and they regained their control. After this they were very successful by destroying the Mamluk empire and owning much land. Unfortunately in 1700 the empire began to decline and completely ended in 1922 after World War 1.
  23. 45. ____________ is the third Pillar of Islam. It means charity. Muhammad taught his people to share their riches to the poor people who are less fortunate. The word ___________ itself stands for “purification”. Muslims believe that when they share their wealth, it controls greed and gets purified. Muslims must share 2.5% of their wealth every year with their less fortunate nearby residents. Sometimes they even give more than that. Religious officials are given the money, or sometimes the givers distribute the money. ___________ provides for countless needs. In medieval times, it went to public fountains so everyone had fresh water to drink, and it went to inns for pilgrims to stay. Today it pays for soup kitchens, shelter for the poor, orphanages, hospitals, poor children’s education, clothing, and many other needs.
  24. 46. ________________ is the name for God in Arabic. All Muslims believe in one God making Islam a monotheistic religion. The Qu’ran is the holy book of Islam and it describes all of God’s moral teachings and laws. Imams chant verses from the Qur’an as Muslims pray towards him. In the first pillar of Islam called Shahada one of the parts states that “There is no God but God”. This shows how Muslims devote themselves to __________, and believe he is the only all powerful God. All of the Five Pillars of Islam help Muslims get closer to God.
  25. 47. _____________ is Islam’s most famous philosopher. He had believed that all knowledge came from God and that truth could be known through revelation and reason. He is known as “The Father of modern medicine”. He was born in 980 in Kharmaithen which is now Uzbekistan. He died in 1037 at the age of 58. He made many accomplishments in the field of medicine throughout his lifetime and wrote many books. Two of his most famous books were “The Book of Healing” and “The Canon of Medicine”.
  26. 48. The __________ is another word for practice. During Muhammad’s lifetime, it was the lesson he had set for his people. Everything that Muhammad said in a certain situation helped and guided Muslims do things right in their everyday lives. Examples of this would be when Muhammad said “God forbids all of you to disobey your mothers.” This taught children that they should honor their parents. He also said that guests should never leave the table hungry. He was indicating that hospitality was important. The _____________ also tells Muslims how to perform the Five Pillars of Islam which is what all Muslims have to do at some point in their lives. Even though the ___________ is extremely important to Muslims, it’s only second in religious authority next to the Qur’an.
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  1. 1. ______________ was one of the kingdoms in West Africa. It was founded by Sundiata Keita, and it was inhabited by the Mande people. After the kingdom of Ghana began to decline, the people of ________ began to take over around 1240. They conquered the trading city of Kumbi. The Mande people’s homeland was close to the Niger River and South of Kumbi. They began building an empire that stretched from beyond the Niger River all the way to the Atlantic ocean. ________ got wealthy from trade just like Ghana once did.
  2. 2. The ________________ is a series of wars that began as a response to the threat that was made by the Seljuk Turks. The army of people who attacked were all Christians, and they asked Pope Urban II for assistance. Muslims, Jews and Christians were involved, and they were all fighting over the holy land of Jerusalem. There were 3 parts of this series of wars.
  3. 4. ____________ is the first Pillar of Islam. It’s the declaration or profession of faith. There are two parts to _______________. The first part is “There is no God but God”. Muslims do this to declare that they’re monotheistic. They believe that there is only one almighty God called Allah. The second part says that Muhammad is the messenger of God. Muslims believe that Muhammad declared God’s final word to humankind which was called the message of Islam. The true meaning of _____________ is to believe in only one God and to accept your submission to him. It also helps Muslims through difficult times. For example, if someone was playing a difficult sports game they might say the ______________ before they play the game to help them be successful.
  4. 5. The ancient city of _______________ was built in about the 3rd century CE. It was built where the Bani river and the Niger river intersect, and it continued for more than about 1,600 years. It was a perfect place to farm, fish and trade. The people who lived in _______________ lived in circular houses that were built out of mud blocks. The inhabitants worked many jobs. There were fishers, farmers, potters, metalsmiths, weavers, leatherworkers, bead makers, ivory workers, and most importantly blacksmiths. The blacksmiths were treated with the most respect because the people of West Africa thought iron was more valuable than gold. The discovery of this city proved to archaeologists that cities did exist in West Africa before outsiders arrived to help them build them.
  5. 6. ______________ are followers of Muhammad, and they also practice the religion of Islam. Christians and Jews are the followers of Christianity and Judaism while these people are the followers of Islam.
  6. 9. _____________ was an architect who lived in Spain. He introduced many decorative ideas to the West Africans when Mansa Musa convinced him to return to Mali with him. ________________ gave them the idea to build houses out of brick with flat roofs. He also introduced the idea of clay drain pipes which improved the quality of people’s lives a lot. Not only did he introduce these ideas, but he also built many important structures. One of the structures he built was Djingareyber which was the most famous mosque in West Africa.
  7. 10. ____________ is the spreading of ideas and styles of life. This occurs when different cultures trade with one another. It also happens during travel and sometimes even when places have conflict. After the ideas and styles spread, most of the time they are adapted to fit a certain culture. _____________ happened a lot in Islamic lands, because they were located in a good spot for trade. Muslim traders would take the ideas and styles of life with their goods, and when they traded they would spread learning. A good example would be when the Muslims learned how to make paper from the Chinese people and then they passed that knowledge on to the Europeans.
  8. 12. _____________ is a word in Islam that means to strive. The Qur’an tells Muslims to fight for themselves against others who may harm them, but at the same time, it forbids Muslims to force others to convert to Islam. As a form of _______________, Muslims considered ways of protecting their territory. In modern times, some Muslims use acts of terrorism to resist perceived aggression from non-Muslims. A lot of Muslims think that hurting others purposefully is a horrible thing and should be forbidden in Islam. _____________ not only has Muslims protecting themselves, but it also represents the human struggle to overcome difficulties and worldly challenges.
  9. 14. _____________ was a brilliant Muslim Mathematician. He introduced the ideas of Algebra and Hindu-Arabic numerals. He lived in the city of Baghdad and worked at the “House of Wisdom”. He also wrote a lot of books, and discovered many new things. He’s known as “The Father of Algebra”.
  10. 15. The ___________ is the holy book in the religion of Islam. It is split into chapters which are then divided into verses. In all of the readings, God presents his moral teachings and his laws. It guides Muslims on how to live their everyday lives. It also consists of the passages that Muhammad had received from the angel Gabriel. A long time ago, Muhammad and his people recited verses from the ______________. In the year of 651 CE, Caliph Uthman established the proper edition of the ___________ and he asked that the other versions be destroyed so they wouldn’t be confused with the official copy. Muslims highly honor this holy book and don’t allow it to touch the ground. It’s basically the center of the religion of Islam.
  11. 16. _____________ is a holy city to Muslims, Jews and Christians. The Jews’ great temple had once stood there, for the Christians, Jesus’ death and resurrection happened there, and for the Muslims, Muhammad went to heaven on his Night Journey. All of these religions wanted to visit this holy city. Muslims began to rule______________ in the 7th century. They built the “Dome of the Rock” there to represent where Muhammad had his Night Journey. Christians, Jews, and Muslims all lived peacefully, until there was a huge threat. The Seljuks became a Muslim dynasty in the 11th century. When they were capturing and conquering lands, they were eager to expand their territory, and they threatened the Byzantine empire itself. Christians feared about ____________’s fate. After the Seljuks had taken control, _______________ became an unsafe place. Turmoil took its course and travel became unsafe. Christians feared that they would never be able to visit the holy land of ________________ again. This is what started the horrible Crusades.
  12. 18. _____________ is the fourth Pillar of Islam. It means fasting. The Qur’an teaches all Muslims to celebrate this fasting during the time of Ramadan. Ramadan takes place in the Islamic calendar during the 9th month. While Ramadan is occurring, Muslims fast from when the sun rises until it sets eating and drinking nothing. Then after the sun sets, the fast is broken and the Muslims eat a feast. They also say a special prayer called the sunset prayer. After the feast with friends, they go to special prayer services that include verses from the Qur’an. Fasting taught Muslims know what it’s like to be poor and hungry and gain more self control. Muslims also try to forgive others, not gossip and avoid bad deeds and arguments. At the end of the month of Ramadan, Muslims celebrate something called Eid al-Fitr. It resembles the time when Gabriel visits Muhammad for the first time.
  13. 20. The word ______________ means a family line that is traced through the mother. In early Ghana West Africa, the inheritance of the throne was _____________. The son of the king’s sister would become king instead of the king’s son. Later on when Islam was spread throughout West Africa, the inheritance of the throne became patrilineal. Patrilineal means a family line traced through the father as opposed to the mother.
  14. 22. _____________ is a type of design that took all of its beauty from nature. It was used on everyday items like ceramic bowls, carpets, tiles, metal boxes, and entire walls. Things like flowers, leaves, stems and tendrils were all included in these beautiful patterns and designs. This design was used a lot in Islamic art.
  15. 23. ____________ is the second Pillar of Islam. It means routined ritual prayer every day. In Muslim communities everyone is called to prayer five times everyday. People are called to prayer at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and after night fall as well. At the mosque in the community, the muezzin chants the call to prayer. Before prayer, Muslims perform a ritual washing called Wudu. It resembles ritual purity before prayer. There’s a fountain in the courtyard of the mosque where they can wash their hands, feet, face and arms. Then the Muslims go into the prayer area, where they kneel on carpets in front of an imam. They face towards the qiblah which is the direction of Mecca. Then the Imam chants “Allahu akbar!” (“God is most great!”). After that the worshipers read verses from the Qur’an. Muslims don’t necessarily need to perform __________ in a mosque even though it’s preferable. A mosque might not be close enough to go to before a call to prayer. They are allowed to perform ______________ at home, in parks, at airports, at work or on sidewalks. Wherever they are they have to stop to pray. They might use a qiblah compass to determine the direction of Mecca.
  16. 24. __________________ was an amazing Muslim Traveler. He was born in Morocco on February 24, 1304. He started his love for traveling, by going to Mecca and undertaking his hajj. Then he traveled much of the world. He traveled to Mali in the 14th century, and was aggravated by some of the local practices that happened there. but he was impressed how devoted some Africans were to Islam and how fast it spread.
  17. 29. _____________ was a judicial body established by the Roman Catholic Church to combat forms of religious error. It was used during the Reconquista by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. They used it against any Muslim or Jew who refused to convert to Christianity or claimed to convert. People who refused or were lying were burned at the stake.
  18. 36. Mathematics was a topic that Muslims had advanced in with great depth. ____________ is a very important part of mathematics that Muslims used to figure out problems that contained unknown numbers (variables). Al Khwarizmi wrote a very famous book that contained information on this topic. His book became the most famous mathematics textbook that was used in the universities in Europe. An example of one of these problems is 5x + 7 = 22. The answer would be x = 3.
  19. 37. A ___________ is a ruler of a Muslim country. The feminine word for a ________ is a sultana or sultanah. This word was taken from an arabic root word that means strength and authority.
  20. 38. A ______________ is another word for a religious Muslim leader. The caliphate is the government in which they lead. The first ____________ was Abu Bakr, because they needed a new religious leader after Muhammad died. He had three leaders who had followed after him. Abu Bakr had unified most of Arabia when he was a _____________ and did many other good things throughout his lifetime. Then he sadly died in 634. ____________ Umar was the next in line. He spread the religion of Islam and conquered many lands. He was very successful throughout his lifetime and sadly died in 644. Uthman followed after him. He united many Muslim people and commanded a definite addition of the Qur’an. He was then killed in 656. Ali ibn Abi Talib said that he would become the 4th ______________. A few important Muslims tried to protest against Ali, and that led to civil war. Many of his followers turned against him, and in 661 he was murdered. These four religious leaders were called the four _____________s.
  21. 41. _________________ is based off of the Sunnah and the Qur’an and it is the body of Islamic law. The Muslims believe that _____________ came from God. It guides them in the way they behave, and how they interact with others. Islamic law is split into five categories, forbidden, discouraged, allowed, obligatory, and recommended. Examples of these categories used in ______________ is that Muslims are forbidden to consume pork, gamble or drink alcohol. Another would be that women should not display their beauty to strangers. This would be discouraged as opposed to forbidden. Not only does Islamic law guide life with these categories, but it also lays out what Muslims have to do towards others. These categories are grouped like so, criminal, commercial, family, and inheritance law. The ______________ court is led by a judge called a qadi who hears the case. Sometimes if needed a qadi will discuss with a mufti (scholar of law) for their opinion.
  22. 42. ____________ was a wealthy place of great prosperity. It got wealthy mostly by its location. It was located in between North Africa and West Africa. Traders from the North would bring goods such as salt, copper and cowrie shells. People from the West would trade items such as animal hides, leather goods, ivory, slaves, kola nuts, and gold. All of this was called trans-Saharan trade and ___________ had control of it. It would tax all of the goods that traveled through their kingdom. The gold-salt trade especially allowed __________ to earn a lot of money.
  23. 43. The Persians created the game of ________ and the Muslims had learned it from them. It was a fun recreational activity where people used mallets while on horseback. They would try to strike a ball through the goal to score a point. The enjoyable game soon became popular among wealthy people. Muslims had adapted the game of polo adding many more improvements to make the game better.
  24. 44. West Africa begins in an area of land called the ______________. The _____________ is a giant desert that stretches about 3.5 million square miles. Sand dunes cover about 25% of it, but there are also mountains and bare rocky plains as well. The ________________ is extremely dry and arid, but there are some oasis here and there. There are some areas of vegetation as well, but very few. Some traders had to cross the Sahara to get to the places they needed to trade their goods. This was called Trans Saharan trade. It’s an extremely dangerous journey. Sometimes caravans would get lost, and some traders died in the desert. Since it’s so dry sometimes it’s even hard to find water. Traders would often use camels to cross the desert because of their padded feet to walk on the sand, their large eyelashes to keep sand out of their eyes, and their strength to carry many goods.