Across
- 3. the most holy book of Islam
- 9. large exporter of electronics (e.g., Nintendo, Sony) and cars (e.g., Toyota, Honda, Nissan)
- 12. an area in the Pacific Ocean having a large number of earthquakes and volcanoes
- 13. wedge-shaped writing invented by the Mesopotamians
- 15. called the "graveyard of empires"; place from which Osama Bin Laden orchestrated the 9/11 attacks
- 17. second largest country by population; the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism; known for its curry powder
- 20. consists mostly of uninhabitable desert; home to Mecca, the birthplace of Muhammad; largest producer and exporter of oil; uses Sharia law as its criminal code
- 21. the longest river in the world;
- 23. the largest hot desert in the world; makes up most of North Africa
- 25. the fathers of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
- 27. ("enlightened one"); Hindu prince who around 500 B.C. rejected Hinduism and left his family and possessions in order to find enlightenment and peace
- 28. the most common religion in the Middle East and North Afirca; based on the teachings of Muhammad and stresses belief in one god (Allah); means "submission"
- 29. another term used to refer to South Asia; so-called because of this region's separation from the rest of the Asian continent by the Himalayas
- 32. Egyptian writing system
- 33. cradle of civilization which grew up along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; means "[land] between the rivers"
- 34. wise and rich ruler who wrote many Proverbs; worshiped the foreign gods of his wives
- 35. largest country by population and third by land area; birthplace of Confucianism;
- 37. the belief that one's good or bad actions affects what happens to them later
- 38. the event in which Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt
- 39. fourth largest country by population and most populous Muslim-majority country; an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands
- 40. Arab prophet who founded Islam
Down
- 1. the land of Cyrus the Great's vast Persian Empire
- 2. a person who follows Islam
- 4. acts of worship required of all Muslims: declaration of faith, prayer, alms, fasting, and pilgrimage
- 5. birthplace of the ancient cradle of civilization on the Nile River; famous for its ancient pyramids
- 6. the triangular-shaped mouth of a river where sediment builds up
- 7. a military dictatorship cut off economically and diplomatically from the rest of the world; has reeducation camps and internment camps for political prisoners
- 8. considered the best country in robotics, and home to the electronics company, Samsung; the most protestant country in Asia
- 10. large, desert peninsula in the Middle East; between the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and Arabian Sea
- 11. military leaders who saved the Jews from their neighboring enemies before Israel had a king
- 12. the repeating cycle of birth, life, and death; after one dies, their soul returns in another body as a human, animal, or spirit
- 14. one of the earliest written law codes, written by a Babylonian king
- 16. a philosophy teaching how behave virtuously within one's family and in society
- 18. a strict social class system in which all people are born into one of four groups which dictate their occupation (job) and rules of behavior
- 19. the most important resource in the Middle East
- 22. went crazy and tried to kill David
- 24. killed Goliath and wrote many Psalms
- 26. popular Indian leader who used non-violence to get the British to withdraw from India
- 27. a religion that teaches detachment from the world in order to reach the perfect peace of nirvana; begun in India but is most popular today in East Asia
- 30. its Tigris and Euphrates Rivers fueled Mesopotamia; dictator Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. forces in 2003
- 31. 1,500 miles of mountains forming the northeastern border of the Indian subcontinent; includes Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth
- 36. a collection of teachings (religious and philosophical) developed in ancient India characterized by reincarnation, the caste system, and karma