Cultural History - AP World History: Modern

Richard Trevithick created what was at the time the first ever steam powered locomotive. He was a miner and the son of a miner. He created the steam powered rail car so that it could be used pulling rock and coal up from mines easier and more safely.

Sharia, or Holy Law, is a set of laws, principles, and guidelines determined by Islamic legal scholars who set forth jurisprudence based on their interpretation of texts such as the Quran or hadith. Sharia has constantly changed over the centuries based on new interpretations of the texts set forth by Islamic legal scholars. Sharia has at times transcended religious law and has affected societies by setting forth the rules and guidelines a people must live by.

Jerusalem, which is also a holy city to Jewish and Christian people, is an Islamic holy city because it is believed that the Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven from Jerusalem. The fact that Jerusalem is a holy city in the three largest monotheistic religions in the world has been a source of constant tension and bloodshed for more than one thousand years.

After its formation in the sixth century, Islam spread rapidly around North Africa, Central and Southern Asia, and the Middle East. Islam had reached India by the early seventh century.

According to Islamic belief, Mohammed was praying in the mountains one day, in the early seventh century, when he was visited by the angel Gabriel. Gabriel is believed to have passed on the word of God to Mohammed. It was from this divine incident that the religion of Islam would be formed.

While all of the governments listed above justified their rule with religion, the Zhou dynasty was the first dynasty to claim that Tien, or heaven, had abandoned a previous ruling order (the Shang) to take over.

Anarchists were a group that wanted to end all government. They felt that people should be the only ones to determine their fate. They felt no government should have any control over any person.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all Abrahamic religions, meaning they all share Abraham as an important prophet.

Dharmic religions are Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism; dharma is a complicated metaphysical concept, important to all these religions, that has to do with proper balance in the universe.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam aren't secular philosophies because they have a supernatural component.

While there are many different ways to practice Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, they all affirm the existence of a deity, therefore they are all theistic religions.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all monotheistic faiths; Jews, Christians, and Muslims believe in one God, not many such as in a polytheistic religion.

Tutankhamun is most famous for his legacy as a mummy in an undisturbed tomb. He also, however, restored the polytheistic Egyptian religion that his father, Akhenaten, had controversially overhauled into a monotheistic, heliocentric religion.

Marco Polo is famous for the voyage he made from Italy to China in the thirteenth century. Much of the popular European understanding of East Asia in the Early Modern period was derived from the writings of Marco Polo.

Moveable type and printing were both invented first in China. Moveable type allows for the mass production of documents and was first invented in China in the eleventh century, during the Song Dynasty.

Although controversial to some scholars and in some communities, traditionally some devout Muslim artists had no problem depicting the prophet Mohammed as long as it was done with reverence; in some contemporary Shia areas, such as Iran, artists still depict Mohammed.

It was never commonplace to find depictions of Mohammed in mosques as one would find depictions of Jesus on the cross in churches; usually depictions of Mohammed were done in holy books.

There have always been communities of scholars and religious people who are not comfortable with depictions of Mohammed, it is not just a contemporary issue.

The Qur'an was originally recited by rote. When it was finally written down, it was not illustrated.

While scholars and theologians may argue as to whether this prohibition against depiction is a strength or weakness, they are in agreement that Islam is not the only religion with such prohibitions; ancient Jewish and Israelite communities found depictions of prophets to be blasphemous, and depictions of Caesar erected in ancient Israel were some of the reasons for the Israelite revolt.

Household shrines to ancestors were an important component of Roman worship. Romans, particularly during the period of time known as the Roman Republic, practiced ancestor veneration. They built household shrines to ancestral spirits, so that those spirits could be soothed and revered and so that they would not turn malevolent.

In the Hindu faith Brahma is known as the Creator or the World Soul. Brahma is one of the most popular deities in the polytheistic Hindu faith.

Contemporary Central Asia is mostly Muslim, but until the High Middle Ages it had large populations of Buddhists.

Before the High Middle Ages, Central Asia had Muslim communities but they were not the overwhelming majority.

Worship of the sky god Tengri has been a facet of Central Asian religion for millennium, but it was never the only religion practiced there.

Central Asia had many Christian communities, but it was never mostly Christian.

Central Asia is a difficult place to scratch a living, but it has been consistently populated since prehistory nonetheless.

Gunpowder was invented in China in the ninth or tenth century. The discovery of gunpowder led to the invention of fireworks and to the invention of firearms. Eventually gunpowder would transform the military and societies of almost everywhere in the world.

When the Mon civilization of Southeast Asia was replaced by the kingdom of Pagan, Buddhism was made the official religion of the kingdom.

Neither Christianity nor Islam were designated the official religion of the Pagan kingdom.

Communism had not been theorized yet.

Although some Buddhists consider their faith nontheist or atheistic, Pagan was not official atheist.

Ruling Mongol elites of the Yuan dynasty came into contact with Tibetan Buddhism soon after the state's establishment.

Ghengis Khan, the most powerful Mongol leader in history, had both Christians and Muslims in his own family; although he personally worshipped Tengri, the sky god.

The Mongols did come into contact with the Egyptian Mamelukes, but not the Mongols who created the Yuan dynasty in China; rather a different Mongol horde set out westward and invaded the Middle East.

Mahayana is the one of the two major denominations of Buddhism - along with Theravada. Mahayana emerged in China, Korea, and Japan as a result of religious syncretism following the spread of Buddhist teachings into this part of the world.