The Geography of the Arabian Peninsula Chapter 7
The Geography of the Arabian Peninsula Chapter 7
7. 1 Introduction • Does anyone know who the founder of Islam was? • The founder of Islam, Muhammad, was born on the Arabian Peninsula in 570. • The Peninsula is located between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
7. 2 What Was the Importance of the Arabian Peninsula and Surrounding Lands? • Great civilizations grew up around Arabia, like the Egyptians, Sumerians, Romans, Greeks, and Persians. • How would these civilizations affect Arabia? • A lot of trade passed through Arabia. • Arabs served as middlemen in trade and used camels to carry goods through the desert (called caravans). • What made Arabia even more important? • The importance of Arabia grew with the rise of Islam. • Knowledge, ideas, technology, and goods all flowed through Arab lands.
Caravan
7. 3 What Was the Desert Like? • • What Was the Environment? ¾ of the Arabian Peninsula was desert. Very harsh; could fluctuate between 120 f to below freezing, minimal rain, and droughts could last for years. What else can happen in the desert? Powerful sandstorms
What Were the Adaptations? • Bedouins were nomads (moved from place to place) that followed their herds sheep, goats, and camels through the desert. • Herds gave them everything they needed. • What did they get from their herds? • Food, milk, wool, leather, or they could trade the animals. • What would you wear in the desert? • They wore loose fitting cotton gowns and headdresses for protection against the desert.
7. 4 What Were the Oases Like? What was the Environment Like? • Oases areas where water is trapped underground and seeps to the surface, giving life to plants.
What Were the Adaptations? • Once nomads realized they could grow crops because of the oases, they became sedentary (lived in one place). • They dug deep wells to water crops. • Why was the date palm the most important plant? • What do you think developed around the oases? • Many towns developed and they became trade centers. • Why would they become trade centers?
7. 5 What Were the Coastal Plains? What Was the Environment? • The coastal plain surrounds 3 sides of the peninsula and can go 40 miles inland. • Rain falls regularly and there a few natural harbors.
What Were the Adaptations? • Most people farmed on the coastal plains, which was made possible by irrigation systems such as dams, wells, canals, and reservoirs. • Guess who else lived on the coastal plains? • Traders were also on the coastal plains which turned port cities into powerful kingdoms.
7. 6 What Were the Mountainous Regions? • What Was the Environment? • The Arabian Peninsula had mountain ranges to the west and south. • They had a climate that was cooler and wetter than the rest of the peninsula.
What Were the Adaptations? • What were they? Lots of rain, steep cliffs? • Many farmers created terraces, or steps (flat areas) on the steep mountainsides. • How would this help? • It increases the area of farmland, and traps the water from running down the sides of the mountains. • Relied on many different crops and trees.
- Slides: 15