UNIT 7: The Spread of Religions

UNIT AUDIO GLOSSARY

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Aksum

Important trading kingdom dominant in Northeast Africa from fifth century BCE to tenth century CE.

al-Harawi

Thirteenth-century Muslim pilgrim who wrote about his travels between Egypt and Iran.

Ashoka

Third-century BCE Mauryan king who converted to Buddhism and spread the religion throughout the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka.

Bodh Gaya

Birthplace of Buddhism.

Bodhi tree

The tree under which the Buddha reached enlightenment.

Constantine

Roman ruler who shifted the capital of the Empire to the east, converted to Christianity, and founded the Byzantine Empire.

Ezana

Aksum ruler who converted to Christianity in the fourth century CE.

Frumentius

Fourth-century Christian bishop who converted the Ethiopian ruling class to Christianity.

hadith

Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.

Hagia Sophia

Church built by Constantius, the son of Constantine, in Constantinople in the early sixth century.

Ibn Jubayr

Twelfth-century Muslim traveler and chronicler of the Crusades.

Ka'aba

Holy site for Muslims in Mecca.

Kievan Rus

Earliest Russian government, 882 - 1169 CE.

Mauryan

South Asian dynasty, 322 - 183 BCE.

Monophysite

Christians of the fifth to seventh centuries who taught that Jesus was solely divine and did not have two natures, the human and the divine.

Muhammad

In Islam, the prophet who received the last revelation from God.

Prince Vladimir

Ruler of Kievan Russia; converted to Christianity in 988 CE when he married the sister of the Byzantine emperor.

Samarqand

Trade city along the Silk Road in Central Asia.

Sassanid

Persian government, 224 - 651 CE.

shari'a

Muslim law.

Siddhartha

The given name of the Buddha.

Sufis

Muslim mystics.

Sufism

Mystical approach to Islam.

Taklamakan Desert

Forbidding desert in Central Asia around which the Silk Roads took northern and southern routes.

Tashkent

Trade city along the Silk Road in Central Asia.

wuwei

Daoist term used to translate concept of nirvana into Chinese.

Xuanzang

Chinese Buddhist pilgrim and translator of Indian texts into Chinese, 600 - 664 CE.

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