Transcript Justinian The King

Mission Presentation
By: Alex
Table Of Contents
1. Byzantine Empire
2. Islamic Civilization
3. African Kingdom
ISLAM
In the early 600’s A.D., the Arabs created a new empire based on the religion of Islam.
In 570 A.D. Mohammed was born in Arabia. Mohammed was poor and married a
wealthy woman named Khadijah. In 610 A.D., Mohammed was praying for equal
rights between the rich and poor, and he met an angel, Gabriel. Gabriel said to
Mohammed that he should preach the word of Allah, God, to the people of Islam. In
610 A.D, Mohammed created a message, the holy book of Islam called the Quran, to
the people of Islam that all people should share with the poor. The rich didn’t want to
share and they tortured Mohammed and his followers. So, Mohammed moved from
Mecca to Yathrib, and renamed it Medina. This time in history symbolized the first
year in the new Muslim calendar. In 630A.D, Mohammed returned to Mecca and
recaptured it. Mohammed died in 632 A.D. The people of Islam split into two groups,
Sunni and Shi’a, because they couldn’t decide on their next leader. The Shi'a thought
Ali would be the next caliph, successor to the messenger of God, because of his
strictness and devotion to being a Muslim. The Sunni wanted Abu Bakr because he
was Mohammed’s Father in Law and was wiser. The Sunni won because they had a
larger group of people that supported the idea of Abu Bakr being the next leader. In
750 A.D. the rapid expansion of Islam was ended by the French, Indians and
Byzantines.
BYZANTINE
The Byzantine Empire lasted around 1,000 years and was strongly influenced by Greek culture.
In 280 A.D, a soon to be king Constantine was born. Constantine had started ruling the
Byzantine Empire in 312 A.D. Constantine renamed the capital after himself, Constantinople.
Constantine died in 337 A.D. After he died, a great split occurred between the Byzantine
Empire. The two groups were the East and West. The East was controlled by Constantinople
and spoke Greek, and the West was controlled by Rome and spoke Latin. The next ruler was
Justinian. His first year as the ruler was in 527 A.D. During his reign, he built one of the most
significant churches in the world, the Hagia Sophia. Justinian died in 565 A.D. The Byzantine
Empire could trade with many different countries such as Asia and Europe because it was
located on the water and on a main roadway between Europe and the Middle East which let
them trade things such as gold, silk, ivory etc. In 1054 A.D., Constantinople divided up again
into 2 types of Churches. There were the Eastern and Western Churches. The West only lived
for about another 200 years. The East lived about 300 years. The Byzantine Empire was able to
hold off many attackers for a long time because of their strong army. In the end, the Byzantine
Empire fell in 1453 A.D. because there were no more men strong enough to take control. This
caused more groups to invade and eventually conquer.
Justinian
The Byzantine empire had 2 main rulers. Justinian was considered
the most important ruler. He became the emperor in 527 A.D.
His wife, Theodora, helped him run the empire. She advised
him to give more rights to the poor and women, and she helped
him with political issues. All the laws passed during his reign
included Theodora’s name. Justinian controlled the military,
improved the justice system by creating laws also called
Justinian Code, and was supreme judge. The Justinian Code is
said to be evident in today’s written laws. In 532 A.D., the
people were angry about the high taxes and tried to overthrow
Justinian by rioting and setting fires throughout Constantinople.
He fought the people and won. This was called the Nika riot.
Justinian is famous for rebuilding the most holy building in
Byzantium, the Hagia Sophia after the riot. It was the main
place of worship for the Byzantium’s and it still stands today in
Istanbul. Theodora died in 548 A.D. Justinian was so sad that
every painting or mosaic that was created had Theodora’s
picture included. Justinian died in 565 A.D .
African Kingdom
The African Kingdoms were very powerful even though there was little to none technology
and little trade. Africa is 11 million square miles wide and is bigger than China and
Europe and the U.S combined.
The main Kingdoms were Axum, Great Zimbabwe, Rainforest Kingdom, Ghana, and Mali.
The rainforest kingdom had high humidity and it is warm all year. It also contains all
sorts of animals like gorilla's, giraffes, alligators and monkeys.
In Ghana and Mali they are both Muslims’. They traded salt, and gold, the two most
precious things you could find back then. Ghana was around from 400 A.D. until 1200
A.D. Mali was around from 1200 A.D. until 1468 A.D. Both Ghana and Mali had rulers
by the name of King Mansa Mussa and King Dinge Cisse. King Dinge Cisse was a
much better ruler than Mansa Mussa overall because he had discovered many other
things.
The Swahili coast had many independent cities all along the eastern coast of Africa. It was
also located near the Indian ocean.
The African Kingdom had many different kingdoms or civilizations. But the main one’s that
we had learned about were the most important for what they did back in their time.
Constantine
Constantine was one of the most important rulers during the
Byzantine Empire. He was born in 280 A.D. Constantine
began his reign as emperor in 312 A.D. Constantine moved
the capital out of Rome because Rome was declining. He
moved to a Greek city named Byzantium. He renamed the
capital after himself and called it Constantinople. Constantine
built a forum called the Hippodrome and many palaces.
Today, Constantinople is called Istanbul. He converted to
Christianity and was the first Christian Roman Emperor. He
made Christianity the official religion of the Roman state. He
also advanced the power of many early Catholic churches.
Constantine later married a woman named Fausta. Fausta told
Constantine his oldest son, from another marriage, was trying
to take over the throne. So, he had his son killed. Later, he
found out that his wife lied about his son’s plan and he killed
her too. He had many successes but also had many failures.
He died in 337 A.D.