1. Crude Oil: Petroleum That Has Not Been Processed

Middle East Vocabulary

Use Chapters 21, 22 & 23

1.  crude oil: petroleum that has not been processed

2.  monotheistic: belief in one god

3.  Mecca: the holiest city of Islam, located in Saudi Arabia, where people make pilgrimages to fulfill Islamic religious duty

4.  Islam: a monotheistic religion based on the teachings of the prophet Muhammad, and the biggest cultural and religious influence in the Middle East and North Africa

5.  Muhammad: the founder and a prophet of Islam, who lived part of his life in Mecca

6.  Five Pillars of Islam: religious duties of Muslims, including pilgrimage, faith, prayer, fasting, charity

7.  Dome of the Rock: a shrine in Jerusalem, located on the Temple Mount, which houses the spot where Muslims believe Muhammad rose into heaven and where Jews believe Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac to God

8.  Western Wall: for Jews, the holiest site in Jerusalem; the only remaining portion of the Second Temple, built in 538 b.c. and destroyed in a.d. 70 by the Romans

9.  Jerusalem: holy city and capital of Israel, home to Jews, Christians, and Muslims

10.  OPEC: the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, a group established in 1960 by some oil-producing nations to coordinate policies on selling petroleum products

11.  Zionism: a movement that began in the 19th century to create and support a Jewish homeland in Palestine

12.  Mesopotamia: a region in Southwest Asia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, also known as the Fertile Crescent

13.  Taliban: strict Muslim group in Afghanistan that has imposed rigid rules on society, including determined clothing for men and women, restrictions on appearance of women in public, regulations on TV, music, and video

14.  Gulf War/Desert Storm: coalition of forces, led by the U.S. to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait, 1990-1991

15.  West Bank: in Israel, a strip of land on the west side of the Jordan River, originally controlled by Jordan, which is part of the land set aside for Arab Palestinians

16.  Gaza Strip: territory along the Mediterranean just northeast of the Sinai Peninsula; part of the land set aside for Palestinians, occupied by Israel since 1997

17.  Wadi: a riverbed that remains dry except during the rainy seasons