Chapters 9, 11 and 12

In chapter 9, I was surprised to learn that Islam, Christianity, and Judaism were initially quite similar in their monotheistic belief system, all people of the book, and how they have so radically split since. And how the Arabs had initially worshipped over 360 deities housed in a shrine in Mecca, now a very holy place for Muslims, and later Muhammad came and purged the Kaaba of its idols which reminded me of the story of Jesus casting out the money changers. As someone who grew up Catholic are familiar and also foreign. I’ve often wondered how people can make the time to pray 5 xs per day. We have a couple of mosques on our street and they are quite busy. Now I understand why. To practice Islam one must truly be dedicated. I was made uneasy by the sixth pillar the jihad of the sword. After 9/11 I so wanted to understand why they hate us so much. If one was truly a dedicated Muslim, and see the US as evil, they are given authority in the Quran to kill in order to establish Muslim rule and defend the umma from the threats of infidel aggressors. Given that the US is a capitalist society, and Islam rejects much of these beliefs, I can understand now that they indeed see us as infidels, and also aggressors in many Muslim countries. Muhammad’s death brought chaos and the split in to two factions: Sunni’s and Shia’s. It seems so many things can come unhinged when the charismatic leader is no longer alive or in power. I read why they split, over who the rightful ruler should be (Caliphs or derived from descendants of Muhammad). Seems so silly, but I guess I don’t really understand. I also learned that the Arabs invented algebra and shared the secular knowledge openly with others, and that women were honored, but only at half the rate!

In chapter 11, I was surprised to learn the Mongols had some redeeming qualities. I found it interesting that the pastoral peoples generally did not have written language, and usually the victor writes the history, but they did not because of this (although they were ultimately defeated by the agricultural civilizations). Therefore the history was written by the plundered. Although still gruesome in their methods, they did help to facilitate trade across the sea and silk roads, supported merchants (if only to profit from them), arts and crafts, and also develop diplomatic relations between Persia and China within the Mongol Empire. They also kept many cities running. In China they improved infrastructure, lowered taxes, supported peasant agriculture, and more. But it seems that most of what they did had a benefit to the Mongols themselves. They still treated people they conquered as second class citizens. The Black Death was just horrendous. I was shocked to learn that 50-90% of the population could die in an infected area. The letter Francesco Petrarch wrote was poignant and heartbreaking.

In Chapter 12, I enjoyed the way Strayer took the reader on a journey around the 15^th century world. Beginning with the remaining gathering/hunting people of Australia and North America, Strayer portrays these people as changed by the changing times, only much slower than the rest of the world, unaffected by the age of agriculture as they did not adopt these practices either because of abundant resources or lack of need. I was surprised to learn about the Chinese and their exit from maritime expeditions: how they gave it all up after emperor Yongle died, how really, they could have ruled the world if they had been as forward thinking and ambitious as the Europeans, but their egos got in the way. I appreciate understanding why Europe was so successful (seeking riches, converts allies, conquests, no centralized government, competition between states). The desire for money and power are the key to the European’s success. I enjoyed reading about the female Renaissance writer Christine de Pizan and her views on women and her lack of understanding about why they were treated differently. With the voyages into the Americas begins the destruction of so many societies and civilizations.