Potential Midterm Essay Questions - Brown University



Take-home Midterm (20% of course grade)

Islamic Civilizations 2009 – ARCH0650

Instructions:

Answer both of the following essay questions in papers of 1000-1500 words each. For each question you should develop an argument that specifically addresses the prompt and articulates a clear thesis. As you defend that thesis you will want to use evidence from our course materials such as particular events, sites, social developments, and quotes from primary and secondary sources to support your argument. As you work on these essays it will be important that you recognize when you are making claims that need this kind of evidentiary support and how those claims develop a logical structure for the overall argument. Essays will be graded on content (i.e. the soundness of the argument and the use of evidence), structure and general writing mechanics.

Essays should be double spaced and in a reasonable font with reasonable margins. Citations of course materials should be parenthetical – e.g. (Kennedy 2004: 137). If you use any materials from outside of the course readings (this is not expected) please supply a bibliography for those sources.

Question #1 (10 points)

The Umayyad Dynasty has often been referred to by scholars as an exercise in Arab kingship that failed to fully include the ethnic, religious, social and political factions that were emerging as important components of the Muslim polity. Is this a fair assessment of this formative period of Islamic civilization? In developing your argument consider the degree to which this period laid down foundations – cultural, religious, economic or political – which would continue under the Abbasids.

Question #2 (10 points)

The building of Samarra was a massive political, cultural and economic undertaking by the Abbasid caliphs of the ninth century. What were its intentions and what were its consequences? For many historical commentators its ultimate abandonment signaled the demise of an Islamic golden age and any vestiges of a unified Islamic empire. For other scholars it was merely a consequence of long standing socio-political forces that had already fragmented both the imperial structure of the caliphate and the cultural unity of Muslim society. Where do you stand in this debate? In thinking about the importance of Samarra and what how it might serve as evidence in the analysis of Islamic civilization it will be important to consider whether such as site was a viable argument about the centrality of the caliphate for Muslim society as a whole.

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