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Islam and Judaism: From Muhammad to the Ottoman Empire
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| Advertisement for the bookshop of Juda Varsano’s bookstore, Salonika, Ottoman Empire. (Souvenir, Images of the Jewish Community, Salonika 1897-1917 by Yannis Megas) |
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Learning Activity 3: The Rise and Fall of the Ottoman Empire
In this activity, students will examine the emergence of the Ottoman Empire and how the Jews fared within it.
Introductory Activity:
1. Begin by asking students what happened after the Golden Age of Spain. How do they imagine this period ended? What do they know about it? Write students' answers on the board, and then project  The Demise of Muslim Spain and Refugees and Marranos on the board. Read them aloud and ask students to consider whether or not the events summarized reflect their own hypotheses. What is surprising or not surprising about the waning of Spain's Golden Age? What is surprising about the period of forced conversion?
2. Ask students what they would do if they were Jews living in Spain during the late 15th century. Would they feign conversion like the Marranos, or would they flee to some other land? Allow students to debate their positions for five to 10 minutes, and then ask them to write a journal entry in the voice of a Jew during that period. Have them explain what they have decided to do and why. The assignment can be completed either in class or for homework, Once completed, ask a few students to share their journal entries with the class.
What's an Ottoman?
1. If students wrote that they would flee Spain in the late 15th century, ask them where they would have gone. Write students' answers on the board. Explain to them that many Jews settled in the lands of the Ottoman Empire. Ask students what they know about the Ottoman Empire and write their answers on the board. Divide the class into small groups and distribute the handout The Ottoman Empire (PDF). Ask students to research the Ottoman Empire using the Concise Judaica in order to answer the questions on the handout:
- When and where did the Ottoman Empire exist?
- What were some of the important assets of the empire?
- What role did the Ottoman Empire play for the Jews after the expulsion from European lands?
- What were the roles played by the Jews in the different centuries of Ottoman rule?
- How would you describe the general state of the Jews under Ottoman rule?
Ask students to share their answers to the questions, and use their answers to lead into a general discussion in which students characterize Jewish life under Muslim rule.
2. Next, ask students to view the multimedia segment Jewish Communities about Jewish life under Muslim rule. Play the presentation and read the historical document Is It Not Better to Live Under the Muslims? Continue the general discussion begun in Step 1 above, and emphasize the relatively positive nature of life under the Ottoman Muslims vis-à-vis the European Christians. Ask students to return to questions on the Ottoman Empire (PDF) handout, and have them modify their answers based on what they have learned.
3. Explain to students that the Ottoman Empire was deeply affected by the events just preceding and following WWI. Note that the Greek city of Salonika offers one example of the shifting winds within the lands of the Ottoman Empire. Tell students that through research and a presentation they will learn about the demise of the Ottoman Empire as depicted in the events in Salonika.
4. Divide the class into four small groups and distribute the handout Salonika (PDF). Ask students to use the handout to guide them as they research the four images in the
Salonika segment. Assign each groups one of the following images:
- "Salonika, the Jerusalem of the Balkans"
- "Winds of Change"
- "The Balkan Wars and Greek Conquest"
- "The Great Fire of 1917"
Ask students to research and present information to the class. Tell them to focus on the main ideas of the DVD-ROM presentations, and also look at the atlas summaries for the years 1789 to 1925. Encourage them to do additional research for information, photo images, etc. They may also use the following additional Web resources related to Jewish Salonika:
Ideally, the art image used should be shown during the presentations. If you are using a video projector with zoom capacity, you should be able to isolate the image (so that you don't show the words).
5. Finally, synthesize what students have learned in this lesson by reviewing the key points in the relationship between the Jews and Muslims between 600 and 1925. Project the HERITAGE DVD-ROM Atlas on "World View" (the broadest view possible) and then click on each point on the vertical timeline to the left of the map, beginning with 560, moving quickly to 651, and then slowly moving through the timeline up to and including 1925. Note the changes in empires, states, trade routes, etc.
Ask students to reflect on the past lessons in order to point out major occurrences that took place during these periods of time, relative to the lessons covered in this unit of study. Finally, make sure to point out that with the decline of the Ottoman Empire in 1925 and the rise of Western national influence, the unique, and relatively positive, relationship between the ruling Muslims and the Jews came to an end.
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