Maya
Reformation
Rise of Islam
Renaissance
The Culture and Kingdoms of West Africa
100

The Maya civilization flourished primarily in the southern part of this North American country and northern Central America.

What is Mexico?

100

This German monk sparked the Reformation in 1517 by nailing his 95 Theses to a church door.

Who is Martin Luther?

100

Followers of the religion of Islam are known by this specific term.

What are Muslims?

100

The word Renaissance translates to this French word, reflecting a major revival of European art and learning.

What is Rebirth?

100

This natural resource was mined in the Sahara Desert and traded ounce-for-ounce for gold in West Africa.

What is Salt?

200

Maya engineers built these massive, four-sided stone structures with flat tops to serve as temples and alignment markers for stars.

What are step pyramids ?

200

The Reformation directly challenged the authority of this powerful religious institution based in Rome.

What is the Catholic Church?

200

Born in the city of Mecca around 570 CE, this man is recognized as the final prophet and founder of Islam.

Who is Muhammad. 

200

This famous Italian polymath painted the Mona Lisa and sketched early conceptual designs for flying machines.

Who is Leonardo da Vinci?

200

These traditional West African storytellers, musicians, and oral historians preserved the history and culture of their people.

What are griots?

300

The Maya used a highly advanced writing system made of over 800 of these picture symbols.

What are hieroglyphs?

300

Luther translated the Bible into this language so ordinary citizens could finally read it themselves.

What is German?

300

This holy book of Islam contains the revelations that Muslims believe Muhammad received from God.

What is the Quran?

300

This wealthy merchant family of bankers ruled the city of Florence and financed many of the period's greatest artists.

Who are the Medici Family?

300

This wealthy Mali emperor became famous globally after his lavish 1324 pilgrimage to Mecca, where he gave away massive amounts of gold.

Who is Mansa Musa?

400

To farm on steep mountain slopes, Maya farmers carved flat steps into hillsides, a technique known by this term.

What is Terrace Farming?

400

To help spread Reformation ideas rapidly across Europe, reformers used this 15th-century machine invented by Johannes Gutenberg.

What is the printing press?

400

Muslim merchants, traders, and scholars spread their faith widely along this network of trade routes that connected East Asia to the Mediterranean.

What is the Silk Road?

400

This intellectual movement of the Renaissance shifted focus away from medieval scholasticism to human potential, agency, and classical Greek and Roman texts.

What is Humanism?

400

This ancient city in Mali grew into a world-famous center of Islamic learning, universities, and trade during the Middle Ages.

Who is Timbuktu?

500

The Maya were among the first civilizations to invent and use this specific mathematical concept, representing it with a seashell symbol.

What is zero?

500

The Catholic Church raised money by selling these certificates, which promised buyers forgiveness for their sins.

What is Indulgences?

500

Following the death of Muhammad, early Islamic empires were ruled by a supreme political and religious leader known by this specific title.

What is a caliph?

500

This English playwright wrote timeless masterpieces like Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet during the late Renaissance era.

Who is William Shakespeare?

500

This powerful, earliest known West African empire grew wealthy by taxing traders who crossed through its lands along the Trans-Saharan routes.

What is the Ghana Empire?