1. Practice AP Middle East Test Question:
1. All of the following are part of the Five Pillars of Faith EXCEPT
a. Prayer
b. Fasting
c. Pilgrimage
d. Reading of Qur’an
e. Alms
2. Which people are generally credited with founding Mesopotamian
civilization in the Tigris-Euphrates river valley?
a. Akkadians
b. Hittites
c. Sumerians
d. Greeks
e. Phoenicians
3. Based on the preponderance of archaelogicial evidence, which region of the
world saw the development of the earliest civilization?
a. Northern Eurasia
b. South America
c. Indonesia
d. The Middle East
e. North America
4. Christianity’s rise is most accurately viewed as a modification of which of the
following?
a. Islam
b. Hinduism
c. Judaism
d. Confucianism
e. Buddhism
5. In what order did these three monotheistic religions come into being?
a. Judaism, Christianity, Islam
b. Christianity, Islam, Judaism
c. Judaism, Islam, Christianity
d. Islam, Shinto, Taoism
e. Christianity, Judaism, Islam

2. 6. Pre-Islamic Arab society is best characterized as
a. Pastoral nomadic
b. Sedentary agricultural
c. Highly urbanized
d. Maritime trade-based
e. Hunter-gatherer
7. Which two Muslim cities retain the greatest symbolic or religious significance
in Islam to this day?
I. Baghdad II. Istanbul III. Mecca IV. Timbuktu V.
Medina
a. I and II
b. II and III
c. II and IV
d. III and V
e. IV and V
8. Which two Muslim cities served as political and administrative centers of
Muslim empires?
I. Baghdad II. Istanbul III. Mecca IV. Mogadishu V. Medina
a. I and III
b. II and IV
c. I and II
d. III and V
e. II and V
9. Which of the following Arabic terms refers to the “community of the
faithful?”
a. Hijab
b. Hajj
c. Hadith
d. Zakat
e. Umma
10. Judaism, Islam, and Christianity share which of the following?
a. Belief in Jesus as the Messiah.
b. Acceptance of Muhammad as a prophet.
c. The requirement of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
d. Monotheism.
e. Restrictions on the eating of pork.
11. Which choice best characterizes the relationship between early civilizations
and writing?
a. Writing permitted record keeping for trade and governments
b. Writing led to the development of civilization more than sedentary
agriculture
c. Most civilizations developed without writing systems
d. No sophisticated civilization developed without a system of writing
e. There is no important relationship between civilization and writing

3. 12. Which of the following qualifies as a primary source on the teachings of
Muhammad?
a. The Quran
b. The Hadith
c. The Five Pillars
d. The umma
e. The Arabian Nights
13. Muhammad
a. Made provisions for the future leadership of Islam
b. Established clear class distinctions for Islamic society
c. Built on the religious traditions of the Arabian peninsula
d. Went against established gender distinctions in the practice of his
faith
e. Spoke out against military conquest as a vehicle for the extension of
Islam
14. One of the weaknesses of the early Muslim empires was
a. Intolerance of the legal traditions of non-Muslim peoples
b. Disregard for the cultural traditions of conquered peoples
c. Failure to resolve questions of succession
d. Insistence on conversion of non-Arabs within the empire
e. Indifference to the Sunni/Shi’ite split
15. The goal of the Christian Crusades was to
a. Evangelize the Africans
b. Conquer Asia Minor
c. Increase papal territories
d. Retake the Holy Land from the Muslims
e. Share Jerusalem with the Turks
16. The statements below refer to which empire?
o Originally were seminomadic Turks
o Had an elite fighting force of slave troops made of Christian boys
o Islamic religious scholars served administrative functions
a. Mughal Empire
b. Ottoman Empire
c. Persian Empire
d. Safavid Empire
e. Mongol Empire
17. Which of the following is true of both Mesopotamia and Egypt?
a. Both were organized into city-states
b. Both were ruled by a military dictatorship
c. In both, writing system were used
d. Both had monotheistic belief systems
e. Mummification was important in both

4. 18. All of the following were characteristics of classical civilizations EXCEPT
a. A central government
b. Social stratification
c. Extensive trade
d. An organized bureaucracy
e. Democratic institutions
19. All of the following are true statements about Islam EXCEPT:
a. Muhammad was the messenger of God
b. All are equal under the eyes of God
c. Muslims should pray five times a day
d. A clear line of succession was established after Muhammad’s death
e. The hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca
20. The term Dar-al-Islam refers to
a. Areas that share a common Muslim culture as a basis for society
b. Lands that are enemies of the Muslim religion
c. Religious leaders influence in the community
d. Conquered areas that refuse to convert to Islam
e. Trade routes that link the Islamic world to the non-Muslim world
21. The women of the harem wielded power by
a. Serving in administrative positions in the empire
b. Selecting the vizier
c. Influencing the sultan behind the scenes
d. Speaking in public on political matters
e. Serving as official leaders if the sultan died suddenly
22. Which of the following best describes the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the
latter half of the 20th Century
a. The international community ignored the issues of both sides
b. Both sides had religious and historic claims to the same land
c. The conflicts between European powers in the region continued
d. The competition was over oil rights in the land
e. Both sides have consistently refused to meet with each other
23. Which of the following correctly matches the founder or prophet with his
religion or philosophy?
a. Jesus: Islam
b. Abraham: Judaism
c. Ishmael: Christianity
d. Muhammad: Christianity
e. Jesus: Judaism
24. The wearing of the veil by women of the Islamic faith was
a. Adopted from the Persians
b. Proclaimed by the prophet
c. An Ottoman import after the 15th century
d. Common only in Arabia
e. Proscribed in the Qur’an

5. 25. In the Balfour Declaration of 1917, the
a. United States supported the Palestinians right to settle their
homeland and govern as they chose
b. British government committed to support the creation of a homeland
for Jews in Palestine
c. Russians declared the right to occupy the Middle East region in order
to prevent the spread of capitalism to the area
d. Germans occupied the former Ottoman Empire, claiming the need for
“Lebensraum” for German people
e. Ottoman Empire refused to recognize the independence of Palestine
and forced the territory to remain part of the empire
ANSWERS:
1. All of the following are part of the Five Pillars of Faith EXCEPT
a. Prayer
b. Fasting
c. Pilgrimage
d. Reading of Qur’an
e. Alms
2. Which people are generally credited with founding Mesopotamian
civilization in the Tigris-Euphrates river valley?
a. Akkadians
b. Hittites
c. Sumerians
d. Greeks
e. Phoenicians
3. Based on the preponderance of archaelogicial evidence, which region of the
world saw the development of the earliest civilization?
a. Northern Eurasia
b. South America
c. Indonesia
d. The Middle East
e. North America
4. Christianity’s rise is most accurately viewed as a modification of which of the
following?
a. Islam
b. Hinduism
c. Judaism
d. Confucianism
e. Buddhism
5. In what order did these three monotheistic religions come into being?
a. Judaism, Christianity, Islam
b. Christianity, Islam, Judaism

6. c. Judaism, Islam, Christianity
d. Islam, Shinto, Taoism
e. Christianity, Judaism, Islam
6. Pre-Islamic Arab society is best characterized as
a. Pastoral nomadic
b. Sedentary agricultural
c. Highly urbanized
d. Maritime trade-based
e. Hunter-gatherer
7. Which two Muslim cities retain the greatest symbolic or religious significance
in Islam to this day?
I. Baghdad II. Istanbul III. Mecca IV. Timbuktu V.
Medina
a. I and II
b. II and III
c. II and IV
d. III and V
e. IV and V
8. Which two Muslim cities served as political and administrative centers of
Muslim empires?
I. Baghdad II. Istanbul III. Mecca IV. Mogadishu V. Medina
a. I and III
b. II and IV
c. I and II
d. III and V
e. II and V
9. Which of the following Arabic terms refers to the “community of the
faithful?”
a. Hijab
b. Hajj
c. Hadith
d. Zakat
e. Umma
10. Judaism, Islam, and Christianity share which of the following?
a. Belief in Jesus as the Messiah.
b. Acceptance of Muhammad as a prophet.
c. The requirement of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
d. Monotheism.
e. Restrictions on the eating of pork.
11. Which choice best characterizes the relationship between early civilizations
and writing?
a. Writing permitted record keeping for trade and governments
b. Writing led to the development of civilization more than sedentary
agriculture
c. Most civilizations developed without writing systems
d. No sophisticated civilization developed without a system of writing

7. e. There is no important relationship between civilization and writing
12. Which of the following qualifies as a primary source on the teachings of
Muhammad?
a. The Quran
b. The Hadith
c. The Five Pillars
d. The umma
e. The Arabian Nights
13. Muhammad
a. Made provisions for the future leadership of Islam
b. Established clear class distinctions for Islamic society
c. Built on the religious traditions of the Arabian peninsula
d. Went against established gender distinctions in the practice of his
faith
e. Spoke out against military conquest as a vehicle for the extension of
Islam
14. One of the weaknesses of the early Muslim empires was
a. Intolerance of the legal traditions of non-Muslim peoples
b. Disregard for the cultural traditions of conquered peoples
c. Failure to resolve questions of succession
d. Insistence on conversion of non-Arabs within the empire
e. Indifference to the Sunni/Shi’ite split
15. The goal of the Christian Crusades was to
a. Evangelize the Africans
b. Conquer Asia Minor
c. Increase papal territories
d. Retake the Holy Land from the Muslims
e. Share Jerusalem with the Turks
16. The statements below refer to which empire?
o Originally were seminomadic Turks
o Had an elite fighting force of slave troops made of Christian boys
o Islamic religious scholars served administrative functions
a. Mughal Empire
b. Ottoman Empire
c. Persian Empire
d. Safavid Empire
e. Mongol Empire
17. Which of the following is true of both Mesopotamia and Egypt?
a. Both were organized into city-states
b. Both were ruled by a military dictatorship
c. In both, writing system were used
d. Both had monotheistic belief systems
e. Mummification was important in both

8. 18. All of the following were characteristics of classical civilizations EXCEPT
a. A central government
b. Social stratification
c. Extensive trade
d. An organized bureaucracy
e. Democratic institutions
19. All of the following are true statements about Islam EXCEPT:
a. Muhammad was the messenger of God
b. All are equal under the eyes of God
c. Muslims should pray five times a day
d. A clear line of succession was established after Muhammad’s death
e. The hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca
20. The term Dar-al-Islam refers to
a. Areas that share a common Muslim culture as a basis for society
b. Lands that are enemies of the Muslim religion
c. Religious leaders influence in the community
d. Conquered areas that refuse to convert to Islam
e. Trade routes that link the Islamic world to the non-Muslim world
21. The women of the harem wielded power by
a. Serving in administrative positions in the empire
b. Selecting the vizier
c. Influencing the sultan behind the scenes
d. Speaking in public on political matters
e. Serving as official leaders if the sultan died suddenly
22. Which of the following best describes the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the
latter half of the 20th Century
a. The international community ignored the issues of both sides
b. Both sides had religious and historic claims to the same land
c. The conflicts between European powers in the region continued
d. The competition was over oil rights in the land
e. Both sides have consistently refused to meet with each other
23. Which of the following correctly matches the founder or prophet with his
religion or philosophy?
a. Jesus: Islam
b. Abraham: Judaism
c. Ishmael: Christianity
d. Muhammad: Christianity
e. Jesus: Judaism
24. The wearing of the veil by women of the Islamic faith was
a. Adopted from the Persians
b. Proclaimed by the prophet
c. An Ottoman import after the 15th century
d. Common only in Arabia
e. Proscribed in the Qur’an
25. In the Balfour Declaration of 1917, the

9. a. United States supported the Palestinians right to settle their
homeland and govern as they chose
b. British government committed to support the creation of a homeland
for Jews in Palestine
c. Russians declared the right to occupy the Middle East region in order
to prevent the spread of capitalism to the area
d. Germans occupied the former Ottoman Empire, claiming the need for
“Lebensraum” for German people
e. Ottoman Empire refused to recognize the independence of Palestine
and forced the territory to remain part of the empire