Portable Belief Maps
OER PROJECT:WH ORIGINS/ LESSON 4.3ACTIVITY PORTABLE BELIEFS MAPSUnless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Credit: “Portable Beliefs Maps,” OER Project, https://www.oerproject.com/1PurposePortable belief systems were a major human innovation. In the period covered in this unit, belief systems spread to new regions. Today, you can find believers of several huge world religions in every corner of the globe. You’re going to map out how three portable belief systems spread during specific periodsto understand their origins and the ways in which they spread to new locations.Process1.In groups of three, look at the blank map of Afro-Eurasia on page 2.2.Each group member should pick onereligion from the followinglist and find the starting point labeled on their map:a.Buddhism (400 BCE to 800 CE)b.Christianity (1 CE to 800 CE)c.Islam (622 CE to 800 CE)3.On your own map, use a pencil to sketch out where and by what routes you think the religion you chose spread during the given period.4.Review the maps your partners made, and as a group, decide on any revisions or corrections.5.Next, get into a new group, one that includestwo new partners who each mapped a different religion from you.6.Using the two maps on pages 3 and 4, check the routes you all drew. Were you close? What did you get wrong? What did you get right?7.With your partners, write a list of five factors that you think influenced the direction and extent to which these three religions spread before 800 CE.
OER PROJECT: WH ORIGINS/ LESSON 4.3ACTIVITY PORTABLE BELIEFS MAPS2Blank mapChristianityIslamBuddhism
OER PROJECT: WH ORIGINS/ LESSON 4.3ACTIVITY PORTABLE BELIEFS MAPS3Spread of Buddhism and Christianity