Trace the typical development of a desert oasis town into a city:
Possible answer: Nomadic hunters and traders settle down with families, animals, etc. in tents. Eventually, they build houses out of materials found nearby, such as stone or date palm wood. As towns grow larger, more traders come and settle, creating a city.
How did the Quraysh encourage the growth of Mecca as a trade center?
Possible answer: They offered to protect travelers coming to Mecca from raiders (thieves) along the way.
How did the Quraysh encourage the growth of Mecca as a religious center?
Possible answer: They encouraged families to store their family gods (idols) in the Kaaba.
How was Mecca different from other trading centers?
Possible answer: It was centrally located at the intersection of several trades routes and near the Red Sea. It also had the Kaaba, so that traders would also have religious reasons to come there from time to time.
Question No. 1 caused few problems, even though none of the continents is identified on the map that was included.
Questions 2 and 4: On the map, countries or regions are shown in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. Cities are shown in Roman letters, with the first letter capitalized. Rivers and bodies of water are shown in Italics, with the first letter of each word capitalized.
Question No. 3 seemed to cause some confusion. Here it is, rephrased: Early traders who crossed the desert may have had to rely on the stars for navigation. How would this have affected their attitude toward astronomers (people who study the positions of the stars--and the moon--in the sky)? Would the job of astronomer be one that you would want to do? Explain.
Possible answer: If I had been an astronomer, the safety of the group I was traveling with might have depended on my keeping an accurate record of the positions of stars. Every tribe or group probably needed to have at least one astronomer with it.