full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Petra Sijpesteijn and Birte Kristiansen: The rise and fall of the medieval Islamic Empire

Unscramble the Blue Letters


In 1258 CE, the Mongols acehaoprpd Baghdad. They encountered little resistance as they thoroughly destroyed the city. Legend has it that they rolled the caliph in a rug and had horses trample him to death, and that the Tigris River ran black from the ink of the manuscripts that were trowhn into it.

The siege of bdhaagd laid bare a longstanding reality: for centuries, the caliphs had ruled mostly symbolically. lcaol leaders throughout the empire had grown more peorwufl, and they refused to pay txaes, spending the money on their own courts instead. The time of one united Islamic Empire was over, but its influence through written and spoken Arabic, Islam, and the idaes of its gsrteaet iltaenulclets, left a lasting mark on the world.

Open Cloze


In 1258 CE, the Mongols __________ Baghdad. They encountered little resistance as they thoroughly destroyed the city. Legend has it that they rolled the caliph in a rug and had horses trample him to death, and that the Tigris River ran black from the ink of the manuscripts that were ______ into it.

The siege of _______ laid bare a longstanding reality: for centuries, the caliphs had ruled mostly symbolically. _____ leaders throughout the empire had grown more ________, and they refused to pay _____, spending the money on their own courts instead. The time of one united Islamic Empire was over, but its influence through written and spoken Arabic, Islam, and the _____ of its ________ _____________, left a lasting mark on the world.

Solution


  1. greatest
  2. taxes
  3. intellectuals
  4. ideas
  5. approached
  6. baghdad
  7. local
  8. thrown
  9. powerful

Original Text


In 1258 CE, the Mongols approached Baghdad. They encountered little resistance as they thoroughly destroyed the city. Legend has it that they rolled the caliph in a rug and had horses trample him to death, and that the Tigris River ran black from the ink of the manuscripts that were thrown into it.

The siege of Baghdad laid bare a longstanding reality: for centuries, the caliphs had ruled mostly symbolically. Local leaders throughout the empire had grown more powerful, and they refused to pay taxes, spending the money on their own courts instead. The time of one united Islamic Empire was over, but its influence through written and spoken Arabic, Islam, and the ideas of its greatest intellectuals, left a lasting mark on the world.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
islamic empire 2


Important Words


  1. approached
  2. arabic
  3. baghdad
  4. bare
  5. black
  6. caliph
  7. caliphs
  8. ce
  9. centuries
  10. city
  11. courts
  12. death
  13. destroyed
  14. empire
  15. encountered
  16. greatest
  17. grown
  18. horses
  19. ideas
  20. influence
  21. ink
  22. intellectuals
  23. islam
  24. islamic
  25. laid
  26. lasting
  27. leaders
  28. left
  29. legend
  30. local
  31. longstanding
  32. manuscripts
  33. mark
  34. money
  35. mongols
  36. pay
  37. powerful
  38. ran
  39. refused
  40. resistance
  41. river
  42. rolled
  43. rug
  44. ruled
  45. siege
  46. spending
  47. spoken
  48. symbolically
  49. taxes
  50. thrown
  51. tigris
  52. time
  53. trample
  54. united
  55. world
  56. written