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The middle east is generally known to consist of the following countries: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen. In the present day, the area is known primarily for the struggle between Israelis and Palestinians, and the concern over disarming suspected chemical and biological weapons programs in Iraq. Although known today as the heart of the Islamic world, in ancient times the area developed many of the foundations of law and religion that persist throughout all "Western Civilization" to this day.
When the Sumerian states were eventually reunited by King Hammurabi in 1700BC, Middle and Southern Mesopotamia became Babylonia, based in the city of Babylon. "Hammurabi's Code" is considered the first codified legal system, known popularly as "An Eye for An Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth". Hammurabi's dynasty ruled until 1530BC when the Cassite tribe took power in Babylon. Meanwhile, the Assryian and Mitani cultures traded roles of dominance north of Babylonia. Over the next millenia, the Assyrian culture defeated the Mitanni and Cassite Babylon and came to rule Babylonia. During this time, such conecepts as the 360 degree circle and the first longitude and latitude system were developed. In 604BC, Nebuchadnezzar's Isin Dynasty returned rule to Babylonians. In 586BC, he also attacked Israel and sent most of the 15,000 Jewish people into exile in Babylonia, leaving the area open for Persian occupation. Nebuchadnezzer built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon for his wife Amyitis in 600BC, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. During the next thousand years, Babylonia was conquered by various invaders, including Alexander the Great in 331BC, eventually becoming part of the Persian Empire in 323BC under Seleucus I centered around present day Iran.
Arab Muslim forces conquered the Persian Empire in 634 and 635AD under Khalid ibn al Walied. Under Arab rule, the area prospered with great universities and translations of major Greek philosophical works. Between 680-750AD, Abu Ja'far Muhammed ibn Musa al'Khawarizmi developed the concept of alegbra and step-by-step computational mathematics known as an algorithm. The word algorithm is a Latin corruption from rennaisance Italy of the name al'Khawarizmi. The word algebra is a corruption of the title of the book he wrote "Kitab al-jabr w'al-muqabalah" (book on restoration and balancing). (1) The story of The Arabian Nights is set during the rule of Abbassid caliph Harun ar-Rashid, who ruled from Baghdad in 786-808AD, although the story is told from the viewpoint of a Persian sultana Scheherazade to the sultan of India, Schahriar. (32) The Abbassid's rule ended in 945AD when the Buwayids of Gilan in Mesopotamia siezed power. However, the Seljuk Turks then conqeured the Buwayids in 1055AD. (21)
Then in 1258AD, Hulagu Khan, son of Temujin (who later changed his name to Chingiis -or Genghis- Khan), marched on the capital city of Baghdad with 200,000 Tartars and destroyed the city. In 1335AD, the Jalayirid's took power, but then Baghdad was sacked again in 1401AD by the Mongol leader Tamerlane, Timur the Lame. During this time, the combination of the destruction of Iraq's irrigation systems by the Mongols and the discovery by the Portugese of a faster route to the East Indies by sea below the Cape of Good Hope caused Iraq to lose all it's strategic and economic strength. In 1509AD, the Safavids of Iran made Iraq part of they're empire, but the land traded hands with the Ottoman's of Turkey several times until the Ottoman Empire prevailed in 1638AD.
Iraq remained a low key principality of the Ottoman Empire until it's collapse in 1918AD at the end of World War I. Iraq was then made a protectorate of Great Britain by the League of Nations until it's ultimate declaration of independence in 1932AD. Since that time, the area has been the subject of severe internal wars and military coups originating mainly from differences in beliefs of the Iraqi nationalists and the ruling monarchy set-up by Great Britain, compounded by political differences between the majority Shiite population in the south, the large Sunni population in the center, and sizeable Kurdish population in the north. A Sunni leader of the Baath Party, Saddam Hussein took power in July 1979AD and reigned until April 19, 2003AD (1). The area is currently under military occupation by the United States. No weapons of mass destruction have been found.
The land known as present day Israel is about the size of the US states that make up New England. The West Bank, primary location of Palestinian population, is about the size of the US state of Delaware. The West Bank contains cities of such significance as Jerusalem, Jericho, Bethlehem (birthplace of the biblical Jesus), Hebron (resting place of Abraham who was patriach to Jewish/Christian/Muslim peoples), and Nablus (esteemed by Jews as the resting place of Joseph, son of Jacob) (2). The name Israel was the name taken by Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham (4).
Between 10000-5000BC, the area began to support settled agricultural communities. Approximately 3000BC, the area came to be settled by the Caananites, descendants of Caanan, son of Ham, son of Noah (5). By 1500BC, the city of Jerusalem was already known as the ancient Caanan city of Urusalim. In 1250BC the Israelites (Egyptian Jewish population lead by the biblical Joseph) conquered Caanan. By 1000BC, King David had established the Israeli capital at the existing city of Jerusalem. In 965BC King Solomon, son of David, constructed the Temple Mount. By 928BC, Israel was divided into Israel and Judah, until Assyrian conquest of Israel in 721BC and Babylonian conquest of Judah in 586BC, with deportation of the population and destruction of the Temple Mount. Then in 539BC when the Persians conquered Babylonia, Judaens were allowed to return. In 333BC Alexander the Great conquered Persia and Israel came under Greek rule until 323BC at Alexander's death leading to alternate rule of Israel between Egypt and Syria. Then in 165BC, the Maccabee revolt from Syria left Israel free to maintain an independent state (3).
63BC brought Roman conquest of Israel, and in 20BC Herod the Great rebuilt the Temple Mount. However in 66AD the Jews rebeled but were quashed. In response, in 70AD, the Romans destroyed the Temple Mount and Israel was renamed Palestine (2). By 132AD the Jews revolted again but were quashed and subsequently barred from Jerusalem until about 330AD under Byzantine rule of Palestine and the spread of Christianity.
In 638AD Omar ibn al-Khattab invaded Israel and ended Byzantine rule. Between 685-715AD the Noble Sanctuary, Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Dome of the Rock were constructed over the Temple Mount location (3), marking the ascent of the Islamic prophet Muhhammad to heaven (2). During this time, Palestine was ruled from Damascus, then Bhagdad, then Egypt. 1099AD brought the First Crusade, organized by Pope Urban II, which conquered Palestine for Christian Europe. However in 1187AD Kurdish leader Salah ad-Diin al-Ayyoubi defeated the Crusaders and Palestine became ruled from Cairo, Egypt. The Mamelukes succeeded al-Ayyoubi, still being ruled from Egypt. In 1291AD, the Mamelukes defeated the last Crusader stronghold. Finally in 1516AD, Palestine was ruled by Ottoman Empire from Istanbul.
By 1878AD, the first Zionist (Biblical Israeli state established by Joshua) settlement, Petach Tiqva, was established in Palestine. Then in 1897AD, the first Zionist Congress in Switzerland lead by Theodor Hertzl declared it's intention to create a Jewish state in Palestine; settlers begin to immigrate. In 1917AD, the fall of the Ottoman Empire brought about the signing of the Balfour Declaration, which signified British support of a Jewish state in Palestine. Then in 1918AD, the British occupied Palestine. 1920AD saw the first Palestinian attack on Jewish settlers, however in 1921AD the Haganah, (Jewish terror organization) was formed. The British mandate for Palestine ended in 1948AD, and Israel declared it's independence under first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. At the time, Jordan controlled the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip, and Lebanon controlled the Golan Heights in northern Israel. A 6 day war in 1967AD lead to Israeli control of all of Palestine, even including the Sinai in Egypt. By 1969AD Yasser Arafat became Palestinian Liberation Organization chairman (3). Then in 1979AD US President Jimmy Carter held the Camp David peace talks where Israel, under Prime Minister Menachim Begin, and Egypt, under President Anwar Sadat, declared the first Arab-Israeli peace; the Sinai was also returned to Egypt. 1987AD began the first Intifada, or Palestinian uprising. This lead to the Oslo I peace agreement, between PLO Leader Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, establishing plans for Palestinian self-rule in 1993AD. However, in 1995AD Yitzhak Rabin was assasinated by Jewish zealot. Then Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa Mosque in 2000AD started the second Intifada which continues today; Israel still controls all of Israel (2).
The transition from Old Kingdom to the First Intermediate Period in 2181BC was marked by a severe drought which lead to political chaos causing the split of Egypt back in to North and South. The Middle Kingdom period begins in 2125BC with Mentuhotep I of the south reuniting northern and southern Egypt. 1650BC marks another decline in the power of the Egyptian kings. This was the beginning of the Second Intermediate Period marked by the rule of Egypt by the Hyksos, an Asiatic desert people of Semitic descent (9). The Hyksos are believed to have come from either Caanan or Syria as they were displaced from their homelands by the warring Anatolians of Asia Minor (23). Among other new techniques the Hyksos introduced, the most important was the horse and chariot. Hyksos is an Egyptian phrase meaning "ruler of foreign lands".
1550BC marked the end of the Hyksos and the beginning of the New Kingdom. In 1352BC, Akhenaten and Nefertiti founded the concept of one god in Egypt. And 1336BC marked the rule of King Tutankhamen. 1279BC began the reign of Ramses II who was Pharoah during the biblical exodus of Moses in 1250BC. In 1150BC, the last great Egyptian Pharoah Ramses III defeated the Sea People who had defeated the great Hittite empire of Anatolia. After that, Egyptian power begins to decline through the Third Intermediate Period, until 670BC when Egypt was conquered by Syria. That period through 332BC is known as the Late Period. In 332BC, Alexander the Great conquered Egypt and made it part of the Persian Empire. He moved the capital from Memphis to Alexandria in 320BC. After Alexander's death, one of his generals named Ptolemy Soter established the 32nd Egyptian Dynasty that also ruled Judah and Syria (8 & 13). Under Ptolomeaic rule, the new Pharoahs not only adopted Egyptian culture, they also brought traditions of Greek math, science, and philosophy and built the first Library of Alexandria. The great Lighthouse on Pharos Island was built by Ptolemy I & II in Alexandria's harbor in 290BC; this is the second best documented of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (29). Later Ptolomeaic succesors were not as effective as the first rulers; Upper Egypt revolted in 206BC. A series of revolts weakened the treasury so much that Egypt became more dependent on Rome than ever before (9). Finally, Egypt fell to Rome in 30BC under Augustus Julius Caesar (8 & 13).
From 30BC on, Egypt remained part of Rome until the founding of the Byzantine Empire in Constantinople in 330AD. Under Roman rule, philosophy became Alexandria's primary distinction, supposedly as a result of Mithradates of Pontus' first war against Rome which caused many philosophers to leave Athens. And in 529AD, Byzantine Emporer Justinian closed the Academy of Athens; however Alexandria's schools of Aristotilean and Platonic philosophy remained open well into the eighth century.
After the fall of the Byzantine Empire, Egypt came under Arab rule in 642AD. Egypt was ruled by al Khattab of Medina until the first and second Muslim civil wars, when Egypt was ruled by the Umayyids from Damascus. After the third civil war, Egypt was ruled by the Abbasids from Baghdad. The Abbasids introduced the concept of using Turkish war slaves as a mercenary army, later called the Mamelukes as they gained power. In 868AD, a Turkish mercenary named Ahmad Ibn Tulun declared Egyptian independence from the Baghdad Khalifate which lasted until 905AD. In 969AD, the Fatamids, Persians based in Tunisia, took power over Moslem lands. The name comes from Fatima, only daughter of the prophet Mohammed. The Fatamids were Shiite, who claim only descendants of Mohammed should rule Moslem lands. Most Egyptians were Sunni, who claim Moslem leadership should be elected. The Fatamids built a strong economy in Egypt based off Red Sea shipping taxes at the port city of Fustat-Misr, but also indulged in whimsical laws at their closed off palace city of Kahira. This lasted until 1168AD when Christian Crusaders invaded Egypt and razed Fustat-Misr. Govoner Shawar made a deal with the Seljuk sultan of Damascus; they would repel the invaders and leave him a better position. Sultan Nur ed Din set up his general Shirkuh as vizier, who soon died and was replaced by his nephew Salah ad-Din Yusif al-Ayyubi. Saladin expelled the remaining Fatamid rulers and opened the city of Kahira, which would become Cairo; Many colleges were built and Cairo became a center of Islamic scholarship. (9) In fact, the Al Azhar Islamic Institute (33) of Cairo, established in 971AD, is working on a project to scan over 100,000 pages of Islamic texts to make available online. Check back for their progress. (34)
Ayyubi sultan rule came to an end in the early 1200's AD when the last Ayyubi Sultan, As-Salih Ayyub died and his Mameluke wife decided to rule. The Mamelukes were Turkoman slaves captured in war who were educated in military tactics and eventually came to occupy positions of power. Ayyub's wife Shaggar ad-Durr was able to maintain power through loyalty from other Mamelukes. Bahri Mameluke general Baybars kept the Mongols and other Crusaders at bay and eventually became Sultan. The Bahri and Burgi Mamelukes traded roles of power until in 1382AD when a Burgi Mameluke and Circassian slave (from the Caucasus') named Barkuq took control of Egypt. The Mamelukes continued traditions of brutal rule based off money from Red Sea shipping taxes, until the Portugese discovered the Cape of Good Hope in 1488AD. The Mamelukes tried to make a deal with India in 1502AD, with whom the Portugese were trading, but were refused. The Egyptians sailed to India and defeated the Potugese fleet, but were later defeated by the Portugese fleet. This combined with the increasing invasions of Ottoman Turks brought and end to Mameluke rule in 1516AD.
The Ottomans set up 24 districts ruled by Mameluke beys (emirs) in Egypt to keep little power concentrated with any particular one. Heavy taxation and frequent violence took it's toll on the common Egyptians, but they managed to live fairly independent lives; eventually they revolted in 1796AD. Egyptian Mameluke Ali Bey occupied Cairo, expelled the Turkish pasha, and attacked and defeated Arabia and Syria. This set up Egypt as essentially an independent state within the Ottoman Empire. At Ali's death, Ibrahim and Murad Bey took over rule, but underestimated Napolean's invading forces in battle after being weakened by further conflicts with the Turks. The French and Mamelukes fought in a Cairo suburb and the Mameluke's were defeated. Napeolan of France then advanced on the city of Alexandria without meeting resistance in 1798AD.
During this time period, the French, British, and Spanish kingdoms were in the height of their colonial conquests. The British saw the same value in Egypt as the French did, as a gateway to India through the Suez river. The British and Turks defeated French Egypt in 1801AD. The British stayed long enough to ensure stable Turkish rule under Mohammed Ali. Ali became strong enough to establish Egypt as an independent state of the Ottoman Empire. He then attacked all remaining Mamelukes and slaughtered them in 1811AD confiscating their land and destroying their deeds. Ali setup a cotton based economy that thrived until he overextended his credit, giving France and England an excuse to foreclose on Egtypian assets and gain economic control. The Egyptians then built the Suez canal in 1869AD and profited from it and heavy taxes until Ismail, Ali's grandson, became so indebted that he had to sell his shares to the British in 1875AD. Ismail's son Tawfik taxed even more until a revolt in 1882AD weakened Egypt enough that the British took control and ruled occupied Egypt until World War II in 1942AD (9).
The Muslem Prophet Mohammed's first succesor, Abu Bekr, set about reuniting the various Arab tribes from 632 to 634AD. His succesor Omar bin al Khattab, caliph from 634 to 644AD, initiated an explosive expansion of Islam, seizing Syria, Jerusalem, and Damascus in 638AD and assaulting the Sassanid Empire in 635AD with their first victory over Persia in 637AD at Ctesiphon. Nahavand fell in 642AD leaving the Iranian plateua open to invasion, then Afhghanistan fell in 651AD, and finally Transoxiana in 674AD. Iranians enjoyed positions of power under the Abbassid caliphs centered in Baghdad from 750 to 945AD, until most Iranian govenors began to establish independent local dynasties in eastern Iran, Afghanistan, and northern India. In 976AD, the Seljuk Turks of Central Asia began to defeat the Iranian provinces and won Baghdad from the Buwayids who defeated the Abbasids. However, by 1150AD, local dynasties again sprang up in Iran until the invasion of Mongol horsemen. The Mongols under Ghengis Khan defeated Khawarezm (from Afghanistan to Western China), Transoxiana and Samarkand in 1220AD and Khorassan in 1221. All of Persia was subdued by 1256AD under Ghengis Khan's grandson Hulaga. Hulagu's successors took the title il'Khan and ruled until 1335AD at the death of Sultan Abu Said, when local chieftans again declared independence, until the Turko-Mongol Tamerlane defeated Persia in 1380AD. The Timurid dynasty established their capital at Samarkand in present day Uzbekistan, which lead to a migration of Persian culture into the present day countries of Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan.
In southwestern Iran various dynasties came to power, leading to eventual Safavid power in 1502AD emerging from Azerbaijan. The Safavid dynasty began with Sheikh Safi-od-Din of Ardabil, ancestor of the Safavid Sufi order of Shiite Muslims founded in 1301AD. The Persian rug became a primary export under the Safavid dynasty, until it's decline in 1722AD led to a 7 year stint of Afghan rule of Persia, and then to the end of the Safavid dynasty in 1736AD. The Qajar dynasty finally won power over the Zand family in 1796AD, but through poor fiscal policy, ended up disposing of Iran's oil resources to British interests in exchange for short-term financial gains. Iran finally established a constitution in 1906AD, which was replaced by a Shiite Muslim dynasty in 1979AD. (21)
Finally, old patterns of internal unrest and revolts weakened the Hittite state so that it was unable to resist the attacks of the Sea People. The Phyrgians were one of the migrant groups known as the Sea People. They were a strong force in central and southeast Anatolia, contributing the legend of King Midas to history from around 800BC. In 1000BC, the Urartians established a small kingdom around Lake Van. They were descendants of the Hurrians, an Anatolian people from east and southeast Anatolia. Around 800BC, the former Hittite states in the west fell to the Assyrian Empire, then both regions fell to the Medes around 580BC. From about 1100BC, the Hellinic tribes of Ionia, Dors, and Aeolia setteled in the central western coast of Anatolia. The Ionians were subjugated by the west Anatolian Lydians under Croesus, but the Lydians then fell to the Medes in 546BC. It is believed the Lydians invented various dice games. King Croesus of Lydia commisioned the Greek architect Chersiphron to build the Temple of Artemis in 550BC, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (29). Around 500BC the Carian ruler Mausolus of Halicarnassus in southwestern Anatolia planned and had his wife Artemisia build a grand tomb for himself called the Mausoleum, which is another one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Alexander the Great marched through Asia Minor in 334BC to confront and defeat the Persian Empire. At Alexander's death, Anatolia was part of Seleucus I's Empire, until various independent states rebelled. The most prominent of those states was Pergamum under Attalids, which lasted until Attalus III's death when he bequeathed the kingdom to Rome in 133BC. The state of Bithynia was also bequeathed to Rome, and Pontus, Cappadocia, and Cicilia were conquered by Rome. St. Paul, born in the city of Tarsus under Cicilia around 1AD, known as Saul to the Hebrews, spread christianity by establishing many churches throughout Anatolia, his letters to the various churches came to be recorded as several chapters in the Christian Bible. The Seven Churches of Revelation are all believed to have existed in cities in Anatolia: Ephesus (Efes), Smyrna (Izmir), Laodicea ad Lycum (Goncali), Sardis (Sart), Pergamum (Bergama), Philadelphia (Alasehir), and Thyatira (Akhisar). In 324AD, the Roman emporer Constantine adopted Christianity as his religion. In 330AD, he moved the capital of Rome to Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople. In 395AD, Theodosius I divided Rome into East and West. Then in 634AD, the Arabs penetrated deep into Anatolia. However, around 1040AD the Seljuk Turks began conquering areas of Anatolia under Tugrul and Cagri Bey, grandsons of Seljuk, defeating the Horasan and Ghaznavids. In 1071AD, Alparslan defeated the Byzantine emperer, solidifying the power of the Seljuk Empire in Anatolia. In 1150AD, various Turkoman leaders established independent principalities at the edges of the Empire, working as mercanaries for the Seljuk's during the battles with the Crusaders. The Crusades were partly a result of Byzantine requests for help against the advancing Seljuk Turks. In 1204AD, Constantinople fell in the Fourth Crusade, but in 1261AD the capital was recaptured by the ruler of Nicaea.
The Turks were descendants of the nomads of the Altai Mountains in Mongolia and Central Asia. The first Turkic Empire existed around 600AD as the nomadic confederation of Gokturks (Sky Turks), which broke up around 700AD. The Eastern Gokturk civilizations, Uighur and Kirgiz, were assimilated with China and became the Mongols. The Western Gokturks, the Oguz or Turkmen ("Turkoman" to Europe), adopted the Islamic faith and dominated the area between Mongolia and Transoxiana. Under the Seljuk family, the Oguz entered Iran and contracted themselves as mercanaries of the weakening Abbassid caliphs of Baghdad. The Kirgiz pushed the Uighur out of Mongolia around 900AD into northern China and eastern Transoxiana. The Kirgiz then moved west into the Commonwealth of Independent states where they remain today. The Mongols under Ghengis Khan in 1200AD conquered the entire China, Central Asia and Transoxiana regions. The Mongols under Hulagu Khan then conquered the Seljuk-Abbassid regions of the Middle East, as far west as Anatolia, until their defeat by the Turkoman Mamelukes of Egypt.
Constantinople finally fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453AD, descendants of Osman Bey who established the Ottoman Principality east of Bursa in 1299AD. Constantinople was renamed Istanbul. The Ottoman's were temporarily crushed by Tamerlane in 1402AD, but recovered by 1413AD. In 1517AD, Selim I conquered Cairo. Then Suleyman the Magnificent conquered Buda and Peste in 1526AD, and invaded Iran and Iraq in 1534AD. In 1638AD, Murat IV captured Baghdad. In 1646AD, the Ottomans evacuated Hungary and lost power to advancing European and Russian forces, eventually being recognized as a European state in 1856AD. In 1876AD, the Young Turks created the first constitution and parliament which was dissolved in 1877AD by Abdulhamit II until he was deposed by the Young Turks in 1909AD. The Ottoman Empire then lost Macedonia in the Balkan Wars of 1912-13AD, and entered World War I as a German ally in 1914AD until it's defeat in 1918AD and dissolution in 1920AD. Turkey declared it's independence in 1923AD under President Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, with it's capital at Ankara. It has since suffered two military coups and the replacement of two constitutions in 1960AD and 1980AD. (28)
More or less, the Nation of Islam remained as a whole until World War I in 1914AD. WWI ended with the defeat of the Ottoman, German, and Austro-Hungarian Empires by primarily Britian and France. The fall of the Ottoman Empire allowed Britian and France, under the mandate of the newly formed League of Nations, to redivide the Arabian Peninsula into the countries that exist today. The heart of the Ottoman Empire became the Republic of Turkey, a moderate and predominately Sunni Muslim nation. The 1916AD agreement between Britain's Mark Sykes and France's Francois Georges-Picot established the remaining rough boundaries; although for all practical purposes the Sykes-Picot agreement was scrapped by the end of the war. France was given the Ottoman Viyalet (province) of Aleppo and the northern parts of the Viyalets of Beirut and Damascus. Britain received the southern parts of the Viyalets of Beirut and Damascus, as well as the Viyalets of Mosul (northern Mesopotamia), Baghdad and Basra (southern Mesopotamia), and the whole of the southern Arabian Peninsula. France created the countries of Lebanon and Syria. Britain, as the more powerful economy of the two allies, sucessfully worked to gain control of the oil fields of Mesopotamia and an overland route to the Red Sea and the Mediteranean Sea, referred to as Palestine east and west of the Jordan river. This allowed Britain overland access to the Persian Gulf for access to India, and access to the oil fields of Iran that they already controlled. Mesopotamia became Iraq. Palestine west of the Jordan became simply Palestine, Britain having already announced their support of an Israeli state in Palestine (for reasons now clear from three sentences back). Palestine east of the Jordan became Transjordan, and later simply Jordan. (15)
The area that is now Suadi Arabia was granted to Abdul-Aziz Ibn Saud, the Wahhabi Emir of Riyad, as a result of a standing British alliance (out of the British office of India) during the war. Wahhabism was a militant Islamic religious revival that appeared in the middle eighteenth century in central Arabia. This alliance was in conflict with the wartime alliance of Britain (out of the Cairo office) with the Emir of Mecca, Sharif Husayn, a recognized descendant of the prophet Mohammed whose family was called the Hashemites. Ibn Saud's forces attacked Husayn's in Mecca after the war and won, however Sharif's son Abdullah Husayn left Mecca and established himself as Emir of Transjordan. With British assistance, Abdullah repelled Ibn Saud's attempts to spread the Saudi kingdom northwards. Shairf's other son, Faysal, established himself as the Emir of Iraq (15).
The history of Syria is a long and fairly continuous one, it being mentioned as an empire that waxed and waned, was assimilated and liberated, but whose national identity remained fairly constant over the last 5000 years as covered in previous sections. This began with the Ebla and Mari civilizations of 3000BC alongside the Sumerians, until their fall to the Akkadians. Around 2000BC, the Ebla people were taken over by the Amorites of Aleppo, while Babylonia destroyed Mari. In 1600BC, the Hittites from Anatolia began to fight the Egyptians for control of Syria, and the Hittites won until Syria fell to Sea Peoples of the Aegean coastal areas. Then in 800BC, the Assyrian Empire was created and ruled until falling to Babylon again in 612BC. Syria then fell to Persia in 539BC, and then to Alexander the Great in 334BC, being administered by the Seleucids upon Alexander's death. Syria then fell to Rome in 64BC, and became part of the Byzantine Empire in 395AD. Syria then fell to the Arabs in 636AD ruled by al Khattab, then by the Umayyid caliphs from Damascus from 644AD until 750AD when they were ruled by the Abbasids from Baghdad. The Abbasids subsequently ignored the area, allowing it to be ruled by the Fatamids in the south from 978AD, and the Hamdanids of Aleppo in the north. Between 1098AD to 1250AD, the Ayyubids and Crusaders battled for control of parts of Syria. Then the Mamelukes ruled Syria in 1250AD from Cairo until the Mongols invaded and were defeated by the Mamelukes. Syria was then devastated by Tamerlane in 1400AD. Syria was then controlled by the Ottoman Empire from 1516AD to WWI in 1918AD when it became a French mandate until it's independence in 1945AD. (25)
Lebanon's history begins with the Phoenicians of 3000BC, who were Canaanites. The term Phoenician comes from the Greek phoinikies (purple) for the dye sold to the Greeks. The Phoenicians were a coastal people, bordered inland by mountains, so they took to the sea early and established trade all over the Medditeranean. The modern English alphabet is believed to have been derived from a proto-Caananite alphabet system which borrowed very similar symbols from the Egyptians who used the concept of representing a letter by a drawing or symbol of an object. Through the Phoenician travels, the Greeks borrowed the symbols of the proto-Caananite alphabet, who passed it on to Rome and later most of Western Europe (27). The Hyksos ruled the Phoenicians from 1600BC to 1570BC. When the Egyptian Phaoroh Thutmose III defeated the Hyksos, the Phoenicians came under Egyptian rule until Egyptian power weakend and they gained independence around 1100BC. (26) 1200-1100BC saw an explosive expansion of Phoenician culture throughout the southern and western Mediterranean. A host of maritime settlements were established throughout Northern Africa. Due to the great reputation of Phoenician sailors, around 600BC the Egyptian pharoah Necho II commissioned a group of Phoenician sailors to circumnavigate Africa. (31) Lebanon then followed the same path as Syria from the time of the Assyrian Empire control in 875BC to WWI in 1918AD, although the Lebanese cities of Tyre, Sidon, Byblos, and Beirut rebelled repeatedly from almost every major power that controlled them. Lebanon, being independent and rebellious, was always a cross-roads of trade and center of refuge for various persecuted peoples. The Christian Maronites came to Lebanon around 400AD, the Christian Melchites arrived during Arab rule, and the Druzes (believers that the Fatamid Pharoah Al-Hakim proclaimed himself an incarnation of God) showed up around 1000AD when one of Al-Hakim's followers, Darazi, settled in Lebanon. During the 8 Crusades from 1095AD to 1291AD, the Maronites fought alongside the French (major proponents of the Crusades) which established the interest France retained in Lebanon and Syria through World War I, and after as a French Mandate. Lebanon gained it's independence from France in 1943AD. (26)
The eastern coast of the Arabian peninsula was historically referred to as the Dilmun civilization; this area from Basra in Iraq to Oman was populated since at least 4000BC, serving as a vital trade link between Mesopotamia and India, and a rich source of pearls. In 1800BC, Aryan forces invaded and destroyed the cities of the Indus valley, bringing trade to a halt and reducing the importance of the Dilmun. In 600BC, the area now known as Tylos by the Greeks was made part of the Babylonian Empire. The area then remained independent after the fall of the Persian Empire, becoming known as Awal for the pagan god worshipped by the Wael tribe. In early 1500AD, the Portugese invaded and set-up a military fort in present day Bahrain to protect their trade with India, until 1603AD when the Persians conquered the Portugese in the area. The area changed hands between Persia and Arabia until the area known as Bahrain was conquered in 1783AD by Sheihk Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa (16), further recognized as a British protectorate by a treaty in 1820AD. Bahrain became independent in 1971AD (17). The area known as Qatar, also part of the 1820AD treaty, was granted to Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Ath-Thani in 1916AD. Qatar also became independent in 1971AD (18). The United Arab Emirates were recognized in the same treaty as Qatar and Bahrain in 1820AD. The treaty was an effort by the British to eliminate pirate attacks originating from the coast from 600AD through 1835AD. The UAE became independent in 1971AD (19). Kuwait was established when the city of Kuwait was built in 1779AD by people moving north from Qatar. Kuwait was recognized by the British in an 1899AD treaty, and became independent in 1961AD. Despite this, Iraq continues to lay claim to Kuwait based on authority during Ottoman rule. (24)
The area known as Oman was referred to as Magan as early as 3000BC, known as a source of copper and frankincense by 2000BC. The area's population increased as a result of immigration from Arabia and Yemen during Persian occupation of the area from 600BC to 300BC. Oman was part of Islamic Arabia until 1500AD when the Portugese occupied the area until 1650AD. Oman has remained essentially independent since then, even being the first Arab country to establish diplomatic relations with the United States in the early 1800's AD. Oman's independence has been formally recognized since 1970AD (14).
However I find it strange that the first documentation of tribal affiliations, known generally as the period of recorded history, consistently begins around 4000-3000BC with the Sumerian/Babylonian people of the Tigris/Euphrates, or the Caananites of the area between the Jordan river and the Mediteranean Sea, or the Egyptians of the Nile River delta, or the Berbers of North Africa. This leads to the second hypothesis that the biblical flood was in fact a true event, although perhaps affecting only the region local to the Arabian Peninsula, North East Africa, and South West Asia. If one takes the non-theological view that biblical documentation is the first recording of the oral tradition of the early inhabitants of the Middle East, then the etymology of the names of early civilations begin to match biblical record. Basically, the biblical Noah is recorded as having three sons: Japheth, Shem, and Ham. Each is thought to be the founder of certain tribes of people. Japheth is believed to be the founder of the Gomer, Magog (Oman;14), Madai, and Javan cultures. Shem would be the founder of the Semetic people of Hebrew and Arabic culture. And Ham is recorded as the founder of the Egyptian, Ethiopian, Libyan, Assryian, Caananite, Babylonian, and Cushite peoples (6). To go in depth a little more, Cush and Caanan are recorded as the sons of Ham. Cush is believed to have founded the city of Babel in 2281BC. And Nimrod, or Ninus the first king of Babylon, is the son of Cush. Eber, who lived around the same time as Nimrod, was great-gradson of Shem (5). The word Hebrew is derived from the name Eber (6).
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