Middle East

Ancient Empires of Fertile Crescent

• Sumerians • Located in Mesopotamia (Iraq, Kuwait, etc..)• Fertile Crescent: Land between Tigris and Euphrates • Cuneiform: Sumerian Writing• 3000 BC• Arch, Ziggurats (Temples), First to use Wheel• City States: Ur, Erech, Kish• Polytheistic: Numerous Gods

Ancient Empires of Fertile Crescent

• Akkadians• 2300 BC, conquered the Sumerians• Sargon: Powerful King

• Babylonians• 2000 BC: Invaded the area. Babylon: Main City• Hammurabi: King, wrote the Code of Hammurabi, a set

of 282 laws (many are still used today)…eye for an eye• Culture and Religion were similar to Sumerians

• Hittites• Warlike people who invaded in 1600 BC• Smelt Iron, eventually withdrew closer to home

Ancient Empires of the Fertile Crescent

• Assyrians• Powerful from 900 BC-650 BC• Lives were similar to Babylonians and Sumerians• Calvary: First to use soldiers on horseback• First Large Empire: King Ruled All, Governors Report to King• Ashur: Main God• Nineveh: Main city (walled)• Epic of Gilgamesh: Story of the Kings• Fell apart due to Civil War

Ancient Empires of the Fertile Crescent

• Chaldeans• 605 BC-562 BC• Nebuchadnezzar: King, rebuilt Babylon • Made the city and empire very powerful• Fell apart after Nebuchadnezzar’s death

• Persians• Conquered area in 539 BC• Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes: Kings that expanded the Persian

Empire into the largest empire ever (at that time)• Treated conquered people well, led to more loyalty• Roads linked the massive empire• Zoroaster: Prophet that claimed life was a struggle between

good and evil. Also claimed an afterlife.• Eventually lost out to the Greeks

Ancient Empires: Sea People

• Phoenicians• Today: Lebanon, Israel, Syria• Used the Mediterranean Sea to trade. Had many

civilizations around the Mediterranean Sea• Peak of power around 1000 BC• Dyes (Purple), glass, lumber, etc• Phoenician Alphabet: Became the model for the Alphabets

used throughout Europe (due to trade)

• Lydians• First people to use a money economy (gold and silver

nuggets)• Before everything was off of a barter (trade) economy

Origins of Judaism

• Beginnings• Canaan: Small strip of land occupied by many different

groups of people. Today this area is Israel.• Hebrews: Ancestors of Today’s Jews…claimed Canaan as

their holy land. • Abraham: Founder of the Hebrew people• Jacob: Abraham’s grandson…who Jew’s trace heritage

through• Exodus: Hebrew’s left Canaan and went to Egypt. Peaceful

at first, were made slaves later on (starting in 1200 BC..400 yrs)

• Moses: Led the Hebrews out of Egypt (Exodus)

Judaism

• Creation of Israel• Yahweh: Name for Hebrew God• Ten Commandments: Covenant (agreement) between Moses

and Yahweh. Follow the 10 moral laws and you will get promised land.

• 12 tribes ruled the land, held together by Judges and the 10 Commandments. Conflict with Canaanites and Philistines.

• Saul: First king to unite all 12 tribes…called it Israel• David: Occupied Jerusalem (capital and religious center)• Solomon: David’s son..helped Israel reach its peak of power

and wealth• After Solomon’s death….kingdom split in two (900 BC)…Israel

and Judah. Conquered by Chaldeans and Persians

Judaism

• Religious Beliefs• Old Testament of Bible tells of the Hebrew History• Torah: First 5 books of Old Testament• Worshiped Yahweh as God. Eventually believed that

Yahweh lived in hearts of worshipers. • Viewed Yahweh as a spiritual force..not a human

element.• Monotheistic: Only one God. • Different than Christianity: Jew’s don’t believe Jesus

was the messiah (son of God).

Islam

• Arabia Peninsula• Full of traders and different groups of people• This area was the birthplace of Islam

• Islam• Muhammad: Trader who became the founder of Islam.

570 AD. • Mecca: City where Islam was founded• Muslims: Name given to the worshippers of Islam• Quran: Holy Book• Jihad: Holy War• Mosques: Places of worship

Islam Beginnings

• How Islam got started…• Muhammad had a dream…decided to create a new

religion.• Began to unsuccessfully convert many businesspeople

in Mecca.• Hijrah: Muhammad and his followers moved out of

Mecca to a neighboring city (Medina). 622 AD• Returned to Mecca in 630 AD and destroyed the Kaaba

(Shrine to all the idols). Made that area the center of Islam. • Division: Sunni, Shiah, Sufi

Islam’s Growth• Expansion of Islam

• Abu Bakr and Umar became the next caliphs (successor)• Within 100 years, Islam had spread all throughout the Middle

East, Northern Africa and part of Northern India.• Berbers: People who converted from Northern Africa. Pushed

Islam into Spain. (712 AD)• Moors: Muslims that lived in and ruled Spain. Ruled parts of

Spain form more than 700 years. • Turks: Group of people from central Asia that began to

conquer parts of the Middle East. Many converted to Islam• Sultan: Political Leader of the Turks. Worked with Caliph• Turks expanded Islam until the middle parts of the 1200s.

Islamic Daily Life• Trade

• Very important because of geographic area. Many interactions with other religions/groups.

• Lifestyle• Living by the Quran is very important.

• Science/Arts• Al-Razi: Created first hospital• Ibn Sina: Wrote the first medical encyclopedia (Cannon of

Medicine). • Astrolabe: Use the starts to find directions• Algebra: Origins began in the Muslim world• Calligraphy: Art of fine handwriting..(no people depicted)• Thousand and One Nights: Short stories (Aladdin, etc)

Byzantine Empire

• Byzantine Empire• The Eastern Part of the Roman Empire that stuck together• Greece, Turkey, Middle East, Egypt• Justinian: Emperor that tried to revive the old glory of the

Roman Empire (527 AD)• Justinian Code: Laws that covered all aspects of life. Used by

Byzantine Empire and eventually most governments. Basic idea….people should be ruled by set laws.

• Theodora: Justinian’s wife….helped get women more rights.• Justinian’s troops put down a revolt….leading to the empire

reaching its maximum level of strength and power

Byzantine Empire

• Strengths of the Empire• Constantinople: Wealthy city on the Bosporus Strait• Byzantines controlled sea routes between Asia and

Europe.

• Christian Church• Did not recognize the authority of Pope (b/c he was in

the West). Also debated about icons on religious figures. • In 1054 AD, the two churches split for good. The West

was called the Roman Catholic Church (Pope) while the East was called the Eastern Orthodox Church (Patriarch of Constantinople).

Byzantine Culture

• Growth:• Informed many people about Christianity (Middle East,

Eastern Europeans). • Great works of art still stand today (Hagia Sophia)

• Decline:• Justinian died in 565 AD…100 years of wars followed

that shrunk the size of the Empire. • Constantinople: Different groups fought to control the

city for almost 600 years. (Seljug Turks, Western Europeans, etc)• Ottoman Turks: Captured Constantinople in

1453..officially the end of the Byzantines.

Ottoman Empire

• Beginnings• Osman: Leader of a group of people that were trying

to escape the Mongols, originally from present day Turkey.• Ottoman Empire was in conflict with the neighboring

Byzantine Empire• Sultans: Political leader of the Ottomans• Early Ottoman Empire’s growth was slowed by being

conquered by a Mongol leader named Timor. • Much early conflict about who should be in charge and

who should control what land. Some members of the Ottoman Empire were not very loyal

Ottoman Empire

• Expansion• Mehmed II: Became Sultan, captured Constantinople

in 1453. • Suleyman: Greatest Sultan (1520-1566). Nicknamed

the “magnificent” or “lawgiver”. Expanded the Ottoman Empire all the way into Austria. • At the peak of expansion, Ottomans controlled Eastern

Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa. • All sorts of different people lived under the Ottoman

Empire (Christians, Jews, Turks, Muslims, etc)

Ottoman Empire

• Decline• After Suleyman’s death, Ottomans were defeated by

European Armies• Government lost control of the spice and silk trade that

used to go through the area. • Lost control of North Africa to France (1798)• Revolts were common throughout much of the 1800s• Treaty of San Stefano: Turks had to give independence

to Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro.• Lasted until 1923 when the Empire fell and became the

Republic of Turkey.

Turkey

• Mustafa Kemal• Took control of the government following WWI• Became the first president of Turkey• Goal was to modernize and westernize Turkey (saw

what the west had during WWI)• Tried to separate Islam from the government• Focus more on education, forced modernization,

women’s rights, and socialism.• Eventually, Turkey started to prosper.

Turkey

• Ismet Inonu (I nuh noo)• Took over after Kemal• Remained neutral for much of WWII

• Soviet Threat• After WWII, the USSR began to threaten Turkey• Turkey responded by aligning with USA and joined

NATO in 1952.

• Modernization of Government• Turkey vowed to remain democratic and move away

from a one-party system

Safavid Empire

• Basics• Empire that began during the time of the Ottomans• Occurred mostly in the present day country of Iran

• Beginning and End• Began as a Sunni Branch of Islam• Esmail: Powerful Shah (King of Kings)…changed the

area to Shi-ah. • Empire eventually faded by the 1700s.

Persia

• Post Safavid• Never apart of the Ottoman Empire• Great Britain and USSR started to show great interest

around 1900 (oil????)

• Reza Shah• Took control of government in 1921• Modernized area, just like Kemal in Turkey• Renamed the country Iran• Ran a very strict government, put down all opposition

Iran• Iran

• Post WWII, GB and USSR occupied Iran. USSR eventually was forced to leave Iran, GB remained.

• GB controlled most of the oil companies in Iran, really made the people of Iran mad.

• Mohammad Mosaddeq• Became Iran’s first prime minister (1951)• Wanted a constitution and to get rid of outside influence• Limited the power of Shah (monarchy) and nationalized the oil

industry (took charge of it)• Response

• GB organized a worldwide boycott of Iranian oil• USA did not want Mosaddeq siding with USSR, helped organize a

military coup in 1953. Restored power of Reza Pahlavi. • Pahlavi: Modernized and ran Iran as a dictatorship

Iranian Revolution

• Iran• Most powerful Middle East country after GB left in 1971.• USA and others hoped the Shah would continue to lead

Iran as a powerful ally to the West.

• Problems• Socialist and Islamic fundamentalists in Iran did not like

to close relationship with the West.• Economic troubles of the 1970s caused people to

become poor and more upset. • The Shah tried to use violence to stop the protests.

Iranian Revolution• Ayatollah Khomeini

• Leader of the conservative Islamic movement, opposed the Shah. • Been exiled by the Shah since 1964. • Returned in 1979 when the Shah was forced out of Iran by the people. • Made Iran into a Islamic Republic

• Iranian Hostage Situation• Islamic militants stormed the US embassy in Tehran and took 60

Americans hostage. Held them for 444 days. (FARGO)• Bad relationship with USA since

• War with Iraq• Iraq under Saddam Hussein invaded Iran in 1980. • Wanted control of a waterway to Persian Gulf.• Bloody War ended in 1988 with no real clear winner

• Today• USA and Iran don’t have great relations…mostly due to Israel and threat

of nuclear weapons

Post WWII Middle East• British Control

• During WWII, GB had a large number of troops stationed in the Middle East to protect their interests• Gained control of Iran, forced Reza Shah to step down• Replaced him with his son (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi)• Controlled Syria, Iraq, Palestine• However, economic and religious strains would lead to

problems in the Middle East

Israel

• Balfour Declaration• Pledge to secure a Jewish Homeland• Ignored by Great Britain in 1939

• Problem• Hundreds of thousand Jewish European refugees were

looking for a place to live (Holocaust)• Palestine: Arab country in the Middle East…located

where Israel was and is today. • Zionist: Jews that wanted a homeland; began to use

violence against Great Britain

Israel

• United Nations• Decided to divide Palestine into separate Jewish and

Arab states.• Arabs unanimously rejected this; Jews accepted it and

Israel was recreated in 1948.

• Conflict• Once British troops left Israel, armies from neighboring

Arab countries moved to attack Israel. • Israel won (US help) and gained more land in the process• Over a million Palestinians had lost their land and were

refugees…basically they had nowhere to go.

Middle East Political and Social Change

• Post WWII Middle East• Most Middle Eastern States became independent under more

traditional, upper class rulers (handpicked by GB)• Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia all became Arab Kingdoms• Syria and Lebanon were ruled by wealthy elite ruling class

• Socialist Reforms• Old Way: Wealthy landowners lived in city while poor tenants

farmed the land• Egypt changed this: Government took control of most industries

and business. Government also began controlling working conditions, minimum wage, education, etc

• Ba’ath Party: Embraced these changes, spread throughout Middle East. (Iraq, Lebanon, Syria)

• Pan-Arabism: Middle Eastern countries uniting together; not overly successful…too much fear of Egypt’s dominance

Egypt• Independence

• Gamal Nasser: Political leader that won Egypt’s independence from GB

• Nasser wanted to modernize Egypt (like Turkey)..played both the USA and USSR for money.

• Suez Canal: Connected Mediterranean Sea to Red Sea. Critical to shipping…why both countries cared.

• Suez Crisis• Weapons agreement with USSR…US responded by funding a project

to create a giant dam on the Nile• Nasser hesitated, finally went with the US offer but the offer no

longer existed.• Nasser became mad; nationalized the Suez Canal…this made him a

hero amongst the Arab world because he stood up to the Europeans/Americans.

• GB, France and Israel felt threatened by Egypt taking control of the canal (no Israeli ships allowed)

Egypt

• Conflict• Israel, GB, France wanted to overthrow Nasser. • Israel declared war and advanced into Egypt. GB and France

joined the fight against Egypt. • USA did not like what GB was doing b/c it feared the USSR

would get involved on the side of Egypt. GB decided to stop.

• Results• Egypt and Israel continued to make each other mad over

shipping and other issues• Nasser became the dominant leader in the Arab world…

someone had finally stood up to European Imperialism

Six-Day’s War• Start

• Syria and Jordan were mad at Israel, asked Egypt to help.• Egypt demanded the UN troops leave Egypt/Israel border and

they blocked Israel’s direct route to sea• Six Day’s War

• Realizing that they were at danger, Israel launched a attack• In 6 days, Israel captured Golan Heights from Syria, West Bank

of Jordan River from Jordan and East Jerusalem. • Results

• Many Palestinians began to lose faith in Arab ability to fight against Israel and recapture their lost land, Palestine.

• PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization): Guerilla fighters, led by Yasir Arafat….group of Palestinians fighting to regain lost land

Post Six Day’s War

• USA/USSR• Both countries wanted a peace in the Middle East

• Egypt• Anwar Sadat replaced Nasser after his death. • Egypt and Syria secretly planned a war against Israel in 1973

(starting on the Jewish Holiday of Yon Kippur)

• Yon Kippur War• Egypt had caught Israel by surprise.• Golda Meir: Israeli Prime Minister• Eventually Israeli troops pushed Egyptians back across the

Suez Cana.

Lasting Peace??

• Egyptian/Israeli Peace Negotiations • November of 1977, Sadat went to Israel to talk peace

with new Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

• Camp David Accords• Negotiated by US President Jimmy Carter in Sept 1978• Sadat and Begin agreed on a framework for peace

• Continued Problems• Sadat was assassinated in 1981• Palestinians felt like Egypt and the rest of the Arab

world had sold them out.

Israel/Palestine Problems

• Israel/Palestine Problems• Palestinians began to attack Israel more• Israel continued to resist a Palestinian State and invaded

Lebanon in 1982 (home to the PLO) • Caused much suffering; which only strengthened the PLO

• Intifada• Violent uprising by Palestinians living in the restricted

areas towards Israeli’s in those areas. Began in 1987• Israel responded with violence towards the protestors,

which caused debate. Some Israel’s thought that the Palestinians should be able to control the lands they lived in, others did not.

Israel/Palestine Problems

• Yitzhak Rabin• Elected Prime Minister in 1992

• Peace Attempts• Rabin and Arafat met to discuss peace• Settled on allowing Palestinians to self govern themselves in

the West Bank and Gaza Strip• Extremists on both sides fought this peace agreement,

eventually Rabin was assassinated• Ariel Sharon: Elected Prime Minister of Israel in 2001, noted

for being anti-Palestinian• Today: Attempts at peace between Hamas (violent

Palestinians), Israel and Palestinian Authority have slowed

Middle East Oil• Discovery

• Oil was discovered by US and GB prospectors in the early 1900s.• Important because of the increase in machines, ships, cars, etc

• Post WWII• Many countries and rules became very wealthy off of oil money.• Many countries wanted to nationalize oil production, meaning

they would control more of it, not foreign countries.• OPEC

• Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries• Arab countries worked together to control oil production and

price• 1973: Decided to cut off supplies to USA for helping Israel in wars

against Arab countries• Result: Gas shortages and quadrupled price of oil per barrel

Syria

• Syria• General Hafiz Assad took power in 1970• Began to help the Palestinians and took a powerful

position in the Arab world.• Against Iraq in Persian Gulf Wars

• Bashar Al-Assad• Syrian President today.• Terrible Civil War…accused of using chemical weapons

on his own people.• USA and Russia have been trying to get a peace

Iraq

• Saddam Hussein• Took complete control of government in 1979• Used chemical weapons against the Kurds, people who

lived in Northern Iraq and wanted freedom.

• Post Iran/Iraq War• Iraq had the most powerful army among Arab countries• Also had a ton of debt• Iraq invaded oil rich Kuwait to get more production of

oil in 1990.

Iraq

• Operation Desert Storm• About 30 countries, led by the USA were against Iraq invading

Kuwait.• After Iraq ignored demands to leave Kuwait.• US forces were quickly able to get Iraq out of Kuwait but did

not force Saddam Hussein to step down.

• Post September 11th

• Iraq was accused of having weapons of mass destruction• US invaded Iraq in March of 2003….able to gain control of

country in 21 days.• Saddam was captured and eventually executed on Dec 30,

2006.• US withdrawal from Iraq began in 2009 and complete in 2011.