Middle East

1. Middle East

2. 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

3. 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

5. 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

6. 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

8. 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

10. 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)

12. 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

15. 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).

17. 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

20. 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

21. 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.

23. 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 • IbnSina: 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)

24. 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

26. 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).

28. 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.

29. 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

31. 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)

32. 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.

33. 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.

35. Turkey • Ismet Inonu (I nuhnoo) • 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

36. 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.

38. 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

40. 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

41. 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.

43. 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. (ARGO) • 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

46. 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

48. 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

49. 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.