Keep in mind this area is known as the cradle of civilization, the Fertile Crescent, flanked by the Nile River to the west and the Tigris and Euphrates to the east. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 3500 BC. The Urban Social History of the Middle East, 1750–1950 is an ambitious attempt to write a comprehensive account of 200 years of Middle East history from a social history perspective. Relations between states were governed by elaborate treaties, which were constantly being broken. The very beginning of the book and that portion of the book that addresses Middle Eastern history from about 1950 forward is very obviously biased toward the perspective of a liberal academic who sympathizes strongly with the Palestinian view of the region. We known little about it except that its influe… Before tracing the rise of British prominence in the Middle East after 1798, it is important to note the historical antecedents of Britain's involvement in the region as well as the political and economic condition of the Ottoman Empire and Iran on the eve of Britain's ascendance. This list currently covers Middle Eastern wars and conflicts from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War to the Present, along with other conflicts involving Middle Eastern nations. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Ignore today's images of … Large-scale desert travel was limited to special routes in Iran and in North Africa, both east and west of the Nile Valley. The oldest known urban and literate culture in the world was developed by the Sumerians in Mesopotamia beginning in the late 4th millennium bc. Early Fields in the Middle East The production in the Middle East began in Iran (called Persia back then) by the turn of the 20th century. the primary European powers and the United States). The Middle East, with its particular characteristics, was not to emerge until the late second millennium AD. What is happening in Middle East in 3500BCE. The Egyptian Nile had a much more predictable water flow than the Mesopotamian rivers because it flowed through hundreds of miles of swamp, where unusually high annual floods spread out, interfering with navigation but averting the danger of the occasional destructive inundations of Mesopotamia. The Euphrates had a much smaller flow of water than the nearby Tigris. Toward the end of the 3rd millennium there was a period of disunity, followed by reunification under the 12th dynasty (1991–1786). At the same time, in Transjordan and western Palestine, the Hebrews founded a tribal confederation that was changed into a monarchy by Saul and David (c. 1020–960 bc). If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. Between c. 2686 and c. 2160 bc their country was united under a powerful monarchy (the Old Kingdom) served by a complex bureaucracy. These people founded the first dynasty of Babylon (19th–16th centuries), whose most important king was Hammurabi. Economically, the Middle East is known for its vast oil reserves. In the 17th century new ethnic groups appeared in both Babylonia and Syria-Palestine: Kassites from the Zagros Mountains, Hurrians from what is now Armenia, and Indo-Europeans from Central Asia. The most populous Middle Eastern countries are Turkey, Egypt, and Iran, each with more than 50 million people. Farming has been established for thousands of years in the Middle East, and in the river valleys of ancient Mesopotamia the first true civilization in world history is appearing, that of the Sumerians.. During these two centuries Egyptian control was established over Nubia, Libya, Palestine, and southern Syria. Source for information on Independence and Decolonization, Middle East: Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism … Islamic History in Arabia and Middle East A well-written survey, organized according to dynasty. About 2300 bc a Semitic leader, Sargon I, conquered all of Babylonia and founded the first dynasty of Akkad (Akkadu), which held power for about a century and a half. See the entire history of the Middle East mapped out every year. It was not until the late 10th century that the Assyrians began to recover, but by 850 they had conquered much of western Media and southern Armenia as well as Babylonia and Syria. Conduct in the Middle East Since World War Il and the Folly Of Intervention, Cato Policy Analysis No. By the mid-20th century a common definition of the Middle East encompassed the states or territories of Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, and the various states and territories of Arabia proper (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and the Trucial States, or Trucial Oman [now United Arab Emirates ]). By most accounts, the earliest reference to the "Middle East" occurs in a 1902 edition of the British journal National Review, in an article by Alfred Thayer Mahan entitled "The Persian Gulf and International Relations." To refer to a concept similar to that of today's Middle East but earlier in time, the term ancient Near East is used. 561 bc) their Neo-Babylonian Empire became the most powerful political entity of its time. This video shows the history of the Middle East from the rise of the city-states in 2500 BCE to the fall of Egypt to Persia in 525 BCE. Before the close of the 16th century bc the native 18th dynasty rose in Egypt; it expelled the Hyksos and founded the New Kingdom. Tradition is at the root of these cultures, and the foods they eat are no different. This essentially does what it says on the cover, giving readers a short history of the Middle East. They sent trading expeditions to central Anatolia and Iran and as far as India and Egypt. The Rise of Cities. In the east the Iranian tribes, led by the Medes, were pouring into Iran from Turkistan. Its rule extended from the Taurus Mountains in Anatolia to eastern Arabia and deep into southern Iran. The date of the systematic introduction of irrigation on a large scale in Mesopotamia is somewhat doubtful because most of the early sites of irrigation culture were covered long ago by accumulation of alluvial soil brought down by the spring floods of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Home to the Cradle of Civilization, the Middle East—interchangeable with the Near East—has seen many of the world's oldest cultures and civilizations. The Middle East has a population of about 246 million, or nearly as many people as the United States. Sargon and his successors were the first known rulers in southwestern Asia to gain control of the Fertile Crescent as well as of adjacent territories. Ancient Middle East, history of the region from prehistoric times to the rise of civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and other areas. After the fall of the dynasty of Akkad there was a Sumerian revival under the 3rd dynasty of Ur (Ur III [21st–20th centuries]), followed by another influx of Semites. France retreated from Syria and Lebanon in 1946 after numerous catastrophic engagements with local peoples. (In reference to this culture, the southern half of Mesopotamia is sometimes called "Sumer" or "Sumeria".) It is important to look at the foods of the Middle East as they developed within the entire region, ignoring present-day political boundaries. The Aramaeans and Medes were to transform the ancient Middle East. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Many bone sickle handles and flint sickle edges dating from between c. 9000 and 7000 bc have been found in Palestinian sites. The latter part of the 13th century bc saw the irruption of new peoples into the Aegean, Anatolia, and the Fertile Crescent; their appearance coincided with the Trojan War, the collapse of the Hittite Empire, and the destruction of many coastal cities of Greece, Cyprus, and Syria-Palestine. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The Middle East burst back onto the American foreign policy radar with the Six-Day War of 1967, when Israel, after rising tension and threats from all sides, pre-empted what it characterized as an impending attack from Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. Shortly after 3000 bc the numerous small states that had arisen in the Nile Valley during the 4th millennium were united under the 1st dynasty of Egypt. CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (, King, Leonid W. (2015) "A History of Sumer and Akkad" (, articles on the histories of individual countries, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent, Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathir al-Farghani, List of modern conflicts in the Middle East, Decline and modernization of the Ottoman Empire, Defeat and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Egypt under Mehemet Ali and his successors, History of pottery in the Southern Levant, British foreign policy in the Middle East, United States foreign policy in the Middle East, http://archaeology.about.com/od/eterms/qt/Emmer-Wheat.htm, "New World cattle show ancestry from multiple independent domestication events", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Timeline_of_Middle_Eastern_history&oldid=1010772426, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, 12500 BC – The world's oldest evidence of bread-making has been found at Shubayqa 1, in Jordan, 11000 BC – The oldest known evidence of beer found in, 10000 BC – earliest neolithic sanctuaries at, 8500 BC – first domestication of the cow (, 7000 to 6500 BC – early undecorated, unglazed and low-fired pottery in, 7000 BC — Neolithic farmers start to move in to Europe, stimulating the European neolithic for over 3 thousand years, 5500 BC – first large scale agriculture by the, 4000 BC – Egyptians discover how to make bread using, 3500 to 3000 BC – one of the first appearances of wheeled vehicles in Mesopotamia, 3500 BC – beginning of desertification of the, 3000 to 2000 BC – First domestication of the, 2500 BC – First use of war wagons as recorded by the, 1800 to 1200 BC – the emergence of the city of, 1725 to 1550 BC – Hyksos (Canaanite) domination of Egypt, 1600 to 1360 BC – Egyptian domination over Canaan and, 1300 BC – discovery of iron smelting and smithing techniques in, 1200 BC – oldest Phoenician alphabet inscription engraved on the, 1102 to 850 BC – estimated period in which, 31 BC – Emergence of the Roman Empire as signified by the, 632 – Death of Muhammad, Designation of the, 1260 – First major defeat the Mongols suffer at, 1300 – deportation of the last Muslims from, 1347 – a fleet of Genoese trading ships fleeing Caffa (, 1909 to 1921 – Arab nationalist organizations, 1924 – abolition of the Caliphate as part of, 1968 – Ba'athists stage second military coup under General. southern Iraq), where settlements of the Sumerianculture grew into the world's first cities ca. Several species of grain grew wild, and there were marshes and tributary streams that could easily be drained or dammed in order to sow wild wheat and barley. In Mesopotamia the dominant powers were Kassite Babylonia and Assyria (which emerged from subjection to Mitanni in the early 14th century bc). Soon after 1800 bc the Egyptian Empire fell apart, and c. 1700 Egypt was overwhelmed by the Asian “Hyksos,” who ruled the country for a century and a half. Updates? Kassite Babylonia was subjugated by Assyria c. 1230. Upon examining the history and heritage of the Jewish people, we find that Judaism is deeply connected to the Middle East and North Africa: Sarah and Abraham came from Mesopotamia, the land that is today Iraq — the same land where the first yeshivas and the Babylonian Talmud were developed. The western border of the Middle East is defined by the Mediterranean Sea, where Israel, Lebanon, and Syria rest opposite from Greece and Italy in Europe. Ancient to Pre-modern. From the south and west came the Semitic Aramaeans. Middle East Early Contributions. For more detailed information, see articles on the histories of individual countries. • 4000 to 3000 BC – domestication of the African wild ass in Egypt or Mesopotamia, producing the donkey The birth of civilization has been traced to southern Mesopotamia(i.e. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. From the origin of civilization to the modern conflicts that impact the world. Best known of the new settlers from the west are the Phrygians, who occupied most of the old Hittite heartland, and the Philistines, who moved into Palestine. In the Modern age (ca. Another reason for the early significance of this area in world history is the fact that the water supply and the climate were ideal for the introduction of agriculture. In Mesopotamia and Iran remains of this period appear in caves on the lower slopes of the Zagros Mountains between western Iran and Iraq. As early as 1580, English merchants (like their Venetian, French, and other European counterparts) secured formal commercial privileges for trading in the Ottoman Empire (and later gained comparable rights in Iran). Professor of Semitic Languages, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 1929–58. But recent excavations and surface explorations have proved that irrigation around the upper Tigris and Euphrates, as well as their tributaries, dates from the early 6th millennium bc (e.g., at al-Kawm on the Upper Euphrates). Evolution of Middle Eastern civilizations The high antiquity of civilization in the Middle East is largely due to the existence of convenient land bridges and easy sea lanes passable in summer or winter, in dry or wet seasons. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. A Brief Chronology of Islamic History A chronology of historical events from the 6th to the 20th century. Author of. Small-scale irrigation was practiced in Palestine (e.g., at Jericho) in the 7th millennium bc. Britain offered Arabs across the Middle East self-rule in exchange for their aid in defeating the Ottoman empire during the first world war. The Middle East is the territory that comprises today's Egypt, the Persian Gulf states, Iran, Iraq, Israel and Palestine, Cyprus and Northern Cyprus, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Their Carthaginian colony then took over Phoenician trade in the western and central Mediterranean. The Middle East is rich with history. The Middle East is a large and diverse region composed of several countries and cultures in north Africa and western Asia. The New Kingdom rulers moved back into Syria-Palestine and came into conflict first with the Hurrian state of Mitanni and later with the Anatolian Hittites, who were expanding into Syria from the north in the 14th century bc. Called capitulations in Engli… The Middle East is located at the crossroads between North Africa, Asia, and Europe. The history of the oil industry in Iran is representative of the effects of the discovery of oil in the Middle East, and a prime example of the “resource curse”: the paradox that countries with an abundance of natural resources, specifically non-renewable resources like minerals and fuels, tend to have less economic growth, less democracy, and worse development outcomes than countries with fewer natural resources.