Antecedents

The Study of the Middle East

The study of Middle Eastern History is one of the most fascinating, controversial, and difficult to undertake. Part of this stems from the term “Middle East” itself. As one can imagine, any region that has “middle” as part of its title is bound to be a region that has been struggled over by the powers that existed on either side of it, and certainly this has been true in the Middle East. As Lewis points out in his introduction, the changes that have taken place in the Middle East, especially over the past few decades, have been heavily influenced by outside forces, most notably from the West. In addition, thanks in part to the Assyrians, Romans, and the other powers which dominated the Middle East for centuries, the region is one of the most ethnically, religiously, and linguistically diverse in the world. The region is the birth place of the three major monotheistic religions of the modern world: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Even experts have a difficult time defining the geographic boundaries of the area: does the Middle East include Egypt, even though that land is in Africa? Does it include Iran, whose people are descendents of the Persians rather than the Arabs? What about the former Soviet republics, such as Kazakhstan? Ask 10 historians who focus on the Middle East, and you will, in all likelihood, receive 10 different answers.

This course is a survey of Middle Eastern history, meaning that its purpose is to provide an overview of the region, its cultures, its religious, and its histories. Perhaps more than any other region in the world, the Middle East defies the usual generalizations, which makes the survey more specific than say, a European history class. However, because of the nature of the course, there will be less details about certain aspects of the Middle Eastern world; in fairness, a survey of the Middle East would take years, rather than a quarter. In addition, this is a history course, rather than a modern politics course; as a result, while we will touch on a variety of recent events (the Taliban, the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, the 1st Gulf War), there will be limited discussion of the politics of these happenings; instead, we will look at them in the wider historical scope. I have always told my classes that history does not repeat itself, but neither does it happen in a vacuum; the events in the Ottoman Empire in the 1910s, when approximately 1 million Armenians died (whether this was a genocide by the Turks or not is still be debated, and we will discuss that at a later date), has been cited as an example of ethnic cleansing. That same term is applied to the actions of the Serbian and Iraqi governments, as well as those of Hitler and the other fascist dictators of the 1930s and 1940s. While the lectures will follow much of Lewis’s timeline, my intent with these lectures will be to expand on Lewis’s writing, especially in topics that I believe to warrant additional attention. The last week of the quarter will be focused on the last 8 years or so, especially on the Taliban in Afghanistan; this is a topic of particular interest to me and has generally proven to be one of the most popular in my in-person Middle East classes.

Another important part of the course will be the forums, where you will have an opportunity to ask questions and discuss issues with your fellow students. I anticipate that these discussions will be lively and informed; however, I do expect that students will behave in a manner befitting a college classroom, and therefore reserve the right to remove a posting if it is belligerent or demeaning. I thank you in advance for your understanding on this matter.

Before Islam

As Lewis points out in his first chapter, the two major “Western” civilizations which first came into existence were, in fact, Middle Eastern. The Egyptian society, which developed along the Nile River Valley, developed into a hierarchical system ruled by monarchs and priests, but left vulnerable by its geographical location. As such, while Egypt was a great civilization and empire for centuries, it was frequently overrun by neighboring tribes, and eventually by the Greeks, the Romans, the Persians, and virtually everyone else who had an interest in the region. The second civilization (which might have actually predated the Egyptians, although that matter is still under debate) was the Mesopotamian, which developed between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in the area that is now the center of modern Iraq. This area was far less unified than Egypt, eventually seeing the development of a variety of tribal societies including the Sumerians (the first major society in the region), the Assyrians (noted for their fierce military skills and their decision to deport their captives: it is believed that some 5 million people were moved during the 100 years of the apex of Assyrian power), and the Israelites (who were notable for their monotheistic faith and their covenant with their god, which developed laws which were moralistic as well as legal.)

The Israelites were eventually scattered throughout the region, by the Assyrians, Babylonians, and others. The region that they occupied, on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, was overrun almost as often as Egypt, and as a result many of the ideas of the religion of the Israelites (who began to call themselves Jews, in reference to the area of Judea that they had occupied) became familiar to a wider audience, even if those people did not convert to the faith. (Conversion to Judaism was a very difficult task: one of the signs of the covenant with Yahweh was circumcision for all males, which as an adult could be deadly. In addition, Jewish males were expected to be able to read the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures), and all Jews were expected to follow strict dietary restrictions.) These conditions meant that the number of conversions was kept to a minimum.

Christianity, which developed out of Judaism, proved to be far easier to convert to: St. Paul, who was not one of the original disciples and in fact had never met Jesus of Nazareth, convinced the leadership of the sect (which Christianity most definitely was in the first years after Jesus’ death) to allow Gentiles (non-Jews) into the faith. While there would eventually be dietary restrictions (including an absence of meat on Fridays and other holy days), Christianity did not require literacy (in fact, the later church discouraged it and forbade its followers from reading the Bible), circumcision, or any other physical ritual to join the faith. In addition, in the early years (preceding and immediately following Jesus’ death), women were welcomed into the faith as near equals, something that had not been true in any of the previous Judaic sects. In addition, the Christian promise of a guaranteed paradise of an afterworld, coupled with the dedication of the early Christians (and the impression that early martyrs left) enabled Christianity to spread, slowly at first and then with increasing speed. When the emperor Constantine declared the tolerance of Christianity within the empire, and Theodosius declared it the official religion of the Empire, Christianity had clearly become the most significant faith in the Mediterranean world. The Roman conquests of most of the Middle East meant that those areas were exposed to Christianity, and many of the inhabitants converted for business or other reasons (as well as genuine faith reasons). The emperor Justinian also helped spread Christianity to farther reaches of the Middle East, conquering territories that had been lost by Rome in the 3rd century. All of these antecedents helped set the stage for the development of the final monotheistic faith, Islam, which would develop on the Arabian Peninsula in the early 7th century and would spread at a far more rapid rate than Christianity had.

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