Geography
Location: North Africa and Southwest Asia
Crossroads: 3 continents meet (Europe, Asia,
Africa) Trade routes = cultural diffusion
Climate: Arid (vast deserts) People live along
rivers/coasts
Early Civilizations
Fertile Crescent
Rivers: Tigris & Euphrates
Advancements
Sumerians (Cuneiform writing), wheel
Babylonians: Written Laws (Code of Hammurabi)
River: Nile (Floods – fertile soil left)
Advancements
Egypt: Hieroglyphics, Pyramids, afterlife
Monotheistic Religions
One God
Judaism: Abraham/
Moses
Covenant with Yahweh
Hebrews believed they were the chosen people
Moral code (10 commandments)
Old Testament/ Torah
Christianity
Jesus seen as Son of God (Messiah
Moral life means salvation
Persecuted by Romans
Spread throughout empire
Bible ( Old & New Testament)
Equality of all believers
Islam
Mohammed: Submission to Allah
5 Pillars (Faith, Prayer, Fasting, Charity, Pilgrimage)
Influence: Spread throughout Middle East and part of
Europe. Ottoman Empire defeated
Christian Byzantine Empire in 1453
“Golden Age”: Advancements in arts & science:
surgery, Algebra, astronomy.
Preserved Greek & Roman culture during Europe’s dark ages.
Introduced Numbers.
Imperialism 19th & 20th Century
Britain &
France: Took control of most land
– trading advantages
Suez Canal:
connects Red & Mediterranean Sea
After WWI: Br.
& Fr. Divided Ottoman territories after promising Arabs independence.
Nationalist
Movements: desire by Arabs for own country.
Ataturk in Turkey won independence in 1923
Arab-Israeli Conflict - causes
Zionism: international
movement for Jewish homeland
Balfour Declaration: Britain promised Jews Palestine (90%
Arab)
Holocaust: WWII – 6 million Jews Dead – worldwide
sympathy
Arab-Israeli Conflict - Division
UN Decision: Palestine
divided between Jews and Arabs
Israel founded, Arabs reject
Palestine Refugees:
Arabs who left, expecting to return, settle in camps.
Wars: Arab nations attacked Israel; Israel won more land
(Gaza, Golan etc)
Arab-Israeli Conflict - Results
PLO: used terrorism to crush Israel: Failed.
Camp David Accords:
Egypt recognizes Israel’s right to exist. Sadat assassinated.
Yasir Arafat: Head of PLO began talks with Begin; opposed
by militants
Sharon: current president, talking harder line, violence
continues.
Islamic Fundamentalism
Return to the strict laws of the Koran.
Iran: 1979 revolution; Khomeini established Islamic
theocracy; women’s rights limited; took US hostages; war War w/ Iraq.
Islamic Jihad: terrorist group; attacks enemies of Islam,
esp. US & Israel. Pan Am
flight, 1st World Trade Center bombing
Taliban: Afghanistan fundamentalist regime after Soviet
Union left.
Al Quida: Terrorist organization – Ossama Bin Ladin.
OIL
2/3 of world’s supply
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Gulf States.
OPEC: controls supply and price of oil on world market.
US Conflict in the Middle East
Persian Gulf War: 1990 Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait;
1991 – Desert Storm; Hussein still in power.
Iraq War: 2003 US invaded Iraq as part of the War on
Terror and removed Saddam Hussein from power. Search for weapons of Mass
Destruction continues. Currently attempting to form a democratic
government. Resistance within Iraq continues.
Final note
When describing the ME remember that Israel is very
different. It is Jewish, a
democracy, has no oil, women are given equal rights.
It is an industrial nation with a high standard of living and good
educational system.