Ancient Near East & Middle East Empires

• Midterm Exam Review: Readings and Lectures

Ancient Near East:

• Around 4000 B.C.E., the first cities developed in the Ancient Near East, specifically in Iraq.
• By 2400 B.C.E., regional empires emerged, including Egypt and the Achaemenid Empire in Iran.
• Alexander the Great conquered the region in the 4th century B.C.E.
• Around 50 B.C.E., Romans conquered the area, and the Roman Empire fell to barbarians in the 5th century C.E.

Empires in the Middle East:

• Two major empires arose in the Middle East after the fall of Rome:
  • Sassanid/Sasanian Empire (Persians): Characterized by Persian culture, language, and Zoroastrianism.
  • Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire): Featured Greek culture and language, mainly Orthodox Christianity, plus other Christian sects and Jews, viewed itself as Rome's successor.
• All these belief systems were monotheistic.

Arabian Peninsula in 600 C.E.:

• Inhabitants were primarily Arab, with many practicing polytheistic local religions, while some were Christians or Jews.
• The population had a nomadic heritage with a tribal organization (Bedouin).
• Constant small wars were common, and warriors were greatly respected, with no central authority.

Changes in the 6th and early 7th centuries:

• The Byzantine and Sassanid empires engaged in lengthy wars, weakening both.
• Constant warfare from 540-629 CE led to exhausted empires, ravaged lands, and depleted treasuries, leading to increased taxation and alienated subjects.
• Arab migration occurred from the Arabian Peninsula to the east, toward the Fertile Crescent.
• Bedouin poetry (qasidah) celebrated bravery and honor and showed the extensive spread of Bedouin culture and values.
• Warfare between the Byzantine and Sasanian empires created new trade routes north and south to avoid war zones.
• Arabia became a center of trade routes between the Middle East and Yemen.
• Mecca was the biggest trade center, where merchants organized safe trade routes by paying off tribes.
• Mecca developed into an important religious site, hosting the Ka'aba, which attracted pilgrims from all over Arabia who worshiped multiple local gods.
• Mecca was established as a sanctuary zone where tribes could resolve differences, and fighting was prohibited.

Muhammad and the Appearance of Islam:

• Born around 570 in Mecca, a member of the Quraysh tribe (the dominant tribe of Mecca).
• Married Khadijah, who became his first convert.
• In middle age, Muhammad began meditating in solitude on Mount Hira.
• Experienced a night of power, summoned to his prophetic mission, transmitted through the angel Gabriel.
• Orated revelations to companions, which were collected in the Qur'an.
• Miraj: Taken to Jerusalem in one night to meet Old Testament prophets.

Islam:

• The Qur'an is the sacred text, believed to be the direct word of God.
• Five Pillars of Islam:
  • Hajj: Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once.
  • Salat: Prayer five times daily. Congregational prayer is held every Friday. Must cleanse oneself and face the Ka'aba.
  • Fasting during Ramadan: Focus on good deeds.
  • Zakat: Almsgiving.
  • Shahada: The Islamic creed: "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."
• The System and the Worshippers:
  • Umma: Community of believers.
  • Silsila: Chain of witnesses transmitting Islam.
  • Ulama: Legal scholars of Islam.
  • Sharia: Islamic law, covering both religious and secular realms.
  • Qadi: A judge of Sharia law.
  • Women were given some property rights that did not exist before in Arabia but were still inferior to men. Women's status increased within Arabia but decreased elsewhere.
  • Hadith: Traditions of the words and deeds of Muhammad, showing how to live life.
  • Jihad: War against those who threaten the community and the internal striving to be a better Muslim.
• Mecca: Holiest city, containing the Ka'aba, the most sacred site, believed to have been built by Abraham, which holds the Black Stone in the cornerstone.
• Mosque: Prayer leader (imam), muezzin calls faithful to prayer from the minaret (adhan = call to prayer).
• Eid (Festivals):
  • Eid al-Adha: Festival of Sacrifice, commemorating Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismael.
  • Eid ul-Fitr: Marks the end of Ramadan.
• Three Dimensions of Islam:
  • Islam: Submission/duty.
  • Iman: Inner faith.
  • Ihsan: Meaning "to do beautiful things/good deeds", showing faith out of free will.
• Sufism: Mystic path where the worshiper surrenders themselves to the love of God.
• Muhammad's Life:
  • Initially had few converts.
  • Criticized by the wealthy for exploiting the poor.
  • Muhammad criticized the polytheistic religion.
  • Such religious beliefs made Mecca a center of worship and brought revenue and prestige to those in power.

Muhammad's Leadership and Legacy:

• 622: Hijra (Hejira): Muhammad and his followers fled to Medina, as the Quraysh turned against him, marking the beginning of the Muslim calendar. Medina invited Muhammad to mediate a bloody tribal feud.
• Muhammad became the leader of Medina, leading to increased disputes between Mecca and Medina.
• 630 C.E.: Muhammad led an army to Mecca.
• Mecca surrendered and agreed to accept Islam. Muhammad entered the Ka'aba, destroyed idols, and declared it a shrine of God.
• Muhammad died two years later.

After Muhammad:

• No clear successor (no sons). Early converts nominated Abu Bakr (632-4) as caliph (successor), followed by Umar (634-44), Uthman (644-56), and Ali (656-661): Rashidun (rightly guided) caliphs, personally close to the prophet.
• The caliphs united tribes on a path of conquest rather than internal fighting. They had a skillful and devoted military force.
• They conquered Arabia, the Sasanian Empire, Syria, and Egypt.
• Within 100 years, they reached India, took Spain, crossed into France (halted by Charles Martel, Battle of Poitiers/Tours 732 C.E.), and conquered half of the Byzantine Empire.
• Successes of the Conquest:
  • Created a dominant ethnic, religious, and cultural identity in the Middle East.
  • Replaced previous monotheistic beliefs with Islam but was tolerant of non-Muslims.
  • The Qur'an commanded Muslims to protect dhimmis, the people of the book, yet they were not fully equal.
  • Established a new empire to replace Byzantines and Sasanians but was more popular, more tolerant, and had lower taxes, with most of the conquest accomplished with little bloodshed against civilian populations.

Civil War and the Sunni-Shia Split:

• Uthman and Umar were both murdered in struggles for power.
• Ali (Muhammad's cousin, married to Fatima, Muhammad's daughter) was also a claimant to the caliphate.
• Mu'awiya, governor of Syria, also claimed the caliphate.
• Ali was murdered in 661 by a member of Kharijites, a splinter group critical of all caliphs. Mu'awiya took over, founding the Umayyad caliphate.
• This resulted in a permanent religious split on the relationship between religion and politics and who should lead the Islamic community.
• Sunnis: Accept Rashidun, Umayyad, and Abbasid caliphs as legitimate. Caliphs are political leaders who lead in Muhammad's name but leave religious leadership to the ulama.
• Shi'as/Shi'ites: Accept only Ali and his descendants as caliphs because they are direct descendants of the Prophet. After Mu'awiya took over leadership of Muslims, Ali's son Husayn led a revolt against him, killed in battle (seen as a martyr) at Karbala, Iraq. All Shia leaders are imams, with divine inspiration passed down from Muhammad. Imams can interpret Islam and make infallible rulings. Karbala is one of the most sacred shrines.
• Two main denominations:
  • Twelvers: The 12th Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, disappeared but did not die, concealed by God, would return on the Day of Judgement, and would establish the rule of justice.
  • Isma'ilis/Seveners: Disagree on the last true Imam and place greater emphasis on mysticism.

The Formation of the Islamic Empire:

• Mu'awiya founded the Umayyad dynasty, 661-750, continuing the path of conquest.
• Damascus, a city taken from the Byzantines, was the capital (not Mecca), highly influenced by Byzantine administration.
• The empire extended into the Sasanian empire and Spain (then Visigoth), consolidating the vast Islamic empire.
• New Islamic culture:
  • Architecture: Dome of the Rock (690s), was the first great Islamic building, based on the rock on which Abraham asked to sacrifice his son, and the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus.
  • Islamic Styles of Illustration: Avoided depicting human and animal figures.

Tensions within the Empire:

• Umayyads promoted Arabs at the expense of non-Arab Muslims, leading to resentment from Persians.
• Tribal tensions among Arab tribes continued.
• The empire was vast, diverse, and difficult to rule.
• The Umayyads were overthrown in 750 C.E. and succeeded by the Abbasid dynasty (750-1258).

Abbasid Dynasty:

• Emphasized administration over conquest.
• Proclaimed that all Muslims were equal.
• Period of flowering of Islamic civilization: culture, arts, knowledge, economic growth, great cities.
• Baghdad became the capital, leading to increased Persian influence.
• The earliest kings were capable, and the absence of viable external threats created stability and prosperity.
• Great caliphs include al-Mansur (754-775), Harun al-Rashid (786-809), and al-Ma'mun (813-833), who focused on the recovery of ancient Greek classical texts and their translation into Arabic.
• Arabic became the language of the empire, even among non-Muslims.
• Great scholars and learning were patronized.

Seljuks and Fatimids:

• During the 12th century, control over the Arab world passed from Arabs to Turks.
• Turks were originally nomads in central Asia, conquered in the original wave of Islamic conquests in the 8th century.
• Mamluk Turks (enslaved, but elite military) were professional soldiers for Abbasid caliphs, mostly adopting Sunni Islam.
• By the mid-11th century, a confederation of tribes, the Seljuks, was dominant in Iran.
• In 1055, the Abbasid caliph invited the Seljuks to take over administration and military in Baghdad.
• Seljuk leaders became sultans (leaders/rulers) under the command of the caliph but eventually assumed control, keeping a caliph as a puppet ruler.
• They created a new Turkish Muslim empire, beginning to encroach on Byzantine lands in Anatolia/Turkey.
• Demonstrated the resilience of Islamic culture, taken on by the invaders, who adopted Islam, urban life, cultural traditions, patronized arts, architecture, and adhered to sharia law.
• Seljuks did not govern well, and the empire broke apart by 1157 into a series of smaller independent states with Seljuk rulers.
• Meanwhile, the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt, which was Ismaili Shia and claimed descent from Ali, had already broken away by 909 and lasted until 1171.

Al Andalus/Andalusia – Muslim Spain:

• During the Umayyad dynasty, a small North African army of recent Islamic converts fought a battle with Christian Visigoths, possibly entering Spain to aid one side in a civil war rather than intending an invasion.
• The Muslim army moved into the power vacuum, taking over most of Spain without much fighting but was stopped at Tours in 732.
• Al Andalus lasted eight centuries, mingling European, African, Asian heritage and acting as a bridge passing Arab culture into Europe.
• 750 C.E.: The Umayyad dynasty fell to Abbasid caliphs; survivor Abd al-Rahman fled to al Andalus, seized power, and founded a new Umayyad dynasty in al Andalus (750-1031), calling himself emir (commander/general/prince) rather than caliph.
  • The capital was Seville, later becoming Córdoba.
  • Many building construction projects, including the Great Mosque of Córdoba, were undertaken.
  • Abd al Rahman II (grandson), 822-852, presided over the most brilliant period, where the monarchy was not absolute but consulted regularly with government, creating a collective leadership and semi-democratic system with independent courts; competed with Baghdad in culture (music, poetry, mathematics, astronomy, etc.).
  • 10th-century Córdoba: hundreds of mosques and palaces, 70 libraries, the largest with 600,000 books, became a very literate society with annual publications of thousands of books and treatises.
  • It was tolerant toward other religions and fostered a flowering of Jewish scholars and writers.
  • Faced attacks from Normans (Viking ancestors) from France but eventually came to a political agreement.
  • Diversity also created internal revolts.
  • A Shiite caliphate in North Africa from 909 convinced the Andalusian emir also to call himself caliph from then on.
• Cordoba caliphate broke up in Petty States period, 1031-1091, into many small states with slightly larger Christian states in the north.
• In 1086, the North African Almoravid dynasty moved into Spain, following the Umayyad cultural lead.
• In 1147, the Almohad dynasty defeated Almoravids, and became much more critical of non-Muslims with Jews and Christians beginning to flee Muslim Spain. Some relocated to Christian kingdoms in northern Spain, while others fled elsewhere in the Muslim world.
• In 1214, the Almohad ruler was defeated by an alliance of Christian Spanish princes (of Castile, Aragon, Navarre, Portugal), and the Muslim kingdom broke apart. The "Reconquista" of Spain began around this period.
• Cordoba and Seville fell to the Christians in 1236 and 1248 respectively.
• The Nasrid kingdom in Granada (1238-1492) remained one of many small kingdoms
• In 1492, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile finished the Reconquista by conquering Granada, expelling the remaining Jews and Muslims or forcing them to convert, launching the Spanish Inquisition, and Christopher Columbus.

The Crusades:

• Arab states = fragmented.
• Changes in Europe:
  • Increased piety in Western Europe call for a holy war to take back Jerusalem. Popes said that those killed in battle would go straight to heaven.
  • Europe growing stronger economically European monarchs wanted control over eastern trade.
  • The Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Jesus' tomb) was destroyed in 1009 by Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah and rebuilt by Byzantines in 1039 (for a fee).
• Fatimids became more resistant to Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem.
• In 1063, Pope Alexander II blessed Iberian Christians in their wars against the Muslims and gave an indulgence to those killed in battle: precursor to the crusades.
• The Byzantine emperor, Alexios I, asked western kings for help in fighting Seljuk expansion.
• Pope Urban II preached the crusade in 1095, promising those who died remission of sins, inciting a wave of anti-Semitism and pogroms in Europe.
• Most crusades began with massacres of Jews
• First Crusade (1095): Peter the Hermit led 40,000 French and German knights and peasants towards Jerusalem.
  • This failed; official armies (~35,000 knights and trained soldiers) followed in 1096. Fought battles against disunited Seljuk leaders who felt culturally superior against “Frankish” barbarians. Defeated cities and massacred inhabitants.
• Besieged and took Jerusalem in 1099, killing inhabitants and destroying mosques and synagogues.
• Established small crusader states in Jerusalem, Edessa, Antioch, and Tripoli, supported by further waves of crusaders.
• Approximately 120,000 “Franks” entered the Middle East.
• Imad al-Din Zangi (Seljuk Turkish leader of Aleppo) retook Edessa in 1144. This crusade included kings from France and Germany
• Living in the Middle East, crusaders had factionalized, joining local power struggles, adopting Muslim culture (not religion). This crusade was unsuccessful
• Third Crusade (1187): Saladin took Jerusalem, sparing civilians and churches Synagogues already destroyed.
• Saladin was remembered as a great hero by both Muslims and Europeans, promoted as a chivalrous king.
• Leaders responded to the Church's call for a new crusade, including Richard I Lionheart (England), Philip II (France).
  • The crusade failed, but Richard Lionheart and Saladin came to a compromise – Saladin kept Jerusalem, Christians accessed it.
• Fourth Crusade (1199): Pope Innocent III aimed to recapture Jerusalem - that crusade sacked Constantinople and set up a Latin kingdom (60 years).
• Byzantine Empire never fully recovers
• Number of other inconclusive military expeditions: usually led by individual kings rather than coalitions, many not called for by popes.
• The crusader presence in the Middle East was not long-lived, more bloody, and left little cultural change.
• Some other crusades were against various heretical groups within Europe – Albigensian Crusade v. Cathars in Southern France (1209) - created unified France.
• Children's Crusade (1212): 40,000 children, none reached the Middle East ( only Egypt/North Africa, few returned, most enslaved, killed).
• The last Latin outpost in the Muslim world fell in 1291.
• Effect of crusades in Europe:
  • Economic and political power of Italian city-states (esp. Venice), which grew as a trade center, was bolstered and established the Mediterranean as a center of trade.
  • Europeans came into contact with Arabic learning, which set the stage for the Renaissance.
  • Contact with eastern cultures allowed trade and knowledge to flow west, technologies, science, math, and philosophy.
  • Reingited European anti-Semitism.
  • German crusaders prevented the growth of power centers in east Europe and insured German dominance later.
  • Crusade caused a permanent weakness of Byzantine empire
  • Crusade had little effect in Middle East, except legacy of distrust of Europe, and confirmation of "Franks" as barbarians and defiling

Invasions of the Middle Ages & the Rise of New Empires:

• Mongols: Central Asian nomadic people who created great devastation, destroying and depopulating, invading to a much greater extent than the crusades.
• Temujin (Genghis/Jingis Khan) unified Mongolia by conquest by 1220s.
  • Mongols subdued China, founding a Mongol dynasty (Kublai Khan adopts Chinese culture).
  • Devastated Iran and Iraq.
  • In 1258, Hülagü Khan sacked Baghdad, ending the Abbasid caliphate.
• Egypt and Syria never conquered, escaped attack and Egypt was a central repository of Islamic culture.
• Mongols rapidly adopted Islam/Islamic culture, united the Islamic world, and established peaceful rule, supporting Islamic culture.
• In 1260, a Turkish army from Egypt defeated Mongols and established a sultanate in Egypt and Syria.
• Islamic world split between three regions: Mongol Iran, Turkey, and Turkish (Mamluk) Egypt.
• Timur Lang (Tamerlane) Mongol/Turk ancestry, 1381-1404, invaded Iran, sacked Damascus and other cities, and his empire collapsed on his death and his destruction protected Muslim places as he was pious.
• In 1405, Arab and Turkish lands fragmented into small dynastic states: Islamic culture = Egypt and new great powers emergence Mughals, Safavids, and Ottomans.

Mughal India:

• In 1526, Babur of Tamerlane invaded South Asia, establishing an empire in North India by bringing Persian culture, Sunni Islam. Controlled much of India until British colonization (19th Century)
• Akbar the Great tolerated Hinduism to decrease Indian resistance and allowed Hindus to be in government roles.
• Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal.
• The empire began to diminish in size after 1707.

Safavid Dynasty: 1501-1722:

• Shia (Twelver) dynasty - Greek, Kurdish, Turkish, Persian in origin
• Shah (king) Ismail I created small empire in Azerbaijan, Persia by claiming descent from the 7th Imam.
• They persecuted Sunnis and firmly established Shiism in Iran.
• Continuous pressures from the Ottoman Empire (Sunnis,) and Iranian tribes used each other for continuous fighting.
• Shah Abbas I (1587-1629) established army of slaves and artillery corp/infantry (muskets ~37,000)
• In order to gain revenue to finance the army, Shah took direct control of more of the land.
• Around 1598, Isfahan became capital with commerce and patron of Abbas' poets, artists + carpets and miniature painting. Pop of 12 million, became half the world and trade center.
• Safavid Shahs saw retention of Iraq as sacred as it held Ali and Husayn sacred shrines (Shii Imams and martyrs).
• Pressures from Ottoman also, wanted Iraq. Safavids controlled it (Center of Islamic world, legitimate territory, and angered Sunnis).
• Iraq controlled trade with Basra port that was the major part of strategic zone
• Iraq also located between Europe, India Central Asia with the silk road and export.
• 1534, Ottoman Sultan Süleyman took Iraq and in 1624, Shah Abbas, attacked Iraq occupied after a massacres of many Sunnis.
• 1638. Ottomans retook Iraq, religious worship + Iranians remained shia.
• Shahs were weaker until diminishing military attacks in 1722. Then until 1920s.

The Ottoman Empire / Turkish Empire 1299-1922:

• Small Turkish state in Anatolia (Sunni) Warrior culture state but patronize and gaza.

• Turkish chief Osman led string of victories, figure (legend). Byzantine empire temporary respite.

• Power in 16th century and military. a. in 1453 Mehmet II Constantinople with capital. b. land. c. (1520-66), besiege Suleyman. Better with the pikesmen military artillery.

• Ottoman government was absolutist but flexible: Gaza, tradition of islam + custom. soc. a. sultan, b. grand vizier name. c. adolescence and education + slaves. d. Janissaries.

• civil service by the treasury census and apprentice. Sharia sultan. Non orthodox freedom Greek and Armenian, affairs.

Luxurious.