Introduction to Middle East

Hello, I am new to the forum, and I am only 15 years of age. But let me tell you, history is my bag. I love history, and I am interested in many things ranging from the Anglo-Saxon era, to Medieval Russia, to Sengoku Japan, to all Chinese history(mostly Warring States-Tang).

I love all these different histories, but I have never explored the history or culture of the Middle East, mainly Islamic and Iranian, and I am very interested. I wish to learn more, prehaps first about Arabs, and I have no clue where to start.

I picked up Chinese history after reading Romance of The Three Kingdoms, and I was wondering if there is a good place to start for Arabian history? Who are some of Arabia's celebrated heroes, and what are some celebrated events?

If anyone could help me with this, I would be very happy. I dont have any money on me now(just spent $50 on Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian), so if you could reccomend to me any good websites, it would be very helpful.

Thanks again.

I'd like to help, but in view of how old the Middle East is, you're going to have to do a lot of reading.  You can start with my website if you wish.  There I have written as complete a history of the region as you're likely to find anywhere.  I will let you know that some of the chapters need to be updated.  Chapters 1-4 were first written in 1991 and do not include the archaeological discoveries made since then, like the tombs of four Assyrian queens found intact at Nimrud in Iraq, just before the first Persian Gulf War began.  Chapters 16 & 18 were completed in 2002, and Chapter 17 in 2003, so they do not cover the most recent events.  Other than that,
you should get a pretty good overview of "the Cradle of Civilization," and the birthplace of Monotheism.  Read and enjoy!

You may start at http://xenohistorian.faithweb.com/neareast/index.html

Topics covered include:

Chapter 1: The Land Between The Rivers (3000 - 2000 B.C.)
Chapter 2: New Peoples, New Nations (2000 - 900 B.C.)
Chapter 3: The Assyrian Conquests (900 - 627 B.C.)
Chapter 4: The Neo-Babylonian Empire (627 - 539 B.C.)
Chapter 5: The Persian Empire (539 - 336 B.C.)
Chapter 6: The Age of Hellenism (336 - 63 B.C.)
Chapter 7: In The Shadow Of Rome (63 B.C. - 226 A.D.)
Chapter 8: Zoroastrians, Pagans, And Christians (226 - 570 A.D.)
Chapter 9: The Islamic Explosion (570 - 750)
Chapter 10: The Arab Golden Age (750 - 1055)
Chapter 11: Saracen And Crusader (1055 - 1212)
Chapter 12: The Mongol Terror (1212 - 1405)
Chapter 13: The Ottoman Era (1405 - 1798)
Chapter 14: The Challenge From The West (1798 - 1914)
Chapter 15: Setting The Stage For Today's Conflicts (1914 - 1948)
Chapter 16: The Arab-Israeli Conflict Since 1948
Chapter 17: The Mother Of All Trouble Spots, Iran And Iraq Since 1948
Chapter 18: The Rest of the Middle East Since 1948
Bibliography

I've been asked about that before.  It came from "The Outline of History," by H. G. Wells, and I believe he got it from a work written by Sir Mark Sykes.

"The Outline of History" was written in 1922.  I found an online version of it at http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/sherwood/Wells-Outline /Text/Part-II.htm .

For that matter, I typed +Abd +Manif into the Google search engine and got a few more references.  It looks like their original source was the same as mine.  And because Sir Mark Sykes was the leading British diplomat in the Middle East during World War I, it should be possible to find what he wrote somewhere.


Edited by Berosus