Middle East History Essay
Countries that everyone knows today as Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq are also famous for being the birthplace of civilization. The Sumerians created the archaeological community way back around 5000 to 1750 BCE. This was one of the earliest civilizations at that time and it has its own political system as well as laws.
On top of that, the countries mentioned above are responsible for some of the flood, creation and gods myths that we know today. They have also contributed to three of the biggest religions known to man which are Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. These religions, especially Judaism spread rapidly thanks to immigration.
The Prophet Muhammed
Before Christianity spread to Europe, it was the dominant religion in the Middle East which surprises many people when they find out. Islam was founded by one of the most well-known figures in history, the Prophet Muhammed in the 7th century AD. The people who followed Muhammad at the time not only saw Islam as a community as well as a religion.
Around the time Prophet Muhammad passed away in 632 – 652, Islam as a religion started to grow as the Byzantine and Persian empires were falling apart. It even spread as far as southern Europe and North Africa. In other words, the history of Shia and Sunni as everyone knows it started in 632 when Prophet Muhammed died.
Power Struggles and Successors
There was a power struggle after his death because Islam did not have a leader. The people higher up the ranks in the community believed that there should be a new person in place to lead while others wanted Ali to be in charge. Ali was the son in law of the prophet Muhammed and the people who supported him were called "Shi'atu Ali" or "Partisans of Ali". This is where the Arabic word "Shia" come from.
At first, it was the Sunnis who succeeded when it came to picking a leader however, one of the two candidates were killed and Ali was picked as the fourth candidate. When Ali became the leader of the Muslim community, he started a civil and was murdered in 661. He was killed in a country that is known today as Iraq.
The war carried on and Hussein, who was Ali’s son, was denied the chance to be the new leader. Hussein had a very small strong army and when he decided to go to war against the large army that was once ruled by his father, he was murdered. At Karbala is where his body was left when the dust settled from the war.
It is the manner in which Hussein died that has a massive impact on the Shia. The violence that happened at the time divided the Muslim community into two. This split is still seen today and the Shia still see Ali as their leader. The Islam population is made out of 10-15% Shia and they live in modern day Iraq and Iran.
Mesopotamia gained back some of its old status as an ancient empire thanks to the increase of Islam. The Abbasid leaders formed an administrative system of the Persian Empire within Baghdad and made Islam international. This made the religion outgrow its early Persian language and Arabic roots.
When people in the west think of Baghdad around the 8th century, they think of Arabian nights. By the time that the time that the 8th century was coming to a close, the Arab civilization especially the language had taken over parts of North Africa and the Middle East. Islam did not spread to Africa because of the army or through war.
It was spread by merchants who were located around trade routes and made it easy for them to do business.
The Ottoman Empire
Around the 15th and 16TH centuries, the Ottoman Empire, made out of tribes from Turkey expanded their power. They were very powerful for well over 600 years which is a very long time.
When the Ottoman Empire was at its strongest, it expanded to areas in southern Europe including countries like Greece, Ukraine, Hungary, part of North Africa and the Balkan region. It also expanded to the Middle East including Israel, Syria, and Iraq. The name of this empire comes from their leader who went by the name of Osman.
When the 18th century came around, this empire found itself mixing with the European especially around the time Napoleon was invading Egypt. A few schemes by Greek aristocrats in the early 19th century were developed in order to liberate Greece. In 1870, something that was seen as“misrule” ended up being the rise of the Balkans in 1876. All this happened in a country known today as Bulgaria.
The region of Plovdiv saw a revolt breaking out in May 1876 where more 15,000 Bulgarians were savagely massacred by Turkish volunteers. There was so much hate for Turkey because of their action and a month later in June, the war was declared. Countries like Serbia and Russian joined by Romania would go to war against Turkey defeat their powerful empire.
By 1890, an empire that was once so powerful and very strong started to become very weak and taken apart slowly. This was all thanks to the growth of the anti-Turkish sentiment which came as a result of the massacre. Serbia, Russia, and Romania as pointed out above all became allies.
About author: Lauren Bradshaw started academic writing in 2003. Since then she tried her hand in SEO and website copywriting, writing for blogs, and working as a professional academic writer at custom history essay writing service which helps students with history papers. Her major interests lie in world history, content marketing, developing communication skills, and blogging. She's also passionate about philosophy, psychology, literature and painting.
