The Ancient History of the Middle East

Ancient Near East refers to the home of early civilisations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East. The ancient Near East was the first to practice intensive year-round agriculture (farming) and currency-based trade (as opposed to bartering, whereyouexchangeproductsorservices),gavetherest oftheworldthefirstwritingsystem,inventedthepotter's wheel and then the vehicular and mill wheel, created the first centralised governments and law codes, served as birthplace to the first city-states with their high degree of division of labour (the separation of a work process into a number of tasks, with each task performedbyaseparatepersonorgroupofpersons),as well as laying the foundation for the fields of astronomy and mathematics. However, its empires also introduced rigid social categorisation, slavery, and organised warfare.

The earliest civilisations in history were established in the region now known as the Middle East around 3500 BC by the Sumerians, in southern Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), widely regarded as the cradle of civilisation. The Sumerians and the Akkadians- who extended their empire to northern Mesopotamia (now northern Syria)- and later Babylonians and Assyrians all flourished in this region. During the 4000s BC, cities begantodevelopinsouthernMesopotamia(Iraq)where temples, whose priests represented the cities’ patron deities, dominated the areas. The main city-state was Sumer,whereitisbelievedtohavegiventhefirstwritten language and became the first great civilisation of mankind. Sargon the Great unites all of these citystates to create the world’s first empire – the Akkadian dynasty.

Many other areas found themselves united following the Sumerian civilisation. For example, the Nile valley of Lower and Upper Egypt was unified under the Pharaohs approximately around 3150 BC. Soon after, civilisation quickly spread through the Fertile Crescent to the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea and throughout the Levant,aswellastoancientAnatolia.Mesopotamiawas home to several powerful empires that came to rule almostthe entire Middle East- particularly the Assyrian Empiresof1365–1076BCandtheNeo-AssyrianEmpireof 911–605BC.

The Assyrian Empire, at its peak, was the largest the world had seen. It ruled all of what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, Cyprus, and Bahrainwith large swathes of Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Sudan, andArabia.

From the early 6th century BC onwards, several Persian states dominated the region, beginning with the Medes and nonPersian Neo-Babylonian Empire, then their successor, the Achaemenid Empire (known as the first Persian Empire), conquered in the late 4th century BC by the very short-lived Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great. In 66–63 BC, the Roman general Pompey conquered much of the Middle East. The Roman Empire united the region with most of Europe and North Africa in a single political and economic unit. Even areas not directly annexed were strongly influenced by the Empire, which was the most powerful political and cultural entity for centuries. Though Roman culture spread across the region,theGreekcultureandlanguagefirstestablishedinthe region by the Macedonian Empire continued to dominate throughouttheRomanperiod.

As the Christian religion spread throughout the Roman and Persian Empires, it took root in the Middle East, and cities such as Alexandria and Edessa became important centres of Christian scholarship. By the 5th century, Christianity was the dominant religion in the Middle East, with other faiths (gradually including Christian sects) being actively repressed. The Middle East's ties to the city of Rome were gradually severed as the Empire split into East and West, with the MiddleEasttiedtothenewRomancapitalofConstantinople. The subsequent fall of the Western Roman Empire therefore, hadminimaldirectimpactontheregion.