Economies of the ME & NA
Historical &
Geographical
Foundation
Historical Significance
Religious sites:

Mecca & Medina

Jerusalem

Other holly cities in Iraq, Iran, and Israel
Historical Significance
Urbanization & Civilization:

Farming and animal domestication

Specialization of labor in industry

Inventions: wheel, plow, armaments

Development: writing, coinage, government
Historical Significance
Irrigation farming in

Tigris-Euphrates Valley

Nile Valley & Delta

Jordan Valley
Historical Significance
Culture & Arts

Architecture (towns & monuments)

Artifacts & inscriptions

Music & literature
Historical Significance
Natural resources:

Minerals; e.g., oil & natural gas

Metals: e.g., copper & phosphates
Historical Significance
Conflict

Ancient times: wars resulting in the rise & fall
of many empires

Contemporary: Arab-Israeli dispute over land
ownership, and inter-state wars (e.g., Iran,
Iraq, Kuwait)
Early States
Mesopotamia:

Sumerians: 4,500-5,000 years ago

Akkadians ending Sumerian rule in 2335 BC

Babylonian emerging after 2000 BC

Neo-Babylonian: 604-562 BC

Assyrian: 300 years after 935 BC
Early States
Egypt and Canaan:

Egyptian: before 3000 BC

Israelite: about 1020 BC
Early States
Persia:

Achaemenid: from 530-323 BC

Parthian: after 330 BC

Sasanian: 226-632 AD
Early States
Greco-Roman:

Alexander

Seleucid & Ptolemic

Roman & Byzantine
Early States
Arab:

Early conquest: after Mohammad’s death in
632 AD

Umayyad: 661-750 AD

Abbasid: 750-1258
Early States
Tatars & Mongols:

Genghis Khan conquering Iran in early
1200s

Hulagu Khan sacking Baghdad in 1258

Tamerlane taking Baghdad in 1393
Early States
Turks:

Seljuk entering Baghdad in 1055 AD

Safavid: from late 1500s for 200 years

Ottoman: 600 years from early 1600s until
1918
Power Cores
Major power centers

Egyptians in the Nile Valley

Persians in Iranian Plateau & Mesopotamia

Turks in Asia Minor

Arabs in Arabian Peninsula & Fertile Cresent
Power Cores
Remains of power cores:
 Iran
 Turkey
 Saudi Arabia
Power Cores
• Arabian Peninsula remained
Independent
• Iranian Plateau was occupied by
several powers, but never
colonized
Power Cores
• No one power has ever succeeded in
conquering and occupying the entire ME.
• Power cores rotated between Iranian Plateau
and Asia Minor

Power cores controlled Egypt, but Egypt had
limited control outside its territory
Power Cores
Renewed conflict in
• Iranian Plateau (Iran)
• Mesopotamia (Iraq)
• Fertile Crescent (Arabs & Israel)
Why is Underdevelopment?
Time Period
Major Scientific Contribution Major Military Conflict
601-700 AD
2
4
701-800
6
3
801-900
7
1
901-1000
7
2
1001-1100
4
4
1101-1200
2
4
1201-1300
1
6
1301-1400
1
3
1401-1500
0
3
1501-1600
0
5
1601-1700
2
8
1701-1800
0
6
1801-1900
1
14
1901-2004
1
32