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The Xenophile Historian




Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrein Cyprus Georgia Iran
Iraq Israel Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Oman
Qatar Saudi Arabia Syria Turkey United Arab Emirates Yemen

A General History of the Middle East



Contents

(and malcontents)



Chapter 1: The Land Between The Rivers (3000 to 1792 B.C.)
Chapter 2: The Chariot Age (1792 to 930 B.C.)
Chapter 3: The Early Iron Age (930 to 627 B.C.)
Chapter 4: The Neo-Babylonian Empire (627 to 539 B.C.)
Chapter 5: The Persian Empire (539 to 336 B.C.)
Chapter 6: The Age of Hellenism (336 to 63 B.C.)
Chapter 7: In The Shadow Of Rome (63 B.C. to 226 A.D.)
Chapter 8: Zoroastrians, Pagans And Christians (226 to 570 A.D.)
Chapter 9: The Islamic Explosion (570 to 750 A.D.)
Chapter 10: The Arab Golden Age (750 to 1055 A.D.)
Chapter 11: Saracen and Crusader (1055 to 1212 A.D.)
Chapter 12: The Mongol Terror (1212 to 1405 A.D.)
Chapter 13: The Ottoman Era (1405 to 1798 A.D.)
Chapter 14: The Challenge From the West (1798 to 1914 A.D.)
Chapter 15: Setting the Stage For Today's Conflicts (1914 to 1948 A.D.)
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
Special Pages


 

Chapter 1: The Land Between The Rivers

3000 to 1792 B.C.

Introduction
The Rise of the Sumerians
Sumerian Intellectual Achievements
From City-States to Kingdoms
The Early Elamites
Out of the Valleys
A War-Ravaged Civilization
The Role of Climate Change in History
The Akkadian Empire
Sumer's Last Hurrah
Abraham, the Friend of God
The Fall of Ur

 

Chapter 2: The Chariot Age

1792 to 930 B.C.

Part I


The Amorite Period
Iron, the Metal of Mars
The Assyrian Debut
Hammurabi
The "Hittites"
The Hurrians
The Kassites
The Eleventh Plague
Israel Becomes a Nation
The Warrior Pharaohs

Part II


The First Arabs
The Middle Assyrian Empire
The Aramaean Arrival
The Middle Elamite Period
The Other Nebuchadnezzar
Suppiluliumas the Great
Mursilis the Defender
Tiglath-Pileser I
Israel: The United Kingdom
Kadesh, the Greatest Chariot Battle of All

 

Chapter 3: The Early Iron Age

930 to 627 B.C.

Part I


The Phoenicians
Israel vs. Judah vs. Aram (Syria)
The Hittites Fade Out
Troy, the City With Nine Lives
The Sea Peoples
The House of Omri
Assyria: The Calah Period

Part II


Israel's Indian Summer
Urartu
Phrygia
The Mannaeans
The New Assyrian Empire
The Rise of Lydia
Josiah the Righteous
Assyria Triumphant

 

Chapter 4: The Neo-Babylonian Empire

627 to 539 B.C.

The Fall of Assyria
Nebuchadnezzar II vs. Necho II
The Final Years of Judah
The Median Kingdom
Zoroastrianism
By the Rivers of Babylon
The First Shah of Iran

 

Chapter 5: The Persian Empire

539 to 336 B.C.

The Return to Jerusalem
Kambujiya (Cambyses) II
Darayavahush (Darius) I
Khshayarsha (Xerxes) I
Artakhshassa (Artaxerxes I)
Darius II
Artaxerxes II
Artaxerxes III

 

Chapter 6: The Age of Hellenism

336 to 63 B.C.

Alexander the Great
The Wars of the Diadochi (Successors)
The Diffusion of Greek Culture
The Seleucid Kingdom
Classical Asia Minor
Antiochus the Great and Antiochus Epiphanes
The Origin of the Parthians
The Revolt of the Maccabees
Parthia: The Phil-Hellenic Period
The Kingdom of the Holy Warriors
Another Mithradates the Great
Tigranes the Great
Rome Takes Over

 

Chapter 7: In The Shadow Of Rome

63 B.C. to 226 A.D.

Rome vs. Parthia
Herod the Great
The Tetrarchy
Prelude to the New Testament
The Birth of Christianity
The Journeys of the Apostles
       Simon Peter
       Andrew
       James the Son of Zebedee
       John
       Philip
       Bartholomew
       Thomas
       Matthew
       James the Son of Alphaeus
       Thaddaeus
       Simon
       Matthias
The Last Herods
The Jewish-Roman War
Parthia: The Anti-Hellenistic Period
Bar Kochba's Revolt
Commerce Under the Pax Romana
The Two Empires in Trouble
The End of the Parthians

 

Chapter 8: Zoroastrians, Pagans, And Christians

226 to 570 A.D.

The Sassanian or Neo-Persian Empire
Zenobia
Manicheism
The Growth of the Church
Competitors to Christianity
The First Heresies
The Roman Response to Christianity
The Roman Empire Transformed
Shapur the Great
The Empire of Caesar and Christ
Persia Besieged
Khosrau I
Classical Arabia

 

Chapter 9: The Islamic Explosion

570 to 750

Mohammed's Calling
The Flight That Led to Victory
What Islam Is All About
The Koran, the Ulema and the Shari'a
Islam and Women
The Last Perso-Roman Wars, Mohammed Announces Himself
Jihad!
Troubles at the Heart of the Caliphate
The Umayyad Caliphate
Foreign Wars of the Umayyads
The Cities Beneath Cappadocia
The Fall of the Umayyads

 

Chapter 10: The Arab Golden Age

750 to 1055

The Abbasid Caliphate In Its Prime
The Early Wars of the Abbasids and The Power Behind the Caliphal Throne
Commerce Under the Abbasids
Arab Science
Arab Education
The Arts
The Mu'tazilites
The Shi'a
The Ismailis
Sufism
The Yezidis
Political Dissolution
The Fatimids and the Druze
Enter the Turks

 

Chapter 11: Saracen and Crusader

1055 to 1212

Alp Arslan
Asia Minor Becomes Turkey
The Seljuk Empire under Malik Shah and Nizam al-Mulk
The Order of Assassins
Deus Vult!
The First Crusade
Consolidation
Life In Outremer
The Seljuk-Assassin War
The Second Crusade
Saladin
The Third Crusade
The Fourth Crusade

 

Chapter 12: The Mongol Terror

1212 to 1405

The Fifth Crusade
Vanguard of Genghis Khan
The Sixth and Seventh Crusades
The Mameluke Coup
Hulagu's Expedition
Baybars the Ruthless
The End of the Crusades
Zenith of the Mamelukes
The Ilkhanate of Persia
The Origin of the Ottoman Turks
Orhan
Murad I
Bayezid the Thunderbolt
The Last Fury of the Steppes

 

Chapter 13: The Ottoman Era

1405 to 1798

Mohammed the Conqueror
White & Black Sheep Turks
The Middle East at the Dawn of the Modern Era
Persian Revival
Selim the Grim
Suleiman the Magnificent
Everyday Life in the Ottoman Empire
The Long Decline Begins
Shah Abbas the Great
The Cage
Back to the Danube
Persia in Turmoil
Oman Takes a Bow

 

Chapter 14: The Challenge From the West

1798 to 1914

Napoleon Bonaparte in Egypt
The Wahhabiyah
Mahmud the Reformer
Mohammed Ali
The Tanzimat Reforms
A French Foothold in Lebanon
Nineteenth-Century Persia
The Baha'i Movement
The Suez Canal and the Pawning of Egypt
The Ottoman Constitution and the Russo-Turkish War
British Inroads in Arabia
Abdul the Damned
The Majlis Revolution
Early Steps in the Regathering of Israel
The Father of Modern Zionism
The Young Turks

 

Chapter 15: Setting the Stage For Today's Conflicts

1914 to 1948

The Reluctant Central Power
Armenian Holocaust
Gallipoli
The Mesopotamian Campaign
Behind Closed Doors
The Arab Revolt
Promises, Promises . . .
Allenby's Crusade
A Peace to End All Peace
The Greco-Turkish War
The Republic of Turkey
The Anglo-Arab Monarchies
La Syrie et le Liban
Ibn Saud
Reza Shah Pahlavi
Nationalism in Egypt
The Rebuilding of Zion
World War II
The Arab League
The First Confrontation of the Cold War
The Slide to Catastrophe

 

Chapter 16: The Arab-Israeli Conflict Since 1948

Israel's War of Independence
An Exchange of Arabs for Jews
The Syrian Dictators and Jordan's King Hussein
The Rise of Nasser
The Suez Crisis of 1956
The United Arab Republic
The 1958 Lebanese Crisis
More Years of Armed Truce
The Six Day War
The War of Attrition
The Palestinian Wild Card
Black September
The 1973 War
Terrorism: The Clandestine War
The First Phase of the Lebanese Civil War
How the US Bicentennial Became Entebbe Day
Sadat's Peace Mission
Israel Gets Involved in Lebanon
Terrorism: The Next Generation
The First Intifada
Lebanon: A National Victim
The Oslo Peace (Piece?)
Oslo II
Wye
Jordan, Lebanon and Syria Today
Camp David II
Inside the Palestinian Authority
The Second Intifada
The Decline of Near Eastern Christianity
What are the Options?

 

Chapter 17: The Mother of All Trouble Spots

Iran and Iraq Since 1948

The Mossadegh Affair
The White Revolution
Iraq Breaks With the West
The Iranian Revolution
The Hostage Crisis
The Butcher of Baghdad
The Iran-Iraq War
Iraqnophobia
The One-Hundred-Hour War
The Wounded Predator
Iran After Khomeini
"Shock and Awe"

 

Chapter 18: The Rest of the Middle East Since 1948

Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia: The Transcaucasian Republics
The Arab Nouveau Riche
       Bahrein
       Kuwait
       Qatar
       The United Arab Emirates
Cyprus: Enosis or Division?
Oman: The Awakening Hermit
Saudi Arabia: A Financial Powerhouse
       King Saud IV
       Faisal II
       Khalid and Fahd
       The Al Qaeda Factor
Turkey: The Progressive Exception
Yemen: United At Last
       North Yemen: The Imamate and Nasser's Vietnam
       South Yemen: Marxism, Arab Style
       A Rocky Road to Unity
       The Republic of Yemen Today

 

Bibliography

A Timeline of the Ancient Near East

My Biblical Chronology, From Adam to the Exile

(The last paper is from "The Genesis Chronicles" folder)


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