Geography Lecture All

Geography of the Middle East The “Lay of the Land” Determines Many Things

Upper Egypt Lower Egypt Nile Delta Babylonia Assyria Phoenicia Fertile Crescent

Ancient Middle East / Pre-Islamic Period ~3,000 BCE (and earlier) - 610 CE Two major cradles of civilization Egypt and the Fertile Crescent (Mesopotamia) Aided by useful geographical location waterways early ports caravan routes with oases Iran also important area of innovations

Egypt Hieroglyphics Pharaoh-based dynasties Pyramids, statuary Precious metal and stone work Pottery work, Alabaster vases, Jewelry High level of civilization scribes social structure urban areas irrigation, hybrid crops animal domestication

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Egyptian Religion & Society

Pharaoh-Gods Temples, Sacrifices, Festivals (pyramid texts) Nut : goddess holds up the sky Geb : earth god, laughter = earthquakes Ra : sun god, power of life and death Akhenaten, one-time monotheistic ruler Afterlife for elite, netherworld of conflict

Mesopota mia

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Cuneiform Kings and gods Polytheistic Temples and Priests/Priestesses (Enheduanna) Myths and legends (Adapa, Shipwrecked Sailor) Commerce with written records Less existing architecture = adobe

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA IRAN IRAQ KUWAIT SAUDI ARABIA BAHRAIN QATAR U. ARAB EMIRATES OMAN YEMEN EGYPT JORDAN ISRAEL LEBANON SYRIA TURKEY LIBYA TUNISIA ALGERIA MOROCCO MAURITANIA

TEHRAN BAGHDAD KUWAIT CITY RIYADH MANAMA DOHA ABU DHABI MUSCAT SANAA CAIRO AMMAN TELAVIV / Jerusalem BEIRUT DAMASCUS ANKARA TRIPOLI TUNIS ALGIERS RABAT NOUAKCHOTT

DESERTS SAHARA ALL NORTH AFRICA ARABIAN

SAUDI ARABIAN PENINSULA

*EMPTY QUARTER

SAUDI ARABIA

IRANIAN

IRAN

NEGEV DESERT

ISRAEL

DESERTIFICATION FACTORS 1. Livestock overgrazing 2. Deforestation leading to Erosion 3. Lowering Fresh Water Tables 4. Rising salinization of the soil 6. Aggressive farming and irrigation 7. Failing to let fields go fallow 8. Drought

Desert vs. Urban Dwellers Arab Bedouins and other nomadic peoples  Famous for endurance, strength, pure langauge, loyalty to tribe  Outside local and state power  Old Feud: herders vs. sowers Indeed not independent of one another They mix in the markets: Bazaars and at water sources 

BODIES OF WATER Persian Gulf

Gulf of Aqaba

Caspian Sea

Red Sea

Black Sea

Gulf of Aden

Mediterranean Sea Tigris River Suez Canal

Euphrates River

Gulf of Suez

Yarmouk River

Jordan River

Sea of Galilee

Dead Sea

Nile River

MOUNTAINS and MOUNTAIN RANGES MT. SINAI

EGYPT

MT. ARARAT

TURKEY

TAURUS MOUNTAINS

TURKEY

ALBORZ MOUNTAINS

IRAN

ZAGROS MOUNTAINS

IRAN

ATLAS MTN.S

ALGERIA, MOROCCO

13.6 million barrels leave Persian Gulf daily 2.5 million is to USA alone ($42 a barrel (8-30-04 and today $89.85) 1.9-2.2 million leave by pipeline every day US oil from Middle East is from: 69% Saudi Arabia 20% Iraq 10% Kuwait .5% Qatar But US imports more from Canada (1.9m/bl/day), then Saudi, then from Mexico (1.5m/bl/day)

Home of the World’s Major Religions Zoroastrianism Judaism Christianity Islam Druze Baha'ism Among others…

ETHNIC PERCENTAGES IN M. E. (Population of 385 Million total)

Arab 45 Turkic 19 Persian 12 Other 8 Kurd 7 Azeri 5 Berber less than 3 Nubian less than 1

Middle East Languages Arabic Persian Turkish Hebrew Berber And tons of dialects….