The Middle East, also known as the Near East, is home to one of the Cradles of Civilization and has seen many of the world's oldest cultures and civilizations. The region's history … See more

The Arabian Tectonic Plate was part of the African Plate during much of the Phanerozoic Eon (Paleozoic–Cenozoic), until the Oligocene Epoch of the Cenozoic Era See more

Pre-Islam
In the 5th century, the Middle East was separated into small, weak states; the two most prominent were the Sasanian Empire of the See more

Final years of the Ottoman Empire
In 1878, as the result of the Cyprus Convention, the United Kingdom took over the government of See more

Geographically, the Middle East can be thought of as Western Asia with the addition of Egypt (which is the non-Maghreb See more

The ancient Near East was the first to practice intensive year-round agriculture and currency-mediated trade (as opposed to barter), … See more

The Ottoman Empire (1299–1918)
By the early 15th century, a new power had arisen in western Anatolia, the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman khans, who in 1453 captured the … See more