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Notes History of the Modern Middle East (IA2V13004)
These are the notes made for the class, History of the Modern Middle East (IA2V13004).
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Notes History of the middle-East 600-1700
Lukas Vonhout
Lecture 1
Geography of Middle east and North Africa
Why do we call it middle east when it also stretches to North Africa?
When does this term appear? → from the 19th century from British colonialism.
In medieval Islamic times the middle east was the center of the world for Arabians. This is a
totally different world view.
- Northern part of the middle east has more mountains.
- Southern part of the middle east is more flat. This is a very fertile place for agriculture.
- African region has the great river Nile, very important fertile region.
It is a very varied climate with deserts, rivers, seas and mountains.
The late antique world
The main political players 6th century
- The Roman Empire (Byzantium) with capitol Constantinople.
This Byzantium empire had Christianity as state religion, remember that Christianity
was not crystalized yet. It also controls regions with other theological ideas of
Christianity.
- The Sassanian Empire 224-651.
The land is important here, not water and seas. Capitol is Ctesiphon in Iraq. Iraq is a
very fertile region. The ruler is a Shahanshah, king of kings. The king was a divine
figure, he was a religious figure too. The language of state was Middle Persian. The
state religion is Zoroastrianism, besides this there are also a lot of other religions such
as Eastern Christianity.
- The Ethiopian Christian kingdom (Aksum)
The state religion was Christianity. It is located at the sea shore of Ethiopia, it also had
control in south Arabia. Africa and southern Arabia were very connected.
There are a lot of religious ideas around in the late antiquity. Religious landscape:
- Judaism
No state support. The sacred language is in Hebrew. There is an oral and written
tradition. It had a lot of influence of Iranian religions.
- Christianity
State religion. Uses many different and local languages and has multiple
denominations → Eastern Church, Dyophysites & Miaphysites.
- Zoroastrianism
State religion. has a sacred language and is in competition with Manicheanism and
Mazdakism.
- Paganism
No state support. Polytheistic.
,Arabia before Islam
Geographically there are three parts of arabia:
1. Southern part, Yemen. old agriculturally productive region.
2. Central Arabia, very varied in climate, most of it is a desert. Next to the sea shore is
still very productive. Here we also find Mecca, first it was a small settlement not a big
city.
3. Northern Arabia. There is more statehood here, very much influence of the two big
empires Byzantium and Sasanian.
There is a shared language in this big land of Arabia. There is also a high culture of poetry. It
was a tribal society, they see themselves as groups that form families and share an ancestor.
The general view is that they all come from the same ancestor.
This creates a sense of unity.
Political structures:
Northern states:
- Arab states under Greco-Roman influence: Petra (2nd century AD) and
Palmyra/Tadmur (3rd century AD)
- Vassal states of the byzantines and Sassaniains.
Southern states:
- Sabaean kingdom (1200BC – 300 AD
- Himiyarite kingdom (300-6th century AD
Central Arabian state:
- Kinda (5th-6th century CE)
Here we see that there have been different political powers in Arabia.
Religious landscape before Islam
There was a tribal organization:
- A fluid alliance & genealogy.
- Order in a state of un-government
- Hereditary and elective leadership
Economic life:
- Pastoralism, varied not only nomadic.
- Some settled agriculturalists
- Trade/exchange
Religion:
- Christianity (mostly heretics from the west) and Judaism.
- Paganism (jinn; Allah and his daughters)
- Hanafiyya, was a local monotheistic religion. there is no scripture but followed some
rituals.
Lecture 2 the life of the prophet Muhammad
Arabia was not a place of big political power in the late antiquity. The big powers of the
world was in the Byzantine and the Sasanian empire. Next to this the kingdom of Axum was a
big kingdom and power around the Arabian peninsula.
,Mecca
The tribe Quraysh dominated Mecca in the time of the prophet.
Arabia can be divided into three geographical regions:
1. Southern part, Yemen. old agriculturally productive region.
2. Central Arabia, very varied in climate, most of it is a desert. Next to the sea shore is
still very productive. Here we also find Mecca, first it was a small settlement not a big
city.
3. Northern Arabia. There is more statehood here, very much influence of the two big
empires Byzantium and Sasanian.
Mecca is located in central Arabia, near to the red sea. It was a small settlement.
In the middle of mecca is the Ka’ba which is the most holy place in Islam. Around the Ka’ba
there is a protected, holy space. This is space is called ‘haram’ (not the theological term
‘haram’).
People do pilgrimage to the Ka’ba (hajj).
Here we already find some key terms that is later used in Islam.
➔ The tribe of Mecca was Quraysh.
This tribe were divided into clans (which names start with ‘banu’). The different clans would
be responsible for different things, some do trading others take care of the shrine.
➔ Banu Hashim → the clan of the prophet took care of the shrines.
These clans were not just pagans, they were obviously educated, they just fit them in
with their worldview and were not strict monotheists.
Mecca was located in a place where caravans would stop on their way from yemen (south) up
to the north.
The life of the prophet Muhammad
➔ 570 the prophet was born. This was the year of the elephant, an army came from
Yemen that tried to raid/capture the city. This army came with a battle elephant.
First forty years:
- He was very quickly orphaned by his uncle.
- He becomes a merchant and travels with long distance caravans.
- He was hired by a rich widow, Khadija and they marry. They have children but only
daughters.
➔ 610 first revelation. The prophet starts to meditate in the mountains next to Mecca,
Hira. The angel Gabriel arrives with the first revelation/message from God.
First he only talks about the revelations to Khadija. Later he looks for support.
Most Meccans don’t like his message. Because of the group that forms around the
prophet, he undermines the social structure of the clan. Next to this there was also
religious conflict, the strict monotheism of the prophets message was a problem for
the clan. Because of this conflict the devil verses arise as well.
- In 615 some supporters leave for Ethiopia.
➔ 622 Muhammad moves to Yathrib/Medina, the Hijra. His wife dies, his uncle dies and
so his supporters are gone.
In Yathrib were 5 tribes, 3 were Jewish. The prophet comes there to mediate between
the tribes.
, - Here the political page start. The prophet becomes a political leader.
➔ Medina → located above Mecca, a settlement in an oasis. 3 Jewish, 2 Arab tribes.
Those who do this Hijra are known as Muhajirun. The Hijra is known as the start of
the Muslim calendar.
New supporters in Medina are Ansar. Umma → the new Muslim community.
The prophet attacks the Meccan trade, he organizes raids.
- 624 the battle of Badr, the first raid. This was a victory for the Umma.
- In total there were 6 battles.
➔ 630 the conquest of Mecca. No one died in this conquest, the idols that were standing
in the Meccan Haram were removed. Now he is in full power of Mecca.
The Quraysh agree to become Muslim and thus recognize the authority of the prophet.
➔ 632 the prophet goes on a pilgrimage, after that he passes away. In this time Islam
gained prominence in Arabia but remained unknown to the rest of the world.
What do we actually know and how do we know?
The main traditional sources:
- The Quran. It can be used as a historical source but it is very difficult to interpret it. It
does not give dates, names or refers to events directly.
- Hadith. collections of stories of what the prophet did and said. There are two
components in these texts:
1. Isnad, chain of transmission
2. Matn, the text itself.
Hadith has mostly been used for Islamic law, but it is also a promising source for
historical research.
- The Sira literature. The biography was first composed by Ibn Ishaq (761) yet is only
known in the recension of Ibn Hisham (813).
The new sources:
- Archeology, this gives new insights into:
o Arabian politics
o Arabian religious beliefs
o Arabian society
o Languages and writing systems
- Few sources from outside of Arabia. Within in a decade after the prophets death, were
some remarks by authors in Greek about being a prophet in Arabia. This shows the
beginning of Islam stepping outside of the Arabian context.
Conclusion:
There is no reason for us to doubt that there was indeed a prophet called Muhammad. Also
there is no reason to doubt that the Quran is what he uttered. He also build a successful
community.
But we also don’t know what he actually wrote down and what he didn’t.
Lecture 3 Arab and Muslim conquests
Rashidun caliphs → the four rightly guided caliphs
1. Abu bakr, caliph for 2 years.
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