The Middle East in Transition Turkish and Syrian Perspectives

The earliest civilisations in history were established in the region now known as the Middle East. The Sumerians, Akkadians, Babyloians an Assyrians all flourished in this region. Under the Roman Empire the region was united as a single political and economic unit. The Percian Empire dominated part of what is now concidered as the Middle East and continued to influence the rest of the region until the Islamic conquest of Persia in the seventh century. From this century a new power was rising in the Middle East, that of Islam, whilst the Byzantine (Eastern Roman Empire) and Persian empires were both weakened. The Muslim states controlled the region for a long time.