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Learn Middle Eastern History

Empires, faiths and borders in the region where cities and writing began.

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The Middle East is where farming, cities and writing first appeared, and it has been at the center of world history ever since. You move from Sumer and Babylon to the Persian Empire of Cyrus, then to the rise of Islam in the seventh century, the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, the Crusades and the Mongol invasions, and the long rule of the Ottomans and Safavids. The modern section covers the end of the Ottoman Empire, the drawing of new borders, oil, and the conflicts and revolutions of the twentieth century. Learnr builds short lessons that present competing perspectives fairly, especially on contested modern events.

How to learn Middle Eastern History, step by step

Learn the map and its crossroads. Start with the Fertile Crescent, the Nile, the Arabian Peninsula, Anatolia and the Iranian plateau. The region links Africa, Europe and Asia, which is why armies, faiths and trade routes kept passing through it.
Get the foundations of Islam right. Learn the basic story of Muhammad, the hijra to Medina in 622 that starts the Islamic calendar, the first caliphs, and the succession dispute that produced the Sunni and Shia traditions. Much later history assumes you know this.
Study the caliphates as civilizations, not just dynasties. The Abbasids founded Baghdad in 762, and scholars there translated Greek, Persian and Indian works and advanced algebra, astronomy and medicine. Then see how the Crusades, beginning in 1096, and the Mongol sack of Baghdad in 1258 reshaped the region.
Spend real time on the Ottomans and Safavids. The Ottomans held much of the region from 1517 until the First World War, while Safavid Iran made Shia Islam its state religion after 1501. Their rivalry and institutions explain a great deal about the modern map.
Approach modern conflicts through multiple narratives. For the Sykes-Picot agreement, the British and French mandates, the founding of Israel in 1948 and the Palestinian displacement Palestinians call the Nakba, read accounts from different sides. Note what each emphasizes and which facts all of them accept.
Review dynasties in short bursts. Umayyad, Abbasid, Fatimid, Seljuk, Mamluk and Ottoman are easy to mix up. Brief daily Learnr reviews with timeline questions keep their order and capitals straight.

What you'll learn

Trace the main empires of the region from Akkad and Persia to the Ottomans
Explain the rise of Islam and the early split between Sunni and Shia Muslims
Describe the cultural and scientific life of Abbasid Baghdad
Analyze how the Ottoman collapse and the post-1918 mandates shaped modern borders
Summarize major twentieth-century events, including 1948 and the 1979 Iranian Revolution, from several perspectives

What's inside your Middle Eastern History course

A sample path Learnr builds for Middle Eastern History. Your real course adapts to your goal and level.

1. Mesopotamia, Egypt and the first empires
2. Persia, Alexander and the Roman and Sasanian rivalry
3. Muhammad, the early caliphs and the Islamic conquests
4. Abbasids, Crusades, Mongols and Mamluks
5. The Ottoman and Safavid centuries
6. Mandates, nation states, oil and modern conflicts

How long does it take to learn Middle Eastern History?

An overview from ancient Mesopotamia to the present takes most learners about 8 to 12 weeks at 3 to 4 hours a week. The modern period alone can be covered in 3 to 5 weeks, while deeper reading on a single country or conflict takes longer.

What you need before you start

No prior knowledge required. A basic map of the region and a willingness to read differing accounts of contested events are the main things you need.

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming the Middle East has always looked the way it does now. Most current borders date only from after the First World War.
Treating Arabs, Persians, Turks and Kurds as interchangeable. Learn the distinct languages, histories and identities of each people.
Learning modern conflicts from a single partisan source. Read accounts from more than one side and separate established facts from interpretations.

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Middle Eastern History questions, answered

Which countries are in the Middle East?

Definitions differ, but the term usually covers Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and the Arabian Peninsula states. Some definitions add North Africa or Afghanistan.

What is the difference between Sunni and Shia Islam?

The split began with a dispute over who should lead the Muslim community after Muhammad died in 632. Sunnis accepted the elected caliphs, while Shia Muslims held that leadership belonged to Ali and his descendants. Over time the traditions developed distinct practices and scholarship.

Why did the Ottoman Empire matter so much?

It ruled much of the Middle East, North Africa and southeastern Europe for centuries, and its defeat in the First World War led to the borders, mandates and new states that shape the region today.