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The Middle East as a unified land-region only came out of the Middle Ages and the redefinition of the world into Christendom and the Islamic World. Before that point, the Middle East was not a unified region and never referred to as such. The Arabian Peninsula was disregarded completely until the Rise of Islam and was called (and still called) by the natives Jazirat Al-Arabiya (جزيرة العربية ) which means the Arabian Isle. Most of the remainder of the Middle East was part of the Eastern Roman Empire or was part of Persia. The terms Mesopotamia and Levant were quite common in that period as well. When the Arabs controlled all of the Middle East and North Africa, they termed their control in two general regions of the Maghreb (مغرب) and Mashriq (مشرق) which mean the Western and Eastern Regions. The Mashriq refers to the general Arab area in Asia whereas the Maghreb refers to Africa. However, the idea of a geopolitical idea of a region that has vertices at Egypt, Turkey, Iran, and Yemen is a medieval/modern conception that has only really been referred to as the Middle East.
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EzraNORTHEAST AFRICA --> NEAR EAST --> MIDDLE EAST.
Suez Canal ERASED AND SEVERED AFRICA'S ORIGINAL LAND - TO NOW CALL IT THE MIDDLE EAST.
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Why is the middle east called the middle east?
According to an article in Foreign Affairs (Davison, 1960) the term Middle East was popularized by an American naval officer named Alfred Thayer Mahan in 1902, but it might have been used by the British during their years of colonialism in the region. China and Japan for example were considered to be the Far East so the region between the Far East and The West then became the Near East or the Middle East. Although at times in history the Near East denoted the Balkans, it now generally means the Middle East plus Turkey and Iran. The terms Middle East and Near East are eurocentric because they describe a region in relation to Europe or The West. Despite this, the term is now accepted and even people in the Middle East call it that (Al-Sharq Al-Awasat means Middle East in Arabic). The issue of why the Middle East is called the Middle East is an interesting example of how simple geographic names are emeshed in geopolitics and can shift in meaning over time.For a more detailed history read: Roderic H. Davison, "Where is the Middle East?" Foreign Affairs, Vol. 38, p. 665 -675. July 1960
What were the two great powers in the middle east before the rise of Islam?
The Byzantine Empire and Sassanian Persia were the two great powers in the Middle East in the 400s-634 C.E., before the Rise of Islam.
Who imperialized the middle east region?
the middle east was a large aria to control but the most common answer to who imperialised the middle east is Germany throughout ww2 The only two countries that occupied lands in the middle east are England and France
What is the largest city in the Middle East?
The largest city in the Middle East is Istanbul, Turkey. Wicked common mistake, Istanbul geographically is part of Europe, and Tehran is the current largest in the middle east Istanbul Does not belongs to Middle easf it, Turkey is half in Europe and half in Asia. By any mean Tehran is the larget city in Middle east
What is the hottest Middle East country?
The hottest place in the Middle East is ((Kuwait City)) the temperature their once reached 146 F.
