Conflict In the Middle East

Here is special info all about the Ottoman Empire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q1LQyUr5mc

The middle-east has always been a region rife with conflict and struggle. This was especially true between 1400 and 1900, when different empires battled for rule over the land. Religious zealots preached their beliefs, causing mass political tension and strife. The era was one enormous power struggle, with each new ruler struggling for dominance over the rest. As you can imagine, this constant turmoil caused massive and frequent changes in middle-eastern culture, which, in some cases, haven't yet been settled.

Essential Question: How did conflict in the middle-east between 1400 and 1900 affect the culture there?

Moghul Empire

What appear to be footprints in the rock here,are in fact a saced site to those of Hindu faith.The Charan Paduka are areas where it is said that Hindu Gods are said to have walked on Earth,and where their footprints are visible.Hinduism in the Niddle East has never been as popular as Islam or Christianity but this wasn't alway's the case.In 1526,a new power arose in the Indian sudcontinent that almost rivaled the Ottoman Empire in terms of size and influence.The Moghul Dynasty(also called Mughul,or Mogul)did not actually begin in the middle-east,but affected it all the same.Although slow to start under the reign of its founder Badur,and even under his successor Humayun,under the brief control of the Suri Dynasty,the empire began to flourish.When Humayun came back to power,the empire was restored to its original family-line,and ready to begin its rise to power.In its prime,the Moghul Empire claimed land from southern India to middle-Afghanistan;specifically,to Kabul,which was the empire's hub.The expansion of the Moghul empire not only introdced greater communicatio(hostile though it may have been)over the Indo-Afghan border,and introduced Hinduism as a prominent belief system in the Middle-East.Hinduism did not stay prominent for long,though,as it was quickly replaced by Islam once more when the Moghul Dynasty officially ended in 1862

Middle-East in Wartime

Here is an info video all about "The Kard":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q4ZMeu1imA

Arabic and Persian generals were infamous for their brutality, and would go to horrifying lengths to ensure the abject terror of their opponents. Of course, this was not always the case; several leaders and generals utterly abhorred war in all forms, according to the teachings of Islam. Unfortunately, with the exception of the Ottomans, very few of these rulers ever stayed in power long. These tactics, while inhumane and horrible, were nonetheless effective. Frequently, armies would flee rather than do battle, using cruel, tearing weapons, and killing their opponents in the most gruesome of ways.

Analysis: The horrible reputation gained by many middle-eastern armies attached a horrible and well-earned stigma to war in the middle-east. War and combat were extremely serious affairs, and earned a sort of fearing reverence amongst civilians. It in part inspired middle-eastern men to carry daggers in self-defense. This was almost an open display of hostility, and garnered much tension within society. It became so much a part of their culture, thought, that daggers are still traditionally worn by men today, less for self-defense as for fashion and display of social standing.

Religion population

The re-inintroduction of an old religion to the area prompted even more conflict in the region,causing yet more tensionin the Middle East between those of different faith.As large a part of Middle-Eastern culture as reliigion is,adding a new belief system into the mix often causes massive turmoil and confusion.As it is now,christianityhas retaken its old position in the region's culture,if somewhat less popular.Christianity is particularly popular in Lebanon and Syria,Christians composing almost 50% of the population.

Hookah

• hookah is an arabic tradition manly smoked in groups of people hookah is a waterpipe in a glass based instrument for smoking the smoke is cooled by the water. the origin of hookah can be dated back hundreds of years ago. smoking hookah in the arab world is part of our culture and traditions , you can connect many of hoses to the base if you have a group normally you can connect up to four hoses, cafes in the middle east offer there customers hookah. each hookah lesson lasts more then 40 minutes during that time period you take about 50 to 200 inhalations that range from .15 to .50 liters of smoke, in an hour long session users consume abut 100 to 200 times the smoke of a cigarette

Facts on Lebanon

• two main branches of Islam the sunni’s and the shiites are represented in Lebanon
• Lebanon has had a long tradition of artistic and literary talent
• in the nineteenth century the Lebanese were the first to promote on arabic literary reawakening writers such as kahlil, gibran, georges shehade

European Expansion and Christianity

Here is a link to a video about European Expansion and Christianity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClWyzq95EWo

The colonies established in the Indian subcontinent during the Age of Discovery brought both Christianity Hinduism's dangerously close to Muslim nations like Afghanistan and Pakistan.While Europe occupied India,Napoleon's empire was also making significant advances towards Egypt,which accidentally drew the anger of the Turkish Sultan Selim ll.The Sultan declared a holy war against Napoleon and the French,upsetting Napoleon's plans for regional dominance.While the conflict wasn't directly differences,the exposure to Christianity from both Napoleon's forces and the European colonies in India caused Christianity to resurface in several Middle-Eastern nations.

Jordan

• homemade wedding dress young women created there own wedding dresses with help from older experienced woman.
• Death:in Islam burials cant take place after sunset, the bodies are first washed (a man by his wife or his mom if hes not married and a woman usually by another woman)
• woman roles:most woman have arranged marriages
• woman stay home with the kids and cook , clean
• high education: Jordan has three state run univ.
• Arab speakers stand very close to each other
• Jordanian art is mostly tradition-bound in design materials and colors come in forms of handcrafts such as fabric, wood, jewelry
• sports: camel and horse races
• national anthem:long live the king
• currency : Us $1= .75 dinar
• capital: Amman
• area: 35,000 square miles
• geographical regions: jordan river valley , plateau and highlands, desert land.
• Kaffiyeh:traditional Arab head dress for men.

Middle East Group

http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IRAQ/dbfiles/Iraqdatabasehome.htm

museum artifacts and more

• In the days following the conquest of Baghdad by U.S. troops in April 2003, the Iraq Museum was looted; many pieces were stolen, others damaged or destroyed.

• Since April 2003 scholars at the Oriental Institute have been compiling a comprehensive database of objects from the Iraq Museum. While the primary objective of this project is to help in the recovery of the missing objects, we also hope that this site will be found useful as an educational resource for schools and the general public.