Quote:
Originally Posted by Ithekro
You still didn't define what you considered the "Middle East" in this dicussion. Geographically I mean, since that seemed to be at least one source of the disagreements.
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The area that presents a historical continuity from 3500BC until today is:
West of Zagros mountains, south from the Anatolian plateau, east of the Western Egyptian desert, and north of the gulf of Aden / Arabian sea.
Before ~1000 CE, Greeks and Romans were a significant to the region. During that period Persian states were more involved with europeans through Caucasus, Anatolia, and the modern Ukrainian steppe. This period is the 4/5th of the regions history, while...
Only after ~1000 CE, Persians (through the involvement of Mongols and Turks, as well as the expansion of Islam eastwards) entered the regional politics in a significant manner... therefore today the region is extended to include Iran, Caucasus, Turkey, and all north Africa.