Southwest Asia (Middle East)

The Birthplace of Civilization

Southwest Asia is where civilization began. Early farming practices in Mesopotamia — in the fertile valley between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers — produced the first cities, the first writing systems, and the first organized states: the ancient Sumerians and Assyrians.

Southwest Asia—The Middle East, as it’s referred to from the Western perspective, at Asia’s connection to Africa and Europe—includes the Anatolia: Turkey; ancient lands of Persia: Iran; early Mesopotamia (between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers): Iraq; The Levant: Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan (and Cyprus, geographically); the Arabian Peninsula: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman, and Yemen (and Sinai Peninsula of Egypt).

The Abrahamic monotheistic religions of Judaism, then Christianity, and later Islam, trace their roots to the Holy Lands along the Mediterranean Sea. The spread of Islam is reflected in much of the culture throughout the area: Muslim architecture, calls to prayer heard throughout the day, styles of design and dress, food and spices, and a visible connection to mathematics and nature in design.

Islam is an Arabic word which means “surrender, submission, commitment and peace.”

United Religions Initiative

Countries of Southwest Asia (Middle East)

With the exception of Istanbul, Turkey, the following entries draw on research and geographic study rather than firsthand experience.

^* Turkey — most of whose landmass (Anatolia) lies in Asia, while European Turkey (Turkish Thrace) makes up only about 3% of the country’s total landmass — appears here under Southwest Asia.
^† Cyprus — geographically part of the eastern Mediterranean and historically part of the Levant — appears under Europe given its political and cultural alignment with the EU; its geographic relationship to the Levant is noted here.
^‡ Egypt — most of whose landmass primarily lies in Africa, while the Sinai Peninsula is part of Southwest Asia — appears under Africa.

The Islamic architectural tradition — from the mosque’s spatial logic to the geometry of ornament — is explored in the Islamic → entry in the Architecture Style Guide. The Byzantine spatial heritage of Istanbul — which preceded and influenced Ottoman architecture — is explored in the Byzantine → entry.

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All About the Middle East

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