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Southwest Asia
(The Middle East)
Turkey
Lebanon
Syria
Iraq
Israel
Iran
Afghanistan
Kuwait
Jordan
Bahrain
Saudi
Arabia
Qatar
United Arab
Emirates
Oman
Yemen
Yemen
Geography/Climate
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Southwest Asia is a large region with many
deserts and plains
There are three peninsulas in the area –
Arabian, Anatolia, & Sinai.
Peninsula – a piece of land surrounded by
water on three sides.
◦ The Sinai Peninsula is separated from Africa by the
Suez Canal, which was dug in 1868.
◦ Most of the Arabian Peninsula is made up of the
Arabian Desert.
Geography/Climate
An area in the southern portion of the
Arabian desert called the Empty Quarter is
the largest sand desert in the world.
- Water is very hard to find and is very
valuable in this region.
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- What little water there is in the desert is found
in oases.
- Oasis- a place in the desert where water is
available near the surface.
- The most fertile land in Southwest Asia is found
along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in modern
Iraq.
Geography/Climate
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Finding water is a struggle throughout the
region.
◦ Many Southwest Asian countries must use
desalination plants to get fresh water.
 Desalination is the process of removing the salt
from the water in order to make it suitable for
drinking and farming
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Many of the major cities in the region are
based around ports- which make it easier
to ship goods in and out
◦ Oil is the main export out of Southwest Asiawhich can pollute the water if spilled
History
• Three major religions of the world developed or
originated in Southwest Asia
– Judaism
– Christianity
– Islam
• All three religions are considered to be
monotheistic
– Meaning you believe in only one god
• Each religion also has its own sacred text, or
book, which stand at the center of their beliefs.
Judaism- facts
 Judaism
is the oldest of the three religions.
 Its sacred book is called the Hebrew Bible

Part of the Hebrew Bible is made up of five books
called the Torah which talk about Jewish laws
and history
 The
central belief for the Jewish people is that
one day a human leader will come as a
messenger from God and bring about a
golden age. This leader is called the
messiah
Judaism- facts
Also central to the Jewish religion are the ideas
of justice and righteousness in dealing with
people
Justice- to treat others fairly
Righteousness- to do the right thing
Hanukkah and Passover are two celebrations
that take place in the Jewish religion
Judaism- origin
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Abraham is considered the
father of the Jewish people.

God came to Abraham and told
him to leave his home in Ur
(today’s Iraq) and move his
family to Canaan (today’s
Israel), which he promised to
Abraham and his descendents
• This is why Jews believe
that Israel is considered
their “promise land”.
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The Hebrews (Jewish
people) lived in Canaan for
many years but
eventually…
The Hebrew people
began to migrate to
Egypt- probably
because of a famine in
the area
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In Egypt they were
forced into slavery by
the Pharaoh.
The Hebrews were
eventually freed from
slavery by Moses

This was called the
Exodus
Judaism- origins continued
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Moses ->
The Jewish people eventually
made their way back to Canaan,
but were forced off their land by
the Persians, who invaded and destroyed the
First Temple in 586 c.e. This scattering of
Jews outside of Israel is known
as the Diaspora. The First Temple was
eventually rebuilt by King Herod- then later
destroyed again by the Romans.
Christianity- facts
The Christian religion grew out of Judaism.
 The holy book for the Christian religion is the
Holy Bible.

– It is made up of two parts: the Old Testament (which
is very similar to the Hebrew Bible) and the New
Testament (stories of the life and teachings of Jesus
and the early history of the Christian religion called
the Gospels)
The central belief of many Christians is
that Jesus is the Messiah that ancient
Jewish leaders predicted would come and
restore greatness to the land of Israel
Christianity- origins
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Jesus of Nazareth was born
in Bethlehem and raised a
Jewish boy.
At the age of 30 he began
to teach ideas that
challenged the authority of
political and religious
leaders
– He believed that the old laws
should be replaced by a
simpler system based on love
of one’s fellow human beings

The Jewish leaders
fearing loss of power
asked the Romans to
arrest him
– Jesus was found guilty of
speaking against the
Jewish laws and was
sentenced to death by
crucifixion
 He was nailed to a cross

According to Christian
belief Jesus rose from the
dead 3 days laterresurrected- and
appeared to his disciples
Christianity- origin con.

After his resurrection, Jesus stayed with
his 12 disciples (or apostles) to teach
them so they could continue what he had
started.
– Paul was the most famous of the apostles.
-He helped by continuing to spread the word of
Jesus after his death
Christianity- origin con.

As Christianity continued to spread and become
popular the Roman leaders became worried.
Christians were often arrested or killed for
refusing to worship the gods of Rome; forcing
many to practice the Christian religion in hiding.
Christianity- origin con.
Though the religion was band- it
continued to grow and spread
 Eventually reaching members of the
Roman Emperor himself- Constantine.

– 313 C.E.- Going into battle he had his soldiers
fight with the Christian symbol- they won the
battle.
– Shortly after Constantine he removed bans
against the practice of Christianity and formed
a council of Christian leaders to help unify the
religion
Islam- Facts
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The Third religion to develop
Its holy book is called the Qur’an
The central belief is that there is only one
god- Allah and that Muhammad is his
prophet

The Five Pillars – Five main beliefs
Believe in only one God and Muhammad
 Pray in the direction of Mecca 5 times a day
 Give money to the poor
 Fast during the holy month of Ramadan
 Make a journey or Hajj to Mecca at least
once

Islam- origin
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Muhammad was born in Mecca.
At the age of 40 the angel Gabriel (a
figure from the Hebrew Bible) appeared to
Muhammad while he was praying in a
cave
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The angel gave him messages from Allah,
which he began to spread
In 622 C.E. Muhammad was forced to flee
Mecca (his home) for Medina. This marks the
beginning of the Islamic calendar, and is
known as a Hijrah
Islam- origin
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As the Islamic religion moved into Medina
it continued to spread and gain followers,
even after Muhammad’s death in 632.
Eventually the Muslim religion split over
how leadership should continue
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Sunnis (the majority of Muslims today) follow
the traditional teachings of Muhammad and
losely interpret the Qur’an
Shi’as (minority group) believe that the leader
must be a direct descendant of Muhammad
and tend to be more radical.
Islam- origin
 The
majority of people in
Southwest Asia today are
Islamic
THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
The Ottoman Empire began in 1299, in
Turkey, which is located in
southwestern Asia.
The empire later grew and included
parts of Asia, the Middle East, Africa,
and Europe.
Growth Of the Ottoman Empire
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The Ottoman Empire grew fast by taking
over many regions.
Soon it was one of the largest empires in
the world.
By 1451, the Ottomans ruled many cities
in the Middle East and Europe.
In 1453, the Ottomans took
Constantinople (later called Istanbul
located in present day Turkey).
Constantinople was the capital of the
Ottoman Empire.
It was one of the largest cities of the time.
The 16th Century (1500’s) was
the best time for Ottomans…
Suleyman, the son of Selim I, ruled from
1520 to 1566.
 He expanded the empire
**The Ottoman Empire is best known for
spreading Islam throughout parts of the
world
**Suleyman died in 1566, by which time he
was the best known Muslim leader in the
world.
 All Ottoman rulers followed Islam
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Impact of Ottomans—
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Spread of Islamic Religion
Ottomans controlled many important trade
routes
Europe & Asia were linked together by
Ottoman trade routes---this helped spread
the Islamic culture and religion
Many countries saw the Ottomans as a
threat because they were so powerful
Christians did not want the Ottomans to
spread Islam
Decline and End of Ottoman…
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By the 20th century, the Ottoman Empire
was weak.
It sided with the losing side during World
War I, which fought against the Allied
powers of England, France, Russia, and
the United States.
After World War I ended the Ottoman
Empire was crushed & it broke up…shortly
after and the land was split between
Euopean nations.
Soon after World War I ended Middle
Eastern nations were formed in the land
that was once known as the Ottoman
Empire