RE: Historical empire coverage of the Middle East until today...

[brad kaste]

Gosh,....there's a few 'empires' that I didn't know even existed. Looks like I have to go back to my world history high school books for awhile.........
Amazing Map of Middle East

(fascinating changes with continued instability)

This is an amazing, constantly changing map of the Middle East region,

illustrating how various "empires" have risen and fallen in the past

5000 years--in just 90 seconds.


http://www.mapsofwar.com/images/EMPIRE17.swf

[Curtis P40]

That's pretty cool...amazing, nobody wanted Saudi Arabia and all their oil.lol

[dominique]

Nice applet :).

It makes you wonder about the Euro-American dominance over time. Nothing can be considered as granted. Complacency is not the name of the game :). But interestingly enough, the expansion of "empires" may be much less territorial in the future than it was in the past as you can control, influence and benefit from places without having boots there as never before. We are not so bad there. Still.

BTW A good book on the Persian Empire is Tom Hollands Persian Fire. More fun than schoolbooks.