I want to become an expert on The Middle East . . . where to start?

[Eonwe]

(Not sure if this is maybe more of a GQ).

I’ve got a lot of time to read, and I’ve decided I want to become an expert (or vastly knowledgeable anyway) on the Middle East, ancient through modern history. What are some good books with which to get started (and that might have good bibliographies)?

I figure there are sort of two categories of material here; scholarly works about the Middle East, and primary source material from the Middle East (both historical and literary).

I’m sure the possibilities are endless, but I figure I could get started with a few good suggestions.

(my current minuscule level of knowledge of the area stems from a bit of ancient Greek history, one lecture on the Middle East as it related to culture and science and influenced Spanish theater, and a zillion viewings of Lawrence of Arabia).

[KellyCriterion]

I’d probably start with the Old Testament!

I went through a phase a couple of years ago where I decided I was going to “school” myself on the history of the Middle East. I found it impossible. For example: When three quarters of a million Palestinians became displaced after the state of Israel was proclaimed, did they “flee” or were they “expelled”? Not even wikipedia’s entry on this event is sure which word to use.

[Eonwe]

Heh. Point taken. But, my goal is to try to build up as much of a cultural and ancient historical bed of knowledge as I can, so that I can look at things like the Ottoman empire, WWI, WWII/Israel, and subsequent events in the context of the people experiencing them. I want to be able to view the last 100 years of history there not as an isolated experience, but one coming on the heals of all that came before.

In other words, I think I’d be more able to look at contemporary controversy if I could put it in a deeper context.

[Sailboat]

Deciding who the original inhabitants really are is like deciding who were the original inhabitants of a revolving door.

[KellyCriterion]

@Eonwe

Heh. Point taken. But, my goal is to try to build up as much of a cultural and ancient historical bed of knowledge as I can, so that I can look at things like the Ottoman empire, WWI, WWII/Israel, and subsequent events in the context of the people experiencing them. I want to be able to view the last 100 years of history there not as an isolated experience, but one coming on the heals of all that came before.

In other words, I think I’d be more able to look at contemporary controversy if I could put it in a deeper context.

Awesome. If you ever achieve it and write a book about it, let me know, I’ll be sure to buy it

[KellyCriterion]

@Sailboat

Deciding who the original inhabitants really are is like deciding who were the original inhabitants of a revolving door.

A favourite joke of mine;

The Israeli Ambassador is sitting down with Yassir Arafat to try to work out a peace agreement. The Ambassador asks if he might first tell a story. Arafat tells him to go ahead.
The Ambassador begins.

"When Moses was in the desert for 40 years, the Jews got very thirsty and Moses asked God for water and there appeared a beautiful lake. The Jews first drank and then bathed themselves. Moses did the same when it was his turn, but when he came out of the water, all his clothes were gone. "Moses shouted, Where are my clothes? Who took them?" “The Jews answered, The Palestinians took them.”
Arafat quickly objected by saying that there were no Palestinians at that time.
The Ambassador looks at Arafat and says,

"RIGHT!!! NOW we can begin to negotiate.

[Captain_Amazing]

A good start would be Albert Hourani’s “A History of the Arab Peoples”, and part of Ira Lapidus’s “A History of Islamic Societies”.

[adhay]

@KellyCriterion

Awesome. If you ever achieve it and write a book about it, let me know, I’ll be sure to buy it

Or at least suggest it to my local library.

Any account of the Middle East that does not include the rise of agricultural capitalism (which first arose there) as context for what we see today will miss the point.

Jared Diamond’s Gun’s Germs and Steel.

Although agriculture arose in several parts of the world, Eurasia gained an early advantage due to the availability of suitable plant and animal species for domestication. In particular, the Middle East had by far the best collection of plants and animals suitable for domestication – barley, two varieties of wheat and three protein-rich pulses for food; flax for textiles; goats, sheep and cattle provided meat, leather, glue (by boiling the hooves and bones) and, in the case of sheep, wool. As early Middle Eastern civilizations began to trade, they found additional useful animals in adjacent territories, most notably horses and donkeys for use in transport.

World history as we know it starts here.

Good luck.

[YogSothoth]

You could try Bruno’s tactic and attempt to be kidnapped by terrorists. But damnit succeed where he failed!

[AskNott]

For the last few years, T. E. Lawrence’s Seven Pillars Of Wisdom has been required reading for the US State Department. It’s the book that became Lawrence Of Arabia. It’s about Lawrence’s long efforts, during WW I, to get the disparate tribes to band together, and then fight together against the Turks (and by the way, for the British.) You’ll begin to learn, as Lawrence did, how hard it is for him and the various tribes to get to know, and nearly trust, each other.

I did not find it an easy read. I’ve been working on it, off and on, for months. There’s something a little disjointed about Lawrence’s syntax. Maybe it’s from speaking Arabic for those years.

I knew next to nothing about the area, geographically at the time. This site’s map helped a bit, in addition to the ones in the book.

UniMaps.com is for sale | HugeDomains

Peace be upon you.

[Shamozzle]

You have assigned yourself an ambitious task.

Take even a relatively short and isolated event like the civil war in Lebanon. A mesmerizingly complex clusterf**k. The deeper you dig the more you uncover an amazingly convoluted, confusing political interplay. A labrynthine mess.

I have a copy of the 10+ hour documentary DVD series “The War of Lebanon” and it was very dense and took a lot to digest.

I have a keen interest in the Middle East myself and spent a few months traveling around the region in 2000.