The coolest flash map - portrays the various empires in the Middle East from ancient Egypt to the present day in 90 seconds.
Wow those Persians have been busy. Update: By which I do NOT mean to imply the Iranians are behind everything and therefore the next great threat to civilization as we know it. The folks beating that drum are one part delusional and one part malicious warmonger. I am more on the Juan Cole side of the matter. The next great threat to civilization as we know it is global warming and attendant environmental collapse. I am not too worried about Iranians, Salafi jihadists or even the Chinese (the people American right-wingers were afraid of fifteen years ago -remember that?). If we just left them alone they wouldn't bug us, I am quite certain of that.
No, I just meant to note how often empires in the Middle East have seemed to spread outward from Central Asia - Seljuks, Sasanids, etc. The flash map is invaluable for helping me keep Hittites and Seljuks straight. As many times as I've gone over the timelines and the history between Alexander and Muhammad, I still get the various empires confused. My Western bias runs pretty deep, because I can keep the Greeks and Romans straight, know when Muhammad lived and have a clue about the rise of the Arabs, and can place the Byzantines and the Crusades, but Hittites and Seleucids and Assyrians confuse me.
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