Five Important Artifacts in the Middle East

The Ka’aba – As the most holy site in all of Islam, the Ka’aba is easily one of the most important artifacts in the Middle East.  “During the holy months, when the desert fairs and the great markets envelop the city of Mecca, pilgrims from all over the Peninsula make their way to this barren land to visit their tribal deities,” (Aslan 419-420).  Not only do people from all over the Peninsula make their way, but Muslims from all over the world seek pilgrimage to Mecca in order to pray around the Ka’aba.  The Hajj pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam.  Within this, those that voyage will walk around the structure seven times.  For the average Muslim, when the call to prayer comes every day, it is the Ka’aba in Mecca that he or she faces when praying.  For these reasons alone, the Ka’aba is arguably the most important artifact to the Islamic culture that still remains today.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – As the sixth President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a very controversial figure.  Accused by many of rigging his election in 2009, his negative stance on homosexuality and his denial of the holocaust, Ahmadinejad is quite obviously not a crowd pleaser.  “What Ahmadinejad shows about the complexity of the Middle East is that it is not one uniform group of beliefs,” (Schlak).  After the Iranian Revolution occurred, Ahmadinejad’s family became highly involved with politics in the region.  He is an extremely conservative figure and has the primary focus of making Iran an Islamic state.  Because of his stature and prominence at a global level, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is one of the most important figures in the Middle East.

The Great Sphinx – The Great Sphinx is an artifact that is different from many in the Middle East.  It is highly symbolic of the history of the region.  The Sphinx still stands today, its face broken and battered, but nonetheless it remains, much like the region and its history.  It has lasted through all the suffering along with the people.  It does not have a truly defined existence other than the fact that it does exist.  Although the Muslim people of the world clearly do have a defined existence, there is still a sense of a lack of identity, in particular due to the ongoing wars of Israel and Palestine. However, much like the Sphinx, these people today still stand as a prominent player in the world. The Sphinx acts as a great symbol of how strong the people of the Islamic culture are, from 4500 years ago to present day.

The Western Wall – The Western Wall is one of the holiest sites within Jerusalem and is deemed as the most important Jewish shrine remaining.  Built in 20 BC as a retaining wall to the Temple Mount complex, it is the only remaining fragment remaining from the Roman devastation.  It is common belief that the Divine Presence never left the wall, thus praying to it is considered praying directly to God.  It is a divine place for all Jewish people around the world.  “The ancient 2,000 year old stones of the Wall have witnessed the Jewish peoples birth, exile and redemption. The Western Wall is a living testimony to the strength and resilience of the Jewish nation,” (Fichera).  Much like the Ka’aba is arguably the most important artifact remaining for Islam, the Western Wall is one of the most important remaining artifacts for the Jewish people.

Osama Bin Laden – As the founder of Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden is a very important person to the Middle East.  Perhaps, though, his importance comes from the rumors and myths that have been spread of him over the past few decades.  Bin Laden was one of the United States primary targets throughout the war in Iraq after being accused of the September 11^th attacks.  He fully believed in the right for violent jihad against those that went against his Muslim beliefs.  Although common belief is that he attacked outsiders more often than not, Al-Qaeda does not hold back on anyone.  “Al-Qaeda leaders regard liberal Muslims, Shias, Sufis, Ahmadiyyas and other sects as heretics and have issued attacks on their mosques and gatherings,” (Dannreuther).  The tactics that Bin Laden has used and the mass amount of terror that he has spread allows for him to be deemed one of the most important, yet dangerous, people in the Middle East.

Five Ingredients that Differentiate the Middle East

Climate – The climate in the Middle East varies so extremely, from the southern most countries of Egypt and Sudan to the northern most of Armenia and Turkey.  However, there are some facts that would make this seem false.  “…the world’s 15 most water-scarce countries — Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Israel and Palestine — are in the Middle East,” (Friedman).  Despite the fact that these countries all share a scarcity of water, this is simply one aspect of it all.  The climate zones of these areas differ greatly.  For example, turkey has a moderate climate with hot, dry summers and mild wet winters.  This is a stark comparison to Yemen, which consists mainly of extremely hot and arid desert land.  And then there is Pakistan, which in the single country alone has a hot, arid desert, a temperate northwest, and an arctic northern region.

Political Groups – From Fatah to Hamas to the Palestinian Liberation Organization and more, the various political groups in the Middle East reflect upon the different perspectives of the people.  “Political Islam is very much a product of the modern world,” (Gelvin 309).  The policies that are in place in the modern world, the amount of super powers in comparison to the third world countries, and the developing region of the Middle East have shaped each of these organizations in specific ways.  Fatah is a major Palestinian political party, yet is also a part of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.  Hamas, Fatah’s Islamist faction rival, does not hold ties with the PLO, and is considered a terrorist organization.  To add even more to the complexity, the PLO was also considered a terrorist organization at one point in history as well.  The immense differing opinion of each political group in the Middle East has shaped many of the citizens’ ideologies and morals.

Shia and Sunni – The Sunni and Shia sections of Islam are in constant struggle with each other, ultimately creating division where unity is needed.  “Although sharing a common sacred history, each group strove to develop its own interpretation of scripture, its own ideas on theology and the law, and its own community of faith,” (Aslan 306).  Perhaps the greatest conflict between the two groups is within the recognition to the true heirs to the caliphs.  The Sunni branch believes that the first four caliphs, Mohammed's successors, rightfully took his place as the leaders of Muslims. They recognize the heirs of the four caliphs as legitimate religious leaders.  Shiites, in contrast, believe that only the heirs of the fourth caliph, Ali, are the legitimate successors of Mohammed.

Palestine and Israel – One of the most largely talked about topics when speaking of the Middle East, the war in Palestine/Israel truly divides the Middle East as a region more than anything else.  Since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, the region of Palestine/Israel has been one of the most heated areas in the world.  Numerous important wars have occurred in the region, including the Suez Crisis in 1956, the Six Day War in 1967, and the 1973 Yom Kippur War.  The origins of this ongoing crisis were sparked initially during the time of the Holocaust, when thousands of Jewish people were forced to flee their homes.  As such, the Jewish diaspora ultimately lead to the expulsion of thousands of Arab people from the land of Palestine.  This led to the Palestinian belief in a right of return, and the Jewish belief that Palestine/Israel was their natural homeland to begin with.  “This dispute is, simply put, a real estate dispute,” (Gelvin 217).

Age and Population – The Middle East is without a doubt a growing region in the world.  Currently, most European nations have fewer than 20% of the population at or below age 15.  In some areas of the Middle East this number is drastically different.  For example, 48.7 percent of the population of Yemen is currently under the age of 15.  Although this is good to show that the nation is youthful, it will ultimately lead to many problems.  Think twenty years in the future, when nearly 50 percent of the population is at age 25.  Unemployment rates in regions like this are already consistently low, and unfortunately that number will only skyrocket.  However, other areas in the Middle East won’t experience this problem at quite the extreme.  The United Arab Emirates has almost half of what Yemen has, 25.8 percent of the population under the age of 15.  With the Middle East being such a large region, the scale of age and population is drastically different between each country.

Five Ingredients that Unite the Middle East

Religion – Islam and Judaism are the two primary religions of the region, both containing their history in the area.  Despite the constant differing opinion in the area today, both religions contain massive amounts of history in the area.  “The relationship between the Jews and pagan Arabs was symbiotic in that not only were the Jews heavily Arabized, but the Arabs were also significantly influenced by Jewish beliefs and practices,” (Aslan 525-526).  In multiple instances, both religions have very similar structure and sets beliefs.  Both Islam and Judaism also share a common origin through Abraham.  When looking at the Middle East, these two religions make up the vast majority of people living in the area.  With so much of the fighting occurring due to ideological differences, it is almost ironic that both contain so many similar roots.

Aljazeera – As the predominant news channel that is the primary information provider to the Middle East, Aljazeera has turned from a news channel once hated by many to the number once source for most Middle Eastern citizens.  Jehane Noujamin, an Egyptian American film maker, created a documentary named Control Room in 2004.  Within this movie, the beginnings of Aljazeera are developed.  Through a short documentary, the perception of the conflict in the Middle East can be so easily changed just by looking at it from the perspective of the news in the area.  Josh Rushing, a former Lieutenant of the United States Marine Corps, was given direct orders by the Pentagon to not comment on the film.  After disobeying direct orders, Rushing was asked to leave the Marine Corps, and eventually joined an English Aljazeera channel.  Despite the fact that Aljazeera provides almost all news to the Middle East, only two places in the United States actually play the channel.  This is rather unfortunate, as the skewed perspective of so many American people could be changed drastically with the simple allowance of such an important news source.

Revolution – The Middle East is an area that is constantly going through revolution.  The most recent of these occurred in the form of the Arab Spring.  The Arab Spring was sparked through various acts, but the most important of these was from the use of social media.  Revolutions in the Middle East have always had a significant impact.  “The Iranian Revolution overthrew the Pahlavi Dynasty, which had ruled Iran from 1926 to 1979,” (Gelvin 294).  The uprising that occurred in Iran was due to the ignorance of human rights in the area.  It followed suit to other revolutions throughout history.  The Arab Spring has been so drastically different.  "Revolutions of the past have usually had charismatic leaders who were politically savvy and sometimes even military geniuses. Such revolutions followed what we can call the Revolution 1.0 model. But the revolution in Egypt was different: it was truly a spontaneous movement led by nothing other than the wisdom of the crowd...people who would only post comments in cyberspace became willing to stand in public; than those protesters, among many others, made the great leap to become marchers and chanters, and grew into a tyrannical regime..." (Ghonim).  Revolution 2.0 and the Arab Spring brought an entirely new concept to what revolution can be, and as the Middle East continues to develop, it is most likely going to be seen as a greater occurrence.

Oil – As one of the largest exports, oil is undoubtedly one of the most unifying items in the Middle East.  It has contributed to making multiple countries extremely wealthy in the area.  From Qatar to the United Arab Emirates, Middle Eastern countries thrive off drilling for oil.  “In 2010, oil exports accounted for 90 percent of Saudi Arabia’s revenue, 94 percent of Kuwait’s, and 95 percent of Abu Dhabi’s,” (Gelvin 256).  Qatar alone has experienced vast economic growth over the last several years due to the rise in oil prices.  Oil and gas still account for more than 50% of GDP, roughly 85% of export earnings, and 70% of government revenues. Simply put, oil and gas are responsible for the massive amount of expansion and help to run the country. Oil has made Qatar one of the highest per-capita income countries, and one of the world’s fastest growing countries. The World FactBook states that Qatar has the second-highest GDP per capita in the world.  Qatar has reserves of natural gas that are near 26 trillion cubic meters, which is roughly 14% of the world total and the third largest in the world.  The video attached shows how Qatar has been able to develop a strong and beautiful infrastructure with its profits.

The Veil – The veil is easily one of the most commonly attributed pieces of clothing to the Middle East.  When looking at any American or outside perception of the Middle East, the veil is perhaps the only thing that will carry over in each picture.  Traditionally in the Middle East, “veiling was practiced among upper-class women only,” (Gelvin 243).  However, in more recent times, the veil has become an article that both men and women alike will wear.  Regardless, the veil is worn for various reasons, not simply religious beliefs.  Elizabeth Metraux, who has spent part of her life living and working in the Middle East, demonstrates the importance of “lifting the veil” and understanding the actual importance of women in the Middle East.