Turning Points in Middle Eastern History

Course Overview

Course No. 8340

Explore 1,300 years of transformative events that shaped the modern Middle East through 36 illuminating lectures.

This comprehensive course examines:

• The rise of Islam and early caliphates
• Islamic Golden Age achievements
• Crusades, Mongol invasions, and Ottoman expansion
• Colonialism and the discovery of oil
• The fall of the last caliphate

Video Lectures

01: Muslim Empires: Land, Language, Religion (33 min)

Introduce the Greater Middle East’s diverse nations and cultures.

02: Muhammad and the Dawn of Islam (30 min)

Trace the Prophet’s life and Islam’s establishment as a global force.

03: Arab Invasion of North Africa (31 min)

Chart the 7th-century conquest that Arabized and Islamized the region.

04: Umayyad Caliphate in Damascus (31 min)

Analyze the shift from religious to political empire building.

05: Battle of Karbala (28 min)

Witness the 680 conflict that permanently divided Sunni and Shia Islam.

06: Arab Invasion of Andalusia (30 min)

Follow the 711 conquest that brought 800 years of Muslim rule to Spain.

07: Battle of Talas (29 min)

Study the 751 clash between Arab and Chinese armies that spread papermaking.

08: Founding of Baghdad (31 min)

Explore how the 762 Abbasid capital became a center of global learning.

09: Islamic Golden Age Begins (32 min)

Discover Caliph al-Ma’mun’s 9th-century patronage of science and philosophy.

10: Qairouan University (31 min)

Celebrate the world’s first university founded by a Muslim woman in 859.

11: The Fatimids of Cairo (31 min)

Examine the only Shia caliphate’s 10th-century rise in Egypt.

12: Umayyad Exile in Cordoba (31 min)

Appreciate Andalusia’s cultural flowering under Muslim rule (784-1031).

13: Al-Ghazali and Orthodoxy (31 min)

Assess the influential theologian’s 11th-century challenge to Neo-Platonism.

14: Crusaders Capture Jerusalem (31 min)

Relive the 1099 Christian conquest and its lasting consequences.

15: Muslims in Roger II’s Court (31 min)

Discover Norman Sicily’s 12th-century multicultural golden age.

16: Saladin: Chivalry and Conquest (31 min)

Study the 1187 Battle of Hattin that reclaimed Jerusalem from Crusaders.

17: The Egyptian Mamluks (30 min)

Learn how slave-warriors defeated the Mongols and ruled Egypt (1250).

18: Mongols Sack Baghdad (30 min)

Witness the 1258 destruction that ended the Islamic Golden Age.

19: Ottoman Empire Rises (31 min)

Trace Osman’s 1299 vision that created a 600-year superpower.

20: Mansa Musa, Richest Man (30 min)

Follow the 1324 hajj that flooded Egypt with West African gold.

21: Ibn Khaldun’s Masterpiece (31 min)

Explore the 1377 Muqaddimah – history’s first sociological study.

22: Ottomans Seize Constantinople (30 min)

Analyze the 1453 conquest that ended the Roman Empire.

23: Fall of Granada (30 min)

Mark 1492’s end to 800 years of Muslim rule in Spain.

24: Safavid Dynasty of Persia (30 min)

Study Ismail’s 1501 establishment of Shiism as Iran’s state religion.

25: Selim the Grim (30 min)

Chart the 1512 Ottoman sultan who tripled empire territory.

26: Suleiman the Magnificent (31 min)

Appreciate the 1520-1566 zenith of Ottoman law and architecture.

27: Second Siege of Vienna (30 min)

Assess the 1683 Ottoman defeat that halted European expansion.

28: Saud-Wahhab Pact (31 min)

Examine the 1744 alliance that shaped modern Saudi Arabia.

29: Napoleon Invades Egypt (29 min)

Trace the 1798 campaign that birthed Egyptology.

30: Murder at the Citadel (29 min)

Witness Muhammad Ali’s 1811 modernization of Egypt.

31: French Invasion of Algeria (31 min)

Study 1830’s colonial conquest and resistance.

32: East India Company in Yemen (31 min)

Analyze Britain’s 1839 imperial foothold in Aden.

33: Suez Canal Opens (30 min)

Explore 1869’s engineering marvel that indebted Egypt.

34: Discovering Middle East Oil (30 min)

Assess how 1908’s petroleum finds transformed the region.

35: World War I in the Desert (31 min)

Follow the 1914-1918 Arab Revolt and Ottoman collapse.

36: The Last Caliphate Falls (35 min)

Examine 1924’s abolition that reshaped the modern Middle East.