Trace the growth of political units from states to empires with the Before Islam module. Then explore the intensifying political, military, commercial, religious and intellectual interrelationships of the Middle East with Mediterranean and European lands and peoples from 323 BCE to 622 CE with the Late Antiquity module. Finally, in the Islamic Period module learn about the political history of the Middle East from the seventh to the twentieth centuries CE. Follow the rise of vast, diverse empires under Islamic rule and their transformation into nation-states.
Select a perspective:
Before Islam
Geoff Emberling
Former Chief Curator, Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago
Late Antiquity
Walter E. Kaegi
Professor of History, Emeritus,
University of Chicago
Islamic Period
A. Holly Shissler
Associate Professor of Ottoman and Modern Turkish History
Erin L. Glade
Ph.D. candidate, University of Chicago
The Question of Identity 
