The Pre-Islamic Middle East PDF
Preview The Pre-Islamic Middle East
THE PRE-ISLAMIC MIDDLE EAST THE PRE-ISLAMIC MIDDLE EAST Martin Sicker LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Sicker,Martin. Thepre-IslamicMiddleEast / MartinSicker. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN0–275–96890–1(alk.paper) 1. MiddleEast—History—To622. I. Title. DS62.2.S54 2000 939′.4—dc21 99–054421 BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable. Copyright©2000byMartinSicker Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher. LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:99–054421 ISBN:0–275–96890–1 Firstpublishedin2000 PraegerPublishers,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881 AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc. www.praeger.com PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe PermanentPaperStandardissuedbytheNational InformationStandardsOrganization(Z39.48–1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Introduction 1 1. TheMiddleEastinEarlyAntiquity 9 2. EgyptandAsia 25 3. TheRiseandDeclineofAssyria 43 4. TheRiseandFallofMedia 63 5. TheEmpireoftheAchaemenids 75 6. ThePersian-GreekWars 83 7. TheMacedonianConquest 97 8. TheDissolutionofAlexander’sEmpire 109 9. ReconfigurationoftheMiddleEast 123 10. RomeEnterstheMiddleEast 137 11. TheRoman-ParthianConflict 149 12. TheStruggleovertheEuphratesFrontier 161 13. TheRoman-PersianStalemate 173 14. TheEraofShapurII 183 15. TheStruggleforPersia’sFrontiers 193 16. EndoftheSassanidEmpire 201 Afterword 211 Bibliography 213 Index 221 Introduction Throughoutthesecondhalfofthetwentiethcentury,ourattentionhasbeen drawnrepeatedlytothetumultuouseventstakingplaceinvariouspartsof whathasbecomeknownastheMiddleEast.Theterm,whichclearlyre- flectsaEurocentricperspective,wascoinedatthebeginningofthecentury bytheAmericannavalhistorianAlfredThayerMahantodesignatethere- gioncenteringonthePersianGulfandstretchingfromArabiatoIndia.The areaoriginallyencompassedbythetermreflectedMahan’sparticularstra- tegicinterest,onethatwasnotnecessarilysharedbyotherwritersonthe historyandforeignaffairsofthatpartoftheworld,whoassignedtothe term a different content. As a result, there is no consensus regarding the precisedelimitationoftheterritoriesthatareincludedintheMiddleEast. In this work, I consider the Middle East to consist of a core area sur- roundedbyaperipheralregionofintrinsicgeopoliticalandhistoricalim- portance.ThecoreareaiscomposedofIran,thePersianGulflittoral,and theFertileCrescent.HistorianJamesBreastedcoinedthelattertermearly inthetwentiethcenturytodescribethearcofterritorystretchingfromthe PersianGulftoEgypt.Thecrescentarchesnorthward,encompassingthe territorybetweentheTigrisandEuphratesRiversandcircumscribingthe perimeter of the Arabian Desert along the coastal region of the eastern Mediterranean,whereitfinallystretchessouthtoEgypt.TheFertileCres- centthusincludesthemodernstatesofIraq,Syria,Lebanon,Jordan,andIs- rael. In the east, the peripheral region includes Afghanistan and Transcaspia as far as the Syr Darya River; in the west, the Aegean and southernBalkanregions;inthenorth,Turkey,thesouthernlittoralofthe BlackSea,andtheCaucasusregion;andinthesouth,theArabianPenin- sulaandtheHornofAfrica. 2 Introduction Overthepastseveraldecades,theMiddleEasthasbecomeoneofthe mostpoliticallyandeconomicallyimportantregionsoftheglobe.Princi- pallybecauseoftherichpetroleumresourcesitcontains,althoughfarfrom evenlydistributedthroughouttheregion,ithasserveduntilmostrecently asanarenafortheclashofsuperpowerinterestsandremainsanareaofpri- mary economic importance for much of the industrialized world. Aside fromitsplaceontheglobalstageofinternationalaffairs,theregionitself appearstobeplaguedwithchronicinternalinstabilitiesandconflicts.Itis widelyacknowledgedtobeaveritablepowderkegthatiscapableoferupt- ingwithgreatexplosiveforce,asisamplydemonstratedbythemanywars that have taken place there since the end of World War II. Moreover, in termsofconventionalnon-nuclearweaponry,theMiddleEastisunques- tionablythemostheavilyarmedregionintheentireworldonapercapita basis. Thelasttwodecadesofthetwentiethcenturyhavewitnessedaseem- inglyendlessseriesofconflictsintheregion.Anine-yearwarbetweenIraq andIranoverdominationofthePersianGulfregionwasbroughttoanin- conclusiveend.ThiswasfollowedbyIraq’sunsuccessfulattempttoassert itsclaimtohegemonyintheArabworldwiththeinvasionandconquestof Kuwait.Iraqalsosuppressedoncemoretheage-oldKurdishyearningfor national self-determination, this time by the use of internationally out- lawed chemical weapons. The former Soviet Union withdrew its armies fromAfghanistanafteraprolongedbloodybutindecisiveattempttoim- poseitswillonthecountry,leavinginitswakeacivilwarthatisstillongo- ing at this writing. The decades long Greek-Turkish confrontation over Cyprusremainsunresolved.Lebanonhasrecentlycomeundertheeffec- tivehegemonyofSyria,whichnotonlyhasitsownexpansionistambitions therebutalsousesthecountryasaninstrumentinitsongoinglow-level conflictwithIsrael.IntheCaucasus,Armenian,Georgian,andotherlong- suppressed nationalisms have reemerged following the disintegration of theSovietUnionandarenowtestingthecohesionandstabilityofseveral statesintheregion.ThecurrentunresolvedconflictbetweenArmeniaand AzerbaijanovercontroloftheNagorno-Karabakhareahasthepotentialfor involving Russia, Turkey, and Iran in a wider struggle, evoking recollec- tionsofthenineteenth-centuryconflictsinthatvolatilearea.Thedisinte- grationofYugoslaviaandthestruggleoverthedismembermentofBosnia threatentotriggeraseriesofBalkanwarsthatmaydrawinTurkey,Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, and possibly other countries, seriously undermining anypotentialforsecurityandstabilityintheeasternMediterranean. Given this incomplete but nonetheless rather extensive list of current and prospective conflicts in the Middle East, it seems reasonable to ask whethertheseareidiosyncraticorendemictotheregion.Arewewitness- inganunrelatedseriesofcrisescoincidentallytakingplacesimultaneously intheMiddleEast,oraretheseeventsandcircumstancesconsistentwitha Introduction 3 historicpatternthathascharacterizedtheareaforcenturiesifnotmillen- nia?Oneofthetasksofthisworkistoprovidesomehistoricalbackground forareasonableresponsetothisquestion. Itisatruismofmodernthoughtthatman,throughtheintelligentappli- cationofhisrationalfaculty,iscapableofimposinghiswillonmanyas- pectsofhisenvironment.Inthestudyofpoliticsandinternationalaffairs, this notion is reflected in the appealing thesis that virtually every intra- national or international conflict can be resolved peacefully by the con- sciousapplicationofman’swillandreason.Whatthoseinclinedtoaccept thevalidityofthispremisefrequentlyignoreisthefactthatanation’scon- troloveritsenvironmentisatbestaqualifiedone.Itmaybeconstrainedby factorsoverwhichitsleadershavelittleornocontrol,whichinturnmay limitthepracticableoptionsavailabletothem.Indeed,suchfactorsmayef- fectivelypredisposetheirprobablechoices,andthereisnoassurancethat objectivereasonwillcarrythedayunderanygivensetofcircumstances. Thecentralthesisofthisworkisthatthereareanumberofrelativelycon- stant environmental factors that have helped condition—not deter- mine—thecourseofMiddleEasternpoliticalhistoryfromancienttimesto thepresent.Thesefactors,whichareprimarilybutbynomeansexclusively geographicandtopographicinnature,havecontributedheavilytoestab- lishing the patterns of state development and interstate relations in the Middle East that have remained remarkably consistent throughout the troubledhistoryoftheregion. Forexample,thisdiscussionoftheregioninantiquitywillsuggestthatit was primarily because of fundamental geopolitical considerations that EgyptemergedasaunitarystatedominatingtheNileValley,whilethere- gioninwhichMesopotamiancivilizationflourishedremainedfragmented. Moreover,theveryfactthatEgypt,anAfricanstate,playedacriticalrolein thehistoryoftheMiddleEastisalsoprimarilytheconsequenceofgeopo- liticalfactorsthatapplywiththesameforcetodayastheydidinremotean- tiquity. AlthoughapoliticalmapofthecountrywillindicatethatEgyptencom- passesasubstantialswathofterritory,itssheerphysicalsizehasnevercon- stitutedasignificantcomponentofitsnationalpower.Thisisbecausethe commercial,political,andpopulationcentersofthecountryhavealways been concentrated in the relatively small Nile delta region. As a conse- quence,Egypt’sleadershaveperenniallybeenchallengedbythefactthat, notwithstandingitsapparentsize,thecountryactuallypossesseslittlestra- tegicdepthinwhichtorepelalandinvasionfromthenortheastbeforethe heartofthecountryisoverrun.Aswillbeamplydemonstrated,Egypthas alwaysbeenhighlyvulnerabletoattackfromAsiaandhasthereforeconsis- tentlylinkeditssecuritytoitsabilitytodominateoratleastcontroltheter- ritoryoftheAfrican-Asianlandbridge,thatis,PalestineandSyria.Because 4 Introduction ofthisperceivedneed,Egypthasbeencompelledtoplayamajorrolein MiddleEasternaffairsthroughoutitslonghistory. Whenviewedgeopolitically,itbecomesevidentthatmanyofthecon- temporarypoliticalboundariesseparatingstatesintheMiddleEastoften bearlittlerelationtothegeographicalandtopographicalrealitiesthathave traditionallyconditionedinterstaterelationsintheregion.Forexample,the drawingofArabia’snorthernborderacrossthepeninsulafromtheGulfof AqabatothePersianGulfhaslittlerealgeopoliticalrelevancebecauseitis butanartificiallinethatwasdrawnbymodernWesterncartographersfor particularextra-regionalpoliticalpurposes.Thegeopoliticalrealityisthat theArabianDesertextendsnorthwardintoSyriaalmostasfarasAleppo.It is this fact that has made the Fertile Crescent, the arc of settlement that skirts the desert between Egypt and Mesopotamia, the primary stage on whichthehistoryofthecorepartoftheMiddleEasthasunfolded. Anothergeopoliticalfactorofgreatimportanceinconditioningthepo- liticalhistoryoftheregionhasbeenthelocationofthemajortraderoutes that traversed it, which also constituted the primary military routes. Be- causemuchoftheregioniscomposedofeithermountainorinhospitable desert,thenumberofsuchoverlandrouteslinkingtheMediterraneanand BlackSeastotheinteriorofAsiawasquitelimited.Accordingly,muchof thehistoryoftheMiddleEastconcernsthestruggleforcontroloverthose routesorthecriticaltopographicbottlenecksthroughwhichtheypassed. Indeed,manyoftoday’smilitaryandcommercialhighwaysandpipelines followthesesameroutes.TheturbulenthistoryofancientIsrael,asknown tousfromtheBibleandothercontemporarysources,maybeunderstoodin largemeasureasadirectconsequenceofitsunfortunategeostrategicposi- tion.ItstraddledboththeViaMarisandtheKing’sHighway,thetwomajor landrouteslinkingEgyptandSouthArabiatoSyriaandtherestoftheMid- dle East. Moreover, until the advent of the revolutionary transportation technologyofthetwentiethcentury,agoodpartofMiddleEasternhistory revolved around possession of places little known today. The Cilician Gates,theCaucasianGates,andtheCaspianGates,mountainpassesthat constitutedthemajorgatewaystothecoreandfromthecoretotheperiph- eryoftheregion,wereofutmostgeopoliticalimportanceinearliertimes. Inadditiontogeographyandtopography,religionhasalsoplayedama- jorroleinconditioningthepatternofMiddleEasternhistory.Theancient Greeksfirstintroducedthepoliticizationofreligiousbeliefintotheregion in the form of pan-Hellenism, which essentially sought to impose Greek formsofpopularreligionandcultureontheindigenouspeoplesofthere- gionasameansofsolidifyingGreekpoliticalcontrol.Thisultimatelyledto theinstitutionofreligiouspersecutionasastatepolicyundertheSeleucid kingAntiochusIV,precipitatingthefirstwarofnational-religiouslibera- tionundertheleadershipoftheHasmoneansinPalestine.Subsequently, thePersianSassanidEmpireadoptedZoroastrianismasthestatereligion,
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