10 Facts for a Research Paper on the History of the Middle East

Welcome to our first guide that will help you write a research paper on the history of the Middle East. We have written three helpful guides, each serving a different purpose. Studying these three guides would help you understand history and compose a competent research paper on the Middle Eastern history so that you can score good marks.

This guide is segmented into three parts. Our first guide, 10 Facts for a Research Paper on the History of the Middle East, draws a clearer picture of the past events and incidents that took place in the Middle East. References are also mentioned at the bottom of this guide so that you can verify these facts or collect more information.

Our second guide, 20 history of the Middle East research paper topics, helps you in determining a relevant topic for the research. All the topics mentioned in the guide are known to have played an important role in the making of Middle East’s history. We have also written a short sample essay for you to understand and grasp the techniques which are necessary to write a good research paper.

Our third and final guide, How to Write a Good Research Paper on a History of the Middle East, explains the methodologies and procedures that will help you write a proper research paper. It also contains some helpful tips and steps that you should follow. A good research paper is the one that is resourceful and has a lot of facts and research data to support the statements that you make.

A research paper has to be research oriented and allow readers to find something new about a particular topic. We have selected all our facts keeping this in mind, and they are easily expandable allowing you to come up with some unique essays that will help you impress your professor.

Without wasting any more time, let us begin our first guide:

In the beginning, “Middle East” was confined to Iran only, but Sir Valentine’s work in the book “The Middle Eastern Question” extended its territory. He expanded on the definition of Middle East and suggested to include other Asian regions as well, particularly regions that bordered with India. As a result, other countries including Iraq, Persia, Afghanistan and the Eastern Coast of Arabia along with Tibet also became a part of Middle East.
Alfred Thayer Mahan coined the term ‘Middle East’ in 1902 for the first time. The term was published in an article called “The Persian Gulf and International Relations”. However, the name didn’t catch up until Sir Valentine Ignatius used it in his writing. Before it, the region was also known as the Near East, which many believe is also the source of the region’s current name.
Unlike North America or Europe, Middle East didn’t have a rich environment. Water was scarce, and there was a lack of natural resources as well. However, it was in 1908 that a British company found oil in the region, which is now a part of Iran and was back then known as Persia. This first exploration gave rise to many other explorations, and the region quickly turned out to be a mine of natural resources, mainly oil.
A significant number of religions took birth in the Middle East, with Islam being the most known and powerful one. Islam began to spread from the Middle East and is now one of the most followed religions in the world. Other than this, some small religions like Judaism, Christianity, Bahá’í Faith, Yarsanism, Yazidism, Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism, Druze, and Shabakism are also believed to have originated from the Middle East.
Christianity played a vital role in the first century in the Middle East. The largest Christian group in the Middle East is the Arabic-speaking Copts. It ranges approximately from 6 to 11 million people. Lebanon is known to contain the highest ratio of Christians till date, ranging from 39% to 40.5% of the total population.
The region has seen several wars, especially wars in the 16th century between Safavids and Ottomans. This was when the Ottoman empire was getting weak, and they were driven out of Hungary, and the British were in control of a part of the Middle Eastern region. Some parts of Middle East were also under the control of French and Italians, and it wasn’t until the 1920s that an independence wave started.
During the era of Achaemenid tradition, a spiritual prophet of Ancient Iran invited people to transform into the religion he inherited, Zoroastrianism. He educated the people of Middle East about the presence of an incomparable divinity, Ahura Mazda. Mazda was promoted as the light, and his opponent was Ahriman, the darkness. People were educated about the same and allowed to pick sides.
Palestine, one of the most sacred places for Muslims in the Middle East, has been at war for the most part of the history. This Muslim majority region was ruled by Jews until a revolution started in the 1920s, which resulted in several wars throughout the area.
World War II changed the shape of the Middle East. On one side countries like Turkey and Saudi Arabia remained unaffected, and in other new countries came into being or got independence. These include Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan Cyprus, Egypt and Israel.
History has shaped the region well, which is now rich in minerals, especially oil. The US is said to have good control over oil found in the Middle East, which is also considered a war-torn area with instability in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq.

These were the 10 facts that we penned down for you from strong, reliable sources with references mentioned below. You can use the references to do some more research on these topics to create a compelling essay. Make sure to read our other guides as well before you get down to writing an article, as it is important to know the ins and outs of essay or research paper writing if you really wish to impress your teachers.

References:
Sahar el-Nadi (2012) Middle East of What? – The European Magazine http://www.theeuropean-magazine.com/sahar-el-nadi–2/6181-the-long-history-of-a-label
Gerard Russell (2014), Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms: Journeys Into the Disappearing Religions of the Middle East. https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=i6L1AwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Heirs+to+Forgotten+Kingdoms:+Journeys+Into+the+Disappearing+Religions+of+the+Middle+East+pdf&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjE_-mSzIzSAhWCBBoKHSRSADIQ6AEIHzAB#v=onepage&q&f=false
Karl E. Meyer, Editorial Notebook; How the Middle East Was Invented By Ny times.
Arthur Goldschmidt, Jr (1979), A Concise History of the Middle East. http://islamicblessings.com/upload/A-Concise-History-of-the-Middle-East-9th-Edition.pdf
Anthony Ham (2006), Lonely Planet Publications, The Middle East. http://media.lonelyplanet.com/shop/pdfs/middle-east-8-contents.pdf.pdf
Robert Irwin (2010), Reaktion Books, Camel. Countries Hosting The Largest Numbers Of Refugees In The World (2015), http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-hosting-the-largest-number-of-refugees-in-the-world.html