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8th grade
Western Asia
Background
History and
Literature
Western Asia
INTRODUCTION OF WEST ASIA
Western Asia is the westernmost sub region
of Asia.
The region is surrounded by seven major
seas; Aegean, Black, Caspian, Arabian, Red,
Mediterranean sea, and Persian Gulf.
The discovery of oil in the gulf has brought
enormous wealth to Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait,
and other desert counties, which now supply
30 percent of the world’s oil.
The economy of Western Asia is diverse and
Ancient History and
Background of West Asia
MESOPOTAMIA
Hammurabi ruled the city of
Babylon(Iraq). He united the
region along the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers. This region
was called “Mesopotamia”
which is a Greek word meaning
The Code of Hammurabi is one of
“between the rivers”. the oldest writings of length in the
Mesopotamia is one of the world (written c. 1754 BCE), and
features a code of law from
ancient civilizations of the ancient Babylon in Mesopotamia.
World. People of Mesopotamia The Code consisted of 282 laws,
with punishments that varied
developed a system of writing based on social status (slaves,
and also introduced a set of free men, and property owners).
laws. (Hammurabi code)
Did you know? The Code of
Hammurabi includes many
harsh punishments,
sometimes demanding the
removal of the guilty party’s
tongue, hands, breasts, eye
or ear. But the code is also
one of the earliest examples
of an accused person being
considered innocent until
proven guilty.
BIRTHPLACE OF THREE
RELIGIONS
Three of World’s greatest
religions Judaism, Christianity
and Islam began in Southwest
Asia.
RELIGIONS
Judaism was founded by Abraham who
lived in Israel. 2000 years later Jesus, the
founder of Christianity began preaching in
Israel. In 600 A.D. Prophet Muhammad
started preaching Islam in present day
Saudi Arabia. People of all the above
three religions share the belief of
Monotheism, which means believing in
one God.
ISLAM
• has the most followers in
Southwest Asia today.
• They are called Muslims.
• Muezzin is the person
whose job is to call
people to pray five times
a day.
• People gather in mosques
to pray.
JUDAISM
• The five books that make up the Jews
most sacred text is The Torah.
• (Compilation of the first five books of Hebrew
bible. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
and Deuteronomy (Pentateuch) or the five
books of Moses.)
• According to Torah Abraham, a
Mesopotamian man, became
convinced that there was only one
God.
CHRISTIANITY
It is based on the teachings
of Jesus, who travelled
throughout Palestine. The
Christians first adopted the
Torah as the Old Testament,
later Gospel as the New
Testament. Christianity
began in Southwest Asia
and spread throughout the
World.
DIVERSE CULTURES IN SOUTHWEST
ASIA
• Arabic-speaking Arabs are the largest ethnic
group in the region, and Islam is their main
religion. But there are other people also who
practice other religions and speak other
languages.
• Most Arabs practice Islam.
• Small numbers of Arabs practice other
religions.
A MIX OF ETHNIC GROUPS
• Arabs are the main ethnic group in Saudi
Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and
other countries on the Arabian
peninsula.
• Arabs also live in territories occupied by
Israel.
• Non-Arabs live mainly in Israel, Turkey
and Iran. In Israel 80% of the population
is Jewish and 20% is Arab.
• In Turkey 80% of population is Turkish
and the rest is Kurdish. In Iran 50%
A VARIETY OF RELIGIONS
• Except for Israel, the majority of the
people in each country in Southwest
Asia are Muslims.
• Muslims are divided into two groups
Sunnis and Shi’as.
• Today 90% Muslims are Sunnis. Most of
the Muslims in Iran and Iraq are Shi’as.
• In Israel 80% people are Jewish and 20%
are Muslims.
• A small percent of people are Christians
too. Christians are also in Syria, Turkey,
Lebanon and Iraq.
SOUTHWEST ASIA: RECENT
HISTORY Jews for many years claimed
Palestine as their homeland and
continued living there. In ancient times
most of them were forced out, but in
the late 1800s the Jews from around
the World began to return to their
homeland which alarmed the Arabs
who lived there.
THE FORMATION OF ISRAEL
Before and after World War II, Nazi
Germany killed more than 6 million
Jews in Europe just because they
were Jews. This is known in the
history as HOLOCAUST. After the
war many who survived came to
live in Palestine. On May 14, 1948,
Jews declared a separate state
known as Israel.
ARAB-ISRAEL
CONFLICT
The Arab nations of Egypt,
Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and
Syria invaded Israel in
support with Palestine.
Hundreds of Palestinians
left the Jewish territory and
started living in other Arab
nations as refugees. Since
EFFORTS TOWARDS PEACE
In 1993, Israel and Palestine government-
known as the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO)- formally recognized each
other In 2000, fights broke out between Israel
and Palestine once again. In 2003 both
nations signed a peace plan. This issue is still
not solved.
Major take away
PROCESS QUESTIONS:
1. What are your learnings about
South and West Asia?
2. Which of your ideas changed
after the discussion?
3. Which information surprised
you the most?
ASSIGNMENT:
Advance reading of the
prominent literatures and
writers from West Asia.
