Early Christianity and Islamic Cultures The Middle East Geographically speaking, the Middle East spans from Southeast Europe to the Nile valley to Central Asia. The Fertile Crescent is the region of the Middle East where the civilizations of the Middle East and the Mediterranean basin began. This region was named the Fertile Crescent because of its rich soil and a roughly crescent shape. Early sedentary civilizations emerged in the region supported by agriculture and trade centered on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Geography has long played a role in both the development of the region and in fostering competition and conflict (Braudel, 1995). Early Christianity Christianity emerged as Jesus of Nazareth spread his teachings that emphasized the importance of maintaining the intent to carry out the word of God as God’s children. The record of the life and teachings of Jesus are the Gospels written after his death by crucifixion by his contemporaries. Within 400 years of his death, Christianity would spread extensively as followers viewed the crucifixion as atonement for all human sin. After his death, Jesus was regarded as the savior whose spirit guided them to atone for all human sin (Levack, Muir, Maas, & Veldman, 2007). Though there are no recorded writings specifically from Jesus, the New Testament contains the teachings of Jesus based on the Old Testament, which was based upon the oral histories of his followers in the decades following his crucifixion (Roberts, 1996). Islam Islam emerged between 610 and 612 CE with the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. Islam, which means the act of submission, is practiced by one who submits to the will of God (Allah), who is a Muslim. Visited by the angel Gabriel, Muhammad spread the message of God or Allah to Arabs (Goldschmidt, 2006). The Quran is the will of God or Allah as revealed to the last of the prophets. Consisting of 114 chapters arranged by length, the Quran consists of laws, historical stories, and devotions. Contained within the Quran are the five pillars of Islam and the basic tenets of Islam that outline both the prohibitions and duties of Islam (Goldschmidt, 2006). Jerusalem In approximately 1010 BC, David conquered Jerusalem and made the city his administrative capital. During the reign of King David, Jerusalem came to be the capital city of the Hebrews. Once a Canaanite city, Jerusalem came to hold the Ark of the Covenant, a gold covered box that held divine and mystical power that represented a direct connection between God and His followers as well as symbolizing the unity of all Hebrew tribes (Levack, 2007). King David’s son, Solomon, built the temple as a permanent resting place for the Ark of the Covenant. After Solomon died in 931 BCE, Jerusalem became part of the southern kingdom of Judah. Ten of the northern tribes formed the new kingdom of Israel. In 722 BCE, the kingdom was conquered by the Assyrians (Virtual ...

1. Early Christianity and Islamic Cultures
The Middle East
Geographically speaking, the Middle East spans from Southeast
Europe to the Nile
valley to Central Asia. The Fertile Crescent is the region of the
Middle East where the
civilizations of the Middle East and the Mediterranean basin
began. This region was
named the Fertile Crescent because of its rich soil and a roughly
crescent shape. Early
sedentary civilizations emerged in the region supported by
agriculture and trade
centered on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Geography has long
played a role in both
the development of the region and in fostering competition and
conflict (Braudel,
1995).
Early Christianity
Christianity emerged as Jesus of Nazareth spread his teachings
that emphasized the
importance of maintaining the intent to carry out the word of
God as God’s children.
The record of the life and teachings of Jesus are the Gospels
written after his death by
crucifixion by his contemporaries. Within 400 years of his
death, Christianity would
spread extensively as followers viewed the crucifixion as
atonement for all human sin.
After his death, Jesus was regarded as the savior whose spirit

2. guided them to atone for
all human sin (Levack, Muir, Maas, & Veldman, 2007).
Though there are no recorded writings specifically from Jesus,
the New Testament
contains the teachings of Jesus based on the Old Testament,
which was based upon the
oral histories of his followers in the decades following his
crucifixion (Roberts, 1996).
Islam
Islam emerged between 610 and 612 CE with the teachings of
the Prophet Muhammad.
Islam, which means the act of submission, is practiced by one
who submits to the will
of God (Allah), who is a Muslim. Visited by the angel Gabriel,
Muhammad spread the
message of God or Allah to Arabs (Goldschmidt, 2006).
The Quran is the will of God or Allah as revealed to the last of
the prophets. Consisting
of 114 chapters arranged by length, the Quran consists of laws,
historical stories, and
devotions. Contained within the Quran are the five pillars of
Islam and the basic tenets
of Islam that outline both the prohibitions and duties of Islam
(Goldschmidt, 2006).
Jerusalem
In approximately 1010 BC, David conquered Jerusalem and
made the city his
administrative capital. During the reign of King David,
Jerusalem came to be the
capital city of the Hebrews. Once a Canaanite city, Jerusalem

3. came to hold the Ark of
the Covenant, a gold covered box that held divine and mystical
power that represented
a direct connection between God and His followers as well as
symbolizing the unity of
all Hebrew tribes (Levack, 2007). King David’s son, Solomon,
built the temple as a
permanent resting place for the Ark of the Covenant. After
Solomon died in 931 BCE,
Jerusalem became part of the southern kingdom of Judah. Ten
of the northern tribes
formed the new kingdom of Israel. In 722 BCE, the kingdom
was conquered by the
Assyrians (Virtual Israel Experience, n.d.).
References
Braudel, F. (1995). A history of civilizations (R. Mayne,
Trans.). New York: Penguin.
Goldschmidt, A. (2006). A concise history of the Middle East.
Boulder, CO: Westview.
Levack, B. P., Muir, E., Maas, M., & Veldman, M. (2007). The
West: Encounters &
transformations. New York: Longman.
Roberts, J. M. (1997). A history of Europe. New York: Penguin
Allen Lane.
Virtual Israel experience (n.d.). Retrieved August 20, 2007,
from the Jewish Virtual
Library Web site:

4. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/Jerusalem1.html
The Arts, Religion, and Conflict
Since the very beginning, anatomically modern humans
represented reality through the
lenses of emotions and aesthetic values. Humans react and
respond to the challenges of
survival in complex ways. These responses involve
communication; the complexity of
this communication is expressed by the myriad of symbols that
constitute human
language including all of artistic expressions.
The first cave paintings date back to approximately 40,000
years ago, but absence of
evidence is not evidence of absence. What if the materials used
were biodegradable?
Were textiles used? Were there wood carvings? These materials
would have little
chance of surviving over time. Artistic tendencies and
sensibilities could have been
much more diffused than what is suggested in the archeological
record.
The common theme in all primitive artwork is magic or the
struggle to control nature
through ritual behaviors and strict morals. In most cases, and
especially in primitive
art, magic is summoned through symbols to help in the daily
struggle for survival.

5. Religion is the domain of the supernatural; it manifests itself
through rituals and
practices that include stratification of roles, mythology or
worldview, identity, and
extraordinary experiences. The role of religion is to provide a
degree of comfort in the
form of hope and establish a moral code intended to uphold
cultural norms.
Religion provides cultural cohesiveness and the illusion of
control over the uncertain
matters of life and may even help rationalize violence as the
solution to conflict of
interest.
Avoiding Conflict
Access to resources or the lack thereof is cause of conflict; the
sharing of resources is
viable only in the presence of reciprocal benefit. Two parties
would not come to war if
the potential outcome does not afford supremacy over primary
sources of territorial
power
War or conflict existed since the time humans formed groups.
Clashes or small-scale
“wars” between bands or tribes have been documented as far
back as the time of the
first sedentary farming settlements. War, as it is envisaged
today, is the last resort of
states or nations.
How do we avoid conflict? The environment ability to support a
population is the key
to peace. When this ability is threatened by population growth

6. or external forces,
conflict becomes unavoidable. Religion, and most of ideological
infrastructures,
constitutes a powerful force: Nationalism and national identity
are cemented by
common ideological values shared by all the members of a
population. Although the
cause for conflict is generally of materialistic nature, a
universally perceived external
threat is a unifying element and will enable mass mobilization.
Ancient Greece
According to classicist C. M. Bowra,
Ancient Greece left some of the most magnificent works of art
and literary
monuments ever bequeathed by one civilization to another. But
it is not mostly
for these that the legacy of Greece is great. It is, rather, because
of the spirit
they evoke, a spirit rooted in the belief that man is a free,
indeed an exalted,
being. For thousands of years older civilizations—Persian,
Egyptian, Assyrian,
Babylonian—thought of man as a despised figure who groveled
before deities
and despots. The Greeks picked man up and set him on his feet.
(Bowra, 1965,
p. 18)

7. Architecture and Sculpture
To the Greeks, all things must be enjoyed in moderation, but
this does not mean the
Greeks did not have a strong taste for beauty. Architecturally,
they gave the Doric and
Ionic orders, which have functions as well as elegance and are
still used.
Along with developments in architecture, the Greeks perfected
sculpture with an
almost-obsessive desire to show human perfection. They showed
the beauty of the
human form in nudes and combined realism and idealism into
things of beauty unlike
anything the world had yet created.
Drama, Music, and Literature
The Greeks invented drama: many tragedies and comedies such
as Euripides’ Medea or
Aristophanes’ The Clouds are as compelling today as they were
when they were
written. Musical divisions of Pythagoras are still used today,
and one does not need to
study philosophy to realize that music can affect human
emotions.
Classical Greece bore philosophers; indeed, much of Western
thought is based on the
ideas of Socrates, Plato and, especially, Aristotle. Poetry was
also developed from
Homer and Sappho.
The Ideal of Man

8. For the Greeks, war was the supreme test of a man, and while
"[h]eadlong bravery was
the least that was expected of Greek fighters…style in war was
particularly admired"
(Bowra, 1965, p. 22). The Greeks also admired the individual
and gave equal respect to
both mental and physical prowess. A complete individual would
be an active athlete, a
philosopher, a judge, and a poet and would pursue anything else
worthy of pursuit. The
Olympics exalted athletics but prizes were also given to the best
musicians, dancers,
and poets while festivals for Dionysus focused on drama.
Government
This remarkable culture gave the world a new king of
government: democracy. They
prized law and order, held a passion for freedom, and abhorred
corruption. The great
Athenian leader Pericles made a funeral oration for the dead in
the winter of 431–430
BCE. In his stirring speech, he praised not just those who
perished but the city of
Athens as well. Part of this speech explains the Athenian view
of democracy and is
appropriate as Athens was the birthplace of this form of
government.
Our constitution is called a democracy because power is in the
hands
not of a minority but of the whole people. When it is a question
of

9. settling private disputes, everyone is equal before the law; when
it is a
question of putting one person before another in positions of
public
responsibility, what counts is not the membership of a particular
class,
but the actual ability which the man possesses. (Murphy,
Katula, Hill, &
Ochs, 2003, p. 242)
References
Bowra, C. M. (1965). Classical Greece. New York: Time.
Murphy, J. J., Katula, R. A., Hill, F. I., & Ochs, D. J. (2003). A
synoptic history of
classical rhetoric (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.