The Middle East, often referred to as the cradle of the three monotheisms, is saturated with symbolism. Situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe, it is a land marked by the rich confluence of religions and peoples. At the same time, it has been the focal point of endemic tensions and conflicts, many of which stretch back into the mists of time.
In this new history of the Middle East, Jean-Pierre Filiu looks beyond religion and focuses his attention on the processes by which powers and their areas of domination were established over time. His starting point is 395 AD, the year when the Roman Empire was divided into eastern and western halves: at that point, the Middle East emerged as a specific entity, freed from external domination, and a Christianity of the East asserted itself, turned towards Byzantium rather than towards Rome. From this point on, Filiu follows a strictly Middle Eastern dynamics, tracing the rise and fall of powers linked to the three princi
