ANTH 489 Romans, Arabs and Vikings. Seafaring in the Mediterranean during the Early Christian Era. Class 13: The Umayyad Caliphate Introduction Under Alexander the Great, in the 4th century BC, there was a short cultural and political unity in eastern Europe, the Middle East and Western Asia. Alexander opened a series of trade routes and channels of communication that lasted for centuries to come. In the 6th century AD emperor Justinian (AD 483-565) took advantage of a stable political situation and managed to expand the Roman Empire to close to its former borders. There was no wealth in this new Empire to sustain the armies necessary to keep its borders and Justinian conquests collapsed fairly quickly after his death. Emperor Maurice (AD 539-602) suffered further pressure from the Sassanid Empire, a powerful and well-organized empire located in today’s Iran and Iraq region. It was Emperor Heraclius (AD 575-641) who managed to resolve (although only temporarily) the eastern border problems conquering an important part of the Middle East and establishing peace terms with the Sassanid rulers. With the fall of the Persian Empire; The void created by the fall of the Sassanid Empire in the Middle East, after the defeat inflicted on the Sassanids by Heraclius in a long campaign that started in AD 621 and ended in AD 627 after the battle of Niniveth, empowered a number of local tribal leaders, among which was the first of the four righteous caliphs, Abu Bakr. The Umayyad caliphate was established based on a common language, a common faith and a common culture. The Muslim empire grew rapidly partly due to the lack of resources necessary to organize a defense in the regions invaded, partly due to the vigor and cohesion that the new faith inspired in the invadors, and partly because in the beginning the Muslim rulers respected the local populations and were a source of order, commerce, learning, and prosperity. Cities grow, commerce expands, the Western Mediterranean becomes a Muslim pond and both bulk trade and long distance luxury goods trade become highly profitable. The Muslim trading network expands naturaly to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, through the old Yemenite routes. Commerce with India and China intensifies. During the Umayyad period The Indian Ocean saw a great commercial expansion, and Arab trade became the source of a very rich and profitable commerce. Islam became a rich and sophisticated culture that praises knowledge, the arts, a strict code of honor based on courage, hospitality, loyalty to family ties, and pride of ancestry. Agriculture improved greatly; new crops are introduced, as well as new irrigation techniques. Although in the 7th and 8th centuries only a small percentage of the ihnabitants of the Umayyad Empire were Muslim (perhaps 10%), by the 10th century the majority of the population is converted. As if the original Yemenite culture, temples (Mosques) are cort houses, hospitals, hostels. The capital of the Umayyad caliphate was Damascus from its conquest in AD 634 until the reign of the last caliph Marwan II (Ad 688-750), who moved the capital of the empire briefly to Harran, in southeast Turkey. Typically the power was distributed between the family branch (whom can you trust?), a practice that causes revolts in many cities, such as Mecca or Medina. The Umayyad government became Syrian government. The local administration was often times left to local leaders and Jews and Catholic rulers (pagans were prosecuted). Those who converted yearly to Islam have better chances of progression in their careers. Arabic became the language of buracravy. The Umayyad period was the consolidation was the Muslim the language and culture of the elite. During the Umayyad rule the army became professionalized, soldiers earning wages rather than spoils. In the 8th century, after the fall of tht Umayyad dynasty, the Caliph position becomes hereditary. Those who converted yearly to Islam have better chances of progression in their careers. Arabic became the language of bureaucracy. The Umayyad period was the consolidation was the Muslim the language and culture of the elite. Arts, sciences, and philosophy flourished in a cosmopolitan and sophisticated climate. The Umayyad Caliphate fell due mostly to internal dissent and tribal rivalry. The Abbasid family descended from an uncle of the Prophet and members of the Ashim clan, ancient rivals of the Umayyads. The revolt started in AD 746 and ended in 750 at the Battle of the Zab, in which the Umayyads were defeated. Damascus fell to the Abbasids in April, and in August the last Umayyad Caliph, Marwan II, was killed in Egypt. Most members of the Umayyad clan were tracked down and killed. Only one branch of the family survived, Abd al-Rahman (AD 731-788), establishing a kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula and claiming it to be the Umayyad Caliphate revived. The Umayyad kingdom of Al-Andalus (Arab Iberian Peninsula), lasted until 1492 and was famous for its tolerance, culture, and wealth. .