Middle+East

__Introduction__
The Middle East is a region that connects Africa, Europe and Asia. The countries commonly said to be in the region are Bahrain,Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Sometimes Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and Turkey are considered to be in the Middle East region as well. These the Middle East depends mostly on oil. The Middle East is said where the three main religions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam was born. The main religion in the Middle East region is Islam. 

 **__Religion__ ** **__**Trade**__
 * There were mainly three religions in the Middle East: Christianity, Islam, Judaism. However, over the course of time the most dominant religion became Islam. It is said many people from Europe came to the Middle East and converted to Islam which helped trade. Islam started by a guy named Muhammad. It was said that he had a message from god. That is the start of Islam. The Muslims follow the Quran, the equivalent of the bible in christianity.


 * There was good and bad things about the trading system in the Middle East. The good thing was that Suleiman I built imperial roads just for trading. Because of this many people could trade much easier. Also another good thing was that they were trading with Europe. Europe was a powerful place at that time and without trading with Europe you were not going to flourish. The fact that many people converted from Christianity to Islam proves that the Middle East traded with Europe because the people from the Middle East do not just trade materials and objects they trade ideas. So, the ideas spread in Europe and people changed their religion. One bad thing was that the items from the Middle East had competition. For example, the coffee from Yemen had to compete with those from the U.S. **


 * __Culture and Art__**

Little is known about the culture and art of the Middle East. One thing that was significant was Sassanid Architecture. Sassanid Architecture was a term used for a square building covered with a dome at the end.


 * __Social Hierarchy__**

The matter of which class you were in depended heavily on how much power you had. The sultan was the highest and was followed by the supreme military. Then the imperial council followed and after that was social/military administrator and/or religious/judicial administrator. The social/military administrator's job were local administrators, land owners and tax collectors. The role of a religious/judicial administrator was to be the heads of individual religious millets.

__**Laws**__

There were no big laws in the Middle East. Every country had its own laws that it followed. However, the guidelines of the country's rules were set by the Quran. No matter what they do, muslims cannot disobey the Quran.


 * __Resources__**

This is a list of resources that can be found in the Middle East.
 * Cattle
 * Grain
 * Fish
 * Lumber
 * Iron
 * Fur
 * Whales
 * Natural gasses
 * Oil
 * Water is now turning into a product

1. Gunderson, Cory. Countries of The Middle East. Edina, MN: ABDO & Daughters, 2004. Print. 2. http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/6981/index.html 3. http://www.worldhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display.aspx?categoryid=24&entryid=309382&searchtext=middle+east&type=simple&option=all 4. http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/law.htm 5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire 6. http://www.islam.com/introislam.htm 7. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/questions/resource/index.html 8. http://www.globalresearch.ca/articlePictures/Middle-East-map.gif 9. http://www.nwa.org.au/dbx/articles/baggage/sassanid_bagg.jpg 10. https://www.bilal-ic.org/images/noble_quran3.jpg 11. http://www.notmytribe.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/middle-east-flag-colors-4.jpg
 * __List of Sources__**