Middle Eastern empires

Middle East empires have existed in the Middle East region at various periods between 3000 BCE and 1924 CE; they have been instrumental in the spreading of ideas, technology, and religions within Middle East territories and to outlying territories. Since the 7th century CE, all Middle East empires, with the exception of the Byzantine Empire, were Islamic and some of them claiming the titles of an Islamic caliphate. The last major empire based in the region was the Ottoman Empire.

3000–2000 BCE: Ancient Middle East

The rich fertile lands of the Fertile Crescent gave birth to some of the oldest sedentary civilizations, including the Egyptians and Sumerians, who contributed to later societies and are credited with several important innovations, such as writing, the boats, first temples, and the wheel.

The Fertile Crescent saw the rise and fall of many great civilizations that made the region one of the most vibrant and colorful in history, including empires like that of the Assyrians and Babylonians, and influential trade kingdoms, such as the Lydians and Phoenicians.

In Anatolia, the Hittites were probably the first people to use iron weapons. In the southwest was Egypt, a land with rich resources that sustained a thriving culture.

First Eblaite Kingdom

Ebla was an important center throughout the 3rd millennium BCE and in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. Its discovery proved the Levant was a center of ancient, centralized civilization equal to Egypt and Mesopotamia and ruled out the view that the latter two were the only important centers in the Near East during the Early Bronze Age. The first Eblaite kingdom has been described as the first recorded world power.

Starting as a small settlement in the Early Bronze Age (c.