Middle Eastern empires
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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
The
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
Starting as a small settlement in the Early Bronze Age (c. 3500 BCE), Ebla developed into a trading empire and later into an expansionist power that imposed its hegemony over much of northern and eastern
Akkadian Empire
The Akkadian Empire was the first ancient empire of Mesopotamia, after the long-lived civilization of Sumer. It was centered in the city of Akkad[1] and its surrounding region. The empire united Akkadian (Assyrian and Babylonian) and Sumerian speakers under one rule. The Akkadian Empire exercised influence across Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Anatolia, sending military expeditions as far south as Dilmun and Magan (modern Bahrain and Oman) in the Arabian Peninsula.[2]
Early cavalry were employed as shock troops, needed to punch holes into the enemy lines to allow infantry to penetrate them, isolate pockets and eliminate them. They were also used to harass enemy flanks, and sometimes outflank enemies, and most armies trembled at the sight of a chariot force.
As infantry, the Sumerians used a heavy infantry
They carried spears and uncomfortable armor. Sumerian armies also made great use of
After some years of peace, Sargon waged wars against his rival Elam, and then launched a separate attack on Syria and Lebanon. The key to Sargon's victories was his coordination in the army movement, his ability to improvise tactics, his combined arms strategy, and his skill at siege warfare, as well as the keeping of intelligence always relying on heavy reconnaissance.
After Sargon's conquest of Sumer, the area enjoyed a relatively peaceful and prosperous era – perhaps its
When Sargon died, Rimush, his son, inherited the empire. However, he was plagued by constant uprisings. After his death, his brother took the throne. He too was plagued by constant rebellions and was later usurped by Naram-Sin. Naram-Sin quickly destroyed and dispersed the Sumerian rebels and also went on a vast campaign of conquest, taking his armies to Lebanon, Syria and Israel, and then to Egypt. However, after Naram-Sin, the dynasty went into decline and soon fell altogether.
Third dynasty of Ur
The Third Dynasty of Ur, also called the Neo-Sumerian Empire, refers to a 22nd to 21st century BCE (
1800–1200 BCE: the Babylonian, Mitanni, Egyptian, and Hittite Empires
Babylonian Empire
The city of
The area was reunited by
Babylon and its ally
Hammurabi's successes became the problems of his successors. After the annexation of Mari in the northwest and Ešnunna in the east, there was no buffer against the increasing power of the Hittite Empire and the Kassite tribes in the Zagros. It was impossible for the successors of Hammurabi to fight against all these enemies at the same time, and they started to lose their grip. These enemies sometimes invaded Babylonia, and in 1595 BCE the Hittite king
With the fall of the
Mitanni
Mitanni was the most powerful Hurrian-speaking kingdom in the region. It came to dominate northern Syria, northern Mesopotamia and southeast Anatolia. Shaushtatar, king of Mitanni, sacked the Assyrian capital of Assur some time in the 15th century during the reign of Nur-ili, and took the silver and golden doors of the royal palace to Washukanni. This is known from a later Hittite document, the Suppililiuma-Shattiwaza treaty. After the sack of Assur, Assyria may have paid tribute to Mitanni up to the time of Eriba-Adad I (1390–1366 BCE).
Mitanni kingdom would go on to fight full-scale wars, and occasionally alliances, with the Egyptians, Assyrians and Hittites, with the latter destroying the kingdom after conquering its capital.
Egyptian Empire
From 1560 to 1080 BCE, the
By 1400 BCE, the Egyptian Empire stretched from northern Syria to the Sudan in Africa, under the rule of Amenhotep III. It was a golden age of wealth, power, and prosperity, and remarkable diplomacy was used to keep the empire’s rivals at bay. Art, technology and new ideas flourished and Egyptian rulers were seen as gods.[citation needed]
The peak of Egyptian imperial expansion came when threatened from abroad, when Ramesses II led an army to the north to fight the Hittites at Kadesh. The battle was his crowning achievement and the basis for a new period of stability and wealth. Resources flooded into Egypt. However, foreign powers once again threatened it, and some provinces wavered in their allegiance.[citation needed]
After the long reign of Ramesses II, the great tombs were systematically looted and a civil war ensued. Though Egypt was once again divided, carved up among foreign powers, the period left a rich legacy.[citation needed]
Hittite Empire
The Hittite empire is often confused with that of the Chaldean/Babylonians[citation needed] and Greek historians of the period rarely mention it.
The Egyptian documents that mention the eponymous
A Babylonian chronicle mentions the Hatti in connection with an invasion of Babylon at the close of the ancient dynasty of Hammurabi, supposedly in the 17th or 16th centuries.
1200 BCE – 1100 BCE: Elamite Empire
Elamite Empire
Under the Shutrukids (c. 1210 – 1100 BCE), the Elamite empire reached the height of its power.
Kutir-Nakhkhunte's son Khutelutush-In-Shushinak was probably of an incestuous relation of Kutir-Nakhkhunte's with his own daughter, Nakhkhunte-utu.[citation needed] He was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar I of Babylon, who sacked Susa and returned the statue of Marduk, but who was then himself defeated by the Assyrian king Ashur-resh-ishi I. He fled to Anshan, but later returned to Susa, and his brother Shilhana-Hamru-Lagamar may have succeeded him as last king of the Shutrukid dynasty. Following Khutelutush-In-Shushinak, the power of the Elamite empire began to wane seriously, for after the death of this ruler, Elam disappears into obscurity for more than three centuries.
1000 BCE – 550 BCE: the Neo-Assyrian, Phoenician, Median, Chaldean and Lydian Empires
Neo-Assyrian Empire
Following the conquests of
The Neo-Assyrian Empire succeeded the
Phoenician Maritime Empire
The
The earliest Phoenician settlements outside the Levant were on Cyprus and Crete, gradually moving westward towards Corsica, the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, and Sicily, as well as on the European mainland in Genoa and Marseilles.[10] The first Phoenician colonies in the western Mediterranean were along the northwest African coast and on Sicily, Sardinia and the Balearic Islands.[11] Tyre led the way in settling or controlling coastal areas.[12]
One of the earliest Phoenician inscriptions is the Nora Stone found on the south coast of Sardinia in 1773, it is dated to the 9th century BCE (c. 825-780 BCE).[13] The inscription is most likely understood to be about a battle in which the forces of Pygmalion of Tyre (Pumayyaton) participated in at Tarshish:[14]
Line | Transliteration | Translation (Peckham) | Translation (Cross) |
a. | He fought (?) | ||
b. | with the Sardinians (?) | ||
1 | btršš | From Tarshish | at Tarshish |
2 | wgrš hʾ | he was driven; | and he drove them out. |
3 | bšrdn š | in Sardinia he | Among the Sardinians |
4 | lm hʾ šl | found refuge, | he is [now] at peace, |
5 | m ṣbʾ m | his forces found refuge; | (and) his army is at peace: |
6 | lktn bn | Milkuton, son of | Milkaton son of |
7 | šbn ngd | Shubon the commander. | Shubna (Shebna), general |
8 | lpmy | To (god) Pmy. | of (king) Pummay. |
In this rendering, Frank Moore Cross has restored the missing top of the tablet (estimated at two lines) based on the content of the rest of the inscription, as referring to a battle that has been fought and won. Alternatively, "the text honours a god, most probably in thanks for the traveller's safe arrival after a storm", observes Robin Lane Fox.[15]
According to Cross the stone has been erected by a general, Milkaton, son of Shubna, victor against the
Phoenician colonies were fairly autonomous. At most, they were expected to send annual tribute to their mother city, usually in the context of a religious offering. However, in the seventh century BCE the western colonies came under the control of Carthage,[17][18] which was exercised directly through appointed magistrates.[19] Carthage continued to send annual tribute to Tyre for some time after its independence.
Median Empire
The
Traditionally, the creator of the Median kingdom was one Deioces who, according to Herodotus, reigned from 728 to 675 BCE and founded the Median capital Ecbatana(Hâgmatâna or modern Hamadan). Attempts have been made to associate Daiaukku, a local Zagros king mentioned in a cuneiform text as one of the captives deported to Assyria by Sargon II in 714 BCE, with the Deioces of Herodotus, but such an association is highly unlikely. To judge from the Assyrian sources, no Median kingdom such as Herodotus describes for the reign of Deioces existed in the early 7th century BCE; at best, he is reporting a Median legend of the founding of their kingdom.
The Medes gained control over the lands in eastern Anatolia that had once been part of Urartu and eventually became embroiled in a war with the Lydians, the dominant political power in western Asia Minor. In 585 BCE, probably through the mediation of the Babylonians, peace was established between Media and Lydia, and the Halys (Kizil) River was fixed as the boundary between the two kingdoms. Thus, a new balance of power was established in the Middle East among Medes, Lydians, Babylonians, and, far to the south, Egyptians.
At his death, Cyaxares controlled vast territories: all of Anatolia to the Halys, the whole of western Iran eastward, perhaps as far as the area of modern Tehran, and all of south-western Iran, including Fars. Whether it is appropriate to call these holdings or not, a kingdom is debatable; one suspects that authority over the various peoples, Iranian and non-Iranian, who occupied these territories, was exerted in the form of a confederation, such as it is implied by the ancient Iranian royal title, king of kings.
Astyages followed his father, Cyaxares, on the Median throne (585–550 BCE). Comparatively, little is known of his reign. Nothing was well with the alliance with Babylon, and there is some evidence to suggest that Babylonia may have feared Median power. The latter, however, was soon in no position to threaten others, for Astyages was himself under attack. Indeed, Astyages and the Medians were soon overthrown by the rise to power in the Iranian world of Cyrus II the Great.
Chaldean Empire
While the
Nebuchadnezzar reconstructed Babylon, making it the largest and most impressive city of its day. The tremendous city walls were wide enough at the top to have rows of small houses on either side. In the center of Babylon ran the famous Procession Street, which passed through the Ishtar Gate. This arch, which was adorned with brilliant tile animals, is the best remaining example of Babylonian architecture.
The immense palace of Nebuchadnezzar towered terrace upon terrace, each resplendent with masses of ferns, flowers, and trees. These roof gardens, the famous
Nebuchadnezzar also rebuilt the great temple-tower or ziggurat, the Biblical "Tower of Babel," which the Greek historian Herodotus viewed a century later and described as a tower of solid masonry, a 220 yards in length and breadth, upon which was raised a second tower, and on that a third, and so on up to eight. Nebuchadnezzar was the last great Mesopotamian ruler, and Chaldean power quickly crumbled after his death in 562 BCE.
The Chaldean priests, whose interest in astrology so greatly added to the fund of Babylonian astronomical knowledge that the word "Chaldean" came to mean astronomer, continually undermined the monarchy. Finally, in 539 BCE, they opened the gates of Babylon to Cyrus the Persian, thus fulfilling Daniel's message of doom upon the notorious Belshazzar, the last Chaldean ruler: "You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting" (Dan. 5:27).
Lydian Empire
The Kingdom of Lydia entered the historical record in 660 BCE, when the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal demanded tribute from the Lydian king, "Gyges of Luddi." The grandson of Gyges, Alyattes, built the Lydian Empire during his fifty-seven-year reign.
Croesus was the son and heir of Alyattes and the most important Lydian king concerning the Bible. He was fabulously wealthy, spawning the simile: "as rich as Croesus."
The undoing of Croesus and the Lydian empire came when they attacked Cyrus the Great. Victorious over
After two indecisive engagements, Croesus was driven from the field of battle. He begged for Egypt, Greece, or Babylon to help him, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. The Lydian capital of Sardis fell and Croesus was taken as a prisoner.
Though, as was his custom, Cyrus dealt kindly with Croesus, the once very wealthy Lydian empire became a Persian satrapy called Saparda (Sardis).
550 BCE – 330 BCE: the Persian Empire
Achaemenid Empire
Following the overthrow of the Medes by the Persians, they would inherit the former's territories but would significantly expand it. Eventually, this First Persian Empire (also better known as the
With an estimated population of 50 million in 480 BCE,[23][24] the Achaemenid Empire, at its peak, ruled over 44% of the world's population, the highest such figure for any empire in history.[25]
The
323 BCE – 64 BCE: Alexander's Hellenistic Empire
Alexander the Great
The king of
In less than two years, Alexander secured the Greek and Thracian borders and gathered an army of 50,000 men for the assault on Asia. In his early campaigns, he always maintained a considerable fleet of warships and supplies for his soldiers. With him there were many scholars who recorded Alexander's discoveries and achievements far in the east.
In 334 BCE, Alexander fought the battle that would make his name, opposed by an army of Persians holding an advantageous position on the steep banks of the river
Barely six months passed as, one by one, all of the cities on the west coast of Anatolia were taken by Alexander. As winter came on, Alexander headed for Lycia, southern Anatolia, where he annexed all of the cities he went through.
Amazingly, the Persians, who until that time had enjoyed a largely unchallenged dominance over the region, put up little resistance. Alexander left trusted lieutenants, as well as former Persian satraps, to rule his new conquests, as he continued on his relentless thrust to the very edge of the known world.
Seleucid and Ptolemaic Empires
Alexander's conquest of
The
88 BCE – 330 CE: the Roman, Armenian, Parthian and Palmyrene Empires
The wars between
When Roman expansion reached Mesopotamia, the Parthian Empire had already been prospering as a major power whose outskirts reached far into the east and trade routes ran deep into China. When Roman and Parthian borders finally met, the centuries that followed were a time of diplomacy and war between two empires of distinct cultures and methods of war.
Roman–Parthian relations dominated international policy in the classical near east. As opposed to less organized tribes on Rome’s European borders, the Parthians were a sophisticated culture of commerce and empire. The Parthians garnered significant wealth from their trade routes and their cities stood as some of the largest in the world.
Armenian Empire
The Armenian Empire was a short lived state that rose to predominance under Tigranes the Great who conquered the entire middle east with the exception of the central and southern arabia and western anatolia. For a short time he controlled the most powerful state on the planet.
Roman Empire
The founding of Rome goes back to the very early days of Western civilization; so old is it, that it is today known as 'the eternal city'. The Romans believed that their city was founded in 753 BCE. Modern historians, though, believe it was 625 BCE.
In the 1st century BCE, the expanding Roman Republic absorbed the whole Eastern Mediterranean area, and under the Roman Empire the region was united with most of Europe and North Africa in a single political and economic unit. This unity facilitated the spread of Christianity, and by the 5th century, the whole region was Christian.
After the empire became divided into its western and eastern parts the Emperors of the East ruled from Constantinople over the lands of the Middle East as far east as the Euphrates and over the Balkans. This empire was a Greek-speaking, Christian empire, and became known to historians as the Byzantine Empire (from the earlier name of its capital city).
The Parthians ruled Persia parallel to the
Parthian Empire
Around 300 BCE, the Parthians, an Iranian tribe, invaded West Asia from Central Asia. Like the
The Parthians soon headed south into Alexander's empire. The recent death of Alexander the Great had heralded the beginning of the disintegration of his vast empire and the Parthians would be one of the main benefactors.
The Parthians immediately succeeded in taking over the middle part of Alexander's empire (roughly modern Iran). This split the Seleucid empire in half, leaving the Macedonian colonies in Bactria (modern Afghanistan) isolated. They stayed there for about 200 years, gradually assimilating the culture of West Asia.
By around 100 BCE, with
In 116 CE, the Roman emperor Trajan invaded the Parthian empire and conquered Babylon. The Parthians were in disarray at this time, due to civil wars, and unable to offer much resistance. But in 117, just a year later, Trajan's successor Hadrian gave up most of the land that Trajan had conquered.
However, eventually, these internal weaknesses caused the Parthian Empire to collapse and the Sassanid Dynasty rose.
Palmyrene Empire
Zenobia started an expedition against the Tanukhids in the spring of 270, during the reign of emperor Claudius Gothicus[26] aided by her generals, Septimius Zabbai (a general of the army) and Septimius Zabdas (the chief general of the army)[27]
Zabdas sacked
In October of 270,
The Palmyrene conquests were done under the protective show of subordination to Rome.
330 CE - 632 CE: the Eastern Roman Empire, the Ghassanids, the Sassanids, and the Lakhmids
Eastern Roman Empire
The sack of Rome led to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. While the Roman polity survived in the East, its ongoing evolution led historians by the 16th century to recognize use of the term Byzantine Empire to distinguish it from the unified Roman Empire (notwithstanding the period of the Tetrarchy).
The Eastern Roman Empire reached its greatest extent in the 6th century under the emperor Justinian. The use of new military tactics and strategy, alliances, mercenary forces, and reforms in governance contributed to the survival of the Eastern Empire for further centuries, despite being greatly diminished in size after the Muslim conquest of the Levant. Surrounded by huge walls, Constantinople would be besieged repeatedly without success until the Fourth Crusade, after which the Empire would never recover, finally succumbing to the Ottoman Empire in 1453.
Sassanid Empire
The Sassanid era, encompassing the length of the
Whereas the Romans were seen as the main aggressors against the Parthians, these roles were very much reversed by the
The Sassanids came to power on a wave of nationalism and pride. The first
Ardashir began his reign by conquering the few lands left under Parthian control as well as invading Armenia. He blamed the Romans for aiding the Armenians, who were a close ally to Rome, and in 230 invaded Mesopotamia and besieged
The Romans were shocked when they heard the Persians had invaded. They still thought of the Sassanids to be no different than the Parthians, however, the Sassanids were much different in terms of aggressiveness and nationalistic zeal and the Romans would soon realize this. The Romans sent a delegation to ask for Persian withdrawal, noting the past defeats of the Parthians by the Romans as a warning. Ardashir rejected and in 231 Rome mobilized for war under Severus Alexander, drawing troops from Egypt to the Black sea to form three massive armies.
Rome's forces, under Emperor Alexander split up into three columns, one which went to Armenia (the left column), one which went to the Euphrates (the right column), and one that stayed in Mesopotamia, led by the emperor himself. Ardashir engaged the right column in battle, defeated it, and on this note, Alexander decided to end the war and retreated, although a peace treaty was never signed.
In 233, after winning his wars in the east, Ardashir again invaded Rome, this time captured Nisibis and Carrhae. Ardashir extended the Persian Empire to Oxus in the north-east, to the Euphrates in the west, and on his death bed in 241, he passed on his crown to Shapur, who would carry on the war further into Rome.
The
Ghassanid Kingdom
The Ghassanids were
The Ghassanid kingdom was an ally of the
tribes and was a source of troops for the Byzantine army.The Ghassanid king
The Ghassanids, who had successfully opposed the Persian allied
Ghassan remained a Byzantine
Lakhmid Kingdom
Imru' al-Qais dreamt of a unified and independent Arab kingdom and, following that dream, he seized many cities in the
In 325, the Persians, led by Shapur II, began a campaign against the Arab kingdoms. When Imru' al-Qais realised that a mighty Persian army composed of 60,000 warriors was approaching his kingdom, he asked for the assistance of the Roman Empire. Constantine promised to assist him but was unable to provide that help when it was needed. The Persians advanced toward Hira and a series of vicious battles took place around and in Hira and the surrounding cities.
Shapur II's army defeated the Lakhmid army and captured Hira. In this, the young Shapur acted much more violently and slaughtered all the Arab men of the city and took the Arab woman and children as slaves.[citation needed] He then installed Aws ibn Qallam and retreated his army.
Imru' al-Qais escaped to Bahrain, taking his dream of a unified Arab nation with him, and then to Syria seeking the promised assistance from Constantius II which never materialized, so he stayed there until he died. When he died he was entombed at al-Nimarah in the Syrian desert.
Imru' al-Qais' funerary inscription is written in an extremely difficult type of script. Recently there has been a revival of interest in the inscription, and controversy has arisen over its precise implications. It is now certain that Imru' al-Qais claimed the title "King of all the Arabs" and also claimed in the inscription to have campaigned successfully over the entire north and centre of the peninsula, as far as the border of Najran.
Two years after his death, in the year 330, a revolt took place where Aws ibn Qallam was killed and succeeded by the son of Imru' al-Qais, 'Amr. Thereafter, the Lakhmids' main rivals were the Ghassanids, who were vassals of the Sassanians' arch-enemy, the Roman Empire. The Lakhmid kingdom could have been a major centre of the Church of the East, which was nurtured by the Sassanians, as it opposed the Chalcedonian Christianity of the Romans.
The Lakhmids remained influential throughout the sixth century. Nevertheless, in 602, the last Lakhmid king, al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir, was put to death by the Sasanian emperor Khosrow II because of a false suspicion of treason, and the Lakhmid kingdom was annexed.
It is now widely believed that the annexation of the Lakhmid kingdom was one of the main factors behind the
According to the Arab historian
632 CE – 1922 CE: Islamic Empires and other Caliphates
According to Sunni Muslims, the first caliph was
After the first four caliphs, the Caliphate was claimed by dynasties such as the Umayyads, the Abbasids, and the Ottomans, and for relatively short periods by other, competing dynasties in al-Andalus, North Africa, and Egypt. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk officially abolished the last Caliphate, the Ottoman Empire, and founded the Republic of Turkey, in 1924. The Kings of Morocco still label themselves with the title Amir al-Mu'minin for the Moroccans, but lay no claim to the Caliphate.
See also
- Historical powers
- List of Bronze Age States
- List of Classical Age States
- List of former sovereign states
- List of empires
- List of Iron Age States
- List of kingdoms
- List of largest empires
- List of Late Antiquity Age States
- Political history of the world
Notes
References
- ^ Sumerian: Agade
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- ^ "Assyrian Eponym List". Retrieved 23 November 2014.
- ^ Tadmor, H. (1994). The Inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser III, King of Assyria, p.29
- Frye, Richard N. (1992). "Assyria and Syria: Synonyms". Journal of Near Eastern Studies. Archived from the originalon 2014-02-01.
And the ancient Assyrian empire, was the first real, empire in history. What do I mean, it had many different peoples included in the empire, all speaking Aramaic, and becoming what may be called, "Assyrian citizens." That was the first time in history, that we have this. For example, Elamite musicians, were brought to Nineveh, and they were 'made Assyrians' which means, that Assyria, was more than a small country, it was the empire, the whole Fertile Crescent.
- ISBN 978-87-7876-177-4. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-521-88911-7. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
- ISBN 978-1-4381-1020-2. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
- ISBN 978-1-4381-2918-1. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-203-89352-4. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-292-77878-8. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
- ^ C. 825-780 according to Robin Lane Fox, Travelling Heroes in the Epic Age of Homer, 2008:120f and note p. 382; the stone is illustrated fig. 21.
- S2CID 163533512.
- ^ Fox 2008:121, following for the c. 800 date, E. Lipinski, "The Nora fragment", Mediterraneo antico 2 (1999:667-71), and for the reconstruction of the text Lipinski Itineraria Phoenicia (2004:234-46), rejecting Cross.
- ^ Cross 1972:16.
- ISBN 978-3-11-080068-5. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
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- ISBN 978-0-8160-5722-1.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Schmitt Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty)
- ^ Yarshater (1996, p. 47)
- ^ While estimates for the Achaemenid Empire range from 10–80+ million, most prefer 50 million. Prevas (2009, p. 14) estimates 10 million. Strauss (2004, p. 37) estimates about 20 million. Ward (2009, p. 16) estimates at 20 million. Scheidel (2009, p. 99) estimates 35 million. Daniel (2001, p. 41) estimates at 50 million. Meyer and Andreades (2004, p. 58) estimates to 50 million. Jones (2004, p. 8) estimates over 50 million. Richard (2008, p. 34) estimates nearly 70 million. Hanson (2001, p. 32) estimates almost 75 million. Cowley (1999 and 2001, p. 17) estimates possibly 80 million.
- ^ "Largest empire by percentage of world population". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
- ^ ISBN 9780191002939.
- ISBN 9780199861101.
- ISBN 9781134908158.
- ISBN 9789960000114.
- ISBN 9780674778863.
- ISBN 978-9004184275.
- ISBN 9781780765648.
- ISBN 9780199646678.
- ^ ISBN 9781134908158.
- ISBN 9781441142481.
- ISBN 9780191002939.
- ISBN 9780199646678.
- ISBN 9781134908158.
- ^ ISBN 9781134908158.
- ISBN 9781134823871.
- ^ ISBN 9780199861101.
- ISBN 9781579583163.
- ^ Iraq After the Muslim Conquest By Michael G. Morony, pg. 233
- ^ Lexic Orient.com