Curated category
Former countries in West Asia
- Safavid IranThe story begins in the mountainous region of Ardabil, about 40 miles inland from the Caspian Sea. Here lived Sheikh Safi al-Din Ardabili, a revered Sufi…
- Republic of MahabadIn late August 1941, Allied forces invaded Iran and the Soviet Union took control of the northern region. The absence of a central government in Tehran…
- Mandate for Syria and the LebanonOn the 29th of September 1923, France received the League of Nations mandate for Syria. This territory included what is now Lebanon and Alexandretta…
- PhoeniciaThe name Phoenicia appears in Greek records from the 2nd millennium BC, yet it never corresponded to a unified native identity.
- Roman RepublicIn 509 BC, the Roman Senate expelled Tarquin the Proud after his son Sextus raped Lucretia. This event marked the end of seven kings who had ruled Rome for…
- Kingdom of JerusalemThe Council of Clermont in 1095 set the stage for a movement that would reshape the Levant. Pope Urban II called for an army to assist the Byzantine Empire…
- Byzantine EmpireThe citizens of the Eastern Roman Empire called themselves Romans, not Byzantines. They viewed their state as the direct continuation of ancient Rome…
- Mandatory PalestineIn 1920, the British Empire took control of a territory that had been part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuries. The League of Nations officially…
- Roman SyriaIn 64 BC, Pompey the Great marched into Syria and executed Seleucid king Antiochus XIII Asiaticus. He deposed Philip II Philoromaeus to end Hellenistic rule…
- ColchisThe eastern coast of the Black Sea held a land known to Greek writers as Colchis. This region stretched from the river Corax in the west to the Greater…
- Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet RepublicThe Russian Empire dissolved in 1918, leaving the Caucasus provinces to form their own Transcaucasian Federation. This new state lasted only two months…
- Soviet UnionIn November 1917, Vladimir Lenin led the Bolsheviks to seize power from the Provisional Government in Petrograd. Workers and soldiers had formed councils…
- Roman EmpireIn 27 BC, the Roman Senate granted Octavian overarching military power and bestowed upon him a new title. This single act marked his accession as the first…