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The Middle East is the area between the Arabian and Mediterranean Seas, ranging from Egypt in the west to Iran in the East. Written language and three world religions stem from what sometimes is called the Cradle of Civilization.
 
More then two million years ago a first of several waves of long-legged Homo Erectus used the Levantine Corridor on the way from Africa to the greener fields of Asia. Much, much later modern humans followed suit.
 
By 10.000 BC, helped by a benign climate, people changed to a grain growing culture, giving rise to city-states near fertile river valleys. Sumer was the region`s first urban civilization, soon followed by Ancient Egypt. The Assyrian Empire was the first regional super power, later followed by Persians, Macedonians and Romans.
Muhammad, the founder of Islam forcefully united most of the Arabian Peninsula under Muslim rule and his successors greatly expanded the territory and religion which eventually led to the Ottoman Empire.
 
After WW-I the British and French ruled the Middle East but after WW-II they cut up the region into independent countries including the state of Israel, the root-cause of the ongoing Palestinian conflict.
 
Bloody wars and terrorist attacks in IraqLebanon, Syria, Yemen, Egypt andGaza have destabilized this  region and given rise to terrorist groups like ISIS and Hamas
Regional powerhouses Turkey and Iran do their part to muddy the waters for their own gain. 
 
The Middle East may have many historic and scenic sights, but today most tourists avoid the area's hotspots. 
Eilat
Petra
Türkiye
Egypt