Early Civilizations to Modern Age

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THE STREETS of Constantinople were thronged that Tuesday morning in January of 532. Public buildings were closed. Shops on the Street of

The period from 610 to 717 was one of the darkest in Byzantine history. During that time, the edges of

CHRISTIANITY, as the official religion of Byzantium‚ was under the control of the government. The emperor was the head of

THE LONG struggle between the churches of the East and the West was only one of the many serious problems

THE BEGINNINGS of Russian history date back to the centuries when Byzantium was at the height of its glory. A

ARABIA, the big, boot-shaped peninsula off the northeast corner of Africa, is one of the hottest and driest regions on

IN THE year 571, in Mecca, a boy was born in a humble household of the Quraysh. No one knows

Mohammed sometimes dictated his thoughts to his secretary, Zayd, but when he spoke in public no one wrote down what

THE FIRST three caliphs — Abu Bakr, Omar and Othman — had all known — Mohammed well. In 656, Othman,

UNDER THE Omayyads, who ruled from 661 to 750, Islam had grown into a mighty empire. Arabic had become its