PEOPLE   (in chronological order)

Menes:  Egyptian ruler who united Upper and Lower Kingdom of the Nile (c. 3100 BCE).

Cheops (26th century BCE)  This Egyptian king is best remembered for his construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza.

Abraham:(2000 BCE?) Patriarch (father) of the Hebrew people, he left Ur and settled in the "Promised Land" of Cannon.

Hammurabi: (circa 1850 BCE)  A king of ancient Mesopotamia, known for putting the laws of his country into a formal code.  One of the laws said, "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

Moses: He led the Jews out of slavery in Egypt (the "Exodus") (c. 1215 BCE)

King David:  ( 1030-960 BCE?) The second king of Israel and one of the greatest figures in the history of the Jews.  During his reign David established Israel as a major power in western Asia.  His troops defeated the Philistines, ending their threat to Israel's security.  David made Jerusalem the capital and spiritual center of Israel.

Zoroaster (628-551 BCE?)  An Iranian prophet who was the founder of Zoorastrianism.

Nebuchadnezzar:  (ruled 605-562 BCE)  Chaldean king of the Second Babylonian Empire who built the famous walls and "hanging gardens" of Babylon.

Cyrus the Great:  (559-529 BCE) Founder of the mighty and long-lasting Persian Empire, which extended from the borders of India to the Mediterranean Sea.  This great empire was conquered by Alexander the Great.

Alexander the Great:  (356-323 BCE)  Son of Philip of Macedon, he conquered most of the civilized world for Greece and Macedon.  he died at the age of 33, but his remarkable feats of conquest spread Greek civilization and culture thoughout the Mediterranean world.

Hannibal: (247-183 BCE)  Great military leader of the city-state of Carthage who in the Punic Wars with Rome, crossed an army (with elephants) over the Alps and invaded Rome from the north.

Cleopatra:  (69-30 BCE)  Queen of ancient Egypt, she was the last ruler in the dynasty founded by Ptolemy I.

Jesus Christ: (1st century)  Believed by Christians to be the divine Son of God.

Muhammad:  (570-632 CE)  Founder of Islam. When he was 40 he felt himself selected by God to be the Arab prophet of true religion.  His revelations and teachings, forming the basis of Islam, are recorded in the Koran.

'Umar Ibn al-Khuttab (better known as Omar or Umar) (586-644)  Originally one of Muhammad's most bitter opponents and his new religion, he later converted to Islam and became the second and probably greatest of Muslim caliphs.  During his ten year rule as caliph the Muslim Arabs spread their religion by conquering Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Iraq.

Ali Ibn Abu Talib (d.661)  Cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, the fourth caliph of the Islamic community, and the first imam of the shiite movement in Islam.

Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer) (688-741 CE) His victory at Tours, France, in 732 arrested the advance of Muslims into Europe.

Ibn Al-Haytham: (965-1040CE?)  An Egyptian mathematician, physicist, and astronomer.

Saladin:  (1138-1193)  A sultan of Kurdish descent  who recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders.

Suleyman I (1494-1566) (also called Suleyman the Magnificent)  Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1520 to 1566. Known as a successful military leader, he was victorious over the Christian powers in the Mediterranean region and in Central Europe.  He was also responsible for the Empire's greatest advances in architecture, art, law, and literature.

Ibn Ali Husayn: (1856-1931)  An Arabian political and religious leader.  He led the revolt against the Turks
(1916)

Theodor Herzel: (1860-1904)  A Hungarian Jew who was the founder of modern zionism.  He believed that the only solution to European anti-semitism was the establishment of a Jewish national state.  He organized the first Zionist World Congress (1897) and was its president until his death.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938)
Known as Ataturk (the father of the Turks), he was the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey.  Under his leadership Turkey adopted major reforms that greatly changed the politics, economy, and society of Turkey by creating a parliamentary form of government based on secular laws, gave women the right to vote, improved education, and introduced the Roman alphabet.

Reza Shah Pahlevi: (1877-1944)  An Iranian army officer who became the shah of Iran.  In 1941 he was deposed by British and Russian forces because of his German sympathies.  He was succeeded by his son, Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi.

Faisal: Kings of Iraq.  Faisal I (1885-193) joined with T.E. Lawrence in the Arab revolt against the Turks.  Later the British named him king.  His son, Faisal II (1935-58) was killed in a revolution that overthrew the Iraqi monarchy.

David Ben-Gurion: (1886-1973)  Born in Poland, he moved to Palestine in 1906 and devoted his life to zionism.  He was a founder of the Mapai (Labor Party) and during Israel's sturglle for independence (1947-48) he haded Israel's defense efforst and then became Israel's first prime minister.

Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi (1919-80)  Shah of Iran who was supported by the U.S.  Iran's great petroleum wealth allowed the shah to institute far-reaching economic and social reforms.  He was bitterly opposed, however by orthodox Muslims, who resented his modernizing policies, and by those who accused him of maintaining a brutal police state.  Revolution broke out in the fall of 1978, and on Jan. 5, 1979, he fled the country.

Ruhollah Khomeini (1900-89)
A Shiite Muslim and Iranian ayatollah, he returned from exile after a revolution had deposed the leader of Iran (Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi).  Khomeini declared Iran an Islamic republic in 1979 and began to exercise ultimate authority in the nation.  His ruled was marked by the holding of US hostages (1979-81) and war with Iraq (1980-88).  His religious rule in Iran was responsible for the growth of Islamic movements, which continues today thoughout the
Middle East.

King Farouk of Egypt: (1920-1965)  The last king of Egypt.  He was overthrown by a military coup in 1952.

Gamal Abdal Nasser (1918-70)
An Egyptian army officer and political leader who became the first president of the republic of Egypt.  He nationalized the Suez Canal in 1956 and suffered a disastrous defeat in the 1967 Six-Day war.  He instituted far-reaching land reforms and economic and social development programs, the most spectacular being the building of the Aswan High Dam.

Menachem Begin (1913-1992)
An Israeli prime minister who signed the Camp David Accord with Egypt.

Anwar El Sadat (1918-1981)
The president of Egypt who negotiated with Israel to end the long-standing conflict between the two countries  Sadat won widespread admiration for his peacemaking efforts but was severely criticized by other Arab leaders for negotiating independently with Israel.  Sadat was assassinated in Cairo on Oct. 6, 1981, by a group of Egyptian religious militants who opposed his policies.

Hassan II:  (1929-)  The King of Morocco since 1961.

King Fahd (1923-)
The King of Saudi Arabia since 1982.  Fahd is the 11th son of the founder of Saudi Kingdom, king Ibn Saud.

Yitzhak Rabin (1922-1995)
The 5th prime minister of Israel, he was one of the main actors in the Oslo Accord of 1993.  He was assassinated by a Jewish extremist who was upset with his land for peace policy with the Palestinians.

Yassir Arafat (1929-2004)
 Yassir Arafat  fought in the wars against the Jews in 1947 and fled Palestine after the establishment of Israel and he has devoted much of his life to gaining a permanent homeland for his people.  In 1959 he helped organize al-Fatah, the largest of the Palestinian guerrilla units.  This group took control of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1969 and Arafat was elected chairman of the organization.  He was the first president of the Palestinian Authority which controls the Palestinian territories in Gaza and on the West Bank.

Hafez al- Assad: (1928-2000)  The president of Syria from 1971 to his death in June of 2000.  He was defense minister before leading the 1970 military coup that made him premier and then president.  A strong anti-Zionist, he has been a major supporter of the Palestine Liberation Organization.  In 1976 he sent Syrian troops as a peacekeeping force to Lebanon where Syria continues to play a major role in Lebanon. He was succeeded by his son, Bashar.

Hosni Mubarak (1928-)
A former Egyptian air force commander and vice president who was chosen to succeed president Sadat after Sadat was assassinated.  Mubarak contineud many of Sadat's policies, particuarly the Camp David Accord with Israel.  He also moved to mend Egypt's strained relations with other Arab states and to control the growing indluence of Islamic fundamentalists in Egypt.

King Hussein I(1935-1999)
Former king of Jordan.  He maintained a moderate course in his relations with the West and other Arab leaders.  Hussein signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994.

Saddam Hussein (1937-)
Saddam Hussein played a prominent part in the 1968 coup that brought the Baath political party to power in Iraq.  He became party leader and president in 1979.  He used the nation's oil revenues ot make Iraq a major Arab military power and led the country into the Iran-Iraq war and the Persian Gulf War. He is responsible for the death of many Iraqi Kurds and Shiites in his own country.

Muammar Gadhafi (1942-)
The Libyan army officer who became the president of Libya when he led the army coup that deposed the king in 1969.  As head of state he has blended Arab nationalism, revolutionary socialism, and Islamic orthodoxy into an anti-Western and anti-Israeli dictatorship.  In 1986 Gadhafi survived a U.S. air raid launched in response to Libya's support of terrorism.

Ariel Sharon

The current Israeli prime minister who was elected in a landslide election in February 2001.  He is one of the most controversial politicians of Israel.

O(U)sama bin Laden (1957-)

Leader of the Al-Qaeda the terrorist organization responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Hamid Karzai

Current interim president of Afghanistan.

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