The earliest civilizations in history were established in the region now known as the middle east around 3500 bc by the sumerians in mesopotamia widely regarded as the cradle of civilization the sumerians and the akkadians and later babylonians and assyrians all flourished in this region. In the brief history of the middle east author christopher catherwood attempts to show how our entire world is ultimately shaped by events that have unfolded or have their origin in the middle east catherwood insists that unless we allow ignorance to blind uswhich to a certain extent it already hasthe middle east must not be viewed as some strange place over there three of . Western civilization began in the middle east judaism and christianity as well as islam were born there for over a millennium the islamic empires were ahead of the west in learning technology. In the brief history of the middle east author christopher catherwood attempts to show how our entire world is ultimately shaped by events that have unfolded or have their origin in the middle east catherwood insists that unless we allow ignorance to blind us which to a certain extent it already has the middle east must not be viewed as some strange place over there three of the worlds major organized religions judaism christianity and islam all stem from the area as do