*** Middle East and North Africa the Arabs chronology








Middle East and North Africa: The Arabs--Chronology

Arab women in French North Africa
Figure 1.--Here we see some unidentified native women somewhere in French North Africa, probably Algeria or Tunisia. The CDV portrait is undated, but the dealer thought was taken about 1880. It is notable because they are not wearing Islamic styles. Their arms are uncovered as are their faces and their hair can be seen. Actually we see more Islamic styles today than with this group.

There are relatively few historical images of the Arab people through most of their history. We have no idea what Mohammed and most early Arab leaders looked like. This is largely due to the nomadic culture before Islam and then the Koranic prohibitions on human imagery. Some other Muslim groups, like the Persians and Ottomans, were a little different here, but the Arabs were very consistent about human imagery in art. The first images we have found of arabs come from European artists which after Napoleon's adventures in Egypt (1799) inspired the orientalist movement in Western art. These tend to be dramatic, often erotic images, but not the everyday life of ordinary people. The harem was a popular tooic as were white European slaves. The next images we see of the Arabs and in much larger numbers are photographic images. European photographers began setting up studios in Arab cities. There may have been some early photographs taken such as Daguerreotyps and Anbrotypes (1840s-40s), but we have not yet found examples. The first images we have found come with the development of the albumen process and the appearnce of CDVs and cabinet cards (1860s). We see this in Egypt and French North Africa. We see fewer examples from Ottoman-controlled Mesopotamia. An assessment of these photographs yield some interesting observations. As not all the photographs were studio portraits, we not only get portraits, bt we see images outside the studio which help make assessments about Arab life and economic conditions. What we see is an extrodinarily backward area, vurtuall befeft of modern technology. and this despite the fact that the 19th centyry, specually the second half of the century was one of enormous economic and technological advancement. Arab images, however, show a society that is virtually unchnged for a millenium, untouched by technologica, social, and economic change. These images and some of the portraits show abject poverty at a time thast in neignoring Europe, ordinary people were making major advances in income and life style. This includes clothing and fashion. As with technology we see few changes from a millenium earlier. Another observation is that in many countries, Islamic dresses, at least for the women, seen less prevalent than is the case today (figure 1).

Early Images

There are relatively few historical images of the Arab people through most of their history. We have no idea what Mohammed and most early Arab leaders looked like. This is largely due to the nomadic culture before Islam and then the Koranic prohibitions on human imagery. Some other Muslim groups, like the Persians and Ottomans, were a little different here, but the Arabs were very consistent about human imagery in art.

The 18th Century

The first images we have found of Arabs come from European artists which after Napoleon's adventures in Egypt (1799).

The 19th Century

Napoleon's campaign in Egypt inspired the orientalist movement in Western art. These paintings tend to be dramatic, often erotic images, but not the everyday life of ordinary people. The harem was a popular tooic as were white European slaves. The next images we see of the Arabs and in much larger numbers are photographic images. European photographers began setting up studios in Arab cities. There may have been some early photographs taken such as Daguerreotyps and Anbrotypes (1840s-40s), but we have not yet found examples. The first images we have found come with the development of the albumen process and the appearnce of CDVs and cabinet cards (1860s). We see this in Egypt and French North Africa. We see fewer examples from Ottoman-controlled Mesopotamia. An assessment of these photographs yield some interesting observations. As not all the photographs were studio portraits, we not only get portraits, bt we see images outside the studio which help make assessments about Arab life and economic conditions. What we see is an extrodinarily backward area, vurtuall befeft of modern technology. and this despite the fact that the 19th century, specually the second half of the century was one of enormous economic and technological advancement. Arab images, however, show a society that is virtually unchnged for a millenium, untouched by technological, social, and economic change. These images and some of the portraits show abject poverty at a time thast in neighboring Europe, ordinary people were making major advances in income and life style. This includes clothing and fashion. As with technology we see few changes from a millenium earlier. Another observation is that in many countries, during the 19th century Islamic dresses, at least for the women, seen less prevalent than is the case today (figure 1).

The 20th Century

Much of the Arab world was little changed in the early 19th centyry. This neant the Arab heartland under various degrees of Ottoman control. Egypt, the most populous Arab country had ecome was because of Suez a British protectorate. And here we see some technological and economic progress. But in the rural areas among the felinine, nothing had changed. The eonomny was almost enturely agricultural and used the same methods developed in ancient times. This of course meant that productibity and living standards were the same as in earlier times. This was the generl pattern throughout the Arab world, although generlly agriculture, the mainstay of the economy was not as productive as the Nile Valley. And some of the poorest areas were in the baren Arabian Peninsula. And not just Arabia and the Hejaz, but the various emirates along the perifery of the Peninsula, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, AbuDaby, Dubayy, etc. As a result of World War I, Ottoman control of the Arab world ended. The British and French seized the Ottoman areas. The British as in Egypt made little effort to make social reforms. The Frnch tried and had some impact in the cities, byr very little in the countrysude. After World War II the Aran countries gradually achieved independence. Only in Algeria was an actual occur. The general expectation in the region that independence and socialism would rapidly bring the kind of ffluence common in the West. This did not occur. The basic pattern was that unless the countries sat on apool of oil, they remained poor and backward. And even some countries with oil and gas resources remained basicaly poor and unproductive. The oil income created a spectacular transformation of some countrie, most nooably Saudi Arabia and the Emirates. The belief was that the oil would finance a fundamental economic change. This has not occurred. Phyically the change was phenominal, but there was no economic developmet beyond petro-chemicals. There were a range of efforts, such as t=a Saudi gricultural effort, but they were virtually all dependent on the oil wealth.








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Created: 3:15 AM 8/10/2016
Last updated: 10:18 PM 8/10/2016