Middle Eastern & African Studies Academic Proofreading Services

History and cultural context

The Middle East and Africa are the cradles of both humans as a species and civilisation. The destruction of ancient sites by Daesh is a global tragedy and the war in the region is the latest in a long line of conflict stretching back thousands of years, much like Europe and Asia. Historical conflicts such as Justinian I versus Khosrau of Persia are fascinating in their details; for instance, when Khosrau sacked Antioch, he took the captives and resettled them in a city he built specially called Weh Antiok Khusrau, which literally translates as "better than Antioch, Khosrow built this." Weh Antiok Khusrau was identical to Antioch except for its location, deep in Persia.

While touring the city, Khosrau asked one of the citizens if he was satisfied with his new home, to which the man replied that it was almost perfect, but he missed the mulberry tree that used to be in his garden. The next morning, he awoke to find a mulberry tree planted in exactly the location he had described.

Understanding the historical record

Africa has a fascinating ancient history, the Bronze Age was a time of great invention and culture, particularly in North Africa but there only remain a few interesting artefacts, grand monuments such as the pyramids, and very little writing. It was brought down by the mysterious Collapse during which sea raiders, thought to have been motivated by climate change ruining cropland, came and brought down more advanced armies that fields units such as charioteers. One of the few records we have from this time is an apology.

A clay tablet bearing an apologised to a neighbouring city state was found in a kiln among arrowheads and wrecked buildings, suggesting that while the clay tablet was being dried after having been inscribed, the town was attacked and its inhabitants were killed, captured, or driven off. The apology was addressed to a neighbouring city state that was requesting military aid to help defend against raiders; the author could not afford to spare any troops. Such communication has always been a vital aspect of helping us understand where we come from as a species, and as such, it is always advisable to work with Middle Eastern & African Studies Academic Proofreading Services to help maintain clarity and coherence while writing.

After the Collapse, modern historians’ best guess is that civilisation retreated to the hills for a long while; eventually Greece, Rome and Carthage emerged as major players in the Mediterranean, and Egypt would never again reach the same level of wealth and influence.

Communicating modern research

The modern history of Africa and the Middle East is more focused on the shameful exploitation of humans and land in genocides, slave labour, and frequent ecological disasters. Examples such as Rwandan genocides that resulted from the Belgian occupation, the slave trade that spanned centuries, the horrors of the blood diamond trade—which has now garnered sufficient attention that steps are being taken to help keep conflict diamonds out of supply chains— and the British establishment of concentration camps in Kenya are but a handful of examples, and the list is long.

Race relations remains a difficult subject across much of the continent, and dictatorships in both Africa and Middle Eastern countries thrive to this day in countries such as Syria, Egypt, and Zimbabwe, where although Robert Mugabe has recently been deposed, it remains to be seen whether his successor Emmerson Mnangagwa is willing to allow free and fair elections and hand over the reins peacefully should he lose. Meanwhile, The United Arab Emirates employs slave labour in all but name to develop Dubai while maintaining a repressive system of governance that treats women as inferior beings.

The Middle East also contains the area commonly referred to as a ‘tinderbox’, specifically Israel and Palestine, and the modern mess can be traced back to anti-Semitic sentiment in Europe before, during and after World War II and the mistaken notion that sending survivors to set up a modern state of Israel would not cause problems among the people who were already living there at the time. Had they a better understanding of the situation through an education in Middle Eastern & African Studies, they might have taken a more nuanced approach that could have led to less bloodshed, but both here and in India around the same time, cultural considerations were brushed aside in the name of expediency.

Cultivating understanding of the past can help explain attitudes and actions in the present, and lead to reduced tensions and increased trade opportunities to help develop economies and bring prosperity. The best way to develop mutual understanding is through frequent and clear communication, segregating people into a state of being ‘other’, such as was done to the Hutu and Tutsi in Rwanda, leads to racial discrimination and fear of the unknown, and frequently to tragedy. Ideas are important, and poor communication and a poor understanding of the full consequences of poorly introducing ideas are recipes for disaster.

Middle Eastern & African Studies Academic Proofreading Services are always available to help scholars inform and argue cogently and clearly to reach a better level of mutual understanding for those who choose to make use of such services.