246 climate and geography: The Middle East Persia’s climate was and is characterized by extremes of temperature Some of the world’s highest modern temperatures have been recorded in the central plateau, reaching highs of 132 degrees Fahrenheit Winter temperatures are below freezing; mountainous areas have the coldest temperatures Most of the country is quite dry; the central plateau receives almost no rainfall Some parts of Persia have long been subjected to periodic violent windstorms The most fertile area of Persia in ancient times was along the coast of the Caspian Sea Th is part of the country received by far the most rain and has always had the highest human population of the region The Caspian lowlands were heavily forested with many kinds of trees, including orange, lemon, date, fig, pomegranate, willow, and oak Animals native to the area included Persian gazelles, onagers (wild donkeys), many types of goats and sheep, porcupines, badgers, partridges, and pheasants The Caspian Sea itself was a rich source of food, such as white fi sh, herring, and the valuable sturgeon Persia was located at a crossroads between Asia and Europe By the fifth century b.c.e Persians were regularly trading with their neighbors in India, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Egypt They built and maintained a road from Susa, on the Tigris in Mesopotamia, all the way to Smyrna, the modern Aegean city of İzmir, Turkey, principally to facilitate royal communication throughout the empire but also to permit easy trade with the West This road was called the Persian Royal Road On the other side of Persia, traders from China and India frequently appeared with silks, jade, and other Asian goods Alexander the Great opened a route through Persia and brought eastern traders all the way to Europe By the first century b.c.e there was an established trade route running from China to Rome; this trade route is known as the Silk Road The Silk Road ran through Persia just south of the Caspian Sea and followed the Persian Royal Road to the Mediterranean From there traders could take ship or walk overland to the Aegean coast of Turkey, Egypt, northern Black Sea ports, Rome, North Africa, and Spain Traders carried goods in caravans of carts and pack animals, such as camels and donkeys, selling Chinese and Central Asian goods to people in the West and bringing Western goods back to Asia By the first century c.e Romans were regularly trading with merchants in China, Sri Lanka, India, and Southeast Asia, all of whom transported their goods through Persia and the Near East ARABIA South of Mesopotamia and the Levant lies the Arabian Peninsula It has coasts on the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean Almost all of this vast expanse of land is desert The climate is extremely dry and excessively hot, and very few people lived in it in ancient times The few who did were experts at water conservation The Arabians of the ancient world clustered on the coasts of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf Arabia was of interest to ancient Greeks and Romans chiefly because its coasts provided convenient ports for trade with India Greeks and Macedonians traded with Arabs who brought goods from India and the southern Arabian Peninsula (modern Yemen and Oman) overland by camels; major trade routes ran from Yemen to Medina and from Petra to Syria During the early empire sailors mastered the weather patterns caused by the monsoons in the Indian Ocean, and from then on most trade with India was done by sea ANATOLIA Anatolia is the region that today forms the large Asian portion of the nation of Turkey The western parts of Anatolia are very close to Europe, and during ancient times these regions were the main point of cultural exchange between Asia and Europe People traveling from Mesopotamia, Persia, the Levant, or Egypt went either overland through Anatolia or in ships, hugging the southern Anatolian coast Anatolia is a giant peninsula with coastlines on the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean coastline is pocked with coves and bays that are virtually indistinguishable from one another and hence difficult to navigate In ancient times these coves and bays made ideal hideouts for notorious pirates, such as the pirates who kidnapped Julius Caesar in 75 b.c.e The island of Cyprus lies in the northeast corner of the Mediterranean, in the angle formed where the Anatolian peninsula meets the Levant The Aegean coastline is also rocky and full of islands just offshore Both the mainland coast and the islands attracted large numbers of human inhabitants in ancient times; Lesbos, Kos, Smyrna, and Ephesus are all in this area The area was not good for growing grain, but residents took advantage of other opportunities, such as shipbuilding, marble quarrying, and trade The Dardanelles form a strait between the Aegean and the Sea of Marmara They were a prime strategic location in ancient times; the ancient city of Troy was built on a hill overlooking the southern entry to the straits The Bosphorus was another strategic strait, running between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea The ancient city of Constantinople was built on the southern point of the Bosphorus The area south of the Sea of Marmara was fertile and proved an ideal location for agriculture This fertile plain included the area east of the Bosphorus and the western Anatolian Black Sea coast; the ancient kingdom of Bithynia occupied these areas The eastern part of the Black Sea coast was somewhat isolated from the rest of Anatolia by its steep coastlines The Anatolian plateau itself is high and surrounded by mountains The northern mountains, called the Pontus Mountains, parallel the Black Sea coast The Taurus Mountains parallel the Mediterranean coast Central Anatolia is situated between these two mountain ranges To the east of the plateau the Taurus and Pontus ranges meet, creating the highest peaks in the region; Mount Ararat is the highest point in Anatolia The Tigris and the Euphrates both originate in this region and are fed by snowmelt from the mountains Southeast of the mountains the terrain slopes down to Syria