The Arab World Under Empires | Charles Al-Hayek | Boukra #1

<p>In the first episode of Boukra, historian Charles Al-Hayek shows Mouin Jaber how Rome, Byzantium, the caliphates and the Ottomans still shape the Middle East today, from our politics and our food to the titles we still use today. Did Rome ever really fall? What do we actually know about the early Islamic conquests? And why do we keep looking to the past to tell us who we are?</p><p>Why did Jupiter lose his beard in Baalbek?<br />Did cities really open their gates to the early Muslim armies?<br />Why did an Ottoman sultan call himself Caesar of the Romans?<br />Why didn't people eat raw kibbeh the way we do today?</p><p>في الحلقة الأولى من بكرة، يشرح لنا صديقي والمؤرّخ شارل الحايك كيف لا يزال أثر روما وبيزنطة والخلافات الإسلامية والحكم العثماني مترسّخًا في واقع الشرق الأوسط حتى اليوم، سواء من خلال تأثير هالحقبات على سياساتنا، أو حتى على أكلنا والألقاب يلي ما زلنا نستخدمها.</p><p>هل سقطت روما فعلًا؟<br />ماذا نعرف عن الفتوحات الإسلامية الأولى؟ ولماذا نعود باستمرار إلى الماضي لنعرف من نحن اليوم؟<br />لماذا فقد جوبيتر لحيته في بعلبك؟<br />هل فتحت المدن أبوابها فعلًا أمام الجيوش الإسلامية الأولى؟<br />لماذا أطلق سلطان عثماني على نفسه لقب قيصر الروم؟<br />ليش ما كانوا الناس ياكلوا الكبة النيّة قد ما مناكلها نحن اليوم؟</p><p>Follow Boukra on Spotify for new episodes, and leave a rating if you enjoyed listening.<br />Find more episodes and clips:<br /><a href="https://bit.ly/boukrapodcast" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/boukrapodcast</a></p><p>Chapters<br />00:00 Intro: Thinking about the Roman Empire<br />04:28 Baalbek: where Jupiter lost his beard<br />06:49 Why men keep thinking about Rome<br />09:10 The Byzantines weren’t “Byzantine”<br />14:19 How Byzantium shaped Europe and Islam<br />16:26 When did Rome really fall?<br />20:06 The world war before Islam<br />26:48 Who would succeed the Prophet?<br />29:01 Early Islamic conquests: war or deals?<br />31:03 What the Umayyads really looked like<br />34:12 Baghdad’s golden age and its decline<br />43:37 Slavery, minorities and victimhood<br />50:36 Our ancestors had no Panadol<br />55:22 The Ottomans: a Muslim Rome?<br />01:01:15 How Europe copied the Ottomans<br />01:03:11 Is our food actually Ottoman?<br />01:10:11 Why we resent the Ottomans<br />01:12:57 What about Boukra, tomorrow?<br />01:16:39 How dictators use history</p><p>About Boukra<br />Boukra (بُكْرَة), adverb: tomorrow<br />a.k.a for Arabs: Soon. Never. A promise. A threat. An excuse. A plan<br />In classical Arabic