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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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 Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 3:43 am Post subject: The first established universities in the MENA |
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Just some mindless trivia...
The first formally-established universities (excluding madrasas) by country:
In the GCC:Bahrain: University of Bahrain (previously Gulf Polytechnic), 1968
Kuwait: Kuwait University, 1966
Oman: Sultan Qaboos University, 1986
Qatar: Qatar University, 1973
Saudi Arabia: King Saud University 1957
The UAE: UAE University, 1976
Elsewhere in the Middle East/North Africa:Algeria: University of Algiers, 1909
Egypt: Cairo University, 1908
Iraq: University of Baghdad, 1956
Israel: Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1918
Jordan: University of Jordan, 1962
Lebanon: American University of Beirut, 1866
Libya: University of Libya, 1956
Morocco: University of Rabat, 1957
Sudan: University of Khartoum (previously Gordon Memorial College), 1902
Syria: University of Damascus, 1923
Tunisia: Tunis University, 1960
Yemen: Sana'a University, 1970 |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 5:24 am Post subject: |
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Interesting that the oldest is AUB in 1866.
VS |
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gregory999
Joined: 29 Jul 2015
Posts: 372
Location: 999
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 8:52 am Post subject: |
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No IRAN in your list, nomad soul?
Ayatollah Rohani will be upset you did not include his prestigious old universities/institutes in your list (or is it an American embargo!  )
IRAN:
University of Tehran, 1934, founded by Rezā Shāh, incorporating portions of the Dar ul-Funun Polytechnic Institute (1851) and the Tehran School of Political Sciences (1899).
So, Dar ul-Funun Polytechnic Institute (1851) is the oldest in the MENA region, 16 years before the American University invaded Lebanon.
I am going to visit TEHRAN next month ............. |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 9:05 am Post subject: |
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| gregory999 wrote: |
| No IRAN in your list, nomad soul? |
I chose to leave it and Turkey off the list. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 4:00 pm Post subject: |
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Many would exclude both of them from MENA. Neither are Arabic speaking countries.
VS |
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gregory999
Joined: 29 Jul 2015
Posts: 372
Location: 999
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 4:35 pm Post subject: |
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Israel is not an Arabic speaking country is listed under the MENA term.
The term MENA covers an extensive region, extending from Morocco to Iran, including all Middle Eastern and Maghreb countries. The term is roughly synonymous with the term the Greater Middle East.
Due to the geographic ambiguity and Eurocentric nature of the term "Middle East", many people prefer use of the term WANA (West Asia and North Africa)[3] or the less common NAWA (North Africa-West Asia).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MENA |
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sheikh radlinrol
Joined: 30 Jan 2007
Posts: 1222
Location: Spain
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 8:22 pm Post subject: |
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| gregory999 wrote: |
No IRAN in your list, nomad soul?
Ayatollah Rohani will be upset you did not include his prestigious old universities/institutes in your list (or is it an American embargo! )
I am going to visit TEHRAN next month ............. |
Surely it should be ¨I am visiting Tehran next month¨since your travel arrangements have already been made? ¨I am going to visit Tehran next month¨ suggests that you are annoyed by the other poster´s omission and that you intend to take it up with your friends, the Mullahs.  |
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hash
Joined: 17 Dec 2014
Posts: 456
Location: Wadi Jinn
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 8:39 pm Post subject: |
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| gregory999 wrote: |
| Israel is not an Arabic speaking country is listed under the MENA term. |
I don't know where you got your info, but Israel is definitely an Arabic speaking country. It is actually one of two official languages in that country with native Arabic speakers numbering close to 2 million. That's a big minority in a country with about 9 million inhabitants.
Although the newly coined term MENA, the more common Middle East and the older Near East were originally geographical designations, in the last 10 or 20 years they have come to mean, in everyday parlance, the Arab "world" - the countries where Arabic is the predominant language AND where Islam is the predominant religion. Thus non-Arabic speaking Turkey and Iran and non-Islamic Israel are generally not included, let alone Afghanistan and Pakistan. But it does include Sudan (Islamic and Arabic but not Arab) and the very distant Morocco.
It's interesting to note that the term Middle East exists in Arabic as a calque from English. Arabic readers on this forum will know it as Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat, not only the name of the area, but also the name of the most widely circulated and read Arabic newspaper in the world.
In the Arab mind, the "Middle East" would also include some other African countries such as Mauritania and Chad (where Arabic is an official language).
But it does not include such culturally distant areas such as some of the Islamic Balkan countries or even Malta (Maltese is a full-fledged dialect of Arabic).
That leaves Iberia, or, in the Arab imagination, Al-Andalus. Even now in their heart of hearts and in their nostalgic dreams, most Arabs have not quite given up on the eventual triumphant return of Spain to the Arab fold. Even today, a few ancient families remain in Tunis, Algeria and Morocco clutching keys to their medieval villas in Sevilla and Cordoba in hopes of returning at last to reclaim their rightful inheritance.
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Last edited by hash on Fri Apr 15, 2016 9:36 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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gregory999
Joined: 29 Jul 2015
Posts: 372
Location: 999
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 9:32 pm Post subject: |
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| hash wrote: |
Although the newly coined term MENA, the more common Middle East and the older Near East were originally geographical designations, in the last 10 or 20 years they have come to mean, in everyday parlance, the Arab "world" - the countries where Arabic is the predominant language AND where Islam is the predominant religion. Thus non-Arabic speaking Turkey and Iran and non-Islamic Israel are generally not included, let alone Afghanistan and Pakistan. But it does include Sudan (Islamic and Arabic but not Arab) and the very distant Morocco.
In the Arab mind, the "Middle East" would also include some other African countries such as Mauritania and Chad (where Arabic is an official language).
But it does not include such culturally distant areas such as some of the Islamic Balkan countries or even Malta (Maltese is a full-fledged dialect of Arabic). |
The Middle East stretches across three continents: Africa, Asia and Europe.
1. Middle East Under British colonial influence: start from Egypt in the West and ends at Iran in the east, and from Turkey in the north to Yemen in the south. (see the Library of Congress map of the Middle East).
2. Middle East and North Africa start from Mauritania in the west to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east, and Turkey to Yemen (see the Library of Congress map of the Middle East).
3. The CIA World Factbook separate Africa from the Middle East, and include Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia to the Arabian gulf countries, and from Israel to Iran.
4. The UN uses a map on which the Middle East is from Libya to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
And no, Israel is not an Arabic speaking country, it is an "Occupying Power" of Arab lands. |
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hash
Joined: 17 Dec 2014
Posts: 456
Location: Wadi Jinn
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 9:53 pm Post subject: |
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| gregory999 wrote: |
The Middle East stretches across three continents: Africa, Asia and Europe. |
Ok, now I know where you got your info. How the British colonials viewed the geography of the ME has no bearing on the modern interpretation of the ME except as a curious historical blip.
Both the Library of Congress's and the CIA's "maps" reflect outdated facts and figures (and are and have always been largely the results of wishful thinking fantasies).
The UN map has always been "upside down". If its ME map doesn't include Morocco or Mauritania but it includes Pakistan and Afghanistan, it's no wonder the UN hasn't been able to solve any of the world's problems in more than half a century. (Everybody knows that Pakistan, Afghanistan really form part of the greater Hindustan, not the Middle East). (Or to be more exact, they form part of the greater Indo-Persian sphere of influence).
As to Israel not being a country where Arabic is spoken, I guess one can say that using the same logic that refuses to accept that Spanish is spoken in the USA largely as a 2nd official language.
Last edited by hash on Fri Apr 15, 2016 10:12 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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gregory999
Joined: 29 Jul 2015
Posts: 372
Location: 999
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 10:07 pm Post subject: |
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| hash wrote: |
| Arabic readers on this forum will know it as Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat, not only the name of the area, but also the name of the most widely circulated and read Arabic newspaper in the world. |
I am an Arabic reader, and I speak the classical Arabic as well the colloquial Arabic of Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.
Asharq Al-Awsat is approved by the the Saudi government.[2] The newspaper is owned by Faisal bin Salman, a member of the Saudi royal family, and is not the most read Arabic newspaper in the World.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asharq_Al-Awsat
Al-Hayat is one of the leading daily pan-Arab newspapers, with a circulation estimated over 200,000. It is the newspaper of record for the Arab diaspora and the preferred venue for liberal intellectuals who wish to express themselves to a large public. Though rather pro-West and pro-Saudi with respect to articles concerning the Arabian peninsula, it is quite open to various opinions concerning other regional questions.
The newspaper "is regarded as by far and away the best and most intensely read Arab newspaper", according to a 1997 article in The New York Times.[5] A 2005 article in the same paper described Al-Hayat as a "decidedly Arab nationalist paper".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Hayat |
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hash
Joined: 17 Dec 2014
Posts: 456
Location: Wadi Jinn
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 10:53 pm Post subject: |
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| gregory999 wrote: |
I am an Arabic reader, and I speak the classical Arabic as well the colloquial Arabic of Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. |
Wow...Sibawayh (سيبويه ) in the flesh !
| gregory999 wrote: |
| Asharq Al-Awsat is approved by the the Saudi government.[2] The newspaper is owned by Faisal bin Salman, a member of the Saudi royal family, and is not the most read Arabic newspaper in the World. |
Al Hayat is also approved by the Saudi government and is in fact owned by Prince Khalid bin Sultan, also a member of the Saudi royal family.
As far as Asharq Al-Awsat, we read: "Launched in London in 1978, and printed on four continents in 14 cities.The paper is often billed as "the leading Arab daily newspaper", and calls itself "the premier pan-Arab daily newspaper" based on the fact that past estimates of its circulation have given it the largest circulation of the off-shore Pan-Arab dailies, a category including its chief competitor Al-Hayat." (info from Wikipedia).
Not that any of this matters - It's possible Al Hayat currently has a larger circulation. I don't see where any of this matters to the boundaries of the area known as the "Middle East".
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