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The Ottoman (Turkish) Empire....
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Empire based around the Turkish sultan, lasting from 1300 till 1922,
and covering at its peak (1683- 99) an area including today's Hungary,
Yugoslavia, Croatia, Bosnia, Albania, Macedonia,
Greece, Romania, Moldova,
Bulgaria, southern Ukraine, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Iraq, Kuwait,
Cyprus, Syria,
Lebanon, Israel, Palestine,
Jordan, eastern and western Saudi
Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, eastern Yemen, Egypt, northern Libya, Tunisia, and
northern Algeria.
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The Ottoman Empire was
not a Turkish empire as such, since Turks did not profit more from the
benefits of the state than the peoples in non-Turkish territories.
And even though the first sultans were Turkish, they generally married
non-Turkish women, so the race of later sultans was not Turkish either. The
empire was through most of its period not a state in the modern sense of the
word, but more of a military administration. |
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While the Ottoman Empire at its death bed had few
friends, it still had offered its inhabitants many benefits through most of
its existence. For Muslims it was considered as a defence against the
non-Muslim world. For non-Muslims it offered a better life and more security
than Christian states up until the 18th century. |
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The Holy Temple of Agia Sofia (Above right) was built
during the period when emperor of the Byzantine Empire was Justinian the
Great. Is one of the biggest temple constructed ever after the temple of
Solomon in Jerusalem. Sofia is the Greek
word for Wisdom. So the Temple is
dedicated to the Holy Wisdom of God. It is an enormous and magnificent
structure with an extremely large dome which dominates the exterior of the
building. The Architectural style of this Byzantine Temple is domed
basilica. Its architects were Anthemius from Tralles and Isidorus from
Miletus. |
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