The Byzantine Empire

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The Byzantine Empire
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Byzantine means?

• Byzantium was an ancient Greek city-state, which
  was founded by Greek colonists in 667 B.C.E. and
  named after their king Byzas or Byzantas.
• Byzantine is both Greek and Latin.

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Where was the Byzantine Empire?

• Between the Black Sea and the entrance of the
  Mediterranean Sea
• Capital was Constantinople (present-day Istanbul,
  Turkey)
• All trade between Asia, Europe, and North Africa
  had to pass through the Byzantine Empire,
  therefore the empire became very very wealthy!

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Origins of the Byzantine Empire

• When the Roman Empire was declining, the emperor
  divided it in half --- western Europe ran by
  Charlemagne and the eastern half was the
  Byzantine Empire
• Western Europe Christianity
• Eastern Europe Eastern Orthodox

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Eastern Orthodox

• Churches that did not follow the formal
  leadership of the Pope in Rome
• Lots of Icons (Greek word means image which
  is religious work of art)
• In homes icons are placed on the eastern facing
  walls

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Byzantine Empire

• Byzantine Empire preservation of the Roman and
  Greek culture
• Empire collapsed in 1453 due to invasions by the
  Ottomans (The Sultan)

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Ottoman Empire

• Ottoman Empire lasted from 1299-1923
• It encompassed Southeast Europe to Western Asia
  plus North Africa
• Religion was and is Islam (Muslim)
• Asia Minor Ottoman Empire -- Turkey