The Middle East as we know it today emerged from the disintegration and dismantlement of the Ottoman Empire.The story of Ottoman history involves not only the Ottoman dynasty but the many peoples who ruled the empire and were ruled by it: Turks, Arabs, Serbs, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Bulgars, Hungarians, Albanians, North Africans and others. It constitutes the history of the major religious groups among these subjects: Muslims, Christians and Jews. It takes into account the relations between the Ottomans and their neighbours in Europe, Asia and Africa -- their wars, conquests, diplomatic ventures, territorial losses, reconstituted identities. It includes the history of the the political, administrative, and social institutions incorporated into this multi-national, multi-cultural entity. It is the story of the rise and fall of empire. It is the story of the traumatic birth of the Middle East in the twentieth century.

• Hexagonal box for a manuscript of the Quran, Istanbul, 1505-6