The first work to offer 5,000 years of authoritative historical coverage of ancient and modern cities in the Middle East and North Africa-from their founding to the present-highlighting each city's cultural, social, political, and economic significance. * Coverage of 100 ancient and modern cities in the Middle East and North Africa * 19 academic contributors from this region as well as from Europe and the United States * Annotated timeline locating cities within their historical and imperial contexts * 44 illustrations including the Venetian fortifications of Nicosia, the ziggurat in Ur, and the Silk Market in Cairo * 8 maps including an overview map of all the cities listed in the book and sub-regional maps to clarify their location