600CE

The Rise of the Islamic Caliphates

In little more than a century, Arab armies carrying a new faith built one of the largest empires the world had ever seen — from the Atlantic to the Indus.

Stop 01 · 600 CE

Arabia on the Eve of Islam

In 600 CE, the Arabian Peninsula sat between two exhausted superpowers — the Byzantine and Sasanian empires — locked in decades of ruinous war. Arabia itself was a patchwork of tribes, trading towns, and faiths. Into this world, in the city of Mecca, the Prophet Muhammad began preaching around 610 CE.

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