Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Moshe Gil, A History of Palestine, 

634–1099 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 

1992); Walter Laquer and Barry Rubin, The Israel-Arab 

Reader: A Documentary History of the Middle East Con-

flict. 6th ed. (New York: Penguin Books, 2001); Ber-

nard Reich, A Brief History of Israel (New York: Facts 

On File, 2004); Paul Wheatley, The Places Where Men 

Pray Together: Cities in Islamic Lands, 7th through the 

10th Centuries (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 

2001), 112–126.

Istanbul

 

(Constantinople)

The present-day city of Istanbul is the largest in 

t

Urkey

 and once was the capital of both the Byz-

antine and Ottoman Empires. It straddles both 

sides of the Bosporus, the narrow strait connect-

ing the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea and from 

there to the Mediterranean. It separates Europe 

from Asia, thus making Istanbul the only city in 

the world to sit astride two continents. Its unique 

position has also given the city strategic impor-

tance throughout history.

The city was founded in the seventh cen-

tury 

b

.

c

.

e

. as Byzantium and, after falling under 

Roman rule, eventually became the capital of the 

Roman Empire under Constantine the Great in