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648 CE

This year falls in the Early Middle Ages (c. 500–1000 CE). In western Europe new kingdoms replace the western Roman Empire, while the Byzantine Empire continues in the east. Islam begins in Arabia in the seventh century and its caliphates soon reach from Spain to Central Asia, and China is reunited under the Sui and Tang dynasties.

Within fifteen years

Ruler · Early Middle Ages · SyriaAbd al-Malik646–705Umayyad caliph from 685 to 705, born in 646, who reunited the Islamic world after civil war. He built the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, made Arabic the language of government, and struck the first purely Islamic coinage. His reign fixed the shape of the caliphate for a century.

Civilization · Early Middle Ages · Umayyad CaliphateUmayyad Caliphate661–750The Umayyad Caliphate was the first great Muslim empire, ruling from Spain to India within a century of Muhammad's death. Its capital Damascus became one of the world's great cities. The Abbasids overthrew it in 750.

Ruler · Early Middle Ages · Saudi ArabiaUmar ibn al-Khattabr. 634–644Second caliph of Islam, ruling from 634 to 644, born about 584. Under him Arab armies destroyed the Sassanid Persian Empire and took Syria, Palestine and Egypt from Byzantium. He organized the conquered lands with garrison cities and a register of pensions, laying the foundations of the Islamic state.