I admire this guys especialy the fact they did no slaught civillians, and they did not let the world go to armageddon. this two cultures were often at war but this is natural, because they were direct neighbours. "We (Allah and Angels) created many cultures so they will compete in Good". (Quuran) unfortunatelly we are going in a competition in Evil, in War, not in Good.
O.K. the west is leading since 200-300 Years but this changed several times. I doubt the West will continue to lead because decadence, which is normal when a Civilisation is the leading.
How do you think armies lived at the time? They foraged. This means they took their provisions from civilians, leaving them to starve. Sieges also used starvation and disease as weapons. Armageddon wasn't within their grasp, so they can't really be admired for not ending the world. Since when is England a direct neighbor of Egypt?
You don't think terrorism is decadent? The Saudis, Kuwaitis, the UAE, the warlords in Libya and the military in Egypt are all examples of decadence in themselves. Western society remains stronger and more viable than Mideastern.
Libya is very poor, but KSA, Kuwait and the UAE have invested heavily in healthcare, educations, clean water and infrastructure.. Further, KSA has a couple hundred wildlife preserves and the UAE has a hugely successful Green Turtle Project.
Those middle eastern nations, the rich ones, are still totally unsuitable, anachronisms, in a modern secular world, that allows the practice of religion, but is not ruled by those religions. Any culture that is ruled over by militant religious beliefs, the law of the land, is inferior, and generally cannot illustrate the height of human civilization, which involves a live and let live belief system devoid of any and all religious oppression. And religion is oppressive, some much greater than others. How anyone can defend theocracies is utterly nonsensical. If that is your intention. A population is conditioned by the religion that rules over them. So it should surprise no one that muslims can live under a religious ideology and be accepting of it, even as it oppresses their lives. The Jesuits found out a long time ago, that if you give them a child to raise under their belief system, he will in most cases retain such a belief system until he is buried at death. Conditioning is the most powerful thing in this world, even greater than logic, reason, rationality. All people are conditioned. So the nature, the quality of that conditioning makes a great difference. A conditioned being thinks he is free, but he is actually a slave to the conditioning. Thanks god that real intelligence can see this, and break away from it, just by the seeing. So few will ever see.
They are all examples of cultures in decay. Saudi Arabia is still ruled by a king for gossake! Social programs are encouraging news and are evidence all is not lost. However, I think the OP meant social programs when he referred to decadence.
