Another mild mindfuck. The Arabian peninsula is approximately as large as Western Europe (1.25 vs 1.33m sq miles).

India alone is also about the same (1.27m) while South Asia is larger (1.98m, about the size of all of Europe at 2m)

Even if you conceptually appreciate the distortions of the Mercator projection, actually playing with a globe is kind mind-boggling.

The ancient near east in my head anon is a small squeezed area between Western Europe and India but it’s actually about as large as either. 1.16m sq miles. This includes Anatolia, Levant, Mesopotamia and Persia (which has usually included Afghanistan) but not Arabia. As this globe view suggests, we underestimate the size because it’s a long narrow belt with bodies of water messing with intuitions. This view feels more in tune with the Bronze Age empires.

This also makes me sadder that much of it is likely out of bounds for safe visiting for my lifetime

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