Posted at Oct 12/2007 09:28AM:
Elisa Foster: The Sasanian empire dominated was has been called the Near East (Iraq, Persia, part of Arabia (Nepum desert)) before the rise of Islam in this area. The Sasanians vied for power with the Byzantine Empire, the other major civilization that dominated the Late Antique Period (Post-Classical). However, unlike the Byzantine Empire, which persisted into the fifteenth century, the Sasanian Empire witnessed a complete collapse after the rise of Islam in this region. The Sasanians controled trade with the Far East through the silk road and also dominated trade in the Persian Gulf. Unlike the Byzantine Empire, the people of the Sasanian empire practiced a diversity of religious traditions such as zorastrianism, Christianity (primarily monophyte) Hinduism and Buddhism. The ruled from a top-down form of political organization dominated by the political elites. These elites who converted to Islam thus maintained their control after the conquest.

Posted at Oct 15/2007 03:36PM:
Ian: This difference between the Sasanians and the Byzantines has meant that the influence of Persian culture as part of the matrix of Islamic society has been an internal dynamic. This is significant because of how Persian language, thought, and culture become more readily adopted as part of the Islamic tradition. It has also meant that Persian groups by the time of the Abbasid empire begin to have increasing political and economic influence in what was an Arab dominated state apparatus. This is compared to those indegenous populations that were formerly part of the Byzantine empire.