Black Dog of Fate: A Memoir

Peter references Armenian traditions and cultures as products of the Near East. The places are not exactly synonymous—ancient Armenia was within the geographic scope known as the Near East, comprised of the lands between the Mediterranean Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf in southwest Asia. The Ottoman and Persian Empires, who traded with Europeans, conquered much of this land in various historical moments. Europeans forged the term “Near East” in reference to these networks. The image of a near East contrasted with conceptions of the Far East—coastal and southeastern Asia—countries like China and Japan, also of interest to European traders in the ancient and modern world. The Near East encapsulates portions of countries commentators today also describe as the Caucuses and the Middle East. 

Anatolia is a historical geographical term that describes the large peninsula in West Asia that extends into the Black, Aegean, and Mediterranean Seas. It is also known as “Asia Minor.” Anatolia is a historically diverse place, as many different ancient and modern empires conquered and ruled the region. Some of the earliest known human civilizations populated lands in proximity to this peninsula before the Hittites, Greeks, Byzantines, and various Turkish peoples occupied it.