Arab people in the context of "Greater Middle East"

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⭐ Core Definition: Arab people

Arabs (Arabic: عَرَب) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Before the spread of Arabic language in the wake of the Arab conquests, "Arab" largely referred to the Semitic inhabitants—both settled and nomadic—of the Arabian Peninsula and the Syrian Desert. In modern usage, it includes people from across the Greater Middle East that share Arabic as a native language.

Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years. In the 9th century BCE, the Assyrians made written references to Arabs as inhabitants of the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Arabia. Throughout the Ancient Near East, Arabs established influential civilizations starting from 3000 BCE onwards, such as Dilmun, Gerrha, and Magan, playing a vital role in trade between Mesopotamia, and the Mediterranean. Other prominent tribes include Midian, ʿĀd, and Thamud mentioned in the Bible and Quran. Later, in 900 BCE, the Qedarites enjoyed close relations with the nearby Canaanite and Aramaean states, and their territory extended from Lower Egypt to the Southern Levant. From 1200 BCE to 110 BCE, powerful kingdoms emerged such as Saba, Lihyan, Minaean, Qataban, Hadhramaut, Awsan, and Homerite emerged in Arabia. According to the Abrahamic tradition, Arabs are descendants of Abraham through his son Ishmael.

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Arab people in the context of Ummah

Ummah (/ˈʊmə/; Arabic: أُمَّة [ˈʊm.mæ]) is an Arabic word meaning Muslim identity, nation, religious community, or the concept of a Commonwealth of the Muslim Believers (أمة المؤمنين ummat al-muʼminīn). It is a synonym for ummat al-Islām (أمّةْ الإِسْلَامُ, lit. 'the Islamic nation'); it is commonly used to mean the collective community of Muslim people. In the Quran, the ummah typically refers to a single group that shares common religious beliefs, specifically those that are the objects of a divine plan of salvation. The word ummah (pl. umam [ˈʊmæm]) means nation in Arabic. For example, the Arabic term for the United Nations is الأمم المتحدة al-Umam al-Muttaḥidah, and the term الأمة العربية al-Ummah al-ʻArabiyyah is used to refer to "the Arab Nation".

Ummah is distinguished from shaʻb (شَعْب [ˈʃæʕb], "people"), which means a nation with common ancestry or geography. The word ummah differs from the concept of a country or people. In its greater context it is used to describe a larger group of people. For example, in Arabic the word شعب shaʻab ("people") would be used to describe the citizens of Syria. However, the term ummah is used to describe the Arab people as a whole, which includes Syrians as well as the people of the Arab world. Ummah can be a supra-national polity with a common history and identity based on religion. Pan-Islamism advocates for the unity of Muslims in one nation as an Islamic country or an Islamic state.

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Arab people in the context of Segre (river)

The Segre (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈsɛɣɾə] or [ˈseɣɾe]; French: Sègre) is a river tributary to the Ebro (Ebre in Catalan) with a basin comprising territories across three states: France, Andorra, and Spain.

The river Segre, known to Romans and Greeks as Sicoris, and to the Arabs of Al-Andalus as Nahr az-Zaytūn (نهر الزيتون, river of Olives) has its sources on the north face of the Pic del Segre or Puigmal de Segre ("Segre's Peak") in the French department Pyrénées-Orientales (historically the comarca of Alta Cerdanya), in the Catalan Pyrenees. It follows a western direction all along the Cerdanya (Cerdagne) Valley, and crosses the town Saillagouse, the Spanish exclave Llívia, and Bourg-Madame.

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Arab people in the context of Arabian tribes

The tribes of Arabia (Arabic: القبائل العربية) have inhabited the Arabian Peninsula for thousands of years and traditionally trace their ancestry to one of two forefathers: Adnan, whose descendants originate from West Arabia, North Arabia, East Arabia, and Central Arabia; or Qahtan, whose descendants originate from South Arabia. Further, it is held in the Abrahamic religions—particularly Islam—that the Arab people are descended from Abraham through his son Ishmael.

From the 7th century onward, concurrent with the spread of Islam, many of these tribes' members began migrating and settling in the various regions that were subdued during the early Muslim conquests, including the Levant, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Khuzestan, the Maghreb, and Sudan. This phenomenon triggered a process of Arabization that significantly influenced demographic shifts across most of West Asia and North Africa, culminating in the growth of the Arab population far beyond the Arabian Peninsula.

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Arab people in the context of Arab diaspora

Arab diaspora (Arabic: الشتات العربي, romanizedash-shatāt al-ʿarabī) is a term that refers to descendants of the Arab emigrants who, voluntarily or forcibly, migrated from their native lands to non-Arab countries, primarily in the Americas, Europe, Southeast Asia, and West Africa.

Immigrants from Arab countries, such as Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, also form significant diasporas in other Arab states – see Palestinian refugees and refugees of the Syrian civil war.

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Arab people in the context of Shalmaneser III

Shalmaneser III (Šulmānu-ašarēdu, "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 859 BC to 824 BC.

His long reign was a constant series of campaigns against the eastern tribes, the Babylonians, the nations of Mesopotamia, Syria, as well as Kizzuwadna and Urartu. His armies penetrated to Lake Van and the Taurus Mountains; the Neo-Hittites of Carchemish were compelled to pay tribute, and the kingdoms of Hamath and Aram Damascus were subdued. It is in the annals of Shalmaneser III from the 850s BC that the Arabs and Chaldeans first appear in recorded history.

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Arab people in the context of History of Arabs in Afghanistan

The history of Arabs in Afghanistan spans over one millennium since the 7th century beginning with the Islamic expansion all the way until the early 20th century. The Ethnic Arabs of Afghanistan are an ethnic minority making up 1-2% of the country's population. They speak a distinct dialect of Arabic called Central Asian Arabic along with either Dari (Persian) or Pashto. Most of the early Arab communities in Afghanistan gradually lost their native language. However, a number of villages commonly referred to as Qaryeh-ye ʿArabhā (“villages of Arabs”) continue to preserve Arabic as a spoken language. Within these communities, traditional dress, cultural practices, and other markers of Arab heritage have also been retained. In recent years, renewed efforts have emerged to safeguard not only the Arabic language but also the broader Arab identity in Afghanistan, particularly under the current government, reflecting an increased recognition of the cultural and historical significance of this minority population.

Afghan Arabs are still considered a recognisable distinct ethnic group according to the Constitution of Afghanistan. Afghans who carry titles and surnames such as Sayyid, Hashimi, Quraishi, and Tamimi are usually of Arab descent.

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