Arabian Desert in the context of "Syrian Desert"

The Tigris (/ˈtaɪɡrɪs/ TY-griss; see below) is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, before merging with the Euphrates and reaching to the Persian Gulf.

The Tigris passes through historical cities like Mosul, Tikrit, Samarra, and Baghdad. It is also home to archaeological sites and ancient religious communities, including the Mandaeans, who use it for baptism. In ancient times, the Tigris nurtured the Assyrian Empire, with remnants like the relief of King Tiglath-Pileser.

Ottoman Syria (Arabic: سوريا العثمانية) is a historiographical term used to describe the group of divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of the Levant, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Arabian Desert and south of the Taurus Mountains.

Ottoman Syria was organized by the Ottomans upon conquest from the Mamluk Sultanate in the early 16th century as a single eyalet (province) of the Damascus Eyalet. In 1534, the Aleppo Eyalet was split into a separate administration. The Tripoli Eyalet was formed out of Damascus province in 1579 and later the Adana Eyalet was split from Aleppo. In 1660, the Eyalet of Safed was established and shortly afterwards renamed the Sidon Eyalet; in 1667, the Mount Lebanon Emirate was given special autonomous status within the Sidon province, but was abolished in 1841 and reconfigured in 1861 as the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate. The Syrian eyalets were later transformed into the Syria Vilayet, the Aleppo Vilayet and the Beirut Vilayet, following the 1864 Tanzimat reforms. Finally, in 1872, the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem was split from the Syria Vilayet into an autonomous administration with a special status.

Arabia Petraea (lit. 'Rocky Arabia') was a Roman province from the 2nd century to the 7th century. It was established after the Roman Empire conquered the Nabataean Kingdom in 106 and existed until the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 630s. Spanning much of the Sinai Peninsula and part of the Levant, it was bordered by Syria to the north, by Judaea (later Syria Palaestina) to the west, and by Egypt to the southwest. To the east and southeast of Arabia Petraea was non-Roman territory that the Romans knew as Arabia Deserta. These two regions, together with a third region in South Arabia that was called Arabia Felix, accounted for the Arabian Peninsula in Roman geography.

Annexed by Trajan (r. 98–117), Arabia Petraea was a key province along the Limes Arabicus, which delineated the Roman Empire's borders throughout the Arabian Desert. It was also the only province in the Near East that the Romans did not gain and subsequently lose during Trajan's reign, unlike Armenia, Assyria, and Mesopotamia. The province's capital city was initially Petra, as it had been under the Nabataeans, but Bosra later served in this capacity. Most of the province's land was a vast desert that was sparsely populated by nomadic Arab tribes, though there were several urban settlements closer to the Jordan River.

The Rub' al Khali (/ˈrʊb æl ˈkɑːli/; Arabic: ٱلرُّبْع ٱلْخَالِي, lit. 'Empty Quarter', [ar.rʊbʕ‿al.χaːliː]) is a desert encompassing most of the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula. The desert covers some 650,000 km (250,000 sq mi) (the area of long. 44.5°−56.5°E, and lat. 16.5°−23.0°N), including parts of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It is part of the larger Arabian Desert.

The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (/ˈbɛduɪn/ BED-oo-in; Arabic: بَدْو, romanized: badw, singular بَدَوِي badawī) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq/Kuwait). The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and Arabian Desert but spread across the rest of the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa after the spread of Islam. The English word bedouin comes from the Arabic badawī, which means "desert-dweller", and is traditionally contrasted with ḥāḍir, the term for sedentary people. Bedouin territory stretches from the vast deserts of North Africa to the rocky ones of the Middle East. They are sometimes traditionally divided into tribes, or clans (known in Arabic as ʿašāʾir; عَشَائِر or qabāʾil قبائل), and historically share a common culture of herding camels, sheep and goats. The vast majority of Bedouins adhere to Islam, although there are a small number of Christian Bedouins present in the Fertile Crescent.

Bedouins have been referred to by various names throughout history, including Arabaa by the Assyrians (ar-ba-ea), being a nisba of the noun Arab, a name still used for Bedouins today. They are referred to as the ʾAʿrāb (أعراب) "aɛrāb" in Arabic. While many Bedouins have abandoned their nomadic and tribal traditions for a modern urban lifestyle, others retain traditional Bedouin culture such as the traditional ʿašāʾir clan structure, traditional music, poetry, dances (such as saas), and many other cultural practices and concepts. Some urbanized Bedouins often organise cultural festivals, usually held several times a year, in which they gather with other Bedouins to partake in and learn about various Bedouin traditions—from poetry recitation and traditional sword dances to playing traditional instruments and even classes teaching traditional tent knitting. Traditions like camel riding and camping in the deserts are still popular leisure activities for urban Bedouins who live in close proximity to deserts or other wilderness areas.

The influence of ancient Rome in the Arabian Peninsula took root through extensive commerce between Arabs and Romans, who frequently traded with each other on the incense route and the spice route. The Romans knew of Arabia in three roughly divided regions: Arabia Petraea (lit. 'Rocky Arabia'), Arabia Deserta (lit. 'Deserted Arabia'), and Arabia Felix (lit. 'Fertile Arabia'). Collectively, they were a natural stop on the Roman trade route with India, especially by way of the Red Sea. While the Roman Republic had held territory in the Levant, it was not until the time of the Roman Empire that parts of Arabia proper came under Roman rule.

Arabia Petraea was a Roman province that was established after the Roman conquest of the Nabataean Kingdom in 106, consisting of the Sinai Peninsula and parts of the Southern Levant. Arabia Deserta referred to the uncontrolled and sparsely populated interior of the Arabian Peninsula, namely the vast Arabian Desert, which was inhabited by various Arab tribes. Arabia Felix, referring to South Arabia, was home to many independent Arab kingdoms, which variously traded with or fought wars against the Romans.

The Levant is the area in Southwest Asia, south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the Arabian Desert in the south, and Mesopotamia in the east. It stretches roughly 400 mi (640 km) north to south, from the Taurus Mountains to the Sinai Peninsula and Syrian Desert, and east to west between the Mediterranean Sea and the Khabur river. The term is often used to refer to the following regions or modern states: Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Hatay Province in Turkey. More broadly it also includes: Sinai (Egypt), Cilicia (Turkey) and Cyprus.

The Levant is one of the earliest centers of sedentism and agriculture in history, and some of the earliest agrarian cultures, Pre-Pottery Neolithic, developed in the region. Previously regarded as a peripheral region in the ancient Near East, modern academia largely considers the Levant as a center of civilization on its own, independent of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Throughout the Bronze and Iron ages, the Levant was home to many ancient Semitic-speaking peoples and kingdoms, and is considered by many to be the urheimat of Semitic languages.