Peoples of the
Middle East

(note: see SUPPLEMENTALS at end of article for historical asides)

If you have read the article “Mesopotamia Civilizations” you are beginning to realize that the current panorama of the Middle East is not a historically accurate representation of how the region has always been. The earliest records in the region are from the Sumerian civilization and go back over 4,500 years ago. It was out of this early civilization that Abraham of what would become the ethnic nation of Israel came circa 2100 BC.

Many of the ethnic groups of the region in the modern era claim Abraham as their forefather. Abraham (originally known as Abram) came into the land of Canaan from the north, the Fertile Crescent and Ur of the Chaldees, with his wife Sarah (formerly Sarai) and nephew Lot and Abram’s household members. This group journeys into Canaan and then eventually into Egypt before finally coming back to settle in Canaan. During this journey back, Abram and Lot separate and settle in different parts of Canaan. The history of Lot has him becoming the father of Moab and ben-Ammi out of whom comes the Moabites (southern Jordan) and the Ammonites (Jordan).

Sarai was barren and to continue Abram’s genealogy, Sarai gave Abram her Egyptian servant Hagar to him to raise up an heir. Out of this comes Hagar and Abram’s son Ishmael; because of Sarai’s distress over Abram’s affections for his son and her discord with Hagar, the family splits following the birth of Abram’s second son but God blesses Ishmael with twelve sons out of whom comes many of the Semitic ethnic groups in the Arabic nations. Ishmael also has at least one daughter who will become the third wife of Abram’s grandson Esau.

According to Abram’s history, God then reiterates that Sarai will be the mother of many nations and in this restating of intentions, Abram’s name is changed to Abraham and Sarai’s to Sarah. At age ninety-nine, Abraham has a new vision of his future, enough that he accepts the new identities. The following year, his son Isaac is born to Sarah. Isaac has two sons, Jacob and Esau. Jacob is somewhat of a conniver but has an inner character that God favors. Jacob’s name eventually is changed by God to Israel and he has twelve sons who become the forefathers of the twelve tribes of Israel. Esau likes to do things his own way and becomes more of a “wild” man. Out of his sons comes the Edomites, Amalekites and Kenizzites.

Abraham is not done with offspring though and after the death of Sarah, Abraham weds Keturah who gives him another six sons which included the forefather of the Midianites. Many of the Bedouin tribes of Arabia claim lineage to Abraham through Hagar or Keturah.

The kingdom of Israel was one of the forces in the region from c. 1000 to 586 BC as a nation but the region also saw the Assyrian Empire, the Babylonian Empire, Persians, the presence of Egypt and then the Macedoneon influence under Alexander the Great in the 300s BC which left the Ptolemies and the Seleucids in place after his death. There was a second Jewish kingdom, the Hasmoneans, for about a century until the Roman Republic exerted itself across the region in the first century BC. The Roman Republic was followed by the Roman Empire which dominated the Levant until the Byzantines spread across the region. The rise of the Rashidun Caliphate and its invasion of Byzantine Syria brought Islam and the Muslim rule by 638 AD across much of the western Middle East and strengthened its power in the Arabian world. The Muslim conquest later turned north with incursions into Asia Minor (Turkey) which forced the Byzantines back into that region. The Caliphate Empires remained strong for 400 years until the rise of the early Crusades and 150 years of European incursions and disorder. The Mamluks (mercenaries who served whoever, Arab or Ottoman) took control of the Levant from 1260-1517 when the Ottoman Empire exerted itself across the region. This presence lasted until the end of World War I in 1917.

The British Mandate by dictate of the League of Nations was the thirty-plus-year presence of Britain administration across the region which was unsatisfactory to all peoples of the Levant and resulted in turmoil, unrest and revolts until the United Nations Partitioning in 1948 which designated the State of Israel, West Bank and Gaza Strip as distinct entities.

But there are other historic populations in the Middle East and several are mentioned in the article “Mesopotamia Civilizations”. Political entities such as the UAR (United Arab Republic) have arose and declined as distinct intentions varied among the participants. The UAR was the union of Egypt, Egyptian-ruled Gaza and Syria from 1958-1971 which was lead by President Nasser of Egypt and was intended to become a Pan-Arab state. Because of the distrust of Jordan and Iraq over the UAR’s rising power, they formed the Arab Federation but when a coup replaced the leadership of Iraq, Britain and the U.S. sent troops into Lebanon as part of an effort to “stabilize” the region. In the meantime, another coup – this time in Syria – declared independence from the UAR and withdrew from the Republic in 1961.

Other conflicts in recent years have often been when a ruling sect tried to assimilate adjoining nations as with the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. Others have been re-establishment of Islamic rule as with the overthrow of the Shah in Iran or the Arab Spring movement of the early 2010s.

Arabs: The Arabic identity is evident as early as 3000 BC in the Levant and the early civil contributions are mentioned in the article Mesopotamia Civilization. The strong group identities are found in writings of many of the neighboring regions which had commerce with the Arabic peoples and several lasting kingdoms ruled in parts of the greater Arabian world. Kingdoms of Sheba, Awsan, Dedan, Ma’in, and Qataban were prominent and the Ishmaelite offspring of Ibrahim are paramount in the Islamic world of today. Lest these be thought of as inferior kingdoms, the Nabataean structures of Petra are evidence to the contrary 2,500 years later. Westerners typically think of the Arabic population as a monolith of Islamic peoples but there were several other beliefs before Islam was birthed during the lifetime of Muhammad in the 600s. Following the time of Muhammad, the Caliphates saw to the domination and growth of Islam across the region for several centuries and on into the faith with over 400 million adherents today.

Palestinians: This is a nationalistic identification more than an ethnic group. The term “Palestine” was first used by the Greek historian Herodotus in the 5^th century BC and referenced the east coastal region of the Mediterranean Sea to beyond the Jordan River including Phoenicia, Syria and south to the Red Sea. It became an official designation of the area occupied by the Roman Empire following Pompey’s destruction of any Jewish authority and subjugation under Rome without a separate national identity. Judaea is renamed by the Romans as Syria Palaestina in 136 AD. The term ‘Palestine’ is believed to be derived from the Philistine ethnic group in the region circa 1200 BC.

Philistines: The southwest coast of Canaan was colonized by the Philistines or “Sea Peoples” by 1200 BC who appear to have been of the isles of the Aegean Sea and eastern Mediterranean. They established five city-states (centers of population and commerce) in Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, Ekron and Gaza. It is these ‘kingdoms’ that elevate Philistines in Bible history as the kingdom nemesis of Samson, David and on down to Hezekiah. The Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Egyptians and then the Romans wiped the city/states and imposed their own rule. The Eastern Roman Empire under Constantine Christianized it and it under that influence until the Muslim conquests in the 600s.

SUPPLEMENTALS

Abram, Abraham, Ibrahim: Arab-Islamic-Jewish-Christian history has “Abraham” as the father of each faith.

The Arabic tradition has Ishmael, son of Ibrahim, being Father of the Arabs as well as the ancestor of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Jewish tradition has Abraham, father of Isaac, father of Israel, etc., and Christianity takes the Jewish tradition and traces its lineage down from Israel through the kings of the nation of Israel (house of David, Lion of Judah) to Jesus.

Canaan: Canaan, as with many other references in the Middle East, was originally the name of one of the grandson’s of Noah and refers to the offspring who lived in the region which eventually was called by that name. It came to also mean ‘low’ and could be referring to lowlands.

Canaanites: Several ethnic groups were included in the more general classification of Canaanites which references the region and not necessarily a particular ethnic group. Hittites, Amorites, Jebusites, Girgasites, Hivites, Arkites and more are listed as peoples of Canaan (Bible: Genesis 10:15-19)

Levant: Term most commonly used in archaeology or geography in reference to the sub-region from eastern coast of Mediterranean Sea to western Asia and from Turkey down to Sinai Peninsula. Occasionally used to include islands of eastern Mediterranean.

Middle East: Apparently first used by British East India Company for trade purposes and as a U.S. Naval designation circa 1900 for the region from Arabia to India. In modern context, region from Mediterranean to Persian Gulf to Red Sea. But. Definition always depends upon the purpose of the definer and geopolitical intentions.