Download A) Early Mesopotamian States

4) Peoples, Cultures & Settlements
I) Demographic Overview
- distribution of populations in Middle East shaped by
biophysical, cultural, and historical influences
- complexity of ethnic patterns suggests role of
physical environment (linguistic “shatter belts”)
- exact numbers hard to come by as governments
obscure statistics
- more than 385 million for the region
Ethnic Diversity of the Middle East
II) Patterns: Population
A) Distribution
- favorable environments & economic opportunities
- > 70% of the people live in cities
- number of non-sedentary people is declining
- 2.1 million nomads (e.g. Bedouins)
- 2.5 million living in “transhumance”
- three largest population clusters: 2012 (2005)
- Turkey 75 million (71 million)
- Egypt 83 million (68 million)
- Iran 77 million (66 million)
Traditional Landscapes and Peoples
Modern Landscapes – from Riyadh to Dubai and beyond
B) Density
- directly related to favorable areas
- Egypt with 6,200 per sqm (not 217)
- Gaza Strip with 12,210 per sqm (!)
C) Birth rates, death rates, natural increase rates
- sharp decline in death rates during 20th century
- why? (hygiene, health care, education, medicinal
technology, availability of food stuffs, etc.)
- the demographic transition model
D) Migration
- immigration, emigration and internal migration play
significant role in Middle East
- Zionism, the creation of Israel, the Arab-Israeli conflict
- immigration of Jews from Europe and Russia
to “Palestine” during 20th century
- displacement of > 750,000 Arabs
- displacement of peoples due to wars and civil
strife in the region
- Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) with more than
800,000 casualties and millions of refugees
- Gulf War I and II with millions of refugees
and hundreds of thousands of casualties
- ISIS crisis has displaced hundreds of thousands
III) Patterns: People
- cultural differentiation in the region based on:
- language, religion, customs, dress, values, etc.
- language and religion as dominant cultural patterns
A) Languages
- 6 major + 25 minor linguistic groupings in Middle East
1)Semitic and Berber
- Arabic national language for 12 countries
(215 million in SW-Asia / 105 million in North Africa)
- three levels of Arabic usage:
- informal, newspaper & classical
- four major dialects of Arabic:
- Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Arabian Peninsula
- language of the Qur’an; calligraphy as art
-
Hebrew spoken by about 5 million
-
not all Jews speak Hebrew (!)
-
once “dead” language, revived in 19th century
under stimulus of Jewish nationalism / Zionism
-
as mystical for Jewish people as Arabic is for Muslims
(limited use by ultra-orthodox Jews)
-
Aramaic mainly a historical language (similar to Latin)
-
once the “lingua franca” of the Fertile Crescent
-
form of Aramaic still used in scriptures and liturgies
of the oriental Christian Churches
-
only spoken by Assyrians in/from Iraq and mountains
near Damascus, otherwise replaced by Arabic
-
Berber, subfamily of Afro-Asiatic, spoken by 14
million North Africans, mainly in Morocco and Algeria
-
Coptic, as latest form of Egyptian language, with some
Greek influences, eventually supplanted by Arabic
- since 16th century mainly used in liturgy of Coptic
Christian Churches
2) Altaic Turkic Languages
a) Turkish is the best known Turkic language
- brought into Middle East from Central Asia in 10th
– 13th centuries
- once written in Arabic alphabet, since 1920s in
Latin alphabet
- spoken in Turkey and by > 200,000 Turkish Cypriots
b) Azeri (Azerbaijani) spoken in NW Iran, N Iraq, and
Azerbaijan
- like Turkish, Azeri was carried by migrating Turkic
tribes
3) Indo-European (Indo-Iranian) Languages
a) Farsi (Persian) primary tongue in Middle East
- brought to Iranian Plateau 1,500 years before
arrival of Turkic languages
- after Muslim conquest incorporates Arabic
loanwords and adopts modified Arabic script
- primary language of Iran (which also has Azeri,
Kurdish, Baluchi and Arabic speakers)
b) Kurdish
- second largest Indo-European language group with
> 30 million speakers
- grammatically and lexically distinct from Farsi
- written in Arabic alphabet in Iraq, in Latin alphabet in
Turkey
c) Other Indo-European Languages
- Baluchi in eastern Iran; Luri in the Zagros mountains
d) Armenian and Greek
- formerly spoken over more extensive areas
- Armenian mainly in Republic of Armenia, but also in
urban centers throughout the region
- Greek once a major language in Asia Minor, now
only few Greek speakers remain (i.e. Cyprus)
II) Patterns: Religions
- three important monotheistic religions all of which
basically worship the same God (Yaweh, God, Allah)
- Muslim faith spread quickly; Muslims consider
Jews and Christians as “People of the Book”
- importance of the “Millet System“ (Ottoman Empire)
- > 90% Muslims, basic division into Sunni and Shi’i
- several Christian divisions in the Middle East
- other religions such as Zoroastrians and Bahaii
a) Islam (~345 million)
- definitions: “Islam” and “Muslim”
- Muslims worship God (Allah) but not Muhammad
- Mecca as important center through the ages
- historical caravan post
- site of ancient “Kaabah” and the “Black Stone”
- birthplace of Muhammad
- “Hijrah” to Medina in 622 AD, first year of Islamic
calendar
- Islam spreads quickly, so does Arabic language
- Prophet Muhammad dies in 632 AD
The Spread of Islam
- Five Pillars of the Islam
1) shahadah (Profession of Belief)
2) salat (devotional worship, facing Mecca)
3) zakat (religious tax and almsgiving)
4) sawm (holy month of Ramadan)
5) hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca)
- Qur’an underlies the Sharia, the sacred law of Islam
- theocratic governments found in several countries
- first caliph (“successor”) was Abu Bakr (632-634),
leading the ummah and the Islamic state
- early on a dispute occurred within Islam, which has
continued for more than 1,300 years
The Hajj (about 5 days long)
1.) Pilgrims perform cleansing rituals at designated stations outside Mecca. Men and
women exchange their street clothes for hajj garments (Ihram, also as sacred state ) –
stripping themselves of social distinctions and embracing their dedication to God.
2.) Among other rites, pilgrims circle the “Kaabah”, a shrine at the center of the
Grand Mosque – built, it is said, by Abraham and his son - seven times
counterclockwise in a procession called the “Tawaf”. It symbolizes placing
God's House at the center of their lives.
3.) On the first official day of the hajj, pilgrims take a three-mile journey into Mina,
where they spend the night in a massive tent city.
4.) In the morning, pilgrims continue east to the Plain of Arafat, where Muslims
believe Adam and Eve were reunited after leaving Eden. A daylong group vigil,
in which pilgrims stand in the presence of God, marks the zenith of the hajj.
5.) At sundown, the hajj loops back toward Mecca, halting at a patch of hills called
the “Muzdalifah”, where pilgrims stop for the night, participate in a nightlong vigil,
and collect stones for the next day.
6.) At dawn, pilgrims cast pebbles at the “Jamraat”, three stone pillars that symbolize
temptation - places where Satan tried to tempt Abraham from the path of God.
They first throw seven stones at the largest pillar, and then stone the other two
over the course of two or three days.
7.) Back in Mecca, pilgrims can perform the seven turns around the “Kaabah” one
last time before heading home. The end of the hajj is celebrated with a three-day feast.
Definition of "hadith:"
Hadiths are regarded as a narration on the Sunnah (lived example) of
Muhammad.
M.M. Azami formally defines "hadith" as follows:
"According to Muhaddithiin [scholars of hadith] it stands for 'what
was transmitted on the authority of the Prophet, his deeds, sayings,
tacit approval, or description of his sifaat (features) meaning his
physical appearance. However, physical appearance of the Prophet is
not included in the definition used by the jurists."
"Thus hadith literature means the literature which consists of the
narrations of the life of the Prophet and the things approved by him.
However, the term was used sometimes in much broader sense to
cover the narrations about the Companions [of the Prophet] and
Successors [to the Companions] as well."
- Sunni
- consider themselves original, orthodox Muslims
- caliphs can be chosen by leaders of the ummah,
and are often secular leaders
- overwhelming majority (~84%)
- Shii
- “partisans of Ali” since 657 AD
- believe that only descendants of Muhammad are
legitimate successors to the Prophet
- religious leaders (imams) are divinely guided, with
authority to interpret the Qur’an
- often no separation of church and state
- this theological schism has accentuated political,
social, and cultural divisions ever since :
- e.g. Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Saudi Arabia etc.
The Shii of the Middle East
- Shii experienced further divisions such as:
- “Twelvers” (Imamis / Iran, Iraq)
- “Seveners” (Ismailis / Levant)
- “Alawis” (Alawites / W Syria, Turkey)
- “Druzes” (Muwahhidun / S Syria, C Lebanon)
- “Fivers” (Zaydis / Yemen)
- Ibadhis (Oman, Iran) neither Sunni nor Shia
- other important facts about Muslims (Sunni & Shii)
- there is no central authority as in the Roman
Catholic church in form of a Pope
- interpretations of such terms like jihad and sharia
vary widely among the groups
- Muslims do not consider Muhammad to be divine
- Muslims do not like to depict God or Muhammad
as to not anthropomorphize them
b) Christianity (18 - 22 million)
- Jesus as long-awaited Messiah
- today more than a dozen sects in Middle East
- apostle-missionaries spread Christianity to Gentiles
(Greeks) in Asia Minor and Syria
- Antioch as first Christian center
- first suppressed by Roman Empire, Christianity
became accepted in 330 and state religion in 380 AD
- dominant religion in the region between 4th and 6th
century, then challenged by the birth of Islam
The Spread of Christianity
Five Largest Christian Sects:
- Coptic Christians: (largest group / 10% of Egyptians)
- Maronites: concentrated in Lebanon
- Syrian Christians: 6% of Syrian population
- Iraqi Christians: N & NE Iraq (under pressure)
- Greek Orthodox: in Cyprus
there are dozens of other, smaller Christian groups (!)
c) Judaism (6 million)
- oldest of three monotheistic religions
- rooted in traditions of semi-nomadic Aramaean tribe;
personified in the patriarch Abraham
- original group migrated from southern Mesopotamia
to hills of Canaan
- Abraham’s grandson Jacob migrated to Egypt
- 13th century BC Exodus from Egypt reclaims Canaan
- out of exodus evolved monotheistic religion of
Judaism, revolving around the one God (Yaweh)
- originally proselytic, missionary activities ceased
after 70 AD and destruction of temples in Jerusalem
- different interpretations of the Torah and the Talmud
have led to various groupings
-
ultra-Orthodox Hasidim
Orthodox Judaism
Conservative Judaism
Reform Judaism
Reconstructionists
ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jew
- only a minority of Israeli practice Judaism
- cleavage between ultra-Orthodox Jews and secular
Jews splits society (Halakha?)
- freedom of choice? Zionism? (Neturei Karta)
Jerusalem, holy city for three religions:
Judaism, Christianity & Islam
Prayer at the Wailing Wall, remnant of
the second Jewish Temple (516BC-70AD)
d) Other religions
- Zoroastrianism
- named after its founder Zoroaster (6th century BC)
once widespread in Iran & Mesopotamia
- opposed by Muslims, Zoroastrians still survive in
central Iran (and India)
- significant influence on Judaism & Christianity
- monotheistic (“Lord Wisdom”); Avesta as scripture
- Dawasin (Yazidis)
- practiced by Kurdish peoples, borrowing heavily
from Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Nestorian
Christianity, and Islam
- Peacock King
- Baha'ism
- evolved in Iran in 1840s as offshoot of Shii Islam
- universalistic faith synthesizing Islam, Judaism and
Christianity
- widespread in Europe and North America;
persecuted in Iran since 1979
III) Patterns: Ethnic Groups
- aspects of language and religion often merge in
survey of ethnic groups in the region
- four major ethnic groups:
-
Arabs
Turks
Persians
Jews
- What traits / images do you connect with an “Arab”?
- positive traits / images?
- negative traits / images?
1) Arabs and related groups
a) Arabs: ethnic identity of the Arab is one of the
basic realities of the peoples in the region
- numbering about 192 million, including at least a
million each in Israel, Turkey and Iran
- all Arabs share two, most even three elements:
1) language
2) Islamic cultural heritage
3) Islam as religion
What makes an Arab?
Palestinian headdress (keffiyeh / agal)
b) Copts: derived primarily from the Coptic religion
- largest non-Muslim ethnic group
- practicing endogamy* and segregation to preserve
tradition
- language supplanted by Arabic
- concentrated in upper Egypt, Asyut and Luxor
* Marriage within a particular group in accordance with custom or law
c) Maronites: differentiated on basis of their religion
- isolated in Lebanon Mountains; 1 million, mainly in
Lebanon; Maronites practice endogamy;
- Arabic supplanted Syriac; French second language
- determined separatism impacts political events
- cooperation with Crusaders alienated them from
Muslim population
d) Druzes: identity also originated in religion
- originally from Egypt, now Druzes live in Mount
Hermon and central Mount Lebanon area
- as heretics*, Druzes were alienated from other
Shii Muslims as well as Sunni neighbors
- rejected by others, Druzes practice endogamy
- fierce sense of independence
contributed to their military
orientation against Crusaders,
Maronites, and in civil conflict
in Lebanon
* heretic: person who holds religious beliefs in conflict with existing dogmas
e) Alawis: primarily distinguished by religion
- 11% of Syrian population, located in NW
- climax in groups role with Syrian General Hafiz-alAsad who seized power in 1969
- Asad held presidency until his death in 2000; his son
Bashar Al-Asad succeeded him in June 2001; current
crisis in Syria
October 6, 1930 – June 10, 2000
Bashar Al-Asad
f)
Assyrians: distinguished by religion and language
- comprise several Christian sects that preserve
Nestorian and Jacobite traditions
- Chaldean Church offspring from the Nestorian Church
- 1 million, many of which live in Baghdad, but others in
N Iraq, E Syria and NW Iran
- periodically suffering persecution; today’s situation (!)
Church in Mosul, Iraq
Going to church in Amman, Jordan
g) Circassians: 500,000 migrated into Middle East from
Caucasus, driven out by Czarist Russia
- Ottomans permitted settlement from Damascus to
Amman, in Asia Minor and Kurdistan
- Israeli destruction of Circassian settlements on Golan
heights
Circassian Folk Costumes
Circassian Exile Cartoon
Circassian Royal Guard
h) Yazidis: Kurdish ethnic roots, but mainly distinguished
by their heterodox* religion
- west of Mosul and in hills NW of Aleppo
- do not interact with neighboring tribes; experience
persecution
- practice endogamy, prohibit conversion into group,
membership by birth only
* departure from accepted beliefs or standards
i)
Nubians: lived between Aswan and Dongola region in
Sudan for 3,000 years
- most speak Nubian but also Arabic
- more African in appearance
- converted to Christianity in 6th century and resisted
Islam until 14th century
2) Turks and related groups
a) Turks: second largest group in the Middle East with
60 million people
- Turkish as primary language; Turkish heritage;
strong patriotism; 90% are Sunni
- combination of Persian, Arab Byzantine and
Anatolian elements
2) Turks and related groups
- four groups of Turks in Middle East
1) Anatolian Turks (Asia Minor)
2) Rumelian Turks (SE Europe)
3) Turkish Cypriots
4) descendants of Ottoman Turks elsewhere
b) Azeri: second largest Turkic group
- dominant group in NW Iran and the Republic of
Azerbaijan
- like Persians, the Azeris are Shii Muslims
c) Turkmen: distinct from Turks and Tatars despite
common Turkic language
- most found in Turkmenistan, but also in centraleastern Anatolia, NE Iraq, and N Iran
- tend to live as nomads in mountainous areas
but are becoming increasingly sedentary
- 2/3 are Sunni and 1/3 are Shii
d) Yoruk: descendants of earliest Turkic tribes to enter
Asia Minor
- less influenced by Arabic and Persian
- nominally Muslims, but unorthodox
- originally nomadic, but were forced to become
more sedentary in the 1920s and 1930s
e) Ilsavan (Shasavan): large nomadic group related to
Azeri and Afshars
- like those groups, Ilsavan are Shii Muslim
- traditionally supportive of dynasty, have also
accepted revolutionary republican government
f) Qashqai: descendants of Turkic tribes who moved
into Zagros Mountains in 15th century
- persistence of their nomadism is legendary;
herding of sheep
g) Afshars: another Turkic tribe migrating onto Iranian
Plateau & Northern Zagros Mountains in Middle Ages
- related to Azeris and Ilsavan and also Shii
- speak Turkic dialect, retain nomadic elements
h) Qajars: Turkic speaking peoples in NW Iran and
southern Caspian coast
- supplied dynasty that ruled Persia from 1794-1925*
- mostly settled farmers, but also some nomads
* The Iranian monarchy continues under the Pahlavi Dynasty until 1979, but the
Pahlavi Dynasty is not connected with any particular ethnic group.
i) Tatars (“archers”) invaded Middle East in 13th
century
- intermarried with Turks, creating widespread TurkoTatar group
- most are north of Black and Caspian Sea, but some
immigrated from Russia into Turkey
- mostly Sunni Muslims
3) Persians and related groups
- numerically the third largest ethno-linguistic group
in Middle East after Arabs and Turks
- migrated into the region in second millennium BC
a) Persians: evolving in Zagros Mountains, emerging as
unified sedentary people in 6th century BC
- defeated by Alexander the Great, overwhelmed by
Arab Muslims, etc., Persians repeatedly restored
power base on Iranian Plateau
- since WWI Persians are the leading ethnic group
in Iran, dominating governmental, industrial and
cultural positions
- after Islamic Revolution, authorities discouraged
Westernization and forced return to Islamic
fundamentalism
- > 95% are Shii Muslims; 40 million in Iran
- pride about language, culture, history and art
- tension between Persians and Arabs along
Piedmont of Zagros Mountains (last in 1980-88)
b) Kurds: fourth largest ethno-linguistic group in Middle
East
- traditional territory is fragmented “Kurdistan”
- intermingled with neighboring Azeris, Armenians,
Turks and Arabs
- 30 million Kurds (Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria)
- Kurdishness based on language, heritage, culture
and fierce sense of independence
- most Kurds are Sunni; retain tribal structure
- resisting outside influence & authority (1974-75,
1980s, after 1991); 30,000 Kurdish victims
The Treaty of Sèvres (1920) was annulled in the course of the Turkish War of Independence
and the parties signed and ratified the superseding Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
c) Baluch: like Kurds primarily Sunnis, speak an IndoIranian tongue, live in isolated mountain areas
- traditional homeland is “Baluchistan” at junction
of Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan
- living in semi-arid realm, Baluch are nomadic and
semi-nomadic
- tribal organization remains strong
- poorest and most neglected group in Iran
- more closely related to Pakistanis and Pushtuns of
Afghanistan than to Persians
4) Jews and Samaritans
a) Jews deported in 1st century by Romans
(second Jewish Diaspora)
- sizeable communities developed in Mediterranean
cities
- under Ottoman Empire, Jews (like Christians)
constituted a millet
- Jewish minority rights were protected, so tens of
thousands of Sephardic Jew fled the Spanish
Inquisition to settle within Ottoman Empire
- Ashkenazi Jews from central Europe migrated to
Middle East especially after WWII
- sub-ethnic divisions exist, and the question of
“who is a Jew” is difficult to answer:
- ethnicity vs. race?
- practicing vs. secular Jews?
- Sephardic vs. Ashkenazi?
- Sabras (native born) vs. recent immigrants?
- of the world’s 14.5 million Jews, 6 live in Israel
2) Samaritans small but interesting group
- originated among Israelites who remained in
Samaria (in the West Bank) during Babylonian Exile
- intermarried with other groups at the time and
emerged as a new people
- irreconcilably estranged from the Jews; decimated
in numbers (750 in 2012) living in Nablus and
Holon; now practicing strict endogamy
5) Armenians
- date back more than 3,000 years
- prior to WWI centered in Lake Van area and
surrounding eastern Anatolia (“Armenia”)
- influential millet during Ottoman Empire, but
relations with Turks became hostile after 1878
- hundreds of thousands were massacred, deported
- post WWI Armenian Republic was proposed, but
only emerged in 1991
- Armenians have strong ethnic identity, language and
religion (Armenian Orthodox Christianity); 900,000 in
Middle East, 3 million in Armenia Republic
The Armenian Genocide
The ethnic mosaic of Iraq in the aftermath of Gulf War I and II and the removal of
Saddam Hussein remains a challenge, while Iran’s influence in the region grows,
and while Arabs and others are pushing for more democracy.
Knowing the ethnic and religious diversity of
the Middle East, its imperial and colonial past,
where are we going from here?
What will current revolutionary stage bring?
Tunisia? Egypt? Libya? Bahrain? West Bank?
Jordan? Syria? Saudi Arabia?
(A New Beginning?)
What will the Middle East look like in 20 years
from now?
What would the Middle East look like today:
a) If the “old man of Europe” would have
been more agile?
b) Without European colonial powers?
c) Without existence of vast quantities of oil?