Semites are who? The Origin of the Semites

The name "Semites" is a word taken from the Bible. Genesis narrates the genealogy of Noah and his sons. One of them was Sim. He became the father of Elam, Assur and Eber, from whom the Aramaic, the ancient Jews and the Assyrians, respectively, took place.

Homeland of the Semites

The term "Semites" appeared in the 18th century, when European scholars named the ethnic group in honor of the Sim, which included ancient and modern peoples of the Middle East. The fact that they are related to one another is confirmed by the similarity of their languages. Later the term was expanded and modified. Archaeological boom and excavations in the Middle East showed that earlier there were other nations that can be attributed to this group.

The ancient Semites inhabited the territory of Arabia, Syria, Palestine and Mesopotamia. During the raids and military companies, they left their historical homeland. Some Semites even managed to gain a foothold in North Africa. Long before the advent of Christianity, they migrated to modern Ethiopia. The colonists were attracted by the natural resources of this region. So on the coast of the Red Sea there were trade settlements, whose population was later created by the state of Axum.

Colonizers and immigrants

In addition to the already mentioned peoples, the Semites are also the Phoenicians, who had the glory of the most outstanding colonizers and seafarers of their time. The network of their trade posts and settlements covered the entire Mediterranean. The colonies of the Phoenicians appeared in Spain, Africa and Sicily. Although later this people experienced a decline and disappeared, elements of its culture were preserved in many regions of the Mediterranean.

The history of the Semites is indicative of the Maltese, the indigenous inhabitants of the small island of Malta. Apparently, they are descendants of the Phoenicians. Maltese for a long time lived under the rule of other peoples. Their island was owned by the Romans, Byzantines and even the Normans. Then Malta became the property of the Catholic Order of Malta, and in the XIX century it turned out to be a colony of Great Britain. An independent state appeared on a small piece of land in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea only in 1964. And yet, despite a long life under alien domination, the Maltese managed to maintain their own distinct culture and language.

Another factor in the spread of Semitic languages and customs was Jewish migration. The Jews began to settle in foreign countries even before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and after this event the resettlement assumed a general character.

Society of nomads

The behavior and ideology of the Semites was formed according to the natural conditions in which they lived and live. Even at the dawn of civilization these shepherds became nomads. Since desert conditions for many centuries have not changed much, some isolated groups still continue to lead this archaic way of life. Semites are nomads who have been able to adapt to existence on the Arabian Peninsula through the domestication of camels. On the edges of the desert, these nations grazed sheep and donkeys.

The main unit in their society was the family. Inheritance went along the male line, the supreme power belonged to the father. Families united in collective organizations - tribes. They could include hundreds of people. Each ancient Semite, who was a member of the tribe, was associated with blood cohabitants and a community of interests. Among these ancient inhabitants of the deserts, there was a strong sense of solidarity. In the event of an attack on any member of the tribe, his comrades must take revenge on the offenders. It was in the Semites that the rule "a tooth for a tooth" and an "eye for an eye" appeared. The principle of blood feud became part of most of the legislative arches of the peoples of the Middle East.

Amorei

Amorei - one of the most ancient Semitic peoples, appeared in the III millennium BC. E. These tribes never differed in unity. On the contrary, among them constantly there were internal conflicts and civil strifes, which in the end did not allow to defend themselves from aggressive neighbors.

The main Amorian city is Ugarit. Its ruins were discovered by French archaeologists in 1929. Today it is the territory of Syria. Here cattle breeding and agriculture flourished. Amorei grew grain, made olive oil and wine. Their timber was highly valued in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Ugarit became one of the first international ports. It was the point of intersection of trade routes from Anatolia, the Aegean Sea, Babylon, the Middle East and Egypt. The Amorite cities declined in the 16th century BC. E. As a result of the devastating invasions of the Hittites and Kassites.

Aramei

The other indigenous inhabitants of Syria were the Arameans. The first mention of them refers to the III millennium BC. E. The Arameans managed to penetrate the middle Euphrates and settle almost the entire Middle East. By the beginning of our era, their language had become the main colloquial dialect in Palestine, Arabia and Mesopotamia.

The largest Aramaic center was Damascus. Around this city formed a kingdom that existed in the X-VIII centuries. BC. E. The Damascus state was conquered by Assyria. Different kingdoms of the Middle East were at enmity with each other, even though all of them were inhabited by Semites. It was a struggle for fertile lands and other important resources of antiquity.

The Jews

If Arabia has always been a desolate country, then Mesopotamia, Phenicia and Lower Egypt, surrounding this meager peninsula, in the ancient era became the main agricultural breadbasket of mankind. It was here in the Fertile Crescent that the first Semites settled. Photos of these places show the ruins of monuments left from ancient civilizations.

One such people were the Jews. They appeared in the II millennium BC. E. In Palestine as a result of complex ethnological processes. Semites-cattlemen, who lived in the west of the Fertile Crescent, mingled with farmers of agricultural oases from among the Amorites. So a new civilization was born.

The history of the origin of the Jews is closely intertwined with the biblical legends set out in the Old Testament. A unique feature of this people was his faith - the oldest Abrahamic religion Judaism. Some of its features for many centuries later influenced the formation of Christianity and Islam.

Jews ruled Palestine until the conquest of Judea by Rome in the I century BC. E. Then followed a long period of exile. Jews settled throughout the Roman Empire, and after the barbarian states that arose on its wreckage. For a long time, they were persecuted and discriminated against by both Christians and Muslims. Only after the Second World War did the Jews succeed in achieving the re-creation of their own national state in Palestine-Israel.

Assyrians

The Assyrian people were formed in the II millennium BC. E. In Northern Mesopotamia. The basis of the new ethnos became the communities of Amorites, Harriets and Subarians. A distinctive feature of the people was the Akkadian language, over the decoding of which several generations of archaeologists of the New Age were beating. The state of Assyria is considered the first empire in the history of mankind. The heart of its territory was the middle course of the Tigris and the valleys of the Small and Big Zaba. Here appeared the most important cities of antiquity: Ashur and Nineveh.

In its heyday Assyrians controlled all of Mesopotamia, neighboring Palestine, modern Turkey, Syria, Egypt and even Cyprus. As with any empire in the vastness of this vast state, there lived a lot of conquered peoples. That is why the Assyrian culture turned into a kaleidoscope made up of the customs of neighboring tribes. The kingdom reached the peak of power in the VIII century BC. E. In the year 609 BC. E. The Assyrian state was destroyed by the Babylonians.

Chaldean

In the Assyrian annals, dating back to 878 BC. E., the historians discovered the first mention of another Semitic people - the Chaldeans. They lived on the coast of the Persian Gulf. Their native places were lakes and marshes of the lower reaches of the Euphrates and Tigris. The Chaldean people were small in number - only six of its tribes are known. They spoke in the ubiquitous Aramaic language.

In the VII-VI centuries. BC. E. The Chaldean dynasty ruled Babylon (it was she who founded the New Babylonian kingdom). These Semites were pagans. Mention of them is found in the Bible. From there spread the second meaning of the word "Chaldea" - this is how magicians, sorcerers, magicians, astrologers and fortunetellers began to be called. Traces of this people can be found in the most unexpected places. One version of the theologians says that the Magi who went to bow to the just-born Jesus were Chaldeans. Some modern Christians of the Middle East continue to attribute themselves to this Semitic nationality.

Arabs

Approximately in the X century BC. E. In the deserts of Arabia and Mesopotamia a new breakaway Semitic nationality appeared. They were Arabs. Semites of this group created the Sabaean kingdom, which was formed in the territory of modern Yemen.

In the north of their country, the Arabs built Palmira, Nabatea, Lahm and Ghassan. These were rich trading cities, the ruins of which became famous symbols of antiquity. Between the northern and southern Arabs lay the sands of the Arabian desert. The nomads maintained contact through merchant routes through the Hijaz.

The appearance of Islam

In the fifth century the Arab civilization experienced a serious decline. It seemed that this people would disappear forever under the onslaught of their aggressive neighbors - Persia and Byzantium. However, at the beginning of the 7th century, a new religion of Islam began to gain popularity in Arabia. Her preacher was a merchant from Mecca named Mohammed. He created the Islamic Caliphate, which during his heyday controlled the entire Middle East, North Africa and Spain. By the level of expansion, this was the most serious political success that the Semites achieved.

Jews, despite their common ethnic roots with the Arabs, have become their opponents. The conflict between the two peoples was and is a different religion. Today, the confrontation between Jews and Arabs is one of the explosive factors in the Middle East.

Semitic languages

The linguistic features of languages are another unique feature that distinguishes the Semites. The peoples of this group even after many centuries and today have much in common in morphology, syntax, phonology and vocabulary. For example, when the Arabs invaded Spain in the Middle Ages, local Jews who had not known their historical homeland, discovered that their language was remarkably similar to the language of strangers.

Semitic phonology is characterized by a large number of consonant sounds - throat, guttural, emphatic and uvular. In European languages there is nothing like or at least closely resembling it. Especially the South Semitic languages - Ethiopic and Arabic - are particularly distinctive. They adopted a unique method for the formation of the plural. The origin of the Semites and their further division into several peoples led to the appearance of variations before the general prasemitic language.