Mountain Jews of Checynia & neighboring areas

[American Eagle]

The topic of Mountain Jews, who in current times actually live on the lowlands with all other various ethnic groups in Checynia, as partially discussed within the Thread I started yesterday on the Russian Airport terrorist bombing now warrants a stand alone thread so the facts about this ancient Jewish population, partially assimiliated today, but some have maintained Jewish identity, justified a stand alone discussion Thread in order to have a clearer focus.

Please note that some Checynian Mountain Jews in modern times have fled to Israel for security from radical Muslim terrorists in Checynia and surrounding nations where radical Islam has been getting a foothold.

Mountain Jews - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mountain Jews
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Mountain Jews
Juhuro



Total population
2004: 150,000 to 270,000 (estimated)
1959: 25,000 (estimated)
1926: 26,000 (estimated)
Regions with significant populations
Azerbaijan, Chechnya, Dagestan, Israel,
United States, Russia

Israel
100,000 to 140,000
United States
10,000 to 40,000
Russia
20,000 to 40,000
Azerbaijan
12,000 to 30,000 (according to Mountain Jews community in Baku)
European Union
3,000 to 10,000
Kazakhstan[citation needed]
2,000

Languages
Juhuri, Hebrew, Russian, Azeri

Religion
Judaism

Related ethnic groups
Persian Jews, Other Jewish groups, Tats

Mountain Jews, or Juhuri, are Jews of the eastern Caucasus, mainly of Azerbaijan and Dagestan. They are also known as Caucasus Jews, Caucasian Jews, or less commonly East Caucasian Jews, because the majority of these Jews settled the eastern part of the Caucasus. There were some historical settlements in Northwest Caucasus. Despite their name, the "Mountain Jews" or "Caucasian Jews" do not include the Georgian Jews of the Caucasus Mountains.

In terms of ethnic origin, the Mountain Jews and Tats are believed to have inhabited Caucasia for a long time. Their distant forefathers once lived in southwest Persia, the southwestern part of present-day Iran. There they adopted the Middle Persian language. The predecessors of the Mountain Jews settled in Caucasian Albania in the 5th–6th century; from then their history has been related to the mountains and the people of Dagestan.

"After fleeing persecution in Persia, they migrated north to mountain villages on both sides of the high peaks between the Black Sea and the Caspian. They still speak a dialect of Persian; few know more than the odd Hebrew phrase. For centuries Qırmızı Qəsəbə (also known as Krasnaya Sloboda in Russian) in Azerbaijan, perhaps the only completely Jewish settlement outside Israel, kept its traditions intact while surrounded by Muslims. In 1991 the fall of the Soviet Union and resulting unrest prompted a mass Jewish exodus. In recent years, the population has plummeted as inhabitants emigrate to Israel, America and Europe. It is the last stronghold of the Caucasus Mountain Jews, or Juhuri."[1]
"The number of Juhuri in the Caucasus regions outside Azerbaijan is also declining rapidly. In neighbouring Russia, thousands of Mountain Jews have emigrated from Dagestan because of their perception of threat from Islamic fundamentalism and other violence. In April 2003, vandals desecrated 42 Jewish graves in the region."[1]

Ethnic origins and history

In terms of ethnic origin, Jews have inhabited Caucasia for a long time. Their distant forefathers once lived in southwest Persia[citation needed], the south-western part of present-day Iran. There they adopted the Middle Persian language. The predecessors of the Mountain Jews settled in Caucasian Albania in the 5th–6th century; since then their history has been related to the mountains and the people of Azerbaijan and Dagestan. Some historians[who?] believe they may be descended from Jewish military colonists, settled by Parthian and Sassanid rulers in the Caucasus as frontier guards against nomadic incursions from the Pontic steppe.

In the 18th–19th century, the Jews resettled from the mountains to the coastal lowlands but carried the name "Mountain Jews" with them. In the villages (aouls) the Mountain Jews settled in a part of their own, in towns they did the same, although their dwellings did not differ from those of their neighbours. The Mountain Jews adopted the dress of the highlanders. Judaic prohibitions ensured they retained specific dishes, and they enshrined their faith in the rules for family life.

In Chechnya, the Jews became notably well-integrated into Chechen society. A clan, Dzugtoi, was formed for Chechen Jews long ago, perhaps during the Middle Ages. In Chechen culture, there is an assembly of clans (taips). Of the total 90, 20 were originally founded by foreigners (a new taip can be founded at any time as long as there is a considerable founding group).[2] In founding the new taip, its members pledged eternal loyalty to the Chechen nation, and hence became part of the nation, being simultaneously Chechens and Jews (there are also Polish, Russian, Armenian, Georgian, Turkish and other clans).[2][3] Over time they become more and more integrated, due both to assimilation and to the Chechen populace becoming used to their presence. Interclan marriages were common, so eventually they became largely indistinguishable from other Chechens, except for their faith.[2][3] The original Mountain Jews of Chechnya now speak mostly Chechen.[4]

Some historians believe that the Jews also influenced Chechen culture.[5][6] Many common Chechen names usually attributed to Arabic origin, due to their Semitic roots, have been shown to have existed before the Islamization of Chechnya. According to Andrey Zelev, many Chechen place names show Jewish influence. The Georgian historian Leonti Mroveli, who considers the Khazars a people closely related to the Chechens, and Ruslan Khasbulatov, who stated that Chechens are 30% Jewish, also support the idea of Jewish influence. Their theories are controversial, and have not achieved widespread acceptance.[7]

Mountain Jewish men, c. 1900 (1905-06 Jewish Encyclopedia) ***Go to click on website given at start of this article to see photo of Mountain Jewish men and their families in Checynia.

While elsewhere in the Jewish diaspora, Jews were prohibited from owning land (cf. the Jews of Central Asia), at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, the Mountain Jews owned land and were farmers and gardeners, growing mainly grain. Their oldest occupation was rice-growing, but they also raised silkworms and cultivated tobacco. The Jewish vineyards were especially notable. The Jews and their Christian Armenian neighbors were the main producers of wine, an activity banned for Muslims by religion. Judaism, in turn, limited meat consumption; and unlike their neighbors, they raised few domestic animals. At the same time, they were renowned tanners. Tanning was the third most important economic activity after farming and gardening. At the end of the 19th century, 6% of Jews were engaged in this trade. Handicrafts and commerce were mostly practiced by Jews in towns.

Jewish cemetery in Nalchik, 1993 ***Go to click on website given at start of this article to see photo of Jewish Cemetery in Checynia.

The Soviet authorities bound the Mountain Jews to collective farms, but allowed them to continue their traditional cultivation of grapes, tobacco, and vegetables; and making wine. The former isolated lifestyle of the Jews has practically been ended, and they live side by side with other ethnic groups.

Originally, only boys were educated and they attended synagogue schools. With Sovietization, Tat became the language of instruction at newly-founded elementary schools. This policy continued until the beginning of World War II. In 1928, the first native-language newspaper, Zakhmetkesh (Working People), was published. After WWII, Russian was the required language at quba schools, and the newspaper stopped publication. Mountain Jewish intellectuals are active in qubai culture.[citation needed]
[edit] Notable Mountain Jews

• Yekutiel ("Kuti") Adam - a Major General in the Israel Defense Forces, the highest-ranking Israeli soldier to be killed in combat.
• Aluf Ehud "Udi" Adam - a General in the IDF and the former head of the Israeli Northern Command.[citation needed].
• Mirza Khazar (Mirzə Xəzər az:Mirzə Xəzər) - Azerbaijani journalist, author, and anchorman of Radio Liberty (Azadliq) Mirz? X?z?rin S?si
• Yehezqel Nissanov - one of the founder of the organizations Bar-Giora (1907) and Hashomer (1909) he:יחזקאל ניסנוב
• Abramov Shatiel Semenovich - Hero of the Soviet Union[2].
• Ayan Babakishiyeva - Azerbaijan pop singer (real name Ayan Babakishiyeva, Айан Бабакишиев&#1072.
• Albert Agarunov - a Starshina of the Azerbaijani Army who died during the Nagorno-Karabakh War.
• Gavril Ilizarov - a prominent Soviet physician, orthopedic surgeon, and inventor of the Ilizarov apparatus.[citation needed]
• Zhasmin - Russian pop singer (real name Sara Lvovna Menahemova, Сара Львовна Манахимов&#1072.
• Jacob Avshalomov - composer and conductor.
• Sarit Hadad - a famous Israeli singer, born "Sara Hudadatov."
• Maya Simantov - Dance-R&B singer.
• Yefrem Amiramov - Russian poet and musician. (ru:Амирамов, Ефрем Григорьеви&#1095.
• Astrix - Israeli Psychedelic Trance DJ (real name Avi Shmailov).[8]
• Yaffa Yarkoni - Israeli singer, born as Yaffa Abramov, winner of the "Israel Prize" in 1998.
• Zeev Rosenstein - mob boss and drug trafficker. (mountain jewish mother)
• Kelshazmin Frozmalov - knownassociate of Zeev Rosenstein.
• Irmik Abayev - Azerbaijani businessman. Studied in the Academy of St.Petersburg. Currently, represents Azerbaijani interests in Israel.
• Telman Ismailov - Moscow billionaire, owner of AST group.
• Saragei Smomantov - Noted businesswoman. Once possessed haberdashery empire.
• Gavril Yushvaev - Russian billionaire.
• Igor Babaev - Russian multi-millionaire from Dagestan, owner of Cherkizovo Group
• Jacob Trigonashov - Russian millionaire.
• Yan abramov - Russian millionair [3].
• Sergei Kokunov - Russian multi-millionaire[list membership disputed]
• God Nisanov - Russian billionaire, general director of Biskvit [4].
• Zahar Iliev - Russian billionaire [5].[list membership disputed]
• Zaur Gilalov - Moscow multi-millionaire from Azerbaijan was the head of the World Congress of Mountain Jews and a successful businessman founder of the Zar Group
• Yakov Yakubov - -owner of Corona casino-Eleseyevsiy supermarket.
• Matvey Elizarov - Azerbaijani businessman and philanthropist, a Vice-President of the World Congress of Mountain Jews.
• Lior Rafaelov - Israeli football player.
• Dmitry Agarunov - In MediaBusiness since 1992 as a founder of the company "gameland".[6][list membership disputed][list membership disputed]
[edit] References
Some text used with permission from The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire. The original text can be found here.
1. ^ a b Tom Parfitt, "Life drains away from lost tribe of Mountain Jews", The Telegraph, 27 April 2003, accessed 8 Dec 2010
2. ^ a b c http://www.latautonomy.org/TraditionalSocialOrganisationChechens.pdf
3. ^ a b The Chechen Nation: A Portrait of Ethnical Features
4. ^ CHECHNYA FREE.RU | Chechen News, History, Traditions, Economics - The Vainakh Taipes: Yesterday and today -
5. ^ see ×å÷åíöû è Åâðåè (Àíäðåé Çåëåâ) / ïóáëèöèñòèêà / Ïðîçà.ðó - íàöèîíàëüíûé ñåðâåð ñîâðåìåííîé ïðîçû. In Russian
6. ^ Chechens and Jews (Àíäðåé Çåëåâ) / ïóáëèöèñòèêà / Ïðîçà.ðó - íàöèîíàëüíûé ñåðâåð ñîâðåìåííîé ïðîçû This is the English version of the above reference, though it is less extensive.
7. ^ [1]
8. ^ DJmag.com: Top 100 DJs, 2007 ranking
[edit] External links
• Juhuro.com, website created by Vadim Alhasov in 2001. Daily updates reflect the life of Mountain Jewish (juhuro) community around the globe.
• New Frontier, "New Frontier" is a monthly Mountain-Jewish newspaper which was founded in 2003. It has a circulation in the US and the world via its web site. «Новый Рубеж» является ежемесячной газетой Горско-Еврейской общины США. Она издается с мая месяца 2003 года. Отражая жизнь общины не только в пределах своей страны, она информирует о новостях и событиях происходящих в Горско-Еврейских общинах во всем мире.
• keshev-k.com, Israeli website of mountain Jews.
• gorskie.ru, website in Russian language about mountain Jews.
• Ethnologue article on Judæo-Tat
• YouTube video Aji tu yorma, aji
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Jews"
Categories: Azerbaijani Jews | Ethnic groups in Dagestan | Iranian peoples | Jewish ethnic groups | Jews and Judaism in Kazakhstan | Jews and Judaism in Persia and Iran | Peoples of the Caucasus

 

[roadrunner]

It doesn't justify a new thread. But ask what you want to on it. Perhaps I can get a little more sense than the Indians..

 

[roadrunner]

Could take a while.

The Mountain Jews of the Caucasus are Juhuruns. They speak Tat. Tat is a persianized language. It is not associated with Judaism because Tat speaking Muslims exist.

These people are most likely to be descended from Ashkenazi Jews (Khazars) or from Sassinids arriving to the area.

They form a very small amount of the local population. What else do you think warrants investigation?

 

[American Eagle]

Your association of the so called Mountain Jews with Tats is correct. Tat relationships is covered in the exhaustive article I just posted here...see statistics and ethnic labels toward end of this posting above.

Persian speaking Jews out of Iran, ie, ancient Babylonia, is nothing new but some on this website seem to want to bend that truth to say what...that the Jews are not Jews because they learned to speak a Persian dialect? So what, that observation makes no sense in terms of the facts.

Since Jews and Jewry constitute a major point of political and religious attack, literal and philosophical, by today's radical terrororsts on Russian airports, schools, and other public places..by radical terrorists and their sympathesizers....convoluted into attacks on the UN Resolution 181 founding of the nation of Israel warrant a reminder that historically down to today there are other ethnic minorities in Checynia who have rights and deserve protection from the Wahabbist style heretics to Islam terrorists.

Hopefully more than just you and I will comment on this new Thread.

It would be interesting to find other data of how writers have estimated that up to 30% of Checynians have Jewish ancestry, not necessarily 100%, but "ancestry" in their blood line. This topic, Jewish ancestry, is less well focused and studied among the Pakhtuns but that is another historic ethnic group which some writers believe has ancient Jewish dyspora roots, again from the Jewish Dispora into old Babylonia, thence into ancient Afghanistan which formerly was a world class trade route into both India and China.

The flat bottom line purpose here is to dispel racist dogma of one group somehow being superior to another grouping of peoples. As we are all in a religious sense, those of us who are religious, the children of Abraham, then there are literal kinships from Abraham, which are repeated in assimilations and marriages down throughout all recorded history.

Dispelling any basis for hatred and false dogma helps fight ideologically the war on terrorism.

 

[roadrunner]

Your association of the so called Mountain Jews with Tats is correct. Tat relationships is covered in the exhaustive article I just posted here...see statistics and ethnic labels toward end of this posting above.

Persian speaking Jews out of Iran, ie, ancient Babylonia, is nothing new but some on this website seem to want to bend that truth to say what...that the Jews are not Jews because they learned to speak a Persian dialect? So what, that observation makes no sense in terms of the facts.

What they mean is they are not Jews in the Arab sense of Jewish. The Semites are the Arabs. So the Mountain Jews are not Semitic Jewry.

Since Jews and Jewry constitute a major point of political and religious attack, literal and philosophical, by today's radical terrororsts who are in my view heretics to Islam...then allegations of the history of Checynia, old and modern...to justify...which is in my view is unjustifiable...terrorist suicide bombings using men, women, and children in Russia and that region of the world..warrant a reminder that historically down to today there are other ethnic minorities in Checynia who have rights and deserve protection from the Wahabbist style heretic Muslim terrorists.

Hopefully more than just you and I will comment on this new Thread.

The Mountain Jews are not subject to physical attack in Chechnya. That should point to the Wahhabist influence being weak there.

From what I've seen it's mainly your very own KKK groups that physically attack Jews. Hitler used to. I'm sure some radical Wahhabists do also though I don't know too many examples.

 

[webber]

wow

every topic this American Eagle post just want to call muslim 'terrorists', too obvious, check the ones before

speechless in debate, he just start another one

shameless

 

[roadrunner]

he is a bit repetitive. And fixated with Jews for some reason. It wasn't a very big subject of discussion.

 

[roadrunner]

It would be interesting to find other data of how writers have estimated that up to 30% of Checynians have Jewish ancestry, not necessarily 100%, but "ancestry" in their blood line.

It's all invented.

This topic, Jewish ancestry, is less well focused and studied among the Pakhtuns but that is another historic ethnic group which some writers believe has ancient Jewish dyspora roots, again from the Jewish Dispora into old Babylonia, thence into ancient Afghanistan which formerly was a world class trade route into both India and China.

A lot more bs. The Pashtun historical connections are well established and they aren't Jewish.

The flat bottom line purpose here is to dispel racist dogma of one group somehow being superior to another grouping of peoples. As we are all in a religious sense, those of us who are religious, the children of Abraham, then there are literal kinships from Abraham, which are repeated in assimilations and marriages down throughout all recorded history.

Dispelling any basis for hatred and false dogma helps fight ideologically the war on terrorism.

Can you not be religious and not be a racist thinking one group is superior to another?

If someone believes they are superior, figures won't help you convince them otherwise.

 

[American Eagle]

The following article (Internet source cited at end of the article) might be helpful in understanding the broader topic of the common ancestry of Judiasm, Christianity, and Islam...as then looked at through the eyes of today's world events.

Semites
{sem' - yts}
General Information

Semites are peoples who speak Semitic languages; the group includes Arabs, Aramaeans, Jews, and many Ethiopians. In a Biblical sense, Semites are peoples whose ancestry can be traced back to Shem, Noah's eldest son. The ancient Semitic populations were pastoral Nomads who several centuries before the Christian Era were migrating in large numbers from Arabia to Mesopotamia, the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, and the Nile River delta. Jews and other Semites settled in villages in Judea, southern Palestine.

Present day speakers of Semitic languages are as diverse in physical, psychological, cultural, and sociological characteristics as are speakers of Indo European languages. The most prominent Semites today are Arabs and Jews. They are different in many ways, and they have absorbed a variety of European traits through centuries of migration and trade. The origin of Semitic languages, however, and many similarities in the stories of Islam and Judaism reflect a common ancient history.

BELIEVE
Religious
Information
Source
web-site
Our List of 1,300 Religious Subjects
E-mail
Robert A Fernea

Bibliography:
B Lewis, Semites and Anti Semites (1987); J Morgenstern, Rites of Birth, Marriage, Death, and Kindred Occasions among the Semites (1966); S Moscati, Ancient Semitic Civilizations (1957); W R Smith, The Religion of the Semites (1890).



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Additional Information
A Semite is someone descended from Sem or Shem, the eldest son of Noah. (See the article from the 1912 Edition of the Catholic Encyclopedia, presented below.)

A HEBREW is someone descended from Heber (or, "Eber"), one of the great-grandsons of Shem. So all Hebrews are Semites, but not all Semites are Hebrews. (Both Sunnite Arabs and Jews are Semites, and Hebrews, as well as Jews.)

Six generations after Heber, Abraham was born to his line, so Abraham was both a Hebrew and a Semite, born of the line of Heber and Shem.

Ishmael was born of Abraham, and (Sunnite) Arabs (and specifically Muslims) consider themselves to be descendants of him, so they are both Semitic and Hebrews. Isaac was born of Abraham, then Jacob of Isaac. Jacob's name was changed to "Israel," and he fathered 12 sons. His sons and their descendants are called Israelites, and they would therefore be both Semitic and Hebrew. However, this would not make either Abraham or Isaac "Israelites." Those who poorly use the words "Jew" and Israelite, call Abraham a Jew, even though Abraham was not even an Israelite, and where the word "Jew" is not used in the Bible until 1,000 years AFTER Abraham.

One of Jacob-Israel's children was Judah (Hebrew - Yehudah). His descendants were called Yehudim ("Judahites"). In Greek this reads Ioudaioi ("Judeans"). The confusing thing here is that almost all Bible translations employ the word "Jew," which is a modern, shortened form of the word "Judahite." Every time you come to the word "Jew" in the Old Scriptures, you should read "Judahite;" and every time you come to the word "Jew" in the New Scriptures, you should read it as "Judean."

R Novosel



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Semites

Catholic Information

The term Semites is applied to a group of peoples closely related in language, whose habitat is Asia and partly Africa. The expression is derived from the Biblical table of nations (Genesis 10), in which most of these peoples are recorded as descendants of Noah's son Sem (Shem).

The term Semite was proposed at first for the languages related to the Hebrew by Ludwig Schlözer, in Eichhorn's "Repertorium", vol. VIII (Leipzig, 1781), p. 161. Through Eichhorn the name then came into general usage (cf. his "Einleitung in das Alte Testament" (Leipzig, 1787), I, p. 45. In his "Gesch. der neuen Sprachenkunde", pt. I (Göttingen, 1807) it had already become a fixed technical term. Since then the name has been generally adopted, except that modern science uses it in a somewhat wider sense to include all those Peoples who are either demonstrably of Semitic origin, or who appear in history as completely Semitized.

CLASSIFICATION

In historic times all Western Asia (see below), with the exception of the peninsula of Asia Minor, was Semitic. From the philological point of view the Semitic peoples are divided into four chief Babylonian-Assyrian Semites (East Semites), Chanaanitic Semites, (West Semites), Aramaic Semites (North Semites), and Arabian Semites (South Semites). The last-named group is divided into North and South Arabians, of which last the Abyssinians are a branch. The first three groups are usually termed North Semites, in contrast to the Arabian group, or South Semites. But the classification of the Babylonian with the Aramaic and Chanaanitic Semites is not permissible from the philological point of view.

TERRITORY

The great mountain-chains which begin at the Syro-Cilician boundary, and then curving towards the south-west extend to the Persian Gulf, separate on the north and east the territory of the Semites from that of the other peoples of Western Asia. It includes the Syro-Arabian plain with the civilized countries extending to the east and west and the Arabian Peninsula which joins it on the south. The lowlands to the east are formed by the Euphrates and the Tigris, and include the homes of two very ancient civilizations, in the north the rather undulating Mesopotamia, in the south the low Babylonian plain; the land extending to the west from the lower Euphrates is called Chaldea. These are the territories of the East Semitic tribes and states. On the west lies Northern Syria, then the Lebanon Mountains with the intervening Coelo-Syria, the oasis of Damascus, the seat of an ancient culture, the Hauran, and in the midst of the desert the oasis of Palmyra (Tadmor). These territories were at a later period occupied principally by Aramaic tribes. The territory on the coast extending westwards from Lebanon, and Palestine, which joins it on the south, are the principal seats of the Chanaanitic Semites. The mountainous country to the east of Arabia and the Sinaitic peninsula extending to the west of Arabia, belong to Arabia proper, the territory of the South Semites.

ORIGINAL HOME

The tribes which inhabited these territories, and to some extent still inhabit them, show in language, traits, and character a sharply characterized individuality which separates them distinctly from other peoples. Their languages axe closely related to one another, not being almost independent branches of language, like the great groups of Indo-Germanic languages, but rather dialects of a single linguistic group. Physically, also, the Semitic form it is found in Arabia. Here also the phonetics and partly also the grammatical structure of the Semitic language, are most purely, as the vocabulary is most completely, preserved. From these as well as from other circumstances the conclusion has been drawn that Arabia should be considered the original home of the Semitic peoples. All the racial peculiarities of the Semites are best explained from the character of a desert people. All Semites settled in civilized lands are, therefore, to be considered offshoots of the desert tribes, which were detached one after the other from the parent stem. This pressing forward towards civilized lands was a continuous movement, often in a slow development lasting through centuries but often also in mighty and sudden invasions, the last of which appears in that of the Arabs of Islam. The further question as to how the original ancestors of the Semites came to Arabia, is for the present beyond historical knowledge.

EAST SEMITES

The first emigrants from Arabia who succeeded in acquiring new landed possessions were the Semitic Babylonians. In Babylonia the invaders proceeded to adopt the highly-developed civilization of an ancient non-Semitic people, the Sumerians, and with it the cuneiform alphabets which the latter had invented. When this invasion occurred is not known; but that it was accomplished in several stages, and after temporary settlements on the borders, is unquestionable. By 3000 B.C. the dominion of the Semites in Babylonia was an accomplished fact.

Ethnologically considered, the Babylonians are a mixed people, composed partly of the Sumerian and the most ancient Semitic emigrants, partly also of the continuously invading West Semites, and further more of Kassites and other people, all of whom were amalgamated. The principal seat of the Semitic element was in the north, in the land of Accad, while in the south the Sumerians were most numerous. Under Sargon and Naram-Sin was completed the amalgamation of the Sumerian and the Accadian (Semitic) civilization, which in the age of Hammurabi appears as an accomplished fact. The mighty expansion of the kingdom to the Mediterranean naturally resulted in the wide extension of the Sumerian-Accadian civilization, and for a millennium and a half Babel was the intellectual centre of Western Asia. As is proved by the Tel-el-Amarna letters, the Babylonian language and script were known in Western Asia as well as in Egypt and Cyprus, at least at the courts of the rulers. At an early period the Semites must have invaded the mountainous territory to the east of Babylonia. Not until about 2300 B.C. do we find a foreign element in Elam. Before this time, according to inscriptions which have been found, Babylonian Semites lived there.

On the Accadian border dwelt the Semitic tribes of Mesopotamia, which are included under the general term Subari. The centre of this region is desert, but on the banks of the Euphrates, Chaboras, and Tigris are strips of land capable of cultivation, upon which at an early period Semitic settlements were established for the most part probably under local dynasties. The Subari include also the Assyrians, who founded on the right bank of the Tigris - between the mouths of the two Zab rivers a city which bore the same name as the race and its god. All these tribes and states were under the influence of Babylonia and its civilization, and Babylonian-Semitic was their official and literary language. But while in Babylonia the Semitic element was amalgamated with different strata of the original population, in Mesopotamia the Semitic type was more purely preserved.

Briefly recapitulating the political history of the Eastern Semites, we may distinguish four periods. The first includes essentially the fortunes of the ancient Babylonian realm; the second witnesses the predominance of Assur, involved in constant struggles with Babylonia, which still maintained its independence. During the third period Amur, after the overthrow of Babylonia, achievers the summit of its power; this is followed, after the destruction of Nineveh, by the short prosperity of the new Babylonian Kingdom under the rule of the Chaldeans. This power, and with it the entire dominion of the Semites in south-western Asia, was overthrown by the Persians.

CHANAANITIC SEMITES

This designation was chosen because the races belonging to this group can best be studied in the land of Chanaan. They represent a second wave of emigration into civilized territory. About the middle of the third millennium before Christ they were a race of nomads in a state of transition to settled life, whose invasions were directed against the East as well as the West. About this time there constantly appear in Babylonia the names of gods, rulers, and other persons of a distinctly Chanaanitic character. To these belongs the so called first Babylonian dynasty, the most celebrated representative of which is Hammurabi. Its rule probably denotes the high tide of that new invasion of Babylonia, which also strongly influenced Assyria. In time the new stratum was absorbed by the existing population, and thereby became a part of Babylonian Semitism. Through the same invasion the civilized territory of the West received a new population, and even Egypt was affected. For the Hyksos (shepherd kings) are in the main only the last offshoot of that Chanaanitic invasion, and in their rulers we see a similar phenomenon as that of the Chanaanitic dynasty of Babylonia. As regards the Semites in Chanaan itself, the earliest wave of the invasion, which in consequence of subsequent pressure was ultimately pushed forward to the coast, is known to us under the name of the Phoenicians. A picture of the conditions of the races and principalities of Palestine in the fifteenth century B.C. is given in the Tel-el-Amarna letters. In them we find a series of Chanaanitic glosses, which show that even at that time the most important of those characteristic peculiarities had been developed, which gave their distinctive character to the best known Chanaanitic dialects, the Phoenician and the Hebrew. Further examples of Chanaanitic language of the second millennium, especially as regards the vocabulary, are the Semitic glosses in the Egyptian.

To the Chanaanitic races settled in Palestine belong also the Hebrew immigrants under Abraham, from whom again the Moabites and Ammonites separated. A people closely related to the Hebrews were also the Edomites in the Seir mountains, who later appear under the name of Idumaeans in Southern Judea. These mountains had before them been settled by the Horities who were partly expelled, partly absorbed by the Edomites. A last wave of the immigration into Chanaan are the Israelites, descendants of the Hebrews, who after centuries of residence in Egypt, and after forty years of nomadic life in the desert, returned to the land of their fathers, of which they took possession after long and weary struggles. That the influence of Chanaanitic Semitism extended far into the North is proved by the two Zendsirli inscriptions: the so-called Hadad inscription of the ninth century, and the Panammu inscription of the eighth century, the language of which shows a Chanaanitic character with Aramaic intermixture. On the other hand, the so-called building inscription of Bir-Rokeb, dating from the last third of the eighth century, is purely Aramaic - a proof that the Aramaization of Northern Syria was in full progress.

ARAMAIC SEMITES

These represent a third wave of Semitic immigration. In cuneiform inscriptions dating from the beginning of the fourteenth century B.C. They are mentioned as Ahlami. Their expansion probably took place within the fifteenth and fourteenth centuries B.C. from the plain between the mouth of the Euphrates and the mountains of Edom. As early as the reign of Salmanasar I (1300) they had pressed far into Mesopotamia and become a public scourge, in consequence of which the stream of immigration could not longer be restrained. During the new expansion of Assyrian power under Tiglath-Pileser I (1118-1093 B.C.) his reports enumerate victories over the Aramaeans. Their further advance into the territory of the Euphrates and towards Syria took place about 1100-1000 B.C. By then ninth century all Syria was Aramiaicized; many small states were formed, principally successors of the Hittite Kingdom. The most important Arammaean principality was that of Damascus, which was destroyed by Tiglath-Pileser III in 732. In like manner the remaining Aramaic states succumbed. A new rebellion was suppressed by Sargon, and with this the rule of the Aramaeans in Syria ended. In the meanwhile, the Aramaean element in Mesopotamia was constantly growing stronger. At the beginning of the ninth century we hear of a number of small Aramaic states or Bedouin territories there. They were subdued under Assurnasirpal (Asshur-nasir-pal) III (884-860), and the independence of their princes was destroyed by his successor Salmanasar (Shalmaneser) II. Nevertheless, the immigration continued. In the struggles of Assyria the Aramaeans of Mesopotamia always made common cause with its enemies and even under Assurbanipal they were allied with his opponents. From this time we hear nothing more of them. They were probably absorbed by the remaining population.

Their language alone, which the Arammans in consequence of their numerical superiority forced upon these countries, survived in the sphere of the North Semitic civilization, and was not obliterated until the Islam's conquest. The potent Arabic displaced the Aramaic dialects with the exception of a few remnants. Since the second half of the eighth century the use of Aramaic as a language of intercourse can be proved in Assyria, and about the same time it certainly prevailed in Babylonia among the commercial classes of the population. In the West also their language extended in a southerly direction as far as Northern Arabia. For Aramaic had become the general language of commerce, which the Semitic peoples of Western Asia found themselves compelled to adopt in their commercial, cultural, and political relations. The Aramaic elements of the population were absorbed by the other peoples of the existing civilized lands. They developed a distinct nationality in Damascus. In Mesopotamia itself, in the neighbourhood of Edessa, Mardin, and Nisibis, Aramaic individuality was long preserved. But the culture of this country was afterwards strongly permeated by Hellenism. One of the last political formations of the Aramaeans is found in Palmyra, which in the first century B.C. became the centre of a flourishing state under Arabian princes. It flourished until the ambitious design of Odenathus and Zenobia to play the leading part in the East caused its destruction by the Romans. A small fragment of Aramaic-speaking population may be still found in Ma'lula and two other villages of the Anti-Lebanon. So-called New Syrian dialects, descendants of the East Aramaic, are spoken in Tur'Abdin in Mesopotamia, to the east and north of Mosul, and in the neighbouring mountains of Kurdistan, as well as on the west shore of Lake Urmia. Of these Aramaic-speaking Christians a part lives on what was clearly ancient Aramaic territory; but for those on Lake Urmia we must assume a later immigration. Nestorian bishops of Urmia are mentioned as early as A.D. 1111.

ARABIC-ABYSSINIAN SEMITES

A. Arabs

The most powerful branch of the Semitic group of peoples, are indigenous to Central and Northern Arabia, where even today the original character is most purely preserved. At an early period they pressed forward into the neighbouring territories, partly to the North and partly to the South. In accordance with linguistic differences they are divided into North and South Arabians. Northern Arabia is composed partly of plains and deserts, and is, therefore, generally speaking, the home of wandering tribes of Bedouins. The South, on the other hand, is fertile and suitable for a settled population. For this reason we find here at an early date political organizations, and the sites of ruins and inscriptions bear witness to the high culture which once prevailed. The natural richness of the country and its favourable situation on the seacoast made the South Arabians at an early period an important commercial people. In the fertile lowlands of the South Arabian Djôf the Kingdom of Ma'in (Minaeans) flourished. It is generally dated as early as the middle of the second millennium before Christ, although for the present it is better to maintain a somewhat sceptical attitude as regards this hypothesis. At all events, the Minaeans, at an early period, probably avoiding the desert by a journey along the eastern coast, emigrated from North-eastern Arabia. To the south and south-east of the Minaeans were the Katabans and the Hadramotites, who were cognate in language and who stood in active commercial relations with Ma'in, under whose political protectorate they seem to have lived. The spirit of enterprise of this kingdom is shown by the foundation of a commercial colony in the north-western part of the peninsula in the neighbourhood of the Gulf of Akabah, viz., Ma'in-Mussran (Mizraimitic, Egypt Ma'in). The downfall of the Ma'in kingdom was, according to the usual assumption, connected with the rise of the Sabaean kingdom. The Sabaeans had likewise emigrated from the North, and in constant struggles had gradually spread their dominion over almost all Southern Arabia. Their capital was Ma'rib. Their numerous monuments and inscriptions extend from about 700 B.C. until almost the time of Mohammed. At the height of its power, Saba received a heavy blow by the loss of the monopoly of the carrying trade between India and the northern regions, when the Ptolemies entered into direct trade relations with India. Still the Sabaean Kingdom maintained itself, with varying fortune, until about A.D. 300. After its fall the once powerful Yeman was constantly under foreign domination, at last under Persian. Ultimately, Southern Arabia was drawn into the circle of Islam. Its characteristic language was replaced by the Northern Arabic, and in only a few localities of the southern coast are remnants of it to be found: the so-called Mahri in Mahraland and the Socotri on the Island of Socotra.

Northern Arabia had in the meanwhile followed its own path. To the east of Mussran to far into the Syrian desert we hear of the activity of the Aribi (at first in the ninth century B.C.), from whom the entire peninsula finally received its name. Assurbanibal, especially, boasts of important victories over them in his struggles with them for the mastery of Edom, Moab, and the Hauran (c. 650). Some of the tribes possessed the germs of political organization, as is shown in their government by kings and even queens. While these ancient Aribi for the most part constituted nomadic tribes, certain of their descendants became settled and achieved a high culture. Thus, about B.C. 200 we hear of the realm of the Nabataeans in the former territory of the Edomites. From their cliff-town of Petra they gradually spread their dominion over North-western Arabia, Moab, the Hauran, and temporarily even over Damascus. Their prosperity was chiefly due to their carrying trade between Southern Arabia and Mediterranean lands. The language of their inscriptions and coins is Aramaic, but the names inscribed upon them are Arabic. In A.D. 106 the Nabataean Kingdom became a Roman province. Its annexation caused the prosperity of the above-mentioned Palmyra, whose aristocracy and dynasty were likewise descended from the Aribi. Subsequent to these many other small Arabian principalities developed on the boundary between civilized lands and the desert; but they were for the most part of short duration. Of greatest importance were two which stood respectively under the protection of the Byzantine Empire and the Persian Kingdom as buffer states of those great powers against the sons of the desert: the realm of the Ghassanites in the Hauran, and that of the Lahmites, the centre of which was Hira, to the south of Babylon.

In the second half of the sixth century A.D., when Southern Arabia had outlived its political existence, Northern Arabia had not yet found a way to political union, and the entire peninsula threatened to become a battle-ground of Persian and Byzantine interests. In one district alone, the centre of which was Mecca, did pure Arabism maintain an independent position. In this City, A.D. 570, Mohammed was born, the man who was destined to put into motion the last and most permanent of the movements which issued from Arabia. And so in the seventh century another evolution of Semitism took place, which in the victorious power of its attack and in its mighty expansion surpassed all that had gone before; the offshoots of which pressed forward to the Atlantic Ocean and into Europe itself.

B. Abyssinians

At an early epoch South Arabian tribes emigrated to the opposite African coast, where Sabaean trade colonies had probably existed for a long time. As early as the first century A.D. we find in the north of the Abyssinian mountain - lands the Semitic realm of Aksum. The conquerors brought with them South Arabian letters and language, which in their new home gradually attained an individual character. From this language, the Ge'ez, wrongly called Ethiopian, two daughter-languages are descended, Tigré and Tigriña. The confusion of this kingdom with Ethiopia probably owes its origin to the fact that the Semite emigrants adopted this name from the Graeco-Egyptian sailors, at a time when the Kingdom of Meroë was still in some repute. And so they called their kingdom Yteyopeya. From Aksum as a base they gradually extended their dominion over all Abyssinia, the northern population of which today shows a purer Semitic type, while the southern is strongly mixed with Hamitic elements. At an early date the south must have been settled by Semites, who spoke a language related to Ge'ez, which was afterwards to a great extent influenced by the languages of the native population, particularly by the Agau dialects. A descendant of this language is the Amharic, the present language of intercourse in Abyssinia itself and far beyond its boundaries.

Publication information Written by F. Schühlein. Transcribed by Jeffrey L. Anderson. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIII. Published 1912. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York

Bibliography

See the articles on the separate titles treated above; also MASPERO, Histoire ancienne, des peuples de l'Orient classique (1895); MEYER, Gesch. des Altertums, I (1909), extending to the sixteenth century B.C.; BARTON, Sketch of Semitic Origins (New York, 1902).



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Also, see:
Islam, Muhammad
Koran, Qur'an
Pillars of Faith
Abraham
Testament of Abraham
Allah
Hadiths
Revelation - Hadiths from Book 1 of al-Bukhari
Belief - Hadiths from Book 2 of al-Bukhari
Knowledge - Hadiths from Book 3 of al-Bukhari
Times of the Prayers - Hadiths from Book 10 of al-Bukhari
Shortening the Prayers (At-Taqseer) - Hadiths from Book 20 of al-Bukhari
Pilgrimmage (Hajj) - Hadiths from Book 26 of al-Bukhari
Fighting for the Cause of Allah (Jihad) - Hadiths of Book 52 of al-Bukhari
ONENESS, UNIQUENESS OF ALLAH (TAWHEED) - Hadiths of Book 93 of al-Bukhari
Hanafiyyah School Theology (Sunni)
Malikiyyah School Theology (Sunni)
Shafi'iyyah School Theology (Sunni)
Hanbaliyyah School Theology (Sunni)
Maturidiyyah Theology (Sunni)
Ash'ariyyah Theology (Sunni)
Mutazilah Theology
Ja'fari Theology (Shia)
Nusayriyyah Theology (Shia)
Zaydiyyah Theology (Shia)
Kharijiyyah
Imams (Shia)
Druze
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Early Islamic History Outline
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The individual articles presented here were generally first published in the early 1980s. This subject presentation was first placed on the Internet in May 1997.
This page - - Semites - - is at Semites
This subject presentation was last updated on 01/07/2011 22:20:40

 

[CardSharp]

I'm intrigued but what exactly is the bone of contention here?

 

[W.11]

here we go american jewish facination and its 'jehadi extremish bigot mooozzleems'' again...

 

[American Eagle]

I'm intrigued but what exactly is the bone of contention here?

I would like folks to recognize that Checynia has a blended population, is not an Islamic state or nation politically speaking, and freedoms of various minorities are being ignored to allege that only Checyians who are of the Islmic faith are the nation of Checynia, and are being "wronged."

Checynia has a several thousand years old history back to when it was part of other geopolitical entities. It has no uniqueness anymore than does Pakistan, which was carved out of India in 1947.

Pakistan and India as configured today are no more or less "land grabs" than Checynia, and many of today's Eastern European nations which have divided and subdivided along religious and ethnic lines since WW II.

POINT: Except for the export of Wahabbism into Checynia, to incite religious and ethnic "purity and thereby hatred" there is no justification for terrorist bombings and murders by so-called Checyians, who are of couse "not all of the peoples of Checynia" but are being treated in this forum as if they were "it." That type thinking led to Hitler's annexation of the Sudatenland; re-occupation of Alsace Lorraine, etc.

QUESTION: What is the economy of Checynia primarily based on? It it oil, or is it oil and other things? Has anyone taken the time to read how many times what we refer to as Checynia today has been part of other nations or empires, to include the old Ottoman Empire? The Roman Empire? Etc.

 

[Last Hope]

Here we go again....Dude, can we stop talking nonsense. We donot judge the bad guys with identity. If so, then give great achievements done by Pakistanis and muslims ver sea to them, not to yourselves, and even if the person has relations, althought too far, with Pakistan, you have to potrait him as Pakistani. Why?

I have no intend to fight biased theories, but have a healthy discussion. What are your point of views?

Regards.

 

[roadrunner]

You might be able to convince some low IQ'ed people on here that Chechnya is not a Muslim majority area. But it is a Muslim majority area.

I think everyone knows that minorities that are not Muslim do exist in Chechnya. Every country is like this in the world. They are not 100% anything.

The whole forum appears remarkably slow. Any reason?

 

[Developereo]

The flat bottom line purpose here is to dispel racist dogma of one group somehow being superior to another grouping of peoples.

If that is your intention, then it is ironic that you chose Jews and Israel as your subjects.

For your information, Chechen Jews did not leave Chechnya to escape 'Muslim tyranny'. They left, like Jews all over the world, including New York City, to claim their 'rightful' heritage as God's Chosen People and fulfil Abraham's Covenant with Yahweh.

They left to go to Israel so they could terrorize Palestinians out of their homes and reestablish a Jewish state in their place.