Difference Between Iranians And Arabs

Thomas Keyes ^ | 2/7/05 | Thomas Keyes

[Kansas58]

I am more pedantic than most, but I could only get halfway through this without, well, deciding that I don’t care enough to finish!

[spodefly]

Useful info BTTT.

[stockpirate]

Different towels.

[G8 Diplomat]

Thank you for posting...Americans are so clueless about Middle East ethnicities and just assume they're all "Arabs." No, there are Persians, Turks, Kurds, Armenians, Circassians, Azerbaijanis, Baluchis, Copts, Assyrians, Phoenecians, Berbers, Chaldeans, and on and on. Even some on FR make this mistake. No, Iranians, Pakistanis, and Afghans are NOT Arabs. They're Indo-Europeans like you and me.

The Arabic word 'Iraq' means 'Veins'

I've heard tons of different theories on the etymology of the word 'Iraq.' Some say it comes from Uruk, some say it comes from the Persian word eraq, meaning lowlands, some say it means "mudbank" after the marshes in the south, and some say it comes from the Turkish word irak meaning "far away." I don't know if this is related, but the Arabic word 'araqa (meaning "sweat") comes from the same root as Iraq; 'ayn-ra-qaaf.

[tanuki]

Interesting cultural overview. Thanks for posting!

I should point out, though, that the original name for Iran and its people is actually Pahlavi. The name has come to the West as Farsi, or in the hellenic form as Persia.

[DogBarkTree]

Agreed. I could care less. They are like the difference between gonorrhea and syphilis. Left untreated they will both kill you.

[G8 Diplomat]

Extinct Semitic languages include Assyrian, Phoenician, Aramaic and others.

Actually Aramaic is still spoken in the Syrian town of Malula by Syrian Christians. Syriac still exists too and is the liturgical language of the Maronite Catholic Church. Also Mahri (also Semitic), a South Arabian language, is still spoken by some in eastern Yemen and western Oman.

[org.whodat]

Makes no difference they all look the same after the mushroom cloud goes away.

[repubpub]

“Thank you for posting...Americans are so clueless about Middle East ethnicities and just assume they’re all “Arabs.”

Well there you go, assuming all Americans are clueless about the Middle East. Maybe you’re clueless about what American’s really think?

[Sherman Logan]

And here we see that Persians appear on the scene much in advance of Arabs.

A debatable point.

Earlier waves of Semites out of the Arabian desert included the Arameans, for sure, and quite possibly the Akkadians. Both of whom were around a couple thousand years before the Persians entered the historical record. In fact the Persian Empire used Aramean as its primary administrative language.

As so often is the case, it depends on how you define "Arab."

[yarddog]

The ancient Persians had some very positive attributes. I think Cyrus was the first ancient King to brag about how benevolent and just he was instead of how vicious a killer.

The Persians did fare poorly against the ancient Greeks in combat. On the other hand they defeated just about everyone else.

It is a shame what radical Islam has done to a once great people.

[Jacquerie]

All Muslims are suspect. Their birthplace is irrelevant.

[Myrddin]

This rambling piece of prose wouldn't score very high in most English composition classes. I read it through and found some factual errors as well. A fellow company employee speaks Aramaic. So does his family and much of his community. It is hardly "extinct". The attempt at linguistic origins was moderately interesting. Most of the Iranians I've known since 1973 preferred the label Persian to Iranian. Many abhor the impact of radical Islam on their society.

[SampleMan]

So Iranians are definitely not Arabs.

And Italians aren't Germans, but they both practiced fascism.

And Arabs and Persians have both sold their souls to a false prophet.

[G8 Diplomat]

And what makes you confident that Americans *aren’t* clueless? Especially when you don’t give any evidence to the contrary.

I’ve talked to many people, seen many online comments here, read many articles, where people assume Iranians are Arabs. No not *everyone* thinks that, but given the distribution of people who do, it’s not off the charts to say that a large number of people don’t have a good idea of the diversity of the M.E.

[mamelukesabre]

Their culture also is suffering from the same european-ish problem of failing to reproduce.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fertility_rate_world_map_2.png

[Poison Pill]

Many Americans seem to entertain the illusion that Iranians are Arabs.

Would you rather have lead or arsenic in your water?

[bitterohiogunclinger]

“In antiquity, Persia had various religious, such as Zoroastrianism, Mithraism, Mazdaism and Manichaeism, all to be largely supplanted by Islam.”
Two thoughts crossed my mind. People warship Mazda's? And he forgot to mention “Sadism and Masochism”, although incorporated into Islam.

[Texas Fossil]

I have know a number of expatriate people FROM Iran, who preferred to be called “Persian”.

I liked and respected most of them.

They almost universally hold the current regime in Tehran in total contempt.

We need all the allies we can muster to combat the evil that threatens us now.