What were the people called that lived in the middle east before

>>1601009
They still exist, they are just culturally Arabized natives.

For example, the Palestinians are genetically closer to Cypriots than to gulf arabs.

The arabs didn't really go in for full-scale colonization (except in Egypt). They usually just kicked over the native leadership, converted the people and smeared on a new ruling class

>>1601018

Did these people vary much in looks, like you would see in a southern Italian and a Dane?

Basically everyone refers to them as "Arabs" now, despite not being from the gulf.

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>>1601035
They looked like they do now. So called "Arabs" actually have a very diverse set of phenotypes based on region. The only thing that unites them is language (which also varies a lot by region) and religion.

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>>1601035
I wrote a long post but 4chan dropped it

Tl;dr the Levant has been invaded countless times throughout history, and as a result the residents vary enormously in terms of looks

>>1601067
>>1601082
I see, thanks for the responses guys.

It doesn't help though, when even the Syrian military calls itself the "Syrian ARAB Army"

>>1601018
Egypt is Egyptian though. Arab admixture was super minor.

>>1601120
They're free to identify with whatever culture they like


English people are largely still Celts, but they choose to identify as anglo-saxons

>>1601161
>They're free to identify with whatever culture they like

No they aren't. It is a sin to lie anon, and we all know how they are with their religion.

>>1601009
Lebanese people are Phoenician, but considered Arab

It's just like a grouping

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>>1601120
Arab at this point is more of a lingual identity than a genetic one . Basically all the Non-Jewish semite groups plus many Berbers all became Arab, while in the past the would of identified as Syriac, Chaldean, Nabaetean, Sumerian, etc etc

>>1601719
This guy is right.

>>1601761
Is there anyone that is wrong?

>>1601009
They weren't even called Arab after Islamic conquest. See Ottoman maps, Arab only refers to Bedouins.

>>1601035
The same with Slavs.

Most were Semites and closely related to Hebrews and Arabs.

Cultural and linguistic ties