Semites
Many Middle Easterners
Semites are peoples who speak or historically spoke Semitic languages—a family that includes Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Amharic.
The term derives from Shem, one of Noah's sons in the Bible.
In practice, Semite appears almost exclusively in the compound anti-Semitic and its derivatives, where it refers specifically to Jews rather than to all Semitic-speaking peoples.
Tigris-Euphrates river region
- Fertile CrescentMideast arc where civilization began
- LevantEastern Mediterranean coastal region
- CanaanAncient Palestinian region
- BabylonAncient Mesopotamian capital
Nineveh · Ur · Tyre · Carthage · Petra · Palmyra · cuneiform · alphabet
Semitic language of Israel
- ArabicSemitic language family member
- AramaicAncient Semitic language
- AkkadianAncient Semitic Mesopotamian language
- AmharicEthiopian national language
Phoenician · Maltese · Moabite · Punic
Ancient Semitic people
- AkkadiansAncient Semitic Mesopotamian civilization
- PhoeniciansAncient Levantine maritime civilization
- CanaanitesAncient Near Eastern people
- AssyriansAncient Mesopotamian empire builders
Amorites · Babylonians · Moabites · Ammonites · Chaldeans · Carthaginians · Israelites · Judeans
Semitic ethnic group
- JewsFollowers of Judaism
- EthiopiansPeople from East Africa's oldest nation
- EritreansCitizens bordering Ethiopia
- AssyriansAncient Mesopotamian empire builders
Maltese · Sephardim · Maronites · diaspora · migration · identity · heritage · ancestry
Study of historical texts
- linguisticsScience of language structure
- etymologyWord origin study
- cognatesWords from common origin
- classificationSystematic grouping by traits
comparative · epigraphy · inscriptions · decipherment · lexicon · grammar
Mesopotamia
Tigris-Euphrates river region
- Fertile CrescentMideast arc where civilization began
- LevantEastern Mediterranean coastal region
- CanaanAncient Palestinian region
Babylon · Nineveh · Ur · Tyre · Carthage · Petra · Palmyra · cuneiform · alphabet · Gilgamesh
Hebrew
Semitic language of Israel
- ArabicSemitic language family member
- AramaicAncient Semitic language
- AkkadianAncient Semitic Mesopotamian language
Amharic · Phoenician · Maltese · Moabite · Punic
Hebrews
Ancient Semitic people
- AkkadiansAncient Semitic Mesopotamian civilization
- PhoeniciansAncient Levantine maritime civilization
- CanaanitesAncient Near Eastern people
Assyrians · Amorites · Babylonians · Moabites · Ammonites · Chaldeans · Carthaginians · Israelites · Judeans · Samaritans
Arabs
Semitic ethnic group
- JewsFollowers of Judaism
- EthiopiansPeople from East Africa's oldest nation
- EritreansCitizens bordering Ethiopia
Assyrians · Maltese · Sephardim · Maronites · diaspora · migration · identity · heritage · ancestry · lineage
philology
Study of historical texts
- linguisticsScience of language structure
- etymologyWord origin study
- cognatesWords from common origin
classification · comparative · epigraphy · inscriptions · decipherment · lexicon · grammar
SemitesIndo-Europeans
Ancient ancestral linguistic population
Aryans · Indo-Aryans · Dravidians · Hellenes · Celts
- Northwest SemiticAncient Levantine language branch