page_title: List of indigenous peoples
section_title: Middle East
hierarchical_section_title: List of indigenous peoples / Afro-Eurasia / Eurasia / Asia / Middle East
caption_attribution_description: English: Armenian women in Diyarbekir
context_page_description: This is a partial list of the world's indigenous / aboriginal / native people. Indigenous people are "those ethnic groups that were indigenous to a territory prior to being incorporated into a national state, and who are politically and culturally separate from the majority ethnic identity of the state that they are a part of". There are internationally recognized definitions of indigenous peoples, such as those of the United Nations, the International Labour Organization and the World Bank.
  This list is grouped by region, and sub-region. Note that a particular group may warrant listing under more than one region, either because the group is distributed in more than one region in North America and eastern Russia, or there may be some overlap of the regions themselves.
context_section_description: Afroasiatic languages
  Semitic peoples
  East Semitic peoples
  Assyrians (Āṯūrāyē/Sūrāyē/Sūryāyē): A Christian Neo-Aramaic speaking people indigenous to northern Iraq (which was once part of Assyria, Asuristan), southeastern Turkey and northwest of Iran in Upper Mesopotamia, but have also traditionally lived in northeast Syria, albeit recently. There is a testified historical continuity between old Assyrians and modern Assyrians for the majority of people in the same land that they lived since Antiquity before Arabization of Iraq: Northern Mesopotamia that corresponds with old Assyria (originally they were speakers of the Akkadian language but in Antiquity, by the end of the 1st millennium BC, Assyrians adopted the Aramaic language from the Aramaeans and at present time they speak Assyrian Neo-Aramaic). However, not all modern Assyrians identify as such, and several are from peoples that adopted an Assyrian ethnic identity (see Terms for Syriac Christians).
  West Semitic peoples
  Central Semitic peoples
  Arabic peoples
  Bedouin (Badawī) of the interior deserts of Arabia and Syria.
  Druze (Al-Muwaḥḥidūn/Al-Muwaḥḥidīn/Ahl al-Tawḥīd): of Jabal al-Druze, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel. The faith of the Druze is a blend of Islam's Ismailism, Judaism, Christianity, Neoplatonism, Pythagoreanism, Gnosticism and Greek philosophy. The foundational text of the faith is the Epistles of Wisdom. Even though they have been a minority for their entire history, they have played a significant role in shaping the history of the Levant. Although the faith originally developed out of Ismaili Islam, Druze are usually not considered Muslims. The oldest and most densely-populated Druze communities exist in Mount Lebanon and in the south of Syria around Jabal al-Druze (literally the "Mountain of the Druze").
  Marsh Dwellers/Marsh Arabs (Ma'dan/ʻArab al-Ahwār): An Arabic-speaking people living in the marshes of southern Iraq or on the Iranian side of the Shatt al-Arab.
  Northwest Semitic peoples
  Arameans (Āramayē): Central and Western Syria, ancient land of the Aramaeans (Aram) in the Levant, an Aramaic-speaking people that descends from ancient Aramaeans. In recent years, there has been an attempt to revive Western Aramaic among Aramean Christians living in the Israeli village of Jish.
  Canaanite peoples
  Jews (Yehudim): along with Samaritans, belong to the Israelite nation of the southern Levant, who are believed by archaeologists and historians to have branched out of the Canaanite peoples and culture through the development of a distinct monolatrous—and later monotheistic—religion centered on El/Yahweh, one of the Ancient Canaanite deities. Following the Roman colonial occupation, destruction of Herod's Temple, and failed Jewish revolts, most Jews were either expelled, taken as slaves to Rome, or massacred, although a small number of Jews managed to remain over the centuries despite persecution by the various conquerors of the region, including the Romans, Arabs, Ottomans, and the British. Additionally, a substantial number of Jews returned from diaspora during the 19th and 20th centuries (mainly under the Zionist movement), as well as after the modern State of Israel was established in 1948. This was coupled with the revival of Hebrew, the only Canaanite language still spoken today. DNA studies show that all major diaspora Jewish communities, with the exception of Ethiopian and Yemenite Jews, derive the majority of their ancestry from ancient Israelites.
  Samaritans (Samerim): of Samaria. An ethno-religious group of the Levant, closely related genetically and culturally to the Jewish diaspora and are understood to have branched off from the latter around the time of the Assyrian exile. The Samaritans are adherents of Samaritanism, an Abrahamic religion closely related to Judaism. Their sole norm of religious observance is the Samaritan Pentateuch.
  South Semitic speakers
  Eastern South Semitic speakers
  Bathari people: Dhofar, Southern Oman. Descendants from the original people of Dhofar before Arabization.
  Harasis: Jiddat al-Harasis, Central Oman. Descen
caption: Armenian women in Diyarbakır
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