A Translation of “The Arabs” by MCA Macdonald

Document Type : View Point (Translation)

Author

Abbas Aghdassi

Assistant Professor, Department of History and Civilization of Islamic Nations, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

10.22067/jhistory.2025.90840.1348

Abstract

Title: The Arabs



Author: Michael C. A. Macdonald



Affiliation: Research Associate at the University of Oxford and Member of the British Academy. The authoris a specialist in languages, scripts, inscriptions, and ancient cultures of the Arabian Peninsula, especially the northern region of Arabia.



This chapter is a translation of a chapter titled "The Arabs" by Michael C. A. Macdonald, a research associate at the University of Oxford and a member of the British Academy. He specializes in languages, scripts, inscriptions, and ancient cultures of the Arabian Peninsula, particularly the northern region. This chapter serves as an introduction for researchers to the recent linguistic and archaeological scholarship. The author examines the concept of "Arabs," and demonstrates that in ancient times, especially the late antiquity, the term "Arab" referred to different peoples in various locations and with diverse lifestyles. When examining this term in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, two points must be considered.

Keywords

Arabs

Arabia

Yemen

antiquity

Subjects

• Other

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