CHAPTER ONE Arab History Religion and Culture Today Today Arabs live all over the world Their original homelands were countries across North Africa the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula Much of this land is desert or scrubland high mountains and fertile river valleys and coastal areas
TUNISIA Mediterranean Sea ALGERIA LIBYA LEBANON ISRAEL PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES EGYPT Atlantic Ocean MOROCCO WESTERN SAHARA MAURITANIA Baghdad IRAN IRAQ KUWAIT BAHRAIN UNITED ARAB EMIRATES QATAR OMAN TURKEY SYRIA Beirut JORDAN Red Sea SAUDI ARABIA SUDAN YEMEN DJIBOUTI SOMALIA Arabian Sea 500 miles 500 kilometers Arab countries Arabs live in many countries This map shows the main Arab nations of the world Most Arabs are Muslims They follow the religion of Islam Not all Arabs are Muslims and not all Muslims see themselves as Arabs Some Middle Eastern Christians and followers of other religions call themselves Arabs The Jews who also live in the Middle East call themselves Jews and Israelis not Arabs Most Arabs speak Arabic Spoken Arabic has many dialects that differ from place to place Opposite A simple home in a rural area of Morocco There is no electricity or piped water Water has to be collected from a well in plastic bottles 5
The awesome building of the Dome of the Rock dominates the city of Jerusalem Although Jerusalem is now under Israeli control it is a special holy place for Muslims Jews and Christians Only Muslims are allowed to worship at the Dome of the Rock Early History of the Arabs The Arabs are an ancient people An early Arab civilization settled along the Nile River valley some 6,000 years ago The people grew crops and domesticated animals Some settled along the Euphrates 6
Tigris and Karun rivers in modern Iraq and Iran Other Arabs never settled They roamed the desert lands with their animals These people are called nomads Islam Muslims believe in the same God as Christians and Jews They believe that the words in their holy book the Koran also spelled Qur’an come from Allah Arabic for God Muslims believe that Evening prayers take place outside the Great Mosque in the holy city of Mecca Saudi Arabia The city often has to cope with up to 2 million Muslim pilgrims 7
