Talk:Mashriq

Latest comment: 2 years ago by A455bcd9 in topic Israel

Change for the worse in definition edit

Dear IP 68.43.242.130 , Jordan is usually considered to be part of the Mashriq, and so is Palestine as an Arab region (before Israel came along). In fact, in medieval times, the eastern half of Libya (Cyrenaica) was sometimes considered to be part of the Mashreq, so that the Maghreb was considered to begin in Western Libya (Tripolitania). Please don't remove valid info from the article. AnonMoos 14:43, 16 February 2006 (UTC)Reply

Sudan edit

Where does the Sudan fit in to the Maghreb/Mashreq level of Arab geography? Is it thought of as a region of its own? Or part of some Nile Valley region, with Egypt? QuartierLatin1968   01:00, 20 March 2006 (UTC)Reply

I would guess that it's more "south" than it is either east or west -- just like Arabia... AnonMoos 21:16, 20 March 2006 (UTC)Reply
Sudan is a region on its own. It is distinct from Mashriq, Maghreb, Egypt, and Arabia. The last time I heard of Sudan and Egypt being classified together was in old Egyptian movies from the 40's when Sudan was still Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.

Removed comment from article (claiming that the sun sets in the east!) to here edit

Note : Maghreb is also the name of an Islamic prayer, for the sunset, which refers to the fact that the sun sets to the east and rises to the east (the morning prayer just before the sun rises is Fajr, not Mashreq, however.) -- Arabic Pilot

Arabia proper edit

Is the Mashreq commonly meant to include Arabia proper? So far, my understanding had been that this term used the astronomical descriptor to conveniently divide the Arab world into two halves, one Asiatic and one African, separated by the Red Sea and the Suez/Sinai region. Is this assumption accurate? // Big AdamskyBA's talk page 21:27, 20 March 2006 (UTC)Reply

No it doesn't usually include Arabia, and (as written above) sometimes historically (but not usually currently) Egypt was included in the Mashreq (since the deserts west of the Nile are a significant ecological barrier). I would guess that it refers basically to the post-conquest territories. AnonMoos 22:12, 20 March 2006 (UTC)Reply
Thanks AM, I guess I will have to re-edit a few articles accordingly then. :] // Big AdamskyBA's talk page 22:19, 20 March 2006 (UTC)Reply

P.S. Here's one regional map (though it splits up Arabia proper in a quasi-unconventional way): Image:Regions - Arab League.PNG -- AnonMoos (talk) 20:13, 12 March 2008 (UTC)Reply

It includes Egypt and everything east of it - including the Arabian Peninsula. I don't believe the Arab League calls the GCC region the "Persian Gulf". see Contact and Language Conflict in Arabic: Variations on a Sociolinguistic Theme, By Aleya Rouchdy, Published by Routledge, 2002, ISBN 0700713794, page 153 and Development: From Dependence to Self-reliance in the Arab Region, By Yusif A. Sayigh, Published by Routledge, 1991, ISBN 0415062586, page 212harlan (talk) 10:32, 9 February 2009 (UTC)Reply

Merge with Middle East edit

  • Against for reasons given on that pageJohnbod 04:04, 14 December 2006 (UTC)Reply
  • Oppose -- Middle east is extremely vague and imprecise, while Mashriq is somewhat more specific, and also narrower. In modern use, "Mashriq" usually excludes Egypt, while everyone would say that Egypt is part of the Middle East! It may not seem tidy, but there are reasons why Wikipedia has separate articles covering a whole series of partially overlapping geographical terms (Mashriq, Levant, Bilad al-Sham, Greater Syria, Fertile Crescent, Middle East, etc.) -- each term has its own particular distinct historical context and range of variations in use. AnonMoos 08:52, 14 December 2006 (UTC)Reply

Considering both this and the Mashriq pages have discussions against a merge, I am going to take the liberty of removing the merge tags. Joshdboz 19:59, 11 January 2007 (UTC)Reply

mashriq and Maghrib edit

Historically the Mashriq is considered Bilad asham and Egypt...

in the Modern World, the Mashriq is Considered the Eastern part of the Arab World, this includes Egypt, Sudan, Arabia and the Levant...

While Maghrib includes Morocco, Mauritania, Libya, W. Sahara, Algeria and Tunisia...

Other Arab States are in East africa, such as Somalia, Djibouti, and comoros, dont really have a name, i guess the Arab Horn of Africa has been used a couple of times... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Arab League (talkcontribs) 13:30, 31 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

As a note to my reversion, let me note that I agree with our Egyptian friend, User Arab League, that in modern Arabic usage, Machriq is often used to include everything Arab to the East of Libya, and Maghreb to the West of Libya or Egypt. His use of Arab States of East Africa, well, that's bollocks, but can be ignored. The categorical statements in article and in discussion here taking minimalist views of Mashriq and Maghreb reflect excessively literalist and not usage focused definitions. (collounsbury (talk) 11:37, 8 February 2008 (UTC)) 14:22, 3 February 2008 (UTC)) [sorry bollixed up signing.]Reply

In the middle ages, Mashriq sometimes included Cyrenaica and regions eastward, while Maghrib would correspondingly include Tripolitania and regions westward, but I don't think that that's the most usual modern definition... AnonMoos (talk) 15:00, 3 February 2008 (UTC)Reply

Define "usual modern definition." In the Maghreb, when people say "Mashriq" they mean everything East of Libya. Egypt seems to me to have mixed usage, but Egypt is at a transition point. Strikes me that asserting ipso facto that the narrow definition of Mashriq is the "usual one" is without basis. Usual perhaps in certain locales, but for a whole sweep of North African Arabic, it is quite usual. (collounsbury (talk) 11:35, 8 February 2008 (UTC))Reply

I reverted once more the replacement of the "core" and "wider usage" map by one showing only Mashriq as Bilad ash-Sham. There is no justification for insisting on one particular usage, differing usages extent should be highlighted. (collounsbury (talk) 16:21, 27 August 2008 (UTC))Reply


The three regions of the Arab world are:

Maghrib = Marrocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya;
Mashriq = Egypt, Levant, Iraq;
Gulf = Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Yemen. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 144.82.194.166 (talk) 00:08, 14 January 2009 (UTC)Reply
That's a little simplistic -- why is Yemen a "gulf" country when it isn't anywhere near the Gulf? AnonMoos (talk) 00:52, 14 January 2009 (UTC)Reply

Regarding a Section Omitted on Februrary 6, 2009 edit

I omitted the "Sources and Links" section because it contained only two links to the results of a Google Books search with key phrase "mashriq+judaism." These searches weren't referenced in the text and it was unclear how they related to the article (except that the article's title appeared in the key phrase). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.133.202.87 (talk) 10:40, 6 February 2009 (UTC)Reply

Definition edit

Seblini and 24.36.80.217, can you please come to the talk page so we can have this discused instead of edit warring? AcidSnow (talk) 08:52, 21 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Correct word usage edit

"This composes the countries ... "

This should be

"This comprises the countries ..." or "This is composed of the countries ..."

Norm — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.166.47.249 (talk) 16:47, 10 July 2015 (UTC)Reply

dumb question edit

Considering how short this article is, why isn't it included in the article that references it, which is about the Arabic alphabet. Alternatively, why doesn't it cover all the issues raised in the Maghrebian article? 100.15.120.122 (talk) 13:09, 12 April 2016 (UTC)Reply

External links modified edit

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Israel edit

Shouldn't Israel be on the map and in the infobox? A455bcd9 (talk) 12:48, 16 July 2021 (UTC)Reply

The territory now part of Israel was generally classified as Mashriq in the past, but Israel as a nation doesn't fit in with a classification of Arab nations. AnonMoos (talk) 13:41, 16 July 2021 (UTC)Reply
Thanks. But that's not what one of the sources listed in the article says: https://www.britannica.com/place/Mashriq
"Mashriq, geographic region extending from the western border of Egypt to the eastern border of Iraq. It includes the modern states of Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq and covers an area of approximately 2.7 million square miles (7 million square km)."
I'll update the article accordingly. A455bcd9 (talk) 16:24, 16 July 2021 (UTC)Reply