Semitic people In linguistics and ethnology, was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages. This family includes the ancient and modern forms of Akkadian, Amharic, Arabic, Aramaic, Ge'ez, Hebrew, Maltese, Phoenician, Tigre and Tigrinya among others. As language studies are interwoven with cultural studies, the term also came to describe the extended cultures and ethnicities, as well as the history of these varied peoples as associated by close geographic and linguistic distribution. The term Semite means a member of any of various ancient and modern Semitic-speaking peoples originating in the Near East, including; Akkadians (Assyrians and Babylonians), Eblaites, Ugarites, Canaanites, Phoenicians (including Carthaginians), Hebrews (Israelites and Samaritans), Ahlamu, Arameans, Chaldeans, Amorites, Moabites, Edomites, Hyksos, Arabs, Nabateans, Maganites, Shebans, Sutu, Ubarites, Dilmunites, Bahranis, Maltese, Mandaeans, Sabians, Mhallami, Amalekites, Palmyrans and Ethiopian Semites. Etymology The name Semite/Semitic comes from the Semitic root Sama or Sam, meaning " High" or "Risen", Semite or Semitic means " Sons of the Lord " Or " Sons of Heaven" Also meaning " Noble People ". Origin Ancient Semitic mythology Origin: In ancient Semitic legends The Lord decided to be his sons on the earth For that Down his son Sam/Sama (God of heaven) to earth and Married him to Adma (goddess of earth) And named their sons Semite/Semitic. a ceremony of divine Marriage Between Sam and Adma was celebrated in the spring and Was common among all ancient Semitic tribes And this tradition disappeared after the spread of Christianity and Islam. Currently Mandaeans in Iraq are the only Semitic people celebrated the feast And called in the Mandaean religious calendar Festival Marriage of Heaven with Earth. Biblical Origin In the Bible The name Semite comes from Shem, the eldest of the three sons of Noah. In the Greek and Latin versions of the Bible, Shem becomes Sem, since neither Greek nor Latin has any way of representing the initial sound of the Hebrew name. The Bible tells us that everyone on earth was drowned except for Noah and his family and that all mankind are descended from his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The lines of descent from the three of them, described in the tenth chapter of Genesis, represent a kind of mythologized ethnology, enumerating the peoples of antiquity whose names were known at the time when this chapter was written, and setting forth the relationships between them.

• published: 04 Nov 2011
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