Arab

ARAB CIVILIZATIONS

The earliest known mention of Arabian people was in 853 BC where they were listed as one of the peoples defeated by the Assyrians. By about 400 AD there were a couple of firmly established Arab civilizations. Arab based civilizations still exist today.

Arabs lived in the Middle East. At present there are more than 20 Arabian countries which are situated in Africa and Asia. They stretch from Western Sahara to the border of Turkey, an area the size of approximately 5.25 million square miles.

Agriculture is the primary economic activity in the Arab world. The most important food crops are wheat, barley, rice, maize and millet. Some of the Arabs countries have a vast reserve of natural oil.

The Middle East, where the Arabs settled, was previously the region where man first moved into a settled form of society, cultivating grain and raising livestock, establishing cities and promoting diverse skills and occupations. In such a setting, rich and complex cultures were nourished. Eventually Arabs spread through and settled in the Middle East, northern Africa, and the Iberian peninsula.

The Middle East is also the area of the establishment of three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Today, all three religions are found worldwide

Arabs used to eat foods like many other Mediterranean people, including homemade bread, dates and olives. Arabic food can rival any culture's food for originality and taste, and, because it basically comprises simple, natural and easily digested foodstuffs, it ranks high in nutritional value with today's fitness-conscious society. The Moors of Spain were the first people who introduced 12 course dinners to the world.

The Arabs and the Chinese: AD 751-758

By the mid-8th century, with the Arabs firmly in control of central Asia and the Chinese pressing further west than ever before, a clash is sooner or later inevitable. It comes, in 751, at the Talas river. The result is a shattering defeat for the Chinese. For the Arabs an interesting fringe benefit of victory is the valuable secret of how to make paper.

Seven years later the Arabs again