ABSTRACT
Few regions in the world can surpass the Middle East in heterogeneity of population. From the earliest times, the region has attracted waves of immigrants from various parts of the Old World and fusion of diverse elements has sometimes tended to be slow, or even incomplete. Frequent references in the literatures of various peoples of the Middle East indicate an acute awareness of racial and cultural distinction, and insistence by these groups on their separate identity can be taken as an indication of the close juxtaposition of many types of racial stock, cultural patterns and social organization.
