Editing Arabization (section)

==Early Arab expansion in the Near East==
{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2016}}

After [[Alexander the Great]], the [[Nabataean Kingdom]] emerged and ruled a region extending from north of Arabia to the south of Syria. The Nabataeans originated from the Arabian peninsula, who came under the influence of the earlier [[Aramaic]] culture, the neighbouring Hebrew culture of the Hasmonean kingdom, as well as the Hellenistic cultures in the region (especially with the [[Christianization]] of [[Nabatean]]s in the 3rd and 4th centuries). The pre-modern Arabic language was created by Nabateans, who developed the [[Nabataean alphabet]] which became the basis of modern [[Arabic script]]. The [[Nabataean Arabic|Nabataean language]], under heavy Arab influence, amalgamated into the [[Arabic language]].

The Arab [[Ghassanids]] were the last major non-Islamic Semitic migration northward out of [[Greater Yemen|Yemen]] in late classic era. They were [[Greek Orthodox Church|Greek Orthodox Christian]], and clients of the [[Byzantine Empire]]. They arrived in [[Theodorias (province)|Byzantine Syria]] which had a largely [[Aramean]] population. They initially settled in the [[Hauran]] region, eventually spreading to the entire [[Levant]] (modern Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Jordan), briefly securing governorship of parts of Syria and Transjordan away from the [[Nabataeans]].

The Arab [[Lakhmid kingdom|Lakhmid Kingdom]] was founded by the Lakhum tribe that emigrated from [[Greater Yemen|Yemen]] in the 2nd century and ruled by the [[Banu Lakhm]], hence the name given it. They adopted the religion of the [[Church of the East]], founded in [[Assyria]]/[[Asōristān]], opposed to the Ghassanids Greek Orthodox Christianity, and were clients of the [[Sasanian Empire]].

The Byzantines and Sasanians used the Ghassanids and Lakhmids to fight proxy wars in Arabia against each other.