Editing Arabization (section)

===The Levant===
{{See also|Muslim conquest of the Levant|Arab migrations to the Levant}}

Prior to the Islamic conquests, Arabs and Arabic inscriptions existed in the region; The roman emperor [[Philip the Arab]] was born in what is now [[Bosra]], Syria. The [[Emesene dynasty|Emasene dynasty]] were a Roman client dynasty of Syrian priest-kings known to have ruled by 46&nbsp;BCE from [[Al-Rastan|Arethusa]] and later from [[Emesa]], [[Roman Syria|Syria]], until between 72 and 78/79 and they were of [[Arab]] origin.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bowman |first1=Alan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MNSyT_PuYVMC&q=Emesa+dynasty+arab+city&pg=PA502 |title=The Cambridge Ancient History: Volume 12, The Crisis of Empire, AD 193-337 |last2=Garnsey |first2=Peter |last3=Cameron |first3=Averil |date=2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521301992 |language=en}}; {{cite book |last1=Hornblower |first1=Simon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bVWcAQAAQBAJ&q=%22arab+kingdom%22+emesa&pg=PA754 |title=The Oxford Classical Dictionary |last2=Spawforth |first2=Antony |last3=Eidinow |first3=Esther |date=2012 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=9780199545568 |language=en}}; {{harvnb|Ball|2000}}; {{cite book |last1=Burns |first1=Jasper |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hL99AgAAQBAJ&q=Emesa+arab+tribe&pg=PA181 |title=Great Women of Imperial Rome: Mothers and Wives of the Caesars |date=2006 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781134131853 |language=en}}; {{cite book |last1=Prado |first1=Leonardo de Arrizabalaga y |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zHbXDgAAQBAJ&q=emesa+arab&pg=PA191 |title=Varian Studies Volume One: Varius |date=2017 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=9781443893855 |language=en}}; {{harvnb|Birley|2002}}; {{cite book |last=Shahid |first=Irfan |title=Rome and The Arabs: A Prolegomenon to the Study of Byzantium and the Arabs |date=1984 |publisher=Dumbarton Oaks |isbn=0884021157 |page=37}}; {{cite book |last1=Freisenbruch |first1=Annelise |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VUR_3B97ctQC&q=%22arab+kingdom%22+emesa&pg=PA182 |title=Caesars' Wives: Sex, Power, and Politics in the Roman Empire |date=2011 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=9781416583059 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Icks |first=Martijn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_g-MDwAAQBAJ&dq=Emesa+phoenician&pg=PA46 |title=The Crimes of Elagabalus: The Life and Legacy of Rome's Decadent Boy Emperor |date=30 August 2011 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=9780857720177 |pages=46}}</ref> The [[Safaitic]] (named after [[Al-Safa (Syria)|Al-Safa region]] in Syria) inscriptions of old Arabic existed in [[Harrat al-Sham]], the script existed in the period from the 1st century BCE to the 4th century CE.

On the eve of the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] conquest of the Levant, 634&nbsp;CE, Syria's population mainly spoke Aramaic; Greek was the official language of administration. [[#The Levant|Arabization]] and [[Islamization]] of Syria began in the 7th century, and it took several centuries for Islam, the Arab identity, and language to spread;{{sfn|al-Hassan|2001|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=FUPnSxbUREgC&pg=PA59 59]}} the Arabs of the caliphate did not attempt to spread their language or religion in the early periods of the conquest, and formed an isolated aristocracy.{{sfn|Schulze|2010|p=19}} The Arabs of the caliphate accommodated many new tribes in isolated areas to avoid conflict with the locals; caliph [[Uthman]] ordered his governor, [[Muawiyah I]], to settle the new tribes away from the original population.{{sfn|Kennedy|1992|p= 292}} Syrians who belonged to [[Monophysitism|Monophysitic]] denominations welcomed the peninsular Arabs as liberators.{{sfn|Barker|1966|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=LiJljEXvwAoC&pg=PA244 244]}}

The [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasids]] in the eighth and ninth century sought to integrate the peoples under their authority, and the Arabization of the administration was one of the tools.{{sfn|Braida|2012|p= 183}} Arabization gained momentum with the increasing numbers of Muslim converts;{{sfn|al-Hassan|2001|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=FUPnSxbUREgC&pg=PA59 59]}} the ascendancy of Arabic as the formal language of the state prompted the cultural and linguistic assimilation of Syrian converts.{{sfn|Peters|2003|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=HYJ2c9E9IM8C&pg=PA191 191]}} Those who remained [[Christianity in Syria|Christian]] also became Arabized;{{sfn|Braida|2012|p= 183}} it was probably during the Abbasid period in the ninth century that Christians adopted Arabic as their first language; the first translation of the gospels into Arabic took place in this century.{{sfn|Braida|2012|p= 182}} Many historians, such as [[Claude Cahen]] and Bernard Hamilton, proposed that the Arabization of Christians was completed before the [[First Crusade]].{{sfn|Ellenblum|2006|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=oiYgyRyL97oC&pg=PA53 53]}} By the thirteenth century, Arabic language achieved dominance in the region and its speakers became Arabs.{{sfn|al-Hassan|2001|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=FUPnSxbUREgC&pg=PA59 59]}}