this post was submitted on 03 May 2024
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There are no "semitic people". The term was invented 1879 by William Marr and he definetly meant jews and not arabs.
Nope, earlier, it's Göttingen school of history stuff. Essentially the bible-based alternative to Blumenbach:
Which isn't totally off compared to our modern understanding of who spoke proto-Semitic. "Semitic" as a descriptor of languages is unchallenged in linguistics because, well, symbols are arbitrary anyway and "Descendants of Shem", as in Noah's son, ancestor of Abraham, is not exactly a contentious thing among a group of related cultures having birthed no less than three Abrahamic religions.
I think you a both right. Historically, Semites referred to a large cultural group.
Over time, it has become a nonsense word because those cultural groups have become so dilute and diverse that you can’t point at someone and say they are part of that group.
More recently, the label has become misappropriated by some sort of whacky religious nutbaggery so they can oppress other people.