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Mashriq

This article is about the Mashriq region. For other uses, see Mashriq (disambiguation)

The Mashriq or Mashreq (also in use: Mashrek) (Arabic: مشرق) is, generally speaking, the region of Arabic-speaking countries to the east of Egypt and north of the Arabian Peninsula. It is derived from the Arabic consonantal root sh-r-q (ش ر ق) relating to the east or the sunrise, and essentially means "east" (most literally or poetically, "place of sunrise"). It refers to a large area in the Middle East, bounded between the Mediterranean Sea and Iran. It is therefore the corresponding term of Maghreb (مغرب), meaning "west", which refers to the Arabic-speaking countries in the west of North Africa. Egypt occupies an ambiguous position: while it has cultural and linguistic ties to both the Mashriq and the Maghrib, it is unique and different from both; thus it is usually seen as being part of neither. These geographical terms date from the early Islamic conquests.

This region is somewhat synonymous with Bilad al-Sham, but also includes Iraq and Kuwait. It is occasionally used as a synonym for "non-Maghrib" and in these instances includes Egypt, Sudan, and the Arabian Peninsula.

See also

• Levant
• Bilad al-Sham
• Greater Syria
• Fertile Crescent
• Mesopotamia
• Maghrib