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The Armenoid race was a supposed sub-race in the context of a now-outdated model of dividing humanity into different races which was developed originally by Europeans in support of colonialism. The Armenoid race was variously described (depending on author) as a "sub-race" of the "Aryan race" or the "Caucasian race" (e.g. by Carleton Coon).

History of term

The term was used by Austrian anthropologist Felix von Luschan and Eugen Petersen in the 1889 book Reisen in Lykien, Milyas und Kibyratis ("Travel in Lycia, Milyas and Kibyratis"). Carleton Coon (1904–81) described the regions of West Asia such as Anatolia, the Caucasus, Iraq, Iran, and the Levant as the center of distribution of the Armenoid race. Anthropologist J.M Grintz considered the ancient Assyrians, the ancient Babylonians, as well as some ancient Egyptians (specifically of Sinai and Palestine) to have been Armenoid.

Nazi use of the term

In his works, Hans F.K. Günther portrayed the Jewish people as a specifically non-European racial mixture comprising Armenoid, Semitic, and Negroid elements. The German physical anthropologist Egon Freiherr von Eickstedt characterized the Jews as a racial mixture that is primarily of the Armenoid type. According to Croatian fascist Ustaše ideologists, only 5% of Croats, but 35% of Serbs were of the Armenoid race. They described the race as being "characterized by a dark complexion and a personality prone to trickery, fawning and cheating".

Physiognomy

Carleton S. Coon wrote that the Armenoid racial type is very similar to the Dinaric race, most probably due to racial mixture with the Mediterraneans (who often have olive skin) and the Alpines (who often have pale skin). The only difference is that Armenoids have a slightly darker pigmentation. He described the Armenoid as a sub-race of the Caucasoid race. Armenoids were said to be found throughout Eurasia, predominantly in Armenia, Transcaucasia, Iran, and Mesopotamia. This racial type was believed to be prevalent among some Armenians, Assyrians, and northern, central and south-eastern Iraqis.

See also

• Caucasian race
• Dinaric race
• Historical race concepts
• Race and society
• Race (human categorization)
• Degeneration Theory
• Polygenism
• Recent African origin of modern humans
• Superior: The Return of Race Science

References

1. For the model of dividing humanity into races, see American Association of Physical Anthropologists (27 March 2019). "AAPA Statement on Race and Racism". American Association of Physical Anthropologists. Retrieved 19 June 2020. Instead, the Western concept of race must be understood as a classification system that emerged from, and in support of, European colonialism, oppression, and discrimination.
2. Ripley, William Z. (1899). The Races of Europe: A Sociological Study. D. Appleton & Company. p. 444.
3. Luschan, Felix Von (1911). "The Early Inhabitants of Western Asia". The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 41. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland: 242. doi:10.2307/2843172. hdl:2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t4nk3d322. JSTOR 2843172. When I first upheld in 1892, in my paper on the anthropological position of the Jews, the homogeneous character of these groups, I called them "Armenoids." But there can be no doubt that they are all descended from tribes belonging to the great Hittite Empire
4. Petersen, Eugen; Luschan, Felix von. Lykien, Milyas und Kibyratis (1889).
5. Grintz, J. M. (1962). "On the Original Home of the Semites". Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 21 (3): 186–206. doi:10.1086/371692. ISSN 0022-2968.
6. Morris-Reich (2013). "Photography in Economies of Demonstration: The Idea of the Jews as a Mixed-Race People". Jewish Social Studies. 20 (1): 150. doi:10.2979/jewisocistud.20.1.150.
7. Morris-Reich, A. (2013-01-01). "Taboo and Classification: Post-1945 German Racial Writing on Jews". The Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook. 58 (1): 195–215. doi:10.1093/leobaeck/ybt015. ISSN 0075-8744.
8. ^ Bartulin, Nevenko (2009-12-21). "The ideal Nordic – Dinaric racial type: Racial anthropology in the Independent State of Croatia". Review of Croatian History. V (1): 189–219. ISSN 1845-4380.
9. Fisher, William B. (2003). The Middle East and North Africa, Volume 50. Routledge. p. 444. ISBN 978-1-85743-184-1. The northern and eastern hill districts contain many racial elements—Turkish, Persian, and proto-Nordic, with Armenoid strains predominating. the population of the riverine districts of Iraq displays a mixture of Armenoid and Mediterranean elements. North of the Baghdad district the Armenoid strain is dominant.
10. Fisher, William B. (1966). The Middle East: A Physical, Social and Regional Geography. Methuen. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-416-71510-1. Armenoid affinities are easily discerned in the peoples of northern, central and south-eastern Iraq., extract of page 444

External links

• Rutherford, Adam. "Why racism is not backed by science", The Guardian
• Race (Encyclopædia Britannica)
• Race (Stamford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
• Phil Gasper The Return of Scientific Racism
• Carleton S. Coon The Races of Europe

• Critical Race Theory (Centre for Research on Race and Education; University of Birmingham)
• Four statements on the race question UNESCO Digital Library

• Historical definitions of race