The Armenoid race was a supposed sub-race in the context of a now-outdated model of dividing humanity into different races which was developed originally by Europeans in support of colonialism.[1] The Armenoid race was variously described (depending on author) as a "sub-race" of the "Aryan race"[2] or the "Caucasian race" (e.g. by Carleton Coon).
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").[3][4] 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.[citation needed] 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.[5]
In his works, Hans F.K. Günther portrayed the Jewish people as a specifically non-European racial mixture comprising Armenoid, Semitic, and Negroid elements.[6] The German physical anthropologist Egon Freiherr von Eickstedt characterized the Jews as a racial mixture that is primarily of the Armenoid type.[7] According to Croatian fascist Ustaše ideologists, only 5% of Croats, but 35% of Serbs were of the Armenoid race.[8] They described the race as being "characterized by a dark complexion and a personality prone to trickery, fawning and cheating".[8]
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.[9][10]
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.
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
The northern and eastern hill districts [of Iraq] 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.
Armenoid affinities are easily discerned in the peoples of northern, central and south-eastern Iraq., extract of page 444