Rum (endonym)

Rūm (روم ruːm, collective; singulative: رومي Rūmī ˈruːmiː; plural: أروام Arwām ʔarˈwaːm; روم Rum or رومیان Rumiyān, singular رومی Rumi; Rûm or Rûmîler, singular Rûmî), also romanized as Roum, is a derivative of the Aramaic (rhπmÈ) and Parthian (frwm) terms, ultimately derived from Greek Ῥωμαῖοι (Rhomaioi, literally 'Romans'). Both terms are endonyms of the pre-Islamic inhabitants of Anatolia, the Middle East and the Balkans and date to when those regions were parts of the Eastern Roman Empire. The term Rūm is now used to describe: The city of Rome in Italy, and the people living in it. Remaining pre-Islamic ethnocultural Christian minorities living in the Near East and their descendants, notably the Antiochian Greek Christians who are members of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and the Melkite Greek Catholic Church of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, and the Hatay Province in Southern Turkey whose liturgy is still based on Koine Greek. Orthodox Christian citizens of modern Turkey originating in the pre-Islamic peoples of the country, including Pontians from the Black Sea mountains in the north, Cappadocians from Turkey's central plateau, and Hayhurum from eastern Turkey. Topographical names within Anatolia (e.g. Erzurum and Rumiye-i Suğra) and the Balkans (Rumelia) stemming from the legacy of the Eastern Roman Empire in those areas, or of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm, a medieval Muslim state that ruled over recently conquered Byzantines (Rûm) in central Asia Minor from 1077 to 1308. The term Rūm in Arabic and New Persian was derived from Middle Persian hrōm, which had in turn derived from Parthian frwm, which was used to label "Rome" and the "Roman Empire" and was derived from the Greek Ῥώμη. The Armenian and Georgian forms of the name were also derived from Aramaic and Parthian. According to the Encyclopedia of Islam, Rūm is a Persian and Turkish word used to refer to the Byzantine Empire. The Greek (Ῥώμη), Middle Persian (hrōm), Parthian (frwm) versions of Rūm are found on the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht, a monument declaring Shapur I's victory over Marcus Antonius Gordianus.