Abstract
: This paper revisits a 1974 study by McCance et al., which asked whether or not Arab Bedouins were physiologically adapted to life in the desert. In sharp contrast to that early study, this paper answers that question with a resounding yes, and identifies lactase persistence (LP) amongst the Arabs as a crucial genetic adaptation to desert environments. By synthesizing older ethnographic sources with newer genetic studies, this paper examines the origins and the impact of the G−13915 LP mutation within the Arabian Peninsula, and concludes that the LP gene not only provided a desert survival advantage to Arabian Bedouins, but also left a mark upon Arab history, in particular contributing to an explanation of both the successes and the limitations of the great Arab conquests of the seventh to eighth centuries.
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