For example, before there was a Lebanese state, what did Lebanese people identify as? What about Iraqis, Egyptians, Palestinians, etc? Was identity in the Arab world based on religious affiliation, tribal/clan affiliation, or did there exist various regional identities similar to modern national identities? I’m thinking particularly during the reign of the Ottoman Empire, but any information about the period prior would be fascinating as well.
They identified as Muslims or Druze or Christians, i.e. based on their religion. They also identified with their locale, i.e. Mt.Lebanon, Bekaa Valley, this or that village.
Many did identify with the Ottomans also btw, as loyal subjects. Christian and Arab disloyalty is overblown. Mostly just nation state historiography trying to justify 19-20th century politics by retroactively inventing a subversive history i.e. “we were always struggling to become what we know think we are!”
Christians were so loyal that the Ottoman state armed them to the teeth for the first time to put down Yahya Ali’s revolt and also the Anatolian Jelalis a century earlier.