When proposing the theme ‘Rural Anthropology of the Middle East’, we never would have thought that such a variety of topics would be included in the issue. Despite the fact that a continuously decreasing proportion of people dwell in rural areas around the world, including the Middle East, rural people are proving to be resourceful in facing modernity. For this reason, a diversity of subjects can be studied in rural areas, as each village is unique and quite different from the others.