Arabian/Middle_Eastern_architecture utility alias

BUR #18841 has been approved by @nonamethanks.

create alias arabian_architecture -> middle_eastern_architecture

The reason is that Arabian architecture even look very identical to Persian (Iranian) and Ottoman (Turkish) ones. There are posts that depict the Hagia Sophia mosque. I am not going to request the alias into Islamic_architecture because we do not refer architectural styles to specific religions.
Also, while not all Middle Eastern architecture applies only for mosque-like buildings, but should also be more applicable in general sense - i.e. storey houses found in ME towns and villages.

This is also done in similar reason why we use East Asian architecture instead of separate Chinese/Japanese/Korean_architecture, because they have very similar.
We also only use European architecture instead of overly-specific yet identical Anglo-Saxon_architecture, Scandinavian_architecture or whatever. While yes, there are noticeable distinction between Gothic architecture which I cannot accurately explain here compared to more generic European architecture.

Q: Should the alias include Egyptian architecture as well, while Egypt belongs in the Middle East despite located in North Africa?
A: No, it should not. Thanks a lot for the insight.

it should be oriental_architecture for its byzantine origin.

uohuo said:

it should be oriental_architecture for its byzantine origin.

I don't think this would be a smart idea, for multiple reasons: first off, Ottoman architecture was very much a fusion, taking from both Byzantine and Persian (Seljuk) influences, and was rather regionally depended - so the Balkans, which had medieval Byzantine influence, continued to skew more towards later Byzantine styles, while Iraq, Egypt, etc. obviously skewed more towards Middle Eastern and Persian, with places like the Levant splitting the difference. Middle Eastern architecture prior to the Ottomans had substantial Byzantine influence too, but they did ultimately diverge to become distinct.

Second off, Byzantine architecture was massively influential not just in the East but in the West too, contributing to Carolingian, Romanesque, and Gothic architecture. And later on, we had post-Byzantine or neo-Byzantine styles develop across Orthodox Europe, such as in Russia and the post-Ottoman Balkans. You'd be casting the net for the tag way wider than it originally intended.

And last, but not least, despite Oriental traditionally being used to refer to the Near East (what we call the Middle East today), most folks today and presumably most folks on the website would use oriental to refer to East Asia, like China and Japan, not Turkey. Would be ripe for mistags.

World_Funeral said:

Should the alias include Egyptian architecture as well, while Egypt belongs in the Middle East despite located in North Africa?

I think not. The posts in the tag clearly show that it is supposed to be Ancient Egyptian architecture, so it shouldn't apply to Arabian/Middle Eastern architecture because those tags implicitly go after Islamic architecture. And honestly, I think the tag, if it had to have a name, should probably be islamic_architecture.

The bulk update request #18841 (forum #249688) has been approved by @nonamethanks.