This paper examines the formats used by Arab authors to present genealogical information before and after the end of the Ottoman empire, focusing on the visual elements of genealogical works – that is, on diagrams and figures. I ask why one format – which I call the “Ottoman mushajjar” – was superseded by a new format that I call the dawḥa or “great and lofty tree.” Initially, the mushajjar format was used for recording the descent lines of the Ashrāf communities in the empire. This format declined with the disappearance of the centralized Ottoman institutions that curated and authenticated Ashrāf genealogies. When debates about the accuracy of genealogies moved into a new discursive context – the realm of print media – genealogists adopted the dawḥa format for summarizing and presenting their claims because it was easier to read and publish. It also contained new visual devices for certifying information. It is now the dominant format for discourse about the Ashrāf and, not incidentally, the descent lines of tribes in the mashriq. As the interest in tribal identity has grown – especially in the Gulf and Saudi Arabia – the dawḥa format has proliferated on the Internet. The paper builds on the work of Nadav Samin about Saudi Arabia and Barbara Henning about the epistemological challenges that emerged after the Ottoman era, drawing on a broad survey of printed and online genealogical works in Arabic. It addresses the general goals of identifying the factors that shape cultural production and documenting the history of visual representations in the Arab world. In short, it offers an explanation of a particular cultural change.