Arabia
3 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Arabia. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a vast peninsula in the S. W. of Asia, bounded on the N. by the great Syro-Babylonian plain, N. E. by the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, S. E. by the Indian Ocean, and S. W. by the Red Sea and Gulf of Suez. Its length from N. W. to S. E. is about 1,800 miles, its mean dth about 600 miles, its area rather breadth over 1,000,000 square miles, its population may be roughly estimated at 10,- 000,000. Topography. It exhibits a central table-land, surrounded by a series of deserts, with numerous scattered oases, while around this is a line of mountains parallel to and approaching the coasts, and with a narrow rim of low grounds (tehama) between them and the sea. Rivers proper, there are none. By the ancients the whole peninsula was broadly divided into three great sections-Arabia Petræa (containing the city of Petra), Deserta (desert), and Felix (happy). The first and last of these answer roughly to the modern divisions of the region of Sinai in the N. W., and Yemen in the S. W., while the name Deserta was vaguely given to the rest of the country. Political Divisions. The principal divisions are Madian in the N. W.; S. of this, Hejaz, Assir and Yemen, all on the Red Sea, a, the last named occupying the southwestern part of the peninsula; Hadramaut, on the S. coast; Oman occupying the S. E. angle; El-Hasa and Koveit on the Persian Gulf; El-Hamad (desert of Syriaefud, and Jebel Shammar in the N.; Nejd, the Central Highlands, which occupies upies a great part of the interior of the country, while S. of it is the great unexplored Dahkna or Sandy Desert. Previous to the World War Madian belonged to Egypt, the Hejaz, Yemen, Bahr-el-Hasa, Koveit, etc., were more or less under the suzerainty of Turkey. The rest of the country was ruled by independent chiefs sheikhs, emirs, and imams-while the title of Sultan has been assumed by the chief of the Wahabis in Nejd, the sovere eign of Oman (who has a subvention from the Indian Government), and some petty ty princes in the S. S. of the peninsula. The chief towns are Mecca, the birthplace of Mohammed; Medina, the place to which he fled from Mecca (A. D. 622) and where he is buried; Mocha, a seaport celebrated for its coffee; Aden, on the S. W. coast, a strongly fortified garrison belonging to Britain; Sana, the capital of Yemen; Muscat, the capital of Oman, a busy port with a safe anchorage. Climate and Productions. The climate of Arabia, in general, is marked by extreme heat and dryness. Aridity and bareness characterize both high and low grounds, and the date palm is often the only representative of vegetable exist- There are districts which, in the ence. course of the year, are hardly refreshed by a single shower of rain. Forests there are few or none. The date palm furnishes the staple article of food; the cereals are wheat, barley, maize, and millet; various sorts of fruit flourish; coffee and many aromatic plants and substances, uch as gum arabic, benzoin, such mastic, balsam, aloes, myrrh, frankincense, etc., are produced. There are also cultivated in different parts of the peninsula, according to the soil and climate, beans, rice, lentils, tobacco, melons, saffron, colocynth, poppies, olives, etc. Sheep, goats, oxen, the horse, the camel, ass and mule supply man's domestic and personal wants. Among wild animals are gazelles, ostriches, the lion, panther, hyena, jackal, etc. Among mineral products are saltpeter, mineral pitch, petroleum, salt, sulphur, and several precious stones, as the carnelian, agate and onyx. People. The Arabs, as a race, are of middle stature, of a powerful though slender build, and have a skin of a more or less brownish color; in towns and the uplands often almost white. Their features are well cut, the nose straight, the forehead high. They are naturally active, intelligent and courteous; and their character is marked by temperance, bravery and hospitality. The first religion of the Arabs, a Semitic nature worship, in places like the worship of the stars, was supplanted by the doctrines of Mohammedanism, which succeeded rapidly in establishing itself throughout Arabia. Besides the two principal sects of Islam, the Sunnites and the Shîites there also exists, in considerable numbers, a third Mohammedan sect, the Wahabis, which arose in the latter half of the 18th century, and for a time possessed great political importance in the peninsula. The mode of the Arabs is either nomadic or settled. The nomadic tribes are termed Bedouins and among them are considered to be the Arabs of the purest blood. History. The history of the Arabs previous to Mohammed is obscure. The earliest inhabitants are believed to have been of the Semitic race. Jews in great numbers migrated into Arabia after the destruction of Jerusalem, and, making numerous proselytes, indirectly favored the introduction of the doctrines of Mohammed. With his advent the Arabians uprose and united for the purpose of extending the new creed; and, under the caliphs-the successors of Mohammedthey attained great power, and founded large and powerful kingdoms in three continents (see CALIPHS). On the fall of the caliphate of Bagdad, in 1258, the decline set in, and on the expulsion of the Moors from Spain the foreign rule of the Arabs came to an end. In the 16th century Turkey subjected Hejaz and Yemen, and received the nominal submission of the tribes inhabiting the rest of Arabia. The subjection of Hejaz has continued down to the present day; but Yemen achieved its independence in the 17th century, and maintained it till 1871, when the territory again fell into the hands of the Turks. In 1839 Aden was occupied by the British. Oman early became virtually independent of the caliphs and grew into a well-organized kingdom. In 1507 its capital, Maskat or Muscat, was occupied by the Portuguese, who were not driven out till 1659. The Wahabis appeared toward the end of the 18th century, and took an important part in the political affairs of Arabia, but their progress was interrupted by Mohammed Ali, Pasha of Egypt, and they suffered a complete defeat by Ibrahim Pasha. He extended his power over most of the country, but the events of 1840, in Syria, compelled him to renounce all claims to Arabia. The Hejaz thus again became subject to Turkish sway. Turkey afterward extended its rule not only over Yemen, but also over the district of El- Hasa on the Persian Gulf. The participation of Arabia in the World War was largely limited to the province of Hejaz, the long strip of territory fronting on the Red Sea, which includes the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The Shereef of Mecca, Hussein ibn Ali, had an immense influence with the people of Hejaz, because of his prestige as a lineal descendant of Mohammed. Negotiations were opened with him by the British in 1915 to secure his adherence to the side of the Allies, a project that was rendered the easier by the friction that had for some time existed between Hussein and the Turks. The promise of his military co-operation was secured, and in return the Allies promised him the kingship of an Arabic kingdom, which was to be bounded by the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, Persia, and the 37th degree of latitude. In June, 1916, hostilities were begun by Hussein, who defeated the Turks at Mecca, Taif, and Jedda, and opened up communication with the British fleet in the Red Sea, from which he was thereby enabled to receive ammunition and supplies. In Medina, however, the resistance of the Turkish forces was too strong to be overcome at that time. An expedition, co-operating with the British naval forces, was organized against Wejh on the Hejaz coast and proved successful the city being taken, as were also Dhaba and Moweilah on Feb. 8-9, 1917, thus clearing the northern end of the Red Sea up to Akaba of the enemy. Following this came a period of training and organization of troops by Prince Feisal, the third son of Hussein, and an able and daring commander. Camel corps and cavalry corps were formed, and after the fall of Akaba, Feisal's army became the right wing of the army of Allenby, to whom the Arabs rendered distinguished service in his dazzling campaigns that resulted finally in the taking of Jerusalem, the crushing of three Turkish armies, and the capture of Damascus and Aleppo, events which practically brought the war to an end in that quarter of the world. Apart from the direct military help afforded the Allies, in the desert and Palestinian fighting for which the Arabs were peculiarly fitted, the adhesion of the Hejaz had_other advantages quite as important. It practically immobilized two Turkish divisions, who otherwise might have been employed elsewhere, and it broke up the line of communication to by which the Central Powers were Africa, Africa, ending emissaries and propaganda to stir up trouble for the French and British in their colonial possessions. By the terms arrived at a conference between the representatives of the Allied Powers at San Remo, Italy, in May, 1920, Great Britain was given the practical protectorate over Mesopotamia, while France was given the protectorate over the Syrian coast, exclusive of Palestine. Palestine was made a protectorate under Great Britain. The Arabs were greatly discontented with this division of territory, and King Feisal of Hejaz, who had succeeded his father, Hussein, threatened in July, 1920, to begin an aggressive movement to give to the Arabs the practical possession, not only of Syria but of Palestine. See HEJAZ, MESOPOTAMIA, PALESTINE, SYRIA. Language and Literature. - The Arabic language belongs to the Semitic dialects, among which it is distinguished for its richness, softness, and high degree of development. By the spread of Islam it became the sole written language and the prevailing speech in all southwestern Asia and eastern and northern Africa, and, for a time, in south Spain, in Malta, and in Sicily; and it is still used as a learned and sacred language wherever Islam is spread. The Arabic language is written in an alphabet of its own, which has also been adopted in writing Persian, Hindustani, Turkish, etc. As in all Semitic languages (except the Ethiopic), it is read from right to left. Poetry among the Arabs had a very early development, and before the time of Mohammed poetical contests were held and prizes awarded for the best pieces. The progress of the Arabs in literature, the arts and sciences, may be said to have begun with the government of the caliphs of the family of the Abbassides, A. D. 749, at Bagdad, several of whom, as Haroun al Raschid and Al Mamun, were munificent patrons of learning; and their example was followed by the Ommiades in Spain. In Spain were established numerous academies and schools, which were visited by students from other European countries; and important works were written on geography, history, philosophy, medicine, physics, mathematics, arithmetic, geometry and astronomy. Most of the geography in the Middle Ages is the work of the Arabians, and their histo- JUL ARABIAN ORNAMENT rians since the 8th century have been very numerous. Of their philosophical authors the most celebrated are Alfarabi (10th century), Ibn Sina or Avicenna (died A. D. 1037), Alghazzali (died 1111), Ibn Roshd or Averroes (12th century), called by pre-eminence the Commentator, etc. In medicine they excelled all other nations in the Middle Ages, and they are commonly regarded as the earliest experimenters in chemistry. It was by them that algebra (a name of Arabic origin) was introduced to the western peoples, and the Arabic numerals were similarly introduced. Astronomy they especially cultivated, for which famous schools and observatories were erected at Bagdad and Cordova. The tales of fairies, genii, enchanters, and sorcerers in particular, passed from the Arabians to the western nations as in "The Thousand and One Nights." ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAIN- MENTS, or "THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS," a celebrated collection of Oriental tales, which have, since their introduction to the civilized world, become the delight of all who peruse them. This collection, which had long been famous throughout the East, was brought to the notice of Europeans by the translation of Antoine Galland, a great French Orientalist, in 1704. The best English editions are by Payne and Burton.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a-ra'bi-a, the most southwesterly peninsula of Asia. Speaking roughly, it is a rectangular plateau extending from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf. The most commonly accepted northern limit is a line curving to the north, but drawn from Suez to the head of the Persian Gulf. The greatest length of Arabia, thus limited, is 1,300 miles. The greatest width is 1,500 miles. The total area is about 1,200,000 square miles. The total population is estimated anywhere from 5,000,000 upward. Arabia is not a country. Turkey owns a strip along the Red Sea, and another down the Persian Gulf. Aden, at the southwest corner, belongs to England. The Arabian kingdom of Oman on the southeast shore is independent. The rest of Arabia is occupied by independent tribes under their sheiks. Turkish Arabia, which includes the cities of Mecca and Medina, has an area of about 170,000 square miles, and a population of over 1,000,000. Oman has a territory of about 82,000 square miles and a population of perhaps 800,000. Any estimate of the population of the interior is guesswork. The ancients divided that part of Arabia with which they were acquainted into three parts: The Red Sea coast was known as Arabia Felix, or Arabia the Blest; the northwestern portion of the country was known as Arabia Petraea, or Stony Arabia; eastward from these regions stretched an unknown extent designated by them as Arabia Deserta, or Desert Arabia. The surface of Arabia may be divided into three regions. A comparatively narrow coast region of sands, valleys, cliffs, and ranges, partly barren and partly fertile, runs around the entire coast from Mt. Sinai to the head of the Persian Gulf. Seen from passing ships, this exterior region is in general forbidding. This is the Arabia Felix of sacred geography,--a region of the date, the cocoanut palm, and the famous coffee originally exported from the port of Mocha. It produces aromatic plants and substances such as aloes, benzoin, balsam, frankincense, gum arabic, and myrrh, giving rise to Milton's oft quoted words: Sabean odours from the spicy shore Of Araby the Blest. Beans, rice, lentils, tobacco, melons, saffron, olives, poppy or opium, sesame, and castor oil are produced along the various valleys and terraces of this part of the peninsula. Within this broken border is found a second belt of similar extent. It varies in width, but, except where interrupted by the fertile district about Mecca, this region is a featureless desert of shifting sands and scanty vegetation, like that of the Sahara. This desert belt, never crossed, it is said, by the foot of Greek or Roman conqueror, shelters a third large, more elevated interior region containing large areas of fertile soil well adapted to pasturage. This grassy region is the home of the Bedouin or unsettled Arab. Like their ancestors, the interior Arabs are nomadic in character. Their wealth consists in horses, cattle, and camels, and flocks of sheep and goats. They live in tents, and move with their flocks from place to place according to the season. The camel is described in a special article under that head. The ownership of the Arabian horse is confined entirely to the chiefs. It is considered beneath an Arab's dignity to sell his horse. Colts are brought up with the family. The genuine Arab horse is most frequently gray, then chestnut and white or sorrel, but never a dark bay. It is claimed that the Arabian horse can carry its owner at a gallop for twenty-four hours without requiring a drink. From the seashore to the interior Arabia presents a great variety of surface. The tender-eyed gazelle, the fleetest and most graceful of the antelope kind, is still found in Arabia. The long-maned lion, the ape, tiger, panther, lynx, wolf, jackal, hyena, black-faced monkey, kangaroo rat, hare, mountain goat, and wild ass are found in one part or another of Arabia. Of birds, the ostrich, hunted for its feathers and eggs, eagles, vultures, bustards, sparrowhawks, partridges, rock pigeons, guinea fowls, ducks, cranes, larks, sparrows, finches, thrushes, and parrots are found in various provinces. Scorpions and centipedes are common in the rocks and arid regions; while bees store their honey in the rock crevices of the mountains. Flies, mosquitoes, ants, and spiders are considered unusually troublesome. Parts of Arabia are also devastated by flights of locusts related to the Rocky Mountain species that at times alights in the fields of the Mississippi Valley. Arabia has played an important part in history. It has given the world the Arabian horse, the Arabian camel, the Moslem religion, and has sent forth the Saracenic armies that overran Syria, Asia Minor , Egypt, North Africa, and Spain. The Arabic language is akin to the Persian and the Hebrew. At one time the Arabs were the chief scholars of the world, and possessed the largest libraries. The eminent physicians, astronomers, and mathematicians of the day were Arabians. In name as well as origin, algebra is Arabic. Bagdad on the Tigris and Cordova in Spain were famous sites of Arabic learning, and were thronged by the students of Asia and the western world before the great universities of Europe had been thought of, or were even possible. Almanac, zenith, azimuth, and nadir; algebra, zero, and cipher; alcohol, coffee, and sherbet; elixir and syrup; sofa, cotton, and mohair; artichoke, arsenal, assassin, fakir, hegira, sumach, jar, tariff, amber, and Moslem, are all from the Arabic, indicating the extent to which we are indebted to the Arabic scholars of the Middle Ages . The influence of Arabic writers upon the literature of Europe has also been very great. Translations of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments are still the delight of young folks. For extravagant, fairyland effects, the Moslem architecture of the Alhambra is without a rival. See Mohammed ; Mecca ; Aden ; Alhambra ; Bagdad Arabian Education. Following the conquests of the armies of the Mohammedans in the seventh and eighth centuries A. D., the conquerors turned their attention to learning. Before Mohammed the Arabian was ignorant, a lover of the horse, hospitable, and warlike. The great prophet himself could neither read nor write. He had no confidence in worldly knowledge and made the study of the liberal sciences punishable by death. However, in two centuries after his death, the Arabians were the teachers of the world. The Arabians were brought into contact with what learning there was through their victories. Leaders of armies met philosophers and grammarians. The science of medicine was especially interesting to the Arabians. When they captured Alexandria one John Philoponus showed his friendship for the conquering general by translating into the Arabic language extracts from the books of Galen on the bites of poisonous serpents and the cure for them. He also composed a book on Aristotle in the language of the Arabs. The kalifs in the beginning were not so enlightened. While it may not be true that one of them directed the burning of the great library with the remark that if the books agreed with the Koran they were not needed and if they did not they should be burned, the currency of the story shows the Arabian's lack of appreciation for learning. But in less than fifty years after the death of Mohammed the kalifs were enthusiastic advocates of learning. A decree was made that beside every mosque there should be built a schoolhouse. In Spain, in Egypt, in Arabia, there grew up universities numbering their students by the thousand. The Nestorian Christians, driven out of Constantinople for heresy, settled in Persia and turned their attention to medicine. They founded the medical college of Gondisapore which sent out numbers of skilled physicians. Kalifs who fell ill sent for these doctors and thus came under the influence of Greek learning, for the Nestorians were eager cultivators of Greek science. One of the kalifs, El Mamoun, threw the Nestorian, Honain Ben Ishac, into prison for refusing to teach the kalif a prescription by which the kalif might kill any enemy who became troublesome. After a year Honain was summoned before the kalif and was given his choice of death or compliance with the request of the kalif. The faithful physician declined to comply; whereat the kalif assured him that the demand was merely a test of his integrity. Said the kalif, "What hindered thee from granting our request, when thou sawest us appear so ready to perform what we had threatened?" "Two things," replied Honain, "my religion, which commands me to do good to my enemies, and my profession, instituted purely for the benefit of mankind." "Two noble laws!" exclaimed the kalif. Honain was loaded with gifts and made court physician. As was the custom with great conquerors, Haroun El Raschid traveled with a hundred men of science in his train. His son, El Mamoun, was the greatest patron of learning among the kalifs. No religious or race prejudice prevented him from securing every scholar upon whom he might impose labors and rewards. Hungerford says of El Mamoun: "By such measures he strove to make Bagdad the residence of the choicest among the learned. His court took on the character of a great academy. The provinces of his empire were searched for precious manuscripts; his collectors were busy everywhere,--in Syria, in Armenia, in Egypt. Governors of provinces had instructions to further the work. Collections of books were taken as a tribute. Among the terms of peace with the Greek emperor, Michael the Stammerer, was the exaction of a series of the manuscripts of Greek authors. Vast numbers of books were brought from all quarters to Bagdad, constituting a library which represented the accumulated learning of the East. These contributions of the nations to Arabian enlightenment were borne on the backs of hundreds of camels, which entered the city laden with their treasures. Such a collection required numerous laborers to inspect, arrange and classify, transcribe and translate." It is sad to relate that all the original manuscripts were burned. Just why this was done is not known. Probably the Arabs looked upon all other nations as beneath consideration, and there was some excuse for this in the prevailing ignorance of the times among western peoples. There was little evidence of aristocracy in these old schools. Sons of mechanics as well as the noble born were welcome. Endowments of immense sums were contributed to the support of the universities. After studying books of foreign authorship the Arabs became authors. A dictionary in sixty volumes, histories, scientific works, encyclopedias, were among their writings. They introduced our decimal notation, and were learned in other branches of mathematics. There is little account coming down to us of the schools of the common people, the primary schools of that day. Probably there was no such school as one of our grade schools in all the Mohammedan dominions. Even the universities were dismantled when the political supremacy of the Arab was ended. Hungerford says: "While the time of its endurance is not short,--for its sway lasted through centuries,--it goes, nevertheless, as it came; suddenly. One wakes from the recital of all Arabian history as from a dream. With the passing away of other glories the glory of letters fades so completely that it is hard to realize their former supremacy over vast territories and over millions of active minds. The bustle and busy searching. the collecting and transcribing and recording, the piling up of libraries and accumulation of treatises covering every department of learning, ceases. The intellectual career of Islam is finished. In the history of the world the movement of the Arabian mind is like that of the Bedouin horde, suddenly appearing upon the desert, sweeping with dash and vigor over the sands, and vanishing again, leaving the observer surprised, wondering, and questioning."--A. W. RANKIN, University of Minnesota. 2026 Editor's Note: Everyt hing changed with oil, struck in the 1930s: the peninsula this entry saw as empty desert is now home to Saudi Arabia and the wealthy Gulf states, its population grown from a few million to some 90 million, its cities glittering with skyscrapers built on petroleum the article never mentions. (Ed: BR 2026-07-07)
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
A country at the southwest extremity of Asia , forming al large peninsula, of a sort of hatchet shape, bounded on the west by the Arabicus Sinus (Red Sea), on the south and southeast by the Erythraeum Mare (Gulf of Bab-el-Mandeb and Indian Ocean ), and on the northeast by the Persicus Sinus (Persian Gulf). Arabicus Sinus (Red Sea). A long, narrow gulf between Africa and Arabia. 2026 Editor's Note: The Roman province of Arabia Petraea, with its capital at Petra, extended well beyond the modern peninsula into the Southern Levant. This reflects how Greco-Roman conceptions of 'Arabia' were broader than the modern geographic definition, encompassing regions like the Sinai and Negev. (Ed: BR 2026-07-15)