Arabia in Smiths Bible Dictionary

desert, barren), a country known in the Old Testament under two designations:-- 1. The East Country, Ge 25:6 or perhaps the East, (Ge 10:30; Nu 23:7; Isa 2:6 and Land of the Sons of the East, Ge 29:1 Gentile name, Sons of the East, Jud 6:3; 7:12; 1Ki 4:30; Job 1:3; Isa 11:14; Jer 49:28; Eze 25:4 From these passages it appears that Land of the East and Sons of the East indicate, primarily, the country east of Israel, and the tribes descended from Ishmael and from Keturah; and that this original signification may have become gradually extended to Arabia and its inhabitants generally, though without any strict limitation. 2. 'Arab and 'Arab, whence Arabia. 2Ch 9:14; Isa 21:13; Jer 26:24; Eze 27:21 (Arabia is a triangular peninsula, included between the Mediterranean and Red seas, the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf. Its extreme length, north and south, is about 1300 miles, and its greatest breadth 1500 miles. -Encyc. Brit.) Divisions.--Arabia may be divided into Arabia Proper, containing the whole peninsula as far as the limits of the northern deserts; Northern Arabia (Arabia Deserta), constituting the great desert of Arabia; and Western Arabia, the desert of Petra and the peninsula of Sinai, or the country that has been called Arabia Petraea, I. Arabia Proper, or the Arabian penninsula consists of high tableland, declining towards the north. Most of it is well peopled, watered by wells and streams, and enjoys periodical rains. The moist fertile tracts are those on the southwest and south. II. Northern Arabia, or the Arabian Desert, is a high, undulating, parched plain, of which the Euphrates forms the natural boundary from the Persian Gulf to the frontier of Syria, whence it is bounded by the latter country and the desert of Petra on the northwest and west, the peninsula of Arabia forming its southern limit. It has few oases, the water of the wells is generally either brackish or unpotable and it is visited by the sand-wind called Samoom. The inhabitants principally descended from Ishmael and from Keturah, have always led a wandering and pastoral life. They conducted a considerable trade of merchandise of Arabia and India from the shore of the Persian Gulf. Eze 27:20-24 III. Western Arabia includes the peninsula of Sinai [SINAI] and the desert of Petra; corresponding generally with the limits of Arabia Petraea. The latter name is probably derived from that of its chief city, not from its stony character. It was mostly peopled by descendants of Esau, and was generally known as the land of Edom or Idumea [EDOM], as well as by its older appellation, the desert of Seir or Mount Seir. [SEIR] Inhabitants.-- (Arabia, which once ruled from India to the Atlantic, now has eight ...