-
ArabiaAid to Bible Understanding
-
-
great superiority of the camel over the ass for extended desert travel, its domestication is considered to have accomplished somewhat of an economic revolution for Arabia, contributing to the development of the so-called “Spice Kingdoms” of South Arabia.
Camel caravans out of the more fertile S wound along the desert routes that ran parallel to the Red Sea, moving from oasis to oasis and from well to well until reaching the Sinai Peninsula, from which point they could branch off to Egypt or continue up into Palestine or to Damascus. Besides their highly prized spices and aromatic resins, such as frankincense and myrrh (Isa. 60:6), they might carry gold and almug wood from Ophir (1 Ki. 9:28; 10:11) and precious gems, as did the queen of Sheba on her visit to King Solomon. (1 Ki. 10:1-10, 15; 2 Chron. 9:1-9, 14) The waters off the coast of Bahrain abound with pearl oysters. Since the SW corner of Arabia is separated from Africa by a narrow strait of water only about twenty miles (32 kilometers) across, products from Ethiopia (2 Chron. 21:16), such as ivory and ebony wood, could also be included in the wares of these traveling merchants.—Ezek. 27:15.
ANCIENT ARABIAN KINGDOMS
Secular history indicates four major kingdoms located in South Arabia: the Minaean, Sabean, Qatabanian and Hadhramautian. The Minaean Kingdom is believed to have existed from the second millennium B.C.E. to 650 B.C.E., with its capital at Karnaw NE of Sanʽa, the present capital of Yemen. The Sabean Kingdom was evidently located somewhat S of the Minaean, in the eastern part of present-day Yemen. If, as seems likely, it was the land of the queen of Sheba, it was then in existence at the time of Solomon’s reign (1037-997 B.C.E.). (Matt. 12:42) Its capital, Maʼrib, was situated about sixty miles (97 kilometers) E of Sanʽa on the eastern side of the mountain range, several thousand feet above sea level. This kingdom lasted until about 115 B.C.E. (See SHEBA.) The Qatabanian Kingdom had its capital at Timnaʽ and occupied part of the area once known as the Aden Protectorate. It seems to have been contemporaneous with that of Sheba. Hadhramaut is usually identified with Hazarmaveth of Genesis 10:26. The Wadi Hadhramaut, a long valley running parallel to the S coast of Arabia, was the center of the kingdom with its capital at Shabwa. Other Biblical names occurring as places in Arabia are Dedan, Tema, Dumah and Buz.—Isa. 21:11-14; Jer. 25:23, 24.
Ancient Assyrian and Babylonian inscriptions also make mention of various tribes of Arabia. Shalmaneser III who was a contemporary of King Ahab (940-919 B.C.E.), lists “Gindibuʼ, from Arabia” and his one thousand camel riders as among the coalition opposing the Assyrians at the battle of Qarqar. “Zabibe,” and “Samsi” are mentioned as Arabian queens in the inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III and Sargon II. This latter queen, as well as a Sabean monarch, is reported as paying tribute of “gold in the form of dust, precious stones, ivory, ebony-seeds, all kinds of aromatic substances, horses (and) camels.” Other cuneiform inscriptions refer to the Sabai; the Nabaiti, the Qidri, and the Idibaili; the Masai, and the Temai. (Compare Genesis 25:3, 13-15.) Nabonidus, the Babylonian king whose son Belshazzar was ruling in Babylon at the time of its fall (539 B.C.E.), spent ten years in the oasis city of Taimaʼ (Tema) in the northern part of the central plateau of Arabia.—See TEMA.
During the fifth century B.C.E. Palestine was subject to considerable influence from Arabia, as seen by the references to “Geshem the Arabian” at Nehemiah 2:19 and 6:1-7.
The Himyarite Kingdom, which gained control of South Arabia about 115 B.C.E., had its capital at Zafar (suggested by some to be the Sephar of Genesis 10:30; however, see SEPHAR). To the N the Nabataeans (possibly descended from Nebaioth of Genesis 25:13), with their capital at Petra in the rocky gorges of Edom, became powerful from the fourth century B.C.E. onward. In time they extended their control throughout the S part of the Negeb and up through Moab and the region of Transjordan. During some years of the first century B.C.E. and again in the first century C.E. they ruled over Damascus. Their king Aretas IV (c. 9 B.C.E.–40 C.E.) is mentioned at 2 Corinthians 11:32 with regard to Paul’s escape from Damascus, described at Acts 9:23-25. Herod Antipas married the daughter of Aretas IV but divorced her in order to marry Herodias.—Mark 6:17; see ARETAS.
Paul, following his conversion, says that he “went off into Arabia, and . . . came back again to Damascus.” (Gal. 1:17) Such journey may have been in the neighboring area of the Syrian Desert, though the term would also allow for its being in any part of the Arabian Peninsula.
During the first century B.C.E. Palmyra to the NE of Damascus began to develop as an Arab center and in time surpassed Petra as a trading state. In 270 C.E., under Queen Zenobia, the Palmyrene army occupied Egypt and became a serious rival to Rome until defeated in 272 C.E.
LANGUAGE AND RELIGION
The language of the peoples of Arabia is a member of the South Semitic group and has remained more stable than the other Semitic languages. It has, therefore, proved helpful in improving the understanding of many expressions and words in the ancient Hebrew of the Bible. Many thousands of inscriptions in the South Arabian script have also been discovered, giving information especially as to the political and religious activity of the people.
The religion of Arabia appears to have centered around astral worship, as did that of ancient Babylon. (Isa. 47:13) Ranking first among their gods were those of the Arabian trinity: ʼIlumquh (the moon, whose light at night allowed for comfortable grazing of flocks); Dat-Himyam (the sun-goddess and consort of ʼIlumquh); and ʼAttar (the planet Venus, corresponding to Ishtar, and viewed as the offspring of ʼIlumquh and Dat-Himyam). Beneath these was a pantheon of minor deities.
Both Judaism and Christianity penetrated into Arabia, the latter doubtless as a result of the Arabian converts at Pentecost. (Acts 2:11) The last king of the South Arabian Himyarite Kingdom, described previously, professed Judaism and in 523 C.E. ordered a massacre of Christians in his territory. Thereafter the Abyssinian campaigns of 523 and 525 C.E. brought an end to his kingdom. In the seventh century Mohammed produced the religion of Islam, which in time, spread throughout all Arabia and, by aggressive warfare, established an 1Arabian empire stretching from Spain, across North Africa and Egypt, through to the Punjab in India.
In view of the very limited knowledge of Arabia (and particularly of South Arabia) that prevailed until recent times, one cannot but be impressed with the accurate knowledge of its geography and tribes set forth in the Biblical record.
-
-
ArabianAid to Bible Understanding
-
-
ARABIAN
(A·raʹbi·an).
The names “Arab” and “Arabian” in the Scriptures are used chiefly in a broad sense as applying to an inhabitant of Arabia, that immense land to the E and S of Palestine. At times the context and use infer a specific tribe or ethnic group.—1 Ki. 10:15; 2 Chron. 9:14; 21:16.
A number of Arabian tribes were Semitic, descending from Shem through Joktan; others were Hamitic, descending through Ham’s son Cush. (Gen. 10:6, 7, 26-30) Some of Abraham’s descendants by Hagar and Keturah also came to dwell in Arabia, as the sons of Ishmael who “took up tabernacling from Havilah near Shur, which is in front of Egypt, as far as Assyria.” (Gen. 25:1-4, 12-18) Esau’s offspring, dwelling in the mountainous region of Seir, also came within the general classification of Arabian.—Gen. 36:1-43.
-