Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Arid, an extensive region in the south-west of Asia. It is bounded on the west by the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea, on the south by the Indian Ocean, and on the east by the Persian Gulf and the Euphrates. It extends far into the north in barren deserts, meeting those of Syria and Mesopotamia. It is one of the few countries of the world from which the original inhabitants have never been expelled. ) Arabia Felix (Happy Arabia), so called from its fertility. It embraced a large portion of the country now known by the name of Arabia. The Arabs call it Yemen.
It lies between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. ) Arabia Deserta, the el-Badieh or “Great Wilderness” of the Arabs. , the Rocky Arabia, so called from its rocky mountains and stony plains. It comprehended all the north-west portion of the country, and is much better known to travellers than any other portion.
This country is, however, divided by modern geographers into (1) Arabia Proper, or the Arabian Peninsula; (2) Northern Arabia, or the Arabian Desert; and (3) Western Arabia, which includes the peninsula of Sinai and the Desert of Petra, originally inhabited by the Horites (Gen. 14:6, etc.), but in later times by the descendants of Esau, and known as the Land of Edom or Idumea, also as the Desert of Seir or Mount Seir.
The whole land appears (Gen. 10) to have been inhabited by a variety of tribes of different lineage, Ishmaelites, Arabians, Idumeans, Horites, and Edomites; but at length becoming amalgamated, they came to be known by the general designation of Arabs. The modern nation of Arabs is predominantly Ishmaelite. Their language is the most developed and the richest of all the Semitic languages, and is of great value to the student of Hebrew. The Israelites wandered for forty years in Arabia.
In the days of Solomon, and subsequently, commercial intercourse was to a considerable extent kept up with this country (1 Kings 10:15; 2 Chr. 9:14; 17:11). Arabians were present in Jerusalem at Pentecost (Acts 2:11). Paul retired for a season into Arabia after his conversion (Gal. 1:17).
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863)
(desert, barren), a country known in the Old Testament under two designations:—
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898) & Schaff's Bible Dictionary
ARA'BIA (arid, sterile), a large peninsula in the south-western part of Asia, between the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Persian Gulf. Its extreme length from north to south is about 1300 miles, its greatest breadth about 1500 miles, though from the northern point of the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf is only about 900 miles. It has the sea on all sides except the north.
Its area is estimated at 1,030,000 square miles; and of the three ancient divisions of the country, that known as Arabia Felix was by far the largest and most important, though it is less frequently mentioned by the sacred writers than either of the smaller and northern divisions. Sketch-Map of Arabia. Physical Features — Its main features are a coast-range of low mountains or table-land, seldom rising over 2000 feet, broken on the eastern coast by sandy plains; this plateau is backed up by a second loftier range of mountains in the east and south.
The mountains are generally barren on their sea side; their outlines are rugged and precipitous; behind the mountains encircling the sea-coast lies a ring of sterile desert, broadest in the east and south, where it is a waste of burning sand, narrower in the west and north, where it is rocky. Within this belt of desert rise tablelands broken by fertile valleys. This central plateau includes about one-third of the Arabian peninsula, the desert another third, and the coast-ranges the remaining portion.
The Sinaitic peninsula is a small triangular region in the north-western part, or corner, of Arabia. See Sinai. Divisions of Arabia. — The ancients divided it into Petroea, Deserta, and Felix; or the Stony, the Desert, and the Happy or Fertile. Modern geographers divide Arabia into a number of large districts, the chief of these being Yemen, which is the most fertile, and Hadramaut in the south, Oman in the east, Shomer and Sinai, or Negeb, in the north, Hedjaz, containing the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, in the west, and Nej'd in the central district.
These districts are subdivided into upward of 35 smaller provinces. Some are thickly peopled with an agricultural population or those living in villages, while others are held by tribes of wandering Bedouins, each governed by the sheik. Productions. — The principal animals are the horse, famed for its form, beauty, and endurance, camels, sheep, asses, dogs, the gazelle, tiger, lynx, and monkey, quails, peacocks, parrots, ostriches, vipers, scorpions, and locusts. Of fruits and grains, dates, wheat, millet, rice, beans, and pulse are common. It is also rich in minerals, especially in lead.
Biblical History. " Gen 10:30; Gen 26:6; Gen 29:1. Gal 1:17; Gal 4:25. The chief inhabitants were known as Ishmaelites, Arabians, Idumeans, Horites, and Edomites. The allusions in the Scripture to the country and its people are very numerous. Job is supposed to have dwelt in Arabia. The forty years of wandering by the Israelites under Moses was in this land. See Sinai. Gal 1:17; the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah frequently refer to it. Isa 21:11-13; Isa 42:11; Isa 60:7; Jer 25:24; Jer 49:28,1 Chr 2:29. See Kedar. Secular History.
— Arabia in earliest history was divided into several kingdoms, of which Yemen was the chief. In the fifth century the northern Arabs overran Yemen; later, in A. D. 529, came the great Abyssinian invasion; then the era of Mohammed, 622-632, followed by the conquests of his followers, who swept over Arabia, Palestine, Syria, and the whole of Western Asia, Northern Africa, and into Europe. , was invested with the Mohammedan caliphate, and Arabia became subject to, and has since continued under, the Ottoman rule.
Hitchcock's Bible Names (1869)
evening; desert; ravens