Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/199

 ABABICUS SINUS. cncSoMl CB tin W. I7 SgTP^ a°^ Aethiofu, on tlie E. bj Anbia Felix. Str&bo, who inclodes, under the muzM of ActhiopianB, all the people of the cxtitme nntb, from the rising to the setting sun, taja that the Aethiopiana are diyided hj nature into two parta bj the Arabian Gulf, its &y fiwrifi^ fipbfwm KimKuv r/i'^ftari ^toK6y^ (i. p. 35; see Gniskiwd and the commentatore). Ue places the Aimfaian and Persian Gulf opposite the Euxine and the rrainiian respectivelj, which b quite right (ii. y. 121). Ita & entrance was a narrow strait, Faaoea Maria Rnbri (rh ortvii iv rp *Epv0pf i^o.- JUwp, Ptol.; Straiit o/Boh-d-Mandeb), encloeed br the promontofy of Deire or Dere {&» Sejan) <■ the W., and that of Palindromos (C. Bab-d- Mmtdeb}, on the £. (PtoL L 15. § 11, It. 7. § 9, Ti. 7. § 7, Tin. 16. § 12.) Its length was dif. feroktlj estimated; bj En^thenes (ap. Plin.) at IS/MO stadia; bj Strabo, at 15,000 (i p.35: in it pL 100, onlj 10,000, but the reading should inhsblj be altered); by Agrippa, at 14,000 or 13,776 (1722 M.P. ap. PIul^ «nd by Agathemerus at lO^MW stadia, or l,333i M.P.; besides other cakabtiaoa, ftJlowing the line of either cosst. Its breadth is still more variously stated, probably from its being taken at diflerent parts; by Timosthenes (i^ Plin.) at 2 days' journey (about 1,200 stadia); by Sliabo, at not much more than 1,000 stadia at its widest part; while the general estimate reached 3JS00 stnifia, or 475 M.P. The width of the stnut is 60 stadia, acoonling to Stzabo and Agathemerus, er from 6 to 12 M.P. according to different accounts by Pliny : it is really 20 miles. The of this strait, which have given to it the ef BtJb-^Mandeb (L e. GtUe of Teari) are not sMdtt much of by the ancient writers. From the nammness of the sea, Strabo often compares it teariw. At the Dordiem end, the sea was parted into two bsjs by the peninsula of Arabia Petraea, consisting of the Black Mountains of Ptolemy (r^ fUXaya Hfm, PloL T. 17. § 3, vi. 7. § 12; the Sinaitic group), ter- '"^■^•♦■^f on the S. in the pnxnootoiy of Poseidooium (J2as Mckammed) in 28^ K. Utt Of these bays, the westem and longer, rumung NW. to 30^ N. lat was caDed the Stnus Ueroopolites, or Heroopoliticus ('H^iwvaXfnif jc^wof or M^X^'i *H^«of «r^A.iro$, TheoplinsL H. Ft iv. 8, «rdAirof Kiyvwruuc6s, Jo- seplL^flt. Jud. viiL 2 ; Bahr Es-Suez, Gfdfo/Suez), from the dty of Hsboopous {'Hp^p ir^Aif), near its head, on the canal which Necho made to connect H with the Kile, it divided Middle Egypt from Petnea, and is separated from the Mediter- by the Isthmus of Suez. Its head seems to ha«« ndred in consequence of the sand washed up by the stnmg tides and prevailing S. winds. The tide in this narrow gulf is so strong as to raise its au&ce above that of the Meditenanean. The eMtcm bay was called Aelanites and Aelanitieus, or Claniies and Elaniticns Sinus (A2Aa>iTi}$, 'EAo- 9hwt, *EXargruths jc^wof or ft^xot : Gulf of Aiaba)^ from the dty of Aklaxa. It was regarded as the innennoet recess of the Arabian Gulf (/ii^os, Uend. Stiab., &&; Sinus intimus, PUn.). Pliny Mys that it took its name from the Laeanitae, who dwelt upon it, and whose capital was Laeana, or, aecoiding to oUiers, Aelana; he then adds the vsrious fanm Adintticas, Aleniticus (from ArtemidcMns) anl Laeniticam (frtxn Jnba). It extends NNE. to 29° 36' N. kt., with an average breadth ot 12 miles, rorky and precipitous sliores. ARACELL 183 The character of the Bed Sea, as given by the ancients, is stormy, nigged, deep, and abounding in marine animals. Its coral reefs and violent shifting winds have always made its navigation difficult: but from the earliest times of recorded history it was used by the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Jews, and Arabs, as a great highway of commerce betweoi India and the shores and islands of the Indian Ocean in genera], and the countries round the Mediter- ranean. It had several important harbours on both coasts ; the chief of which were Mtos Horuos, Berenice, Ptolebiais Theron, and Adulb on the W., and Aelana, Leuce Come, Muza, AdLA, and others on the east. Ptolemy gives the names of some of the numerous islands of the Red Sea; those of the Erythraean Sea mentioned by Herodotus as a place to which Persian exiles were sent, were in the Persian Golf. (Herod. II. cc.; Died. iii. 14, 15; Eratosth. //. cc.; Strab. i. pp. 35, 38, 47, 57, ii. pp. 100, 121, 132, xvi. p. 779; Mela, iii. 8; Plin. ii. 67,68, v. 11,12, vi. 24,26,32,33; Ptol. iv. 5. § 13, 7. §§ 4, 27, v. 17. §§ 1, 2, vi. 7. §§ 1, 36, 43, vii. 5. §§ 1, 2, 10, viu. 16. § 2, 20. § 2, 22. § 2 ; Agathem. i. 2, ii. 2, 5, 1 1, 14 ; Rennel, < Geoff, to Herod, vol. 1. p. 260, vd. ii. pp. 88 — 91 ; Gosselin, Ueber die Geogr. KennUnisa der Alien vamArab. Meerbasen^ in Brodow's Utderwckungen, vol. ii; Reichard, Myos Horvwa u. die agyptuch- dthiopische KOste ties close. ZeitdUerSy Uie Neu. Geogr, Ephem. vol. xxviii.; Ritter, Erdkunde, vol ii pp. 226, foil., 245, foH.) [P. S.] ARABIS ("Apo^if, Ptol. vi. 19. § 2), a river of Gedrosia, which flowed from the Montes Baeti ( W<»- dutti)y through the country of the Arabii, to the Indian Ocean. It is now called the Purdli. The names of this river and of the people who lived on its banks are variously written by andent authors. Thus, Arabius ('Apd^ios, Arrian, Anab. vi. 21), Artabis (^Aprc^ts, Marcian), Artabius (Amm. Marc xxiii. 6). The people are called Arabitae (*Apa- €tT€u)y Arbii (Plin. vi 24), Arabics (ApdSics, Ar- rian, Ind. 21, 22), Arbies CApeUs^ Strab. zv. p. 720), Aribes ("ApiScs, Dion. Perieg. 1096), Arbiti CAp^iToi, Msrdan). From this people the Arbiti Montes {"hp^tra bfn% Ptol. -vi. 2 1 . § 3, vii. 1 . § 28 ; called Barbitani by Amm. Marc, zziii 6) appear to have derived their name. Ptolemy has mistaken the course of this river when he mskes it flow N. of Drangiana and Gedrosia, and has apparently con- founded it with the Etymander (^HelTnend); and Pliny has placed it too far to the W. on the edge uf Carmania {Kirman), whereas it really divides Sa- ranga (ri, Xapeiryyd) from the Oritae (*XV><<Tai). Marcian and Ptolemy (vi. 21. § 5, viii. 25. § 14.), speak of a town in Gedrosia called Arbis. Pliny says (vi. 23) that it was founded by Nearchus. [V.I ARABITAE. [Arabis.] ARABRI'CA (^ApaJgpiya: Arabricenses: Alan- quer a stipendiary town of the Lusitani, in Hispania Lusitanica, on the right bank of the Tagus, N. of Olisipo; the Jerobriga of the Itinerary. (Plin. iv. 22. S.35; PtoLii. 5. §7; It AnL pp.419, 421; Floroz,xiv. 174.) [P.S.] ARACCA ("AfNutfca, Ptd. vi. 3. § 4; Aracha, Amm. Marc, zxiii 6), a town in Susiana, on tlie Tigris. Bochart (ad Gen. x. 10) has attempted to identify it with Erech, and Michaelis with KdessA. If, however, it was in Susiana, neither of these iden- tifications will answer. [V.] ARACE'LI (Eth. Aracelitanus : EuarteAraquil), a stipendiary town of the Yasoones, in the convdntus N 4