Page:Early Christianity in Arabia.djvu/22

12 of these unfruitful districts who were not resident in the towns, or engaged in commerce, lived principally by fishing, and gained from foreign nations the appellation of Icthyophagi. But the fertile valleys and mountain plains abounded in rich and beautiful towns, and well peopled villages. Mariaba, or Saba, the metropolis of Hamyar, and the fairest city of Arabia, was situated on a gentle elevation amongst the mountains which are included in the modern province of Hadramaut, three or four stations from the city of Sanaa.