Page:The Northern Ḥeǧâz (1926).djvu/323

 to us, because Malchus does not state the name of any tribe but mentions only the Arab nomads by the then customary name of Saracens, which corresponds with the ancient Bene Ḳedem and the modern aš-Šerḳijje, or Bedouins. Before the year 473 A. D. Amorkesos was not a Christian, nor does Malchus say whether he ever became one. Peter was the bishop of some nomad Arab tribe subdued by Amorkesos. In the interior of Arabia the territories of al-Wudijân and al-Ḥeǧera were under the Persian jurisdiction, and it was from there, probably from al-Ḥeǧara, that Amorkesos migrated with his Nokalians. He originally encamped within Roman jurisdiction at the oasis of Dûmat al-Ǧandal, of which he obtained possession. From there he made raids upon the Saracens in Palestina Tertia (Arabia Petraea) and the territory bordering upon it to the south. When he had succeeded, by sailing out on rafts, in obtaining possession of the islet of Iotabe and other settlements in the vicinity, he held sway over the caravan route uniting Syria with southern Arabia and also over the islets and the coasts of the northern part of the Red Sea, in the harbors of which the vessels maintaining trade connections between Egypt, southern Arabia, and India had to seek shelter every evening. Nowhere is it stated that the island of Iotabe had a Roman garrison, and it seems that the only people living there were a few traders to whom the customs dues were farmed out and who gave receipts for them. A vessel which could not produce such an acknowledgment had to pay toll in the Roman harbors afresh.

The island of Iotabe did not remain long in the power of Amorkesos and his successors. As early as the year 490 A. D., explains Theophanes, Chronographia (Migne), p. 121, the Roman dux, after stubborn fighting, had conquered the island of Iotabe in the Red Sea, from which heavy tolls had once been levied for the Roman Emperor but had later been appropriated by the Scenitan Arabs. This island was then handed over to Roman traders to be administered by them, and they had to pay a fixed toll on goods imported from India.

Procopius, De bello persico, I, 19, also refers to the island of Iotabe. According to him the province of Palestine extends as far as the harbor city of Aila, situated at the extremity of a very narrow gulf of the Red Sea. Those sailing from Aila through this gulf have the Egyptian mountains on the right hand extending in a southerly direction, and on the left hand the desert stretching a great distance northward. The mainland can be observed on both sides, until the island of Iotabe is reached at a distance of about a thousand stades from Aila. The inhabitants of this island were Hebrews, previously independent but compelled at the time of the Emperor Justinian to accept the Roman yoke. Beyond Iotabe there is open sea, so that no mainland is visible on the right-hand side, and mariners are therefore obliged to keep to the left and to come to a halt every evening by the left-hand shore, as it is impossible to sail by night owing to the innumerable shallows. There are, however, numerous natural harbors, and anchorage can be obtained everywhere. From the borders of Palestine this shore belongs to the Saracens, who for a long time past have dwelt in an extensive palm oasis inland, where only date palms flourish. This oasis was presented by the chief, Abocharab, to the Emperor Justinian, who appointed him phylarch of Palestine. Abocharab protects this province from all hostile raids, for he is feared not only