Arabia Felix
Arabia Felix (Fertile Arabia) was the Latin name that was previously used for the southern, especially the southwestern Arabian Peninsula, an area which roughly corresponds to that of the present-day states of Yemen , Oman and the United Arab Emirates as well as part of Saudi Arabia. Arabia covers.
Surname
The English term "Fertile Arabia" is a translation of the Latin "Arabia Felix." Felix means both "fertile" and "happy". Arabia Felix was one of three regions into which the Romans divided the Arabian Peninsula: Arabia Deserta or Arabia Magna (Wüstes / Great Arabia) in the middle, Arabia Felix in the south and Arabia Petraea in the north.
Explanation
The south-western tip of the peninsula, which had much greater amounts of precipitation, was much greener in ancient times than it is today and represented a stark contrast to Rub-al-Chali , which mainly occupies this part of Arabia. Thus, the agricultural conditions for cultivating fields were given, even if irrigation systems were sometimes necessary. The best known example is the dam of Ma'rib . On the high peaks (up to 3000 meters above sea level ) and slopes, considerable quantities of crops can be grown, and the wadis also offered relatively cheap cultivated land.
At 26 BC Chr. Led Aelius Gallus on Augustus ' command expeditionary force to Arabia Felix, however, the company failed.
The main reason for the wealth and importance of the region was its near monopoly on the export of cinnamon and other spices; both own products and imported goods from India and the Horn of Africa .
Eudaemon
In the first century BC , the port city of Eudaemon (usually equated with the modern Yemeni Aden ) was an important loading station for the Red Sea trade. It is described in the Periplus Maris Erythraei as having had a hard time:
- Eudaemon in Arabia was once a fully developed city when the ships from India did not come to Egypt and those from Egypt did not dare to sail to places further afield, and only got as far as here.
New routes in the trade network, which were opened up during the first century AD , led around the intermediate stop Eudaemon and crossed the Arabian Sea directly to the Indian coast.
Remarks
- ^ New Geographical Dictionary , Springfield (Mass.) 1972, p. 63.
- ^ Graf, D .: Places: 746710 (Arabia Eudaemon) . Pleiades. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
- ↑ G Lankester Harding: Inside Arabia Felix Archived from the original on September 5, 2009. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ( HTML ) In: Saudi Aramco World . 16, No. 1, Houston, TX, January-February 1965, pp. 24-27. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
