Explorations in Bible lands during the 19th century - H. V. Hilprecht

DURING 19 CENTURY: ARABIA 737
with the names of Arabian places, mountains, and rivers frequently
mentioned in the Bedouin songs dating from the
time shortly before and after Mohammed. All that pertains
to this subject, especially the information given by the
classic writers, was systematically treated in A. Sprenger's
work "The Ancient Geography of Arabia" 1 and in the
second volume of Ed. Glaser's "Sketch of the History and
Geography of Arabia," 2 of which the latter work is especially
rich in new facts and new views. Supplements to the
former work are to be found in Sprenger's essay on Hamdani's
description of the Arabian Peninsula, 3 and his other
essay referred to above in connection with Doughty.
3. The third source, to which we are introduced by
Glaser's work, are the Babylono-Assyrian cuneiform inscriptions.
These supply more or less detailed information
on several parts of Arabia from about 3000 b. c. The
rich information contained in the royal inscriptions from
Tiglath-Pileser III. to Ashurbanapal (8th and 7th centuries
before Christ) had already been gathered by Friedrich
Delitzsch. 4
But the correct location of so many places and
tribes mentioned in those inscriptions is due to the bold but
accurate observations of Glaser, who proved that not all of
them were to be sought for in the Syro-Arabian desert, but
that many were found in Central Arabia. For the old
Babylonian period the most important result is that for the
first
time Glaser properly defined the geographical meanings
of Magan and Melukh, proving Magan (according to Winckler
and myself = Ma'an) to be East Arabia, and Melukh
Central and West Arabia as far as the Sinaitic Peninsula.
1
In German : Die alte Geographie Arabiens, Bern, 1875.
2
In German : Skizze der Geschichte und Geographie Arabiens, vol. ii.
(Geographie), Berlin, 1890.
3
Versuch einer Kritik von HamdanPs Beschreibung der arabischen Halbinsel,
in the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenldndischen GeseUse haft, vol.
xlv., 1891, pp. 361-394.
4 In his book Wo lag das Paradies ?