I.

2.

What is mother-of-pearl and to what uses is it put?

From what animals do the Arabs get ambergris, civet, and musk? For what are they used?

3. Review lesson 6 if you cannot remember the things the Arabs make from the date palm and its fruit.

4. Read "The Leap of Roushan Beg," by Longfellow, before you come to class.

5. Why are the people of the East great users of perfumes?

SHIPPING CENTERS

Arabia, as we should expect from what we have just learned, has few cities of any size, and these are near the coast. With the exception of Mecca and

Medina, the cities of Arabia are noted chiefly for their shipping.

A British fort.-Aden, the chief outlet for the products of Arabia and the greatest camel market in the world, is owned by the British, who use it as a coaling station. It has no shade, no garden, no green grass, and its one-andone half story houses are closely crowded together. Water is very scarce, and everyone except the British soldiers, who have a certain quantity given them daily, pays for all he gets. The

government has condensers, which distill water from the sea. Rain seldom falls in this region, but when showers do come the streams rush down the mountain sides and fill the tanks which are built just above and back of the town. These tanks are

marvels of masonry constructed several centuries before Christ, supposedly by the descendants of the Queen of Sheba.

Inland centers of trade in Yemen.-Taiz is the center of Khat culture in Arabia. Two thousand camel loads of the leaf are taken to Aden annually. Taiz was at one time a prosperous center of learning, and Firozabadi, the Noah Webster of Arabia, edited his "Ocean Dictionary" here. Sara, with its fifty thousand people, is the most prosperous city and trade center in Yemen.

Seaports. Jidda, the port of Mecca, has a trade in supplies for the sacred city. It is noted chiefly as the place where pilgrims who come by sea leave the boats and take the train for the shrine of Mohammedanism. Koweit, a busy town at the head of the Persian Gulf, exports dates, sponges, and pearls. Muscat is the chief port on the eastern side of the country, and imports rice, corn starch, sugar, piece goods, coffee, silk, and petroleum. Its exports are dates, fruit, shark fins, mother-ofpearl, fish, and salt. Most of the Arabian dates shipped to America come from this region, and Muscat is the distributing port for American cotton goods, which are highly valued by the Arabs.

I.

2.

3.

4.

Why are there so few cities in Arabia?

Account for their location.

What effect has their location on their climate?

Name and locate the seaports of Arabia on your outline maps.
List the products shipped from each port.

5. Name the chief imports of Arabia.

LESSON XXII

THE PEOPLE OF ARABIA

ARABIA was settled in very ancient times by a white race called Semites. The remaining tribes of this race are the Arabs and the Hebrews, who speak dialects of the same tongue. The best Arab tribes were Semites, but there was and still is a large mongrel population in many parts of the peninsula.

ANCIENT ARABIANS

For ages wandering tribes moved up and down the Arabian plateau in search of pasturage for their flocks and herds. Some of them gradually settled in the more fertile or well-watered spots and became an agricultural and commercial people.

Twenty centuries before Christ bands of roving Arabs invaded Egypt. They slowly overran the country, governing it first through native Egyptian kings. Later they absorbed the civilization of Egypt and became the Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings, of that country. Their dominion over this fertile region lasted for four hundred years. During this period Joseph became ruler in Egypt and second only to the king or Pharaoh in power (Gen. 41. 39-44). At this time also his father, brothers, and all their families went to Egypt to live (Gen. 46).

Pioneers of civilization. The Arabs as a nation never bowed to foreign conquerors, although they have borrowed freely the ideas and inventions of peoples who have for a time subdued them. They adopted and extended Greek culture. They brought the Arabic notation from India and themselves originated algebra. They also discovered alchemy, and made the beginnings of chemistry. From them we get the words “algebra," "alchemy," "almanac," "zenith," "nadir," "alcohol,"

"alkali." Many of the names of drugs are borrowed from the Arabic language. The properties of acids and alkalis and distillation of alcohol were known to them. Arab learning and skill started the civilized world on its upward way. One thousand years ago these people were the best doctors, astronomers, and mathematicians in the world. They were among our earliest geographers.

Under the banner of Mohammed some of these Arabs, called Moors, carried their civilization across northern Africa into Spain and the seacoast of France. These Moors improved the agriculture of the country and introduced many new food plants into Europe. Most of this ancient culture was lost when the Arabs were conquered by less cultured invaders, as the Turks. 1. Study your map of the old world carefully and tell why Arabia has a mongrel population.

2. Hunt up the meaning of any of these words that are unfamiliar to you: algebra, almanac, zenith, nadir, alchemy, and alkali. Use each word in a written sentence.

3. Find out all you can about the civilization of the Moors.

LIFE IN MODERN ARABIA

Four fifths of the people of Arabia to-day live in towns, villages, or some place of permanent abode. The Arabs call the residents of towns Al Hadr, or "Dwellers in Fixed Localities." Some of the tribes keep tents in readiness for pilgrimages and caravan trips to more favored spots with their flocks. A ruler, or sheik, controls each tribe, town, or encampment and settles all tribal disputes.

An uneducated people.-Education is almost unknown in modern Arabia, and the few people who are cultured are a class by themselves. In the smaller towns there are no schools. The city of Mecca has many schools, but little practical education. Only the memory receives training. Children are taught the alphabet on small wooden boards. The ninety-nine names

of Allah (God) are taught, and the first chapter of the Koran memorized.

The older pupils study grammar, the sciences, and Arabian traditions. The instruction is given largely by lectures, and textbooks are seldom used. Lessons are heard during the morning. The afternoon session is interrupted by the Mohammedan call to prayers. The favorite place for holding the schools is the court of the great Mosque, where there are many distractions. Such schools as these may be found in Medina and some other Arabian cities.

The Al Hadr.-Most of the town and village dwellers are farmers, who till the land in the oases. Sometimes this land is far from the village, and the farmers spend much time in going to and from their work. Not infrequently these workers spend the night out under the stars. Their patches

of ground are not fenced,

AN ARAB SCHOOL

but the boundaries are marked by mere stones.

Small villages are often located near the larger springs. Palm trees are set in pits about ten feet deep to get the dampness in the ground. The soil is irrigated with water drawn in a bucket by means of a rope on a pulley. The power is supplied by a camel, whose driver empties the water into a trough.

Homes of the villagers. The low mud houses are flat roofed. Some are caves dug in the ground. They have no windows nor chimneys. The mud bins which hold the salt,