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Arabia [Geography and environment]
The Arabian Peninsula’s unique geography and environment encompass a variety of landscapes and geological formations. Bordered by the Red Sea, the Arabian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean, the region’s arid climate exhibits significant variations in temperature, with sporadic rainfall. Intermittent watercourses and aquifers are vital water sources. Tropical cyclones can bring heavy rains, and flash floods pose water-management challenges.
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Arabia Deserta (Greek Ἔρημος Ἀραβία), name given by Ptolemy, Greek geographer of the 2nd century CE, to the eastern part of the Syro-Arabian desert, different from its western part, Arabia Petraea (Πετραία Ἀραβία), and from the Arabian Peninsula, Arabia Eudaemon (Εὐδαίμων Ἀραβία).
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Arabia Eudaemon (Greek Ἀραβία Εὐδαίμων, Latin Arabia Eudaemon, Arabia Felix, or Arabia Beata, “Fertile/Flourishing/Happy/Blessed Arabia”), geographic name of the Arabian Peninsula in Greek and Latin texts, referring to the legendary wealth assigned to parts of this region.
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Arabs [in the Near-Eastern sources]
The term ‘Arab’ is first attested in sources from outside the Arabian Peninsula, in Assyria and Mesopotamia, in the Bible and in Greek sources. Its significance varies and cannot always be precisely established. In most cases, it refers to populations living between Egypt and Mesopotamia, on the northern margins of the Arabian Peninsula.
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Arabs [in the South Arabian sources]
In the South Arabian sources, the term Arabs initially refers to peripheral, often threatening groups of the population (1st cent. BCE/CE), who transitioned to integrated auxiliaries of the main kingdoms, prominently participating in conflicts (2nd–3rd cent. CE). In Late Antiquity, Arabs became a constituent population in the Ḥimyarite kingdom.
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The tutelary god of the city-state of Nashshān (now al-Sawdāʾ), worshipped between the 8th century BCE and the 3rd century CE.
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Arbaʿān/Arbaʿum is the name of a Sabaean tribe or social group headed by a ruler (malik). It is not clear whether this was an autonomous tribe or a Sabaean institution.
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See Weaponry