ARABIC NUMERALS 



carried \. o the Mediterranean. 



The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 raised 



i as a highway, hut caused 

 to In' abandoned. 



i>!:mds in this soa aro 

 ast of India. 



and Sokotra, northeast of Cape Guardafui. 

 On the east it the waters of the great 



River Indus and indents the Indian coast with 

 ii and Cainbay. See map, 

 article ASIA. 



ARABIC, ar'abik, NUMERALS, the com- 



mon figures used in writing numbers to-day, 



but which have been employed among Euro- 



tM only since the twelfth century. Before 



that. Irtters were employed, as in the so-called 



ARABS 



OLD ARABIC NUMERALS 



Roman numerals which are I, V, X, L, C, D, 

 M. When the Moors established themselves 

 in Spain the Christians looked upon them 

 with the most intense disfavor and had no 

 dealings with them save to fight them in war, 

 but they were forced to admit that in some 

 ways the Moors possessed the superior skill. 

 tlly did they know how to calculate. 



At length one young Christian scholar, desir- 

 ing knowledge more than he hated the Moors, 

 disguised himself and went to one of their 

 schools, where he learned the wonderful art 

 of .calculating, which is to-day called arith- 

 '. He learned, too, to make certain new 

 symbols which proved so very useful that they 

 speedily spread over all civilized Europe. 

 These were the Arabic numerals, 1, 2, 3, etc. 

 That the Arabs did not invent these figures 

 is now regarded as certain, and it seems prob- 

 able that they acquired them from India; but 

 research has failed to show the real begin- 

 ning of the figures which play so large a part 

 in the records and the business of the world. 

 See AuiTHMi/rir; ROMAN XTMKKALS. 



ARABS. This name is given to the inhabi- 

 tants of Arabia and the neighboring lands. 

 The Arabs are of interest not only because 

 they have preserved in much greater degree 

 than most peoples the purity of their original 

 stock, but because they rank unusually high 

 among the races of mankind. Europeans and 

 Americans are somewhat inclined to look upon 

 the Arabs as an inferior race, and it comes as 

 a surprise to learn that authorities regard them 



as the most perfect race physically and as one 

 of the most highly endowed mentally. 



Characteristics. They are tall and of 

 proportions that an athlete might envy, and 

 the black eyes set above their aquiline noses 

 shine with intelligence. The Arabs of Arabia 

 are always very clean, the Koran making fre- 

 quent bathing obligatory, but those of Africa 

 often keep the letter but not the spirit of this 

 command by bathing in sand instead of water. 



Though they have lost that remarkable 

 aptitude for science which was responsible for 

 the birth of chemistry and astronomy and the 

 great advancement of geography and mathe- 

 matics, the Arabs still put a high value on 

 education. Few indeed are the men and boys, 

 even of the desert tribes, who cannot read 

 and write, but like all Mohammedans, they 

 consider that a woman has no need of edu- 

 cation. 



Morally, the Arab leaves much to be desired. 

 While he is unusually hospitable, will stand 

 by his pledged word even to death, and never 

 forgets a favor, yet he does not forget an in- 

 jury, and his vengeful spirit makes the repay- 

 ing of it the chief work of his life. If a mem- 

 ber of his family has been killed the Arab 

 may not rest until he has put to death the 

 slayer. Then, too, an Arab, especially one of 

 the wanderers, or nomads, appears to have no 

 idea of property rights. 



Manner of Life. All the Arabs do not 

 live in Arabia. The crusading zeal of Moham- 

 medanism led them into all the neighboring 

 countries, and North Africa they have made 

 distinctly their own. Their civilization there 

 is much as it is in Arabia., The town-dwellers 

 have for the most part remained true to the 

 architectural forms evolved by their Arabian 

 ancestors; the desert wanderers hold to the 

 same primitive customs as their brothers in 

 Arabia. In the accompanying picture the inte- 

 rior shown is that of a North African house, 

 but it might be the dwelling of a wealthy fam- 

 ily in Mecca. 



The traveler approaching an Arab town sees 

 one characteristic thing the inevitable sur- 

 rounding wall. Usually it would be of no use 

 as a defense, for it is made of dried mud, but 

 custom has decreed that it shall be there. 

 Many of the houses are of sun-dried bricks, 

 though the poorer people cannot afford even 

 this luxury, and must content themselves with 

 shelters of woven branches or homes of rude 

 tents. Fortunately most of the lands in which 

 the Arabs live are very dry, otherwise every 



