40 THE HOUSE OF AMERICA. 



ceded, I think, among learned men that the "land of Uz" was in 

 the southeastern portion of Arabia Deserta, bordering on the 

 Persian Gulf, where the horse is a useless luxury. Job was a 

 very rich man, he certainly did not lack in admiration of the 

 horse, and if he had thought that horses would add to his comfort 

 and enjoyment he could easily have obtained them from the great 

 herds in the north. But the camel is the great beast of service 

 and utility in Arabia; it was so in Job's time, it is so to-day, and 

 it always will be so because it is suited to the environment. 



When Joshua was subduing the tribes of Canaan, B.C. 1450, he 

 found that the Phoenicians had several well-fortified cities and 

 did not attack them, but he encountered a combination of 

 "Northern Kings" with a vast army and "with horses and chariots 

 very many." His victory was complete, and he houghed their 

 horses and burned their chariots with fire. 



Jabin, called the King of Canaan, in the time of the Judges, 

 had his kingdom on the northern border of Palestine and east of 

 Phoenicia, at the southern extension of Mount Lebanon. Sisera, 

 one of the greatest commanders of the time, B.C. 1285, com- 

 manded his army and he had nine hundred chariots of iron, but 

 the victory of the Israelites was complete. 



In the year B.C. 1056, David pursued some of the tribes of 

 Western Arabia that had made a raid on Southern Palestine and 

 carried away many captives and much spoil. He overtook them 

 with his own followers and subdued them, and none escaped ex- 

 cept four hundred young men who fled on camels. He recovered 

 all the captives and brought back all the flocks and herds, but 

 there were no horses among them. About the same time, his- 

 torians inform us, the tribes of Eastern Arabia were paying their 

 tribute to the Assyrians in camels and asses, while the northern 

 countries were paying theirs in horses and money. 



The Queen of Sheba visited King Solomon B.C. 992, to learn of 

 his wisdom and "to prove him with hard questions." Her king- 

 dom was in that part of southeastern Arabia now called Yemen, 

 bordering on the Red Sea. Her journey was a very long one and 

 she "came with a very great train of camels that bare spices and 

 very much gold and precious stones." It will be observed that 

 there were no horses in this "very great train." It will be ob- 

 served further, from the incidents above related, that whenever 

 the Israelites met their neighbors north of them, whether in 

 peace or war, they met horses with them; and whenever they met 



