152 CHARACTER, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS 



CHAPTER V. 



Character, Manners, and Customs of the Ancient Arabs. 



Two Classes of Arabs— The Bedouins, or Pastoral Tribes— 

 Their Mode of Life— Their Love of Freedom— The Agricul- 

 tural and Mercantile Classes— Commerce of the Ancient 

 Arabs— Their early Intercourse with India— "Wealth and 

 Luxury of the Saba3ans— Exaggerated Accounts of the 

 Greeks and Romans— Neither Gold nor Silver Mines in 

 Arabia— Principal Articles of Trade— Frankmcense— Myrrh 

 Coffee — Vines — Sugar— Chief Marts on the Coast— Cara- 

 vans— Propensity of the Arabs for Robbery and War— Their 

 Quarrels and Revenge— Their sacred Months—Their Hospi- 

 tality— Fire-signals— Liberality of Hatim Tai— Fondness of 

 the Bedouins for Eloquence and Poetry— The Moallakat, or 

 Seven Poems of the Kaaba— Origin and Copiousness of the 

 Arabic Language — Learning and Morals of the Ancient Arabs 

 — Their Division of Time — Their Superstitions— Charms — 

 Sortilege — Divination by Arrows — Worship of the Stars and 

 Planets— Popular Idols and Images— Planting of Christianity 

 in Arabia — Labours of Origen— Bishops' Sees — Schisms and 

 Heresies in the Arabian and Eastern Churches. 



The distinction of two great classes is as strongly 

 marked in the character and habits of the Arabs as 

 in their genealogical descent. The natives of the 

 desert, who follow a pastoral and predatory life, con- 

 sider themselves as a separate race from the inhabit- 

 ants of cities and towns, who live by tillage and 

 commerce. The former have a variety of names by 

 which they designate themselves, all expressive of 

 their peculiar mode of life. They are called Ahl el 

 Hajr, or the People of the Rock ; Ahl el Wabar, the 

 Dwellers in Tents ; Bedawiyun (Bedouins), the In- 

 habitants of the Desert, &c. All the other classes 

 who are fixed in local habitations, or engaged in the 

 pursuits of industry, they stigmatize as Ahl el ?iadar, 



