184 CHARACTER, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS 



The ethics or moral system of the Arabs incul- 

 cated some noble and exalted virtues ; but it ap- 

 pears to have had little influence on their personal 

 or social habits. Tlieir private intercourse with 

 each other was ^oss and indelicate. It was not 

 uncommon for the son to marry the father's wife, 

 or for the same man to espouse two sisters. Strabo 

 seems to intimate that some tribes had a commu- 

 nity of wives ; but these practices were condemned 

 by the more virtuous. Matrimonial infidelity was 

 merely punished with a slight fine ; but if the of- 

 fender belonged to another clan, death was the 

 award. Among some tribes, especially those of 

 Koreish and Kenda, it was the horrid practice to 

 bury their daughters alive, for fear of their being 

 dishonoured or taken captive ; and even from the 

 apprehension of being reduced to poverty by sup- 

 porting them. Tlie birth of females was therefore 

 reckoned a misfortune, and their death a happy re- 

 lief. If the father intended to bring up the child, 

 he sent her, clothed in a garment of wool or haii", 

 to tend flocks in the desert ; if otherwise, he kept 

 her till six years of age, and then directed her to be 

 perfumed and adorned, that " he might send her to 

 her mother ;" after which she was thrown head- 

 long into a pit dug for the purpose. But the shocking 

 crime of infanticide was not peculiar to Arabia ; it 

 was so conmion among the ancients, that it was con- 

 sidered a very extraordinary thing that the Egyp- 

 tians brought up all their children. 



With regard to their proficiency in the elegant or 

 the mechanical arts, we have no certain evidence ; 

 what we do know leads us to infer that their know- 

 ledge of these was rude and imperfect. If the or- 

 naments and costly furniture that adorned their 

 habitations were really the manufacture of their 

 own country, their skill could not be much inferior 

 to the polished ingenuity of Egypt and India. Ar- 

 rian speaks of sabres, lances, knives, hatchets, and 



