That it would be a most difficult, or scarcely possible task, to fix
precisely the limits of each Arabian province, is acknowledged by that
excellent geographer, DAnville; but he seems disposed to confound the
region comprising Mekka, Djidda, and Yembo, (places which, as we know,
are unequivocally in Hedjaz,) with Arabia Felix. [DAnville, Géographie
Ancienne.] DHerbelôt, in one place, declares Hedjaz to be Arabia
Petraea, [See the Bibliothèque Orientale in Hegiaz ou Higiaz--Nom
dune province de lArabie, que nous appelons Pierreuse, &c.--
Richardson also, in his Arabic and Persian Dictionary, explains Hijaz by
Mecca and the adjacent country, Arabia Petraea; and Demetrias
Alexandrides, who translated some portions of Abulfedas Geography into
Greek, (printed at Vienna, 1807, 8vo.) always renders Hedjaz by [Greek
text] and in another he identifies it with Arabia Deserta. [Les
Provinces de Tahama et dIemamah sont comme au coeur du pays; celle de
Hegiaz est devenue la plus célebre à cause des villes de la Mecque et de
Medine, et fait avec les deux dernières que nous avons nommées ce que
nous appelons lArabie Déserte.--Biblioth. Orient. in Arab.]]
Among the Eastern writers, some divide Arabia into two parts, Yemen and
Hedjaz; others into five great provinces, Yemen, Hedjaz, Nedjed, Tehama,
and Yemama. Bahrein has also been included;
[p.ix] and Aroudh is named as an Arabian province, but appears to be the
same as Yemama. Hadramaut, Mahrah, Shejr, Oman, and other subdivisions
have likewise been reckoned independent provinces by some, while many
confound them with the greater regions, Yemen and Hedjaz. To the latter,
indeed, are often assigned even the extensive countries of Nedjed,
Tehama, and Yemama.