century of our era; that is, almost from the time of Ptolemy. Their center was Ḥesma’, and in this territory they built the temple of Ṛwâfa. If the Thamydenoi of Ptolemy are identical with the Thamudenon Ethnos of the inscription at Ṛwâfa, then they owned also the whole coast to the south, at least as far as lat. 27° N. The Thamyditai on the north are identical with them, and the Thaditai on the northeast paid them tribute or formed one of their clans. We must then locate the Sarakenoi to the east of the Thamudenoi in the desert of an-Nefûd; that is, in the territory of the former Ṭajj. But for the classical writers Sarakenoi was the common appellation for the Arab nomads, and down to the present day it denotes all the tribes camping in the interior of the Arabian desert, which is called šerḳ (Saraka). The Sarakenoi of Ptolemy, therefore, should not be taken as standing for any particular tribe but as a common appellation of the tribes camping in the actual Arabian desert to the east of the Nabataean realm.
According to Ptolemy, op. cit., VI, 7: 2 f., the settlements of Onne, Modiana or Moduna, Mount Hippos, the settlement of Hippos, and the settlement of Phoinikon, the palm settlement, are located on the coast of northern Arabia Felix, beyond the gulf of Aila.
Onne is identical with the modern al-Ḫrajbe, which was the harbor of the great oasis of Una or ʻAjn Una (ʻAjnûna). The Madana, or Moduna, of Ptolemy is situated to the southeast of Una, so that we should perhaps seek it in the small ruins not far to the east of the oasis of Terîm, which was perhaps called al-Modejne. It is also possible, however, that Modiana denotes the harbor of the town of Madian and that it was not situated to the south-southeast, but to the north or northwest of al-Ḫrajbe near the modern oasis of al-Ḳijâl. Mount Hippos is certainly identical with the mountain of aš-Šâr, which is shaped like a horse, and the settlement of Hippos with the ruins in the bay of Ǧibbe. The settlement of Phoinikon, the palm settlement, applies best to the mouth of the fertile and well irrigated Wâdi ad-Dâma.
Ptolemy, op. cit., VI, 7: 27 ff., records very many towns and settlements in that part of interior Arabia Felix today known as the Ḥeǧâz. That the names of these towns or settlements in many cases denote only the more important wells or camping places is evident from the character of the country.
The settlement of Aramaua is certainly the same as Mount Ârâm, or Iram of the Arabic authors, the modern Ramm, where there is an abundance of water.
I locate Ostama in the ruins of al-Ḳrajje, in the river basin of az-Zejte. The position of al-Ḳrajje does not tally with the position of Ptolemy’s Ostama, but very frequently the particulars he gives do not tally even when the identity is absolutely certain.
Thapaua perhaps is a distorted form of the ancient name of the oasis of Tebûk, which was probably Thabaucha or Thapaucha. From Tebûk (Thapaua) by way of al-Ḳrajje (Ostama) and Ramm (Aramaua) led the shortest and most convenient transport route from southern Arabia to Petra, the Nabataean capital.
Makna is the modern oasis of Maḳna on the coast of the Gulf of al-ʻAḳaba, although the particulars given by Ptolemy are not in accordance with the facts.
