The climate of Arabia in general is marked by extreme heat and dryness. Aridity and barrenness characterize both high and low grounds, and the date-palm is often the only representative of vegetable existence. There are districts which in the course of the year are hardly refreshed by a single shower of rain. Forests there are few or none. Grassy pastures have their place supplied by steppe-like tracts, which are covered for a short season with aromatic herbs, serving as food for cattle. The date-palm furnishes the staple article of food; the cereals are wheat, barley, maize, and millet; various sorts of fruit flourish; coffee and many aromatic plants and substances, such as gum-arabic, benzoin, mastic, balsam, aloes, myrrh, frankincense, &c., are produced. There are also cultivated in different parts of the peninsula, according to the soil and climate, beans, rice, lentils, tobacco, melons, saffron, colocynth, poppies, olives, &c. Sheep, goats, oxen, the horse, the camel, ass, and mule supply man's domestic and personal wants. Among wild animals are gazelles, ostriches, the lion, panther, hyena, jackal, &c. Among mineral products are saltpetre, mineral pitch, petroleum, salt, sulphur, and several precious stones, as the carnelian, agate, and onyx. The people of Arabia, according to their own traditions, are derived from two stocks, the pure Arabs and the naturalized Arabs or Mustarab. They are leading either a settled agricultural life or a nomadic existence. In Southern Arabia the Jews form a large element in the towns' population. Commerce is largely in the hands of foreigners, among whom the Jews and Banians (Indian merchants) are the most numerous.
The history of Arabia previous to Mahomet is obscure. The earliest inhabitants are believed to have been of the Semitic race. Jews in great numbers migrated into Arabia after the destruction of Jerusalem, and, making numerous proselytes, indirectly favoured the introduction of the doctrines of Mahomet. With his advent the Arabians revolted and united for the purpose of extending the new creed; and under the caliphs--the successors of Mahomet--they attained great power, and founded large and powerful kingdoms in three continents. (See _Caliphs_.) On the fall of the caliphate of Bagdad in 1258 the decline set in, and on the expulsion of the Moors from Spain the foreign rule of the Arabs came to an end. In the sixteenth century Turkey subdued Hejaz and Yemen, and received the nominal submission of the tribes inhabiting the rest of Arabia. The allegiance of Hejaz was renounced early in the European War; but Yemen achieved its independence in the seventeenth century, and maintained it till 1871, when the territory again fell into the hands of the Turks. In 1839 Aden was occupied by the British. Oman early became virtually independent of the caliphs, and grew into a well-organized kingdom. In 1507 its capital, Maskat or Muscat, was occupied by the Portuguese, who were not driven out till 1659. The Wahabis appeared towards the end of the eighteenth century, and took an important part in the political affairs of Arabia, but their progress was interrupted by Mohammed Ali, pasha of Egypt, and they suffered a complete defeat by Ibrahim Pasha. He extended his power over most of the country, but the events of 1840 in Syria compelled him to renounce all claims to Arabia. The Hejaz thus again became subject to Turkish sway, and until 1914 Turkey continually extended its rule not only over Yemen, but also over the district of El-Hasa on the Persian Gulf.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sir R. F. Burton, _Pilgrimage to Medina and Mecca_; E. Reclus, _Les Arabes_; C. M. Doughty, _Arabia Deserta_, and _Wanderings in Arabia_; G. W. Bury, _Arabia Infelix_; S. M. Zwemer, _Arabia, the Cradle of Islam._