Travels in Arabia; comprehending an account of those territories in Hedjaz which the Mohammedans regard as sacred by John Lewis Burckhardt
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page 6 of 566 (01%)
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of ascertaining where one division begins and another terminates. With
regard, more particularly, to the boundaries of Hedjaz, Abulfeda is silent; but it appears that his opinion, so far as Mr. Rommel could collect from incidental accounts of places assigned to this province and adjoining territories, did not in all respects coincide with the statements of other celebrated geographers. [See "Christophori Rommel Abulfedea Arabiae Descriptio, commentario perpetuo illustrata," Gottingae, 1802, 4to. "Ambitum et fines hujus provinciae Abulfeda designare supersedet.--Al Madaieni haec profert: 'Hhegiaz est provincia complectens illum tractum montium qui inde ab Yaman expansus usque ad Sham (Syriam) protenditur. In eo tractu sitae sunt Madinah et Amman'-- Cum hoc dissidere Abulfedam non dubium est.--Ibn al Arabi: "Quod est inter Tehamah et Nagd illud est Hhegiaz.'--Fusius Ibn Haukal: 'Quod protenditur a limite Serrain urbis sitae ad mare Kolzum adusque viciniam Madian, et inde reflectendo per limitem tendentem in ortum urbis Hhegr, ad montem Tai trunseundo juxta tergum Yamamah ad mare Persicum, hoc totum ad Hhegiaz pertinet.' Et alio loco: 'Hhegiaz ea est provincia, quae Maccah et Madinah et Yamamah cum earundem territoriis comprehendit.'--Ibn al Vardi Hhegiaz appellat provinciam secus Sinum Arabicum et a regione Habyssiniae sitam--Bakui eam inter Yaman et Syriam posuisse satis habet, simul longitudinem ejus mensis itinere emetiens."--(pp. 57-68.)] [p.x] It may perhaps be asked, why our inquisitive traveller did not learn from some intelligent native the precise extent and limits of Hedjaz? To this question the following passage (written by Burckhardt, near the end of his journal, and probably intended for the Appendix,) may serve as a reply, and show that even the present inhabitants do not agree in their application of the name Hedjaz. "This," says he, "is not used by the Arabian Bedouins in the usual acceptation of the word. They |
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