[771] Gibel Seik, Gibel el Hawene, and Gibel Hester.
[772] The harbour of Charmothas seems to be the ancient Iambo, the “Iambia” of Ptolemy, which now, from the accumulation of soil, is more than a day’s journey into the interior of the country. It is in a fertile territory. The Arabs call it Iambo el Nakel, or Iambo of Palm Trees, to distinguish it from the new Iambo situated on an arid soil on the sea-coast. Al Charm, in Arabic, signifies a fissure or opening in the mountains. It seems as if the Greeks had formed the name Charmothas from this word, mistaking the epithet given to the narrow entrance of the harbour of Iambo for the name of the town itself. Gossellin.
[773] The Debæ occupied Sockia. The river which flows through the country is called Bætius by Ptolemy.
[774] τὰ πλείω is Kramer’s correction for παλαιὰ .
[775] Some are called by Diodorus Siculus, iii. 44, and Agatharchides, Asilæi and Casandres or Gasandres.
[776] Instead of εὔομβρος, Groskurd reads πάμφορος, “produces everything,” following the fragments the Agatharchides and Diodorus Sic. b. iii 44.
[777] Groskurd’s correction, σιδήρου for ἀργύρου, in the text, is adopted. But the passage is probably corrupt, and after σιδήρου we may read καὶ δεκαπλάσιον τοῦ ἀργύρου, “for ten times the quantity of silver,” according to Bochart, and approved by Kramer.
[778] The precise boundaries of Sabæa it is impossible to ascertain. The area we have presumed is comprised within the Arabian Sea W., the Persian Gulf E., the Indian Ocean S., and an irregular line skirting the desert, and running up in a narrow point to Idumæa N. See Smith, Dict. of Greek and Roman Geography, art. Saba. Milton appears to have been acquainted with the following passage from Diodorus Siculus, b. iii. 46, descriptive of Sabæa: “It is impossible to enumerate the peculiarities and nature of all these trees and plants, on account of the surpassing variety and body of perfume which fall upon and excite the senses, in a manner divine and beyond description. The mariner, as he sails even at a distance along the coast, has his share of enjoyment; for when the breezes of spring blow from off the land, the fragrance of the trees and shrubs is carried down to the shore; nor is it of the kind with which we are acquainted, proceeding from old and stored aromatics, but fresh and in full perfection from new-blown flowers, striking the inmost sense.”
[779] The same as Saba; see c. iv. § [2].
[780] The above details derived from Artemidorus, and by him from Agatharchides, would not be found in Eratosthenes, who lived before the time of Agatharchides.