(
Hebrew characters) below) only 12, which may be the original number.
The few names that can be satisfactorily identified (Sheleph,
Ḥaẓarmaweth, Sheba, Ḥavilah) point to S Arabia as the
home of these tribes.
(1) (Hebrew characters) ((Greek characters))] unknown. The (Hebrew characters) is variously explained as
the Ar. art. (but this is not Sabæan), as 'Ēl = 'God,' and as 'āl =
'family'; and (Hebrew characters) as a derivative of the vb. for 'love' (wadda), equivalent
to Heb. (Hebrew characters) (Wi. MVAG, vi. 169); cf. Glaser, Skizze, ii. 425; DB, i. 67.
(2) (Hebrew characters) ((Greek characters))] A Yemenite tribe or district named on Sabæan inscrs.,
and also by Arab. geographers: see Homm. SA Chrest. 70; Osiander in
ZDMG, xi. 153 ff., perhaps identical with the Salapeni of Roman writers.
Cognate place-names are said to be still common in S Arabia (Glaser).
(3) (Hebrew characters) ((Greek characters))] The modern province of Ḥaḍramaut, on the S
coast, E of Yemen. The name appears in Sabæan inscrs. of 5th and 6th
cent. A.D., and is slightly disguised in the (Greek characters) of Strabo (XVI.
iv. 2), the Chatramotitæ of Pliny, vi. 154 (Atramitæ, vi. 155, xii. 52?).
(4) (Hebrew characters) ((Greek characters))] uncertain. The attempts at identification proceed on
the appellative sense of the word (= 'moon'), but are devoid of plausibility
(see Di.).
(5) (Hebrew characters) ([E] (Hebrew characters), G (Greek characters))] likewise unknown. A place called
Dauram close to Ṣan'a has been suggested: the name is found in
Sabæan (Glaser, 426, 435).
(6) (Hebrew characters) ([E] (Hebrew characters), G (Greek characters))] mentioned by Ezk. (2719: rd. (Hebrew characters)) as a
place whence iron and spices were procured. It is commonly taken to
be the same as 'Azāl, which Arab. tradition declares to be the old name
of Ṣan'a, now the capital of Yemen. Glaser (310, 427, 434, etc.) disputes
the tradition, and locates 'Ûzāl in the neighbourhood of Medina.[1]
(7) (Hebrew characters) ((Greek characters))] Probably the Ar. and Aram. word (daḳal, (Hebrew characters), [Syrian: **])
for 'date-palm,' and therefore the name of some noted palm-bearing
oasis of Arabia. Glaser (MVAG, 1897, 438) and Hommel (AA, 282 f.)
identify it with the (Greek characters) of Procopius, and the modern Ǧōf es-Sirhān,
30° NL (as far N as the head of the Red Sea).
(8) (Hebrew characters) ([E] and 1 Ch. 122 (Hebrew characters), GL (Greek characters))] supposed to be the word
'Abil, a frequent geographical name in Yemen (Glaser, 427). The name
is omitted by many MSS of G, also by GB in 1 Ch. 122 (see Nestle,
MM, 10), where some Heb. MSS and S have (Hebrew characters).
(9) (Hebrew characters) ((Greek characters))] apparently a tribal name (= 'father is God'), of
genuine Sabæan formation (cf. (Hebrew characters), ZDMG, xxxvii. 18), not hitherto
identified.
- ↑ In view of the uncertainty of the last three names, it is worthy of attention that the account of Asshurbanipal's expedition against the Nabatæans (KIB, ii. 221) mentions, in close conjunction, three places, Ḥurarina, Yarki, and Azalla, which could not, of course, be as far S as Yemen, but might be as far as the region of Medina. In spite of the phonetic differences, the resemblance to Hadoram, Yeraḥ, and 'Ûzāl is noteworthy. See, however, Glaser, 273 ff., 309 ff.
