Evening star., 1916-12-10

of the new kingdom OF
Reeoon;t;or Arabia Now Cherif Ell
Hussein ibn Ali asks
0sheo. recognition of the civil
| lied nations. that Arabia be received in
| the family of nations.
| Great has been the surprise of ma
| tions which. taken unawares. nave
failed perhaps to appreciate at it's
proper value an event which almost
| foreshadows the millennium, for how
else comprehend such metamorphosis!
Mecca, the seat of religious fanaticism
and zeal, become the center of religious
| liberation. and thus peace on earth.
good will toward men," Incredible!
| And vet such is the proclamation Of the
grand cherif of Mecca. "El Hussein ibn
ALL who would be recognized as the
:, Sultan of Arabia.
1t is not entirely material in the in
| ception to correct here what is a
lamentable error in the text Of the COM
munication to the Secretary of State
of the United States from the
"khatib," or writer. who is apparently
/ acting for the secretary of foreign
affairs at Mecca. .'El fuad" is mani
|
merely an avocation, a writer. Also,
| If the dispatch lis without date. but
the cable tolls are prepaid" that is
prima facie evidence of authenticity.
| 1t is concluded by the incredulous
| that 'the United States can take no
definite action until the end of war
| etc" But this grand cherif is no or
| dinary mortal; he has done something
| outside of the ordinary. He has not
! only wrested a vast empire from the
/ ha hoc hmm MI
| the dread "djehad." or holy war. i'm
possible. excoriated the impious Turks
such as Enver, Djemal and Talaat. sui
| tan Hussein should be recognized
though the heavens fall
We are told that Arabia covers an
| area of $4,000 square miles and pos
sesses a population OF
Cnrraof;or 1000, 900 This is an err
ror; the area is not less
VI Lffors. than l.91s.75o square
miles and the population is about
II, 900, 600 In the face of such manifest
| errors of area and population let US state
for precision, above all. because the CIV
| iIized world is being asked to recognize
this new kingdom we should compre-
hend correctly it's extent.
Arabia for a fact is vast peninsula
separated from Persia by the Persian
gulf. from India by the Indian ocean
from Africa by the Red sea and arti'
| fcially by the Canal de SueZ: it is at
! tached to the Asiatic continent by the
desert of Syria, between the Medlter-
| ranean on the west and the Tigris ant
| Euphrates valleys on the east. II II
divided into two parts, the Ilhana' oi
coast region. and the NedJld. OF hisi
| places of the interior.
South of Nedjid extends the lmmens'
| desert of Arabia. the Dahna vast des,
| ert of sand without vegetation ana OF
| which the Arabs even speak win ter
| ror In the mountains of Madam on'
| NAV see the musical sands which pro
duce sounds like those of wind blow
ing upon the cords of a harp, the voic'
of the desert of which travellers speak
The Hediaz is the best known province
of Arabia because containing the mol!
cities of Mecca and Medina.
Mecca is the most celebrated city o
Arabia because ii is the center OF al
| Grafton of the Mussulman world Tn
I .Kaaba" is small edifice built within
a mosque. the point to which all MUS
sulmans must turn when reciting thef
| PRAYERS Medina contains; the tomb o
the prophet, who died there 632 A. ID
The Hedjaz is the cradle of Mohammed
Eanism Yemen is the ancient Arab,
the Blest" In the extreme south o
Yemen is Alden East of Yemen lie:
| Hadra amaut. the Hadraufitai and Cha
| tramolitae of Pliny and Ptolemy.
The desert of Syria extends betweer
the slopes of the anti-Libau to th'
| coast and to the valley of the Euphra
tes and forms the northern limit o.
| Ara bia. The Bedouin or Arab nomat
| "badowi' is the proper nhabitant o.
the desert. He has not changed, To-
what he was in ancient days he is
The nomad lives in tents, the sedentarl
inhahitS towns or fortified villages
The Bedouin race in the north is o
Jewish origin, in the Yemen he is de
Scended from Persian and AhysSiniai
conuuerors internarried with the WON
en- of the country.
The recent revolutions in Arabia ar,
not recent. in fact. but date from tbs
time of the Cherifian No
Frecren+ hammed el lAlaoui of the
koreitchite tribe. to which
ae'oits. the Prophet Mohammed
belonged Alaoui declared the independ-
ence OF Arabia which was maintained
until 1917.
Again in 1896 the tribe Aneyzech. con-
verted 10 Wahabism, conquered the Arat
tribes from central Ara bia to the Persian
isuIf.
Again in 1906 and 1915 Sultan Mahmoud
OF Turkey charged Nohammed Ably Pasha
of Egypt to wage war in the Sudan ano
in Arabia and take for the caliphate the
sacred cities of Mecca and Medina and
suppress Waha bism. The Waha bite
Cheikh Abdul Wahab was the author oi
Waha bism. These stiff -necked people
have been termed the Ca!vinists of Is