Arabia Felix

...These kingdoms are collectively called the ancient South Arabian kingdoms, but there is no consensus on their absolute dates. The oldest, the Sabaean kingdom, is said to have been founded before the end of the 8th century BCE, when its king's name appears on an Assyrian inscription, but there are other theories. The ancient South Arabian kingdoms prospered through irrigation agriculture and long-distance trade that brought spices from India and Southeast Asia, as well as frankincense, a specialty of Hadramaut, to the Mediterranean world. Ancient Greek and Roman writers called South Arabia "Happy Arabia, Arabia Felix," because of its abundance of spices. The ancient South Arabian kingdoms leave behind the ruins of huge structures, mainly temples, as well as dams and other irrigation facilities, and numerous inscriptions written in a script different from the later Arabic script.

*Some of the terminology that mentions "Arabia Felix" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…これを総称して古代南アラビア王国というが，その絶対年代については定説がなく，最も古いサバ王国は，その王の名がアッシリアの碑文に現れる前8世紀末以前に建国されたとされるが異説もある。古代南アラビア王国は灌漑農業と，ハドラマウト特産の乳香のほか，インド，東南アジアからもたらされた香料を地中海世界に運ぶ遠隔地通商によって栄え，その豊かな香料のゆえに，古代ギリシア･ローマの著作家は南アラビアを〈幸福なアラビアArabia Felix〉と呼んだ。古代南アラビア王国は，神殿を主とする巨大建造物ならびにダムその他の灌漑施設の遺跡と，のちのアラビア文字と異なる文字で記した多数の碑文を残す。…

※「Arabia Felix」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報