ARABAH (Ar'a-bah), illeb. the plain), .1 Hebrew word in general a desert than or stette.
In the Authorized Version it is translated 'the plain,' but in the original it appears to be supplied with the article on purpose. as the proper name ( ha Arabah. the Arabah ) of the great plain or valley in its whole extent. which is partly occu pied by the Jordan and its lakes, and is prolonged from the De id Sea to the Elamtic Gulf (1) Descriptive. Arabali us now applied only to that portion of the valley which stretches from the chalk-cliffs below the Dead Sea southward to the Gulf of Akaliali—Elanitic Gulf It is about too miles long and from 4 to to mulls limestone walls on the west of the valley are from 1.5oo to 1,800 feet in height ; the mountain wall on the east side of the valley rises front :Loon to 2,300 in height, and in Mount nor to 5s:ion feet, and is chiefly composed of gran tic and basaltic rock. The surface of the valley is covered with loose gravel, blocks of porphyry, and is furrowed with torrents, with scarcely a trace of vegetation. It is oppressively hot, is swept with burning winds, the Sirocco blowing at some seasons without inter mission, a region dreary and desolate. The theory that the Jordan once ran through this valley into the Red Sea is now held to be untenable. Arabah
in Josh. xviii:t8 has also been mistaken for the name of a city, and confounded with Beth-arabah of Josh. xv:6i; xviii:22; but in xviii:i8 the word has the article before it in the Hebrew, and hence refers to the plain, as elsewhere.
(2) Historical. The Wady el Arabah appears to have been twice traversed by the Israelites; first on their way from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea, and afterwards when obliged to retrace their steps owing to the refusal of the king of Edom to allow them to pass through his land (Num. XX :21 ; Deut. ii :8).
No passage for the host by which to circumvent Mount Seir was practicable till they reached the stony gorge of the Wady el Ithem, which enters the Arabah four miles north of Akabah. Travers ing this rough and glistering ravine under the rays of an almost vertical sun, it is not surprising that, as we read, the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way' (Num. xxi :4). In later times the Arabah became a caravan route from Arabia to Palestine and Syria. The fort and harbor of Akabah (Ezion geber) now constitute an outpost for the Egyptian government, beyond which its authority does not extend ; the Arabah, as well as the Arabian desert, being held by independent Arab chiefs. (See