ISHHAELITE (Heb.
hak-yish-maw-ay-lee', Chron. ii:t 7; hah -,t, yish-men-ay-lee', xxvii:3o;" Item' , Gen. xxxvii:25; hah-yish-mek ay-leem', Gen. xxxvii:27, 28), a descendant of Ish mael.
The term appears to have been a general name for the Abrahamic peoples of the east country, the Bene-Kedem. The name is applied in its strict sense to the Ishrnaelites. It is also applied to Jether, the father of Amasa. by David's sister Abigail (t Citron. ii:x7). (See IruaA; JETLIER.) The Arabs claim Ishmael to be the firstbori. of Abraham, and the majority of their doctors (but the point is in dispute) assert that this son, and not Isaac, was offered by Abraham in sacri fice. The scene of this sacrifice is Mount Arafat, near Mecca, the last holy place visited by pil grims, it being necessary to the completion of pil grimage to be present at a sermon delivered there on the 9th of the Mohammedan month Zu-l-Hej jeh, in commemoration of the offering, and to sacrifice a victim on the following evening after sunset, in the valley of Mine. The sacrifice last mentioned is observed throughout the Moslem world, and the day on which it is made is called "The Great Festival" (Mr. Lane's Mod. Egypt,
ch. iii.).
Mohammed's descent from Ishmael is totally lost, for an unknown number of generations to Adrian, of the twenty-first generation before the prophet ; from him downwards the latter's descent is, if we may believe the genealogists, fairly proved. But we have evidence far more trust worthy than that of the genealogists; for while most of the natives of Arabia are unable to trace up their pedigrees, it is scarcely possible to find one who is ignorant of his race, seeing that his very life often depends upon it. The law of blood revenge necessitates his knowing the names of his ancestors for four generations, but no more; and this law extending from time immemorial has made any confusion of race almost impossible. (Smith, Bib. Diet.).
The Ishmaelites carried on traffic with Egypt (Gen. xxxvii 27; xxxix:i). (See IsumAEL.)