a wanderer, a descendant of Joktan ( Genesis 10:27 ; 1 Chronicles 1:21 ), the founder apparently of one of the Arab tribes; the name also probably of the province they occupied and of their chief city.
wandering
(separate ), the sixth son of Joktan, ( Genesis 10:27 ; 1 Chronicles 1:21 ) whose settlements are clearly traced in the ancient name of Sana , the capital city of the Yemen (a district of Arabia), which was originally Awzal . From its position in the centre of the best portion of that kingdom it must always have been an important city. (Sana is situated about 150 miles from Aden and 100 miles from the coast of the Red Sea. It is one of the most imposing cities of Arabia -ED.)
UZAL
u'-zal ('uzal):
Sixth son of Joktan (Genesis 10:27; 1 Chronicles 1:21). Uzal as the name of a place perhaps occurs in Ezekiel 27:19. the Revised Version (British and American) reads, "Vedan and Javan traded with yarn for thy wares." Here an obscure verbal form, me'uzzal, is taken to mean "something spun," "yarn." But with a very slight change we may read me'uzal = "from Uzal."
The name is identical with the Arabic `Auzal, the old capital of Yemen, later called San`a'. San`a' is described as standing high above sea-level in a fertile land, and traversed by a river bed which in the rainy season becomes a torrent. Under the Himyarite dynasty it succeeded Zafar as the residence of the Tubba`s. If it is the same place as the Audzara or Ausara of the classics, it is clear why Arabic geographers dwell upon its great antiquity. The most celebrated feature of the town was Ghumdan, an immense palace, the building of which tradition ascribes to Shorabbil, the 6th known king of the Himyarites. According to Ibn Khaldoun this building had four fronts in color red, white, yellow and green respectively. In the midst rose a tower of seven stories, the topmost being entirely of marble (Caussin de Perceval, Essai, II, 75). In the 7th century AD the town became the capital of the Zaidite Imams, and the palace was destroyed toward the middle of that century by order of the caliph Othman.
A. S. Fulton
Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Bibliography Information |