Itinerarium totius Sacræ Scripturæ. Or, the trauels of the holy patriarchs, prophets, iudges, kings, our sauiour Christ, and his Apostles, as they are related in the Old and New Testaments. With a description of the townes and places to which they trauelled, and how many English miles they stood from Ierusalem. Also a short treatise of the weights, monies, and measures mentioned in the Scriptures, reduced to our English valuations, quantitie, and weight. Collected out of the workes of Henry Bunting, and done into English by R.B.

Of Arabia.

MAny things are already spoken concerning this Countrey, as the diuision of the place; one called Petraea, the other De∣serta, and the third, Foelix. Arabia Petraea is so called from the Metropolitan citie thereof, called Petra, which is scituated forty miles from Ierusalem towards the South, and bordereth vpon Ae∣gypt and India. It is also called Arabia Nabathea, as you may reade before. Paran and Sur are a part of it, compassing towards the East the land of Iudaea, and so extendeth to Damascus. This countrey is very full of rockes and stones, the chiefe citie Petra being scituated vpon a rocke, of which it taketh the name. Here standeth the mountaines Horeb and Sinai; here the children of Israel trauelled when they went out of Aegypt; here is the Sardo∣nix stone found; and the people of this countrey in times past were great Prophets and Astrologians; here also S. Paul taught the Gospell a little after his conuersion, Gal. 1. at which time Are∣tas was King thereof, whose sister was married to Herod the Te∣trarch of Galile and Petraea; but he cast her off, and married He∣rodias his brother Philips wife, vpon which there began a bloudy warre betweene Aretas and Herod, and a sharpe battell was fought neere to Gamala a citie beyond Iordan. And although the two Kings were not at this battell, yet by the treason and flight of the soldiers out of Tracones, (who without all question would haue reuenged the contempt done vnto their Lord Philip) the Arabi∣an armie carried away a notable victory, as Iosephus witnesseth, lib. antiq. 18. cap. 9. Aretas signifieth, An excellent man; which was a common name to the Kings of Arabia. It is to be thought that Damascus and all the Countrey round about was vnder the jurisdiction of this King; and that he ordained a Lieutenant or Generall in those parts, who would haue taken Paul and put him to death, Acts 9. 2 Col. 12.

The other part of Arabia is called by Ptolomie, Deserta; but Strabo calls it, Scenilis, because the inhabitants thereof are with∣out buildings or Tents, and liue like vagrants vp and downe the woods. This is compast in vpon the South with certaine moun∣taines

of Arabia Foelix; towards the North, it borders vpon Me∣sopotamia; and towards the West, vpon Petraea.

The third is called Arabia Foelix, because of the fertilitie ther∣of; for they haue there euery yeare two haruests, as they haue in India, as Strabo obserueth. See Plin. lib. 6. cap. 28.