[sect. 2]
The ancient geographers did not usually extend Arabia to the
Mediterranean, nor does H. himself in iv. 39. He means here that
the ends of the trade routes from Arabia to the Mediterranean were
under Arabian control (cf. iii. 107 seq. for this spice trade); he
writes τοῦ Ἀραβίου, in possession of the Arabian, not τῆς Ἁραβίης,
For the Arabs of South Palestine as dependent allies (not subjects)
of the Persians cf. 88. 1 n.
Jenysus must have been a little further from Egypt than the once
important port of Rhinocolura (Strabo 781), as Titus marched from
Pelusium (a day west of Mount Casius) to Rhinocolura in three
days (Joseph. B.J. iv. 11. 5), and H. allows three days from
Mount Casius to Jenysus. Its name has been traced in Khan
Jnes, the traditional site of the casting-up of Jonah; but this is
too far from Egypt, and its name resting place of Jonah obviously
dates from Mahometan times.
For Mount Casius and the Serbonian Lake cf. ii. 6. 1 n.