Page 373 - Neglected Arabia Vol 1 (2)

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What's in a Name?
KliV. HliRNAKI) I), IIA K KliN
H OW often we have all asked ourselves the question “What’s in
a name?” and what different conclusions we have come to on
different occasions. At one time we feel that there is a lot in
a name and then again we have the opposite feeling. This
question forces itself upon one living out here, for special meaning can
Ik: found in a great many of the names one hears. It is remarkable how
apt the names of the cities are with which the Mission is most c«m-
ccrued. As one travels up the Persian Cuff, these names come with
an especial force.
• •

OliNKKAL VIliW Ol- MASKAT
The first city to be met with is Maskat. The word means “Place of *
railing” Plow descriptive it is! As the ship steams into the harbor
I uothing can be seen but great rock cliffs which rise out of the water
! lu the height of two hundred feet and upward. It is only after a
person gets close in that he sees a small part of the town lying along
die seashore. He must get off the ship really to see the town and then
he finds that it nestles in between great hills of bare rock. It seems
lu have fallen into the valley and, in a very literal sense, for the town
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>ccnis to be in ruins, broken by the force of the fall. This broken,
ruined aspect is a feature of all Arab towns, but Maskat seems to have
more than its share of ruins. Here, too, is the place where martyrs
have fallen in the cause of Christ for it was in this place that Bishop
French, Rev. Stone and Dr. Thoms laid down their lives for Christ and
Kcv. Peter Zwemer received the malady which caused his death. Truly
this is a “Place of Falling.”
A few days later the ship drops anchor in Bahrein. The idea that
u expressed in its meaning, “Two Seas,” is not at once apparent. It
M
i.