Page 13 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

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that had been quite unexplored up to that time; for a long
period, his was the only information to be had on the sub­
ject. The second volume deals with South Arabia, the Red
Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Sinai peninsula. For this
region too, Wellsted’s detailed observations are exemplary,
and have been cited or confirmed by subsequent explorers.
Later, however, this part of Arabia was explored intensi­
vely, so that Wellsted’s observations did not retain long-
lasting validity or exclusiveness. Nevertheless—and this
needs to be pointed out once more—it is striking how, in his
second volume as well, Wellsted’s descriptions contrast
pleasantly with the often subjective, European-centred
point of view of later travellers. Surely Wellsted’s work de­
serves greater consideration in historical, geographical
research in this part of the Arab world than it has received
until now.

Historical and geographical significance

Works on the counties of the Arab world are by no means
few and far between, though detailed investigations of large
areas and many fields are still lacking. Above all there are
hardly any studies which are able to come to terms with
modern and extremely rapid change. Southeastern Arabia,
today’s Sultanate of Oman, is a region of the Arabian pen­
insula in which detailed research was only recently able to
be started. Such research studies, if they are to gain insight
into changes in the structure of the society, the economy
and the culture, are obliged to draw on these earlier travel
reports. Niebuhr’s writings on Muscat and its inhabitants
provide the first fairly reliable source. Wellsted’s work,
however, enables us to make—when due care is taken re­
garding possible comparisons—the first fairly reliable ret­
rospective analysis. His descriptions give insight into the