Arbelitis

ARBELI´TIS(Ἀρβηλῖτις χώρα, Ptol. 6.1.2), the district around Arbela, which Pliny (Plin. Nat. 6.13. s. 16) calls a part of Adiabene. In Strabo (16. p. 738) the district around Arbela is called ARTACENE(Ἀρτακηνή), a name otherwise quite unknown. Scaliger ( ad Tibull. 4.1. 142) connects the name with the ERECHof Scripture ( Gen. 10.10), and therefore proposes to read ARACTENE(Ἀρακτηνή); but Erech was not in this position; and we ought probably to read ARBELENEin Strabo. (See Groskurd's Strabo, vol. 3. p. 208.)