Sabaei

(Σαβαῖοι) or Sabae (Σάβαι) (O. T. Shebaiïm). One of the chief peoples of Arabia, dwelt in the southwest corner of the peninsula, in the most beautiful part of Arabia Felix, the north and centre of the province of El-Yemen. So at least Ptolemy places them (vi. 7, 23); but the fact seems to be that they are the chief representatives of a race which, at an early period, was widely spread on both sides of the southern part of the Red Sea, where Arabia and Aethiopia all but joined at the narrow strait of Bab-el-Mandeb; and hence, probably, the confusion often made between the Sheba and Seba of Scripture, or between the Shebaiim of Arabia and the Sebaiim of Aethiopia. Their country produced all the most precious spices and perfumes of Arabia. Their capital was Saba (Dio Cass. liii. 29).