The Mahdi Times The Mahdi Times July 2014 | Page 39
expanded the ancient lucrative spice
trade to Arabia.
It should be noted that in addition to
coffee, Ethiopia is the original homeland
of incenses such as frankincense, myrrh,
and spices like cinnamon.
Given the historical, genetic, physical
and geographical proximity between
Ethiopia and Arabia Felix and the
similarity of the cultural expression of
both lands, it is not a wonder why the
ancient Greek writers swore that the
Ethiopians ruled the whole of Arabia. It
was clear to the sophisticated Greeks
and the worldly Romans that Black
Africans settled and developed this
portion of Arabia!
Arabia Deserta
Arabia Deserta was originally people by
the Bejas and kindred groups from
Africa. These are the original owners of
the Sahara and its extension known as
the Arabia Desert. The Bejas as we have
seen from preceeding paragraphs were
the first to be called Bedouins due to
their nomadic culture and their
preference for Desert habitats.
The traditional African planters of these
cash crops and the African maritime
operators of this most lucrative of
ancient trades extended their
operations from Ethiopia across the
straits of Bab-el-Mandel to take
advantage of the fertile land and the
natural harbours of Arabia Felix, which
subsequently became export hubs of the
ancient trade. (See Strabo, geography
Book XVI.iv.19). Produce was shipped
routinely from the highlands of Ethiopia
into Ethiopian owned - Arabia Felix for
exports to the rest of the world.
In the beginning of Holocene period, a
group of landless, barbarian, starving,
pale-skinned Central Asian refugees
now known as the pale-skin Arabs (i.e.
the so-called Semites) began living side
by side with the nomadic African
Cushitic Bejas who owned the entire
Sahara desert between the Nile and the
Arabian Peninsula. Over the course of
time these two peoples have
intermingled culturally and genetically
that there is barely any pale skin
(Arabized) Arabs alive today that does
not carry extensive Africa genes in his
blood.