Saba

Saba

, island, West Indies

Saba (säˈbə), island (1990 est. pop. 1,100), 5 sq mi (13 sq km), a special municipality of the Netherlands, one of the NW Leeward Islands, West Indies. It was formerly part of the Netherlands Antilles. The rugged island is actually the cone of an extinct volcano rising to c.2,800 ft (850 m). Spiral roads winding up through steep cliffs and lush greenery make Saba a scenic island, but there are no sheltered harbors, and landing is difficult. The chief settlement, called The Bottom, is in the crater of the volcano. The Dutch settled the island in 1632.

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Saba

 

the name of the tribal union of the Sabaean people; also, the name of the Sabaean state, the kingdom of Saba, which was located in southern Arabia, in what is now the Yemen Arab Republic.

Some indirect evidence suggests that the Saba tribal union existed as early as the tenth century B.C.; however, the Sabaean state arose no later than the eighth century B.C. The city of Marib was the residence of the rulers—mkrbs and kings—of the kingdom of Saba.

According to classical authors, the kingdom of Saba was an important trade intermediary between India and Qataban, Ha-dhramaut, the countries of the east coast of Africa, and the Mediterranean states. In the middle of the first millennium B.C., it subjugated all the other states of southern Arabia. In the beginning of the first century B.C., a considerable part of the kingdom was conquered by the Himyarite kingdom. Late in the second century A.D., the combined forces of Saba, Aksum, and Hadhramaut routed the Himyarite army and made the Himyarite kingdom a dependency of Saba. In the early fourth century, the lands of the kingdom of Saba passed to the Himyarite state, and the kingdom ceased to exist.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

saba

[sə′bä]

(botany)

A plant (Musa sapientum var. compressa) that is common in the Philippines; the fruit is a cooking banana.

(textiles)

A textile made from fibers of the saba plant.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Saba

1. an island in the NE Caribbean, in the Netherlands Antilles. Pop.: 2498 (2004 est.). Area: 13 sq. km (5 sq. miles)

2. another name for Sheba (sense 1)

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005