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A richly detailed British map of the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, and the Horn of Africa, published by George Philip & Son in London at the end of the 19th century. Prepared under the supervision of William Hughes, professor of geography at King’s College London, the map synthesizes the latest geographical knowledge of the region during a critical period in British imperial expansion.

The coverage spans from the Nile Delta to Cape Guardafui and Socotra, and eastward from Cyrenaica across the Arabian Peninsula to the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Color is used to delineate major political and tribal divisions: Ottoman provinces in modern-day Israel and Arabia; the semi-autonomous Khedivate of Egypt; the Wahhabi-influenced regions of Nejd and El Yemamah; and the sultanates of Oman and the Hadhramaut. The map vividly illustrates the logistical infrastructure that linked British power centers across the region, including steamer routes, caravan tracks, and submarine telegraph cables reaching from Alexandria and Suez to Aden, Muscat, and Bombay. The Suez Canal appears as a completed waterway.

Interior Arabia is rendered with notable density, with tribal territories, wells, and pilgrimage routes carefully plotted, reflecting the influence of mid-nineteenth-century British explorers. The Rubʿ al-Khali is labeled “Roba el-Khaly (the empty or deserted plain),” and the political geography of the Arabian interior reflects the period’s emerging awareness of its distinct cultural zones. This is an early map to give such a detailed treatment of the human geography of the Gulf: Kuwait (Kuweit), Riyadh (Riadh), Qatar (Katar), Doha (Dohah), Abu Dhabi (Abu Thabi), U.A.E. (Pirate Coast), Dubai (Debay), Sharjah (Shargeh), and many more are named.

The Nile corridor is mapped deep into Nubia, noting ancient sites, cataracts, and administrative outposts that marked Egypt’s expanding southern frontier.

A glossary of a couple dozen geographic terms appears in the lower right margin, offering English definitions alongside transliterations from Arabic, Persian, or Turkish.