THEMA (Hebrew Témâ', Greek Θαμμάν). - Name of an Ismaelite tribe (Gen. 25:15; 1 Chron. 1:30) and of the district inhabited by them in northern Arabia, on the borders of the Syrian desert and west of the Gulf of Aqaba (Is. 21:14; Jer. 25:23).
The name also occurs in Assyrian texts from the inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser; it has been perpetuated in the oasis of Teima, four days' journey southwest of el-Θōf and midway between Damascus and Mecca. The Themaeans were well known as caravaners and raiders (Job 6:19). In the oasis of T. an Aramaic stele of the 6th century B.C. has been discovered.
BIBL.: Donato Baldi