Amalekite
    a tribe that dwelt in Arabia Petraea, between the Dead Sea and
    the Red Sea. They were not the descendants of Amalek, the son of
    Eliphaz, for they existed in the days of Abraham (Gen. 14:7).
    They were probably a tribe that migrated from the shores of the
    Persian Gulf and settled in Arabia. "They dwelt in the land of
    the south...from Havilah until thou comest to Shur" (Num. 13:29;
    1 Sam. 15:7). They were a pastoral, and hence a nomadic race.
    Their kings bore the hereditary name of Agag (Num. 24:7; 1 Sam.
    15:8). They attempted to stop the Israelites when they marched
    through their territory (Deut. 25:18), attacking them at
    Rephidim (Ex. 17:8-13; comp. Deut. 25:17; 1 Sam. 15:2). They
    afterwards attacked the Israelites at Hormah (Num. 14:45). We
    read of them subsequently as in league with the Moabites (Judg.
    3:13) and the Midianites (Judg. 6:3). Saul finally desolated
    their territory and destroyed their power (1 Sam. 14:48; 15:3),
    and David recovered booty from them (1 Sam. 30:18-20). In the
    Babylonian inscriptions they are called Sute, in those of Egypt
    Sittiu, and the Amarna tablets include them under the general
    name of Khabbati, or "plunderers."