houses, with flattened domes covering them; and some of the terraced roofs are fenced around with raised walls, in which are seen pyramids of hollow earthen pipes, as if to give air and light, without destroying the strength of the wall itself. On the large mosque we noticed a square tower with pointed-arched windows, like many of our country church steeples in England, differing only from these in being surmounted by an open gallery and a flat-domed summit. These last, it could be plainly seen, were subsequent additions, and did not harmonise with the tower itself, which was purely Gothic, and no doubt a Christian work at the period of the Crusades. We saw also in other parts of the town vestiges of Gothic edifices, of a character decidedly different from Saracen architecture, though both of them have the pointed arch in common; but all these were greatly ruined. The convent of the Latins is large and commodious, though not equal to that of Nazareth: it has a good church, an open court, with a fine spreading orange-tree, and several wells of excellent water in it for their gardens. The inhabitants are estimated at little more than five thousand persons; of whom about one-third are Christians of the Greek and Catholic communions, and the remaining twothirds Mahometans, chiefly Arabs; the men of power and the military only being Turks, and no Jews residing here. The principal occupation of the people is husbandry, for which the surrounding country is highly favourable; and the staple commodities produced by them are corn, olives, oil, and cotton, with some soap and coarse cloth made in the town." ARIOCH, long, great, tall; or, your drunkenness; or, your lion, the name of a place mentioned in the apocryphal Book of Judith (i. 6), which probably received its name from an ancient prince called Arioch, king of Ellasar, one of those kings who formed the league with Chedorlaomer against the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, Gen. xiv. 1.

ARKITES, the descendants of Canaan, who inhabited the town of Arca in

Phoenicia, at the foot of Mount Lebanon, said to have been founded by Arac, one of his sons. It was sometimes denominated, in honour of the Roman Emperors, "Cesarea of Libanus." Shaw, in his "Travels," describes the site of Arca, the city of the Arkites, and says that its situation is most delightful, having to the north the prospect of an extensive plain, diversified with a great variety of towns and villages, ponds and rivulets; to the west the broad expanse of the Mediterranean, and to the east a long and distant chain of mountains. Of the Arkites, the descendants of Canaan, nothing is now known.

ARMAGEDDON, the mountain of Megiddo, or the mountain of the gospel; also, the mountain of fruit, or of apples, a place spoken of either as real or figurative in the Book of Revelation (xvi. 16), where the sixth vial is to be poured out, and where, as some commentators seriously think, the Popish and Mahometan troops are to be destroyed. The learned Pool, in his " Annotations," however, alleges that it does not mean any particular place in the passage referred to in the Apocalypse, but is merely another name for the city of Megiddo, in the plain at the foot of Mount Carmel. Here Barak overcame Sisera and his great army, Judges v. 19; and here King Josiah received his mortal wound in the battle against Pharaoh-Necho, king of Egypt, 2 Chron. xxxv. 23, 24.

ARMENIA, sometimes called ARARAT, a large country of Asia, anciently divided into Armenia Major and Armenia Minor. The first, which is the modern Turcomania, and is still sometimes called Armenia, lies south of Mount Caucasus, and comprehends the Turkish pachalics of Erzerum, Kars, and Van, and also the Persian province of Iran or Erivan. It is separated from Armenia Minor by the Euphrates, near which was situated the Garden of Eden, or Paradise. Armenia Minor, properly speaking, was a part of Cappadocia, and is now called Aladulia or Pegian, belongs to the Turks, and is divided into two pachalics, Merashe and

Sivas. Armenia, according to the Greek historians, derives its name from Armenus, one of the Argonauts who settled in the country. The learned Bochart contends that Armenia is a contraction of the Hebrew word Har-mini, denoting the mountain of Minni, the name of a province of this country mentioned in the Prophecy of Jeremiah (li. 27), placed by the prophet between Ararat and Aschenaz, and probably referred to by Amos (iv. 3) under the name of Harmunal, or Mountain of the Moon. Other etymologists assert that it received its name from Aram, the son of Shem, father of the Syrians. According to the Vulgate, Moses says that the Ark rested on the mountains of Armenia, but in the Septuagint and Hebrew, the reading (Gen. viii. 4) is Ararat. In the Second Book of Kings it is recorded that the two sons of Sennacherib, after having killed their father, escaped into Armenia, or, according to the Hebrew, the Land of Ararat, 2 Kings xix. 37; Isa. xxxvii. 38. The Armenian army assisted Cyrus, king of Persia, against the Chaldeans, Jer. li. 27. Armenia Major was anciently bordered on the north by Iberia and Albania; on the west by the river Euphrates; on the south by Mesopotamia; and on the east by Media. Armenia Minor, formerly a part of Cappadocia, but erected into a separate kingdom by Antiochus the Great, was bounded on the east by the Euphrates; on the south by Mount Taurus, which separated it from Cilicia; and on the north and west by a long continued chain of mountains called in different places Mons Scordescus, Amanus, and Anti-Taurus, which separated it from Cappadocia. The ancient Armenia had nearly the same boundaries as it now has under its modern name of Turcomania; the western division of which belongs to Turkey, the eastern being a province of Persia. It is to be observed, however, that the territorial limits of the Turks and Persians are not very accurately ascertained, while there is a third party, the Curds, who claim a sovereignty or jurisdiction over some districts, but whose

districts, on account of their wandering habits, it is also impossible to define.

The early history of this country is involved in great obscurity. Herodotus says that the ancient Armenians were a Phrygian colony, and used arms like the Phrygians; but this information must be received with the caution necessary respecting uncertain tradition, and it is almost impossible to determine to what race the Armenians of the Persian Empire belonged. Their native writers assert that their first chief or prince was called Haïj, and from him they call themselves Haji. He was the son of Taglath, who, according to them, was the same with Thogarma, grandson of Japhet. He left Babylon, his native city, twenty-two centuries before the Christian era, and established himself, with all his family and dependants, in the southern mountains of Armenia, to escape the tyranny of Belus, king of Assyria. That monarch nevertheless pursued him in his new settlement, where he was slain by the emigrant chief. Aram, sixth in succession from Haïj, became so celebrated for his warlike exploits, that he gave his name to the whole country of Armenia. Ara, his son, was slain in defending his country against Semiramis, queen of Assyria, after which it became an Assyrian province, until the death of Sardanapalus, the last of the Assyrian monarchs, when a succession of native princes began. Thus far the traditions of the Armenians themselves, which it is more than probable are disfigured by fable; yet it is certain that this country can lay claim to a very ancient monarchy. The Armenians were subsequently subdued by the Medes, to whom they were rendered tributary by Astyages, although they were allowed to be governed by their own kings; but on the dissolution of the Empire of the Medes by Cyrus, Armenia was annexed to the Persian Empire, its ancient race of kings became extinct, and it was governed by Persian lieutenants. Two centuries afterwards, when Alexander the Great dissolved in turn the Persian Empire, Armenia was subdued by the

Macedonians. After the death of Alexander the Great, it became part of the Syrian monarchy founded by Antigonus, who succeeded to one of the divisions of that conqueror's empire, with whom it remained till the overthrow of Antiochus the Great, when it was divided into Armenia Major and Armenia Minor, and was under the sway of different rulers. It does not fall within the plan of the present work to trace the history of Armenia throughout the Roman wars, when it was governed sometimes by Parthian princes, and sometimes by those whom those ancient masters of the world elevated to its throne, before the mighty king Tigranes was sufficiently humbled by Lucullus the Roman general, compelled to abdicate the lofty title he had assumed of king of kings, and content himself with being the friend and ally of the Roman people, until its princes were reduced to a state of complete vassalage, and the country became a Roman province. After the reign of the Emperor Trajan, it was governed by its own kings, whom we find mentioned as tributaries of Constantine the Great and his successors. It was subsequently subdued by the Saracens, from whom it was taken by the Turks. In the reign of Richard II. of England, our chronicles mention Leo, king of Armenia, who came into England to solicit aid against the Turks, by whom he had been expelled from his kingdom of Armenia Major. In the year 1472, Ussan Cassanes, king of Armenia, succeeded to the throne of Persia, and the country again became a province of the Persian Empire. It continued in that state until 1522, when it was subdued by the Turks under Selim II., who annexed both it and Armenia Minor to the Turkish Empire, of which it has ever since formed a part, with the exception of those districts which belong to Persia.

The country of Armenia is described as being beautifully diversified with lakes, one of which, the Van, is said to be one hundred and sixty-eight miles in circumference; fine rivers, such as the

Euphrates, Trigris, and Araxes, and their tributary streams; mountains, plains, valleys, and woods; having a temperate and healthy climate, and a rich and fertile soil, which, for the most part, is assiduously cultivated by the inhabitants. It yields every species of grain, and all kinds of delicious fruits, such as grapes, olives, oranges, peaches, apricots, nectarines, mulberries, walnuts, melons, apples, and pears. It also produces tobacco, cotton, flax, wax and honey, raw silk and hemp, which are exported to Constantinople and Russia; and manna is also found in considerable quantities. Its mineral productions are silver, copper, loadstone, sulphur, saltpetre, and bitumen. The salt-mines have been long and justly celebrated; they supply all Persia with that article, which is carried throughout the country on the backs of buffaloes. The Armenians are greatly distinguished for their industry and commercial enterprise. Their merchants have been dispersed throughout Europe; in the Persian Empire they are the only commercial class; and they were at one time in possession of nearly the whole trade in the Levant. They have commercial houses at Leghorn and Venice, and are well known both in England and Holland. Armenia contains several cities and large towns, and, on the whole, it may be said to be a country rich and prosperous, distinguished for the high character and integrity of its people.

Little is known with certainty of the government, laws, religion, learning, and even language of the ancient Armenians, and that little is chiefly gathered from the history of the neighbouring nations. In the early ages, the inhabitants appear to have been, like those of other countries, rude and barbarous; and it still contains several tribes who are more addicted to plunder than to trade. The literature of Armenia begins with the conversion of the inhabitants to Christianity, at the commencement of the fourth century. The written language owes its cultivation to the translation of the Bible begun by

Messobes and his disciples in A.D. 411, and finished by desire of their patriarch, Isaac the Great, A. D. 511. The Armenian language is generally admitted to be a compound of Syriac, Chaldee, Hebrew, and Arabic; the old Armenian, the language of their literature and their church, is the original language; but the modern Armenian has been formed as a popular language by foreign additions during successive changes of conquerors.

Of the present state of religion in Armenia it is not out of place here to give a brief account. We have no information, even traditionary, as to the precise period when Christianity was first preached in Armenia. It is probable that it was introduced in the first, or at the commen cement of the second, century; but the Armenian Church was not complete ly formed till the commencement of the fourth century, when Gregory, the son of Anax, commonly called the Enlightener, converted the Armenian king, Tiridates, and his court, to the Christian faith. Gregory was consecrated the first bishop of Armenia by Leontinus, bishop of Cappadocia, and he had the satisfaction of seeing the whole country converted to Christianity during his episcopate. From that period Armenia was subjected to so many political changes, that it is more a matter of surprise that the inhabitants should have adhered to the Christian faith, than that they should have deviated in many particulars from the original doctrines of their Church. Successively under the dominion of the Saracens, Turks, and Persians, they have preserved merely their native language, and the recollection of their independence as a nation. Even so recently as the seventeenth century, the Armenian Church underwent a considerable change, in consequence of the incursions of Abbas the Great, king of Persia, into the country. To prevent the Turks from destroying his frontier, that monarch laid waste all that part of Armenia which lay contiguous to his dominions, and ordered the inhabitants to retire into Persia. A general emigration ensued,

and the wealthier Armenians removed to Ispahan, the Persian metropolis, where they were allowed a suburb of the city for their residence, and the free exercise of their religion. But after the death of Abbas, their constancy was so shaken by a persecution which followed, that many of them became Mahometans; and it was at one time feared that this branch of the Armenian Church would become extinct. But those Armenians engaged in commerce throughout Europe were not unmindful of the interests of religion among their Asiatic brethren. They procured translations of the Scriptures, and theological books from the European presses, especially those of England and Holland, which they contrived to circulate among their brethren living under the Turkish and Persian governments, and these would have a due effect in preserving them from declining into superstition. The Armenian Church was formerly considered a branch of the Greek Church, and it certainly professed the same faith, and acknowledged its subjection to the See of Constantinople, till nearly the middle of the next century, when the heresy of a sect called the Monophysites, who maintained that there is only one nature in Christ, or that he is both God and Man without mixture, spread throughout Asia and Africa, and numbered the Armenians among its followers. But although the Armenians still hold that tenet, they differ from the Monophysites in many points of faith, worship, and discipline, and hold no communion with that branch of the Monophysites who are peculiarly termed Jacobites, nor with the Copts or Abyssinians. When they withdrew from the communion of the Greek Church, they did not change the episcopal form of government, but only claimed the privilege of electing their own bishops. In the fifth century, Armenia was divided into fifteen provinces, and subdivided into one hundred and ninetyone dioceses. In the sixteenth century, this Church was governed by three patriarchs, the chief of whom, or metro

politan, had his residence in a monastery at Echmiazin, about three leagues from Erivan. This prelate is elected by the bishops, but the election must be confirmed by the king of Persia. He exercises jurisdiction over Turcomania, or Armenia Major, and presides over fortytwo archbishops, each of whom can claim the obedience of four or five suffragans. His revenues are said to be ample; yet, though invested with the highest ecclesiastical rank, he rejects the outward splendour of authority, and fares no better than the poorest monastic. The Armenians place much religious virtue in fastings and abstinences; and those are reckoned peculiarly holy among the clergy who live the more humbly in proportion to their station. The second patriarch, subject to the first, governs the Church in Cappadocia, Cilicia, Cyprus, and Syria, and has under his jurisdiction twelve archbishops. The third has no more than eight or nine suffragans. Besides these patriarchs, the Armenians have others in various countries, who are so styled although they have no particular jurisdiction. Thus, there is one resident at Constantinople, who superintends the Armenian Christians in the neighbouring Turkish provinces; a second in Jerusalem; and a third in the Russian Empire, who derive their authority from the metropolitan patriarch of the Armenian Church. The learned Du Pin alleges that the Armenians were reconciled to the Church of Rome about the middle of the fifteenth century, at the Council of Florence; but Mosheim has completely proved that the scheme of comprehension projected in that Council completely failed, not only with the Greek, but with all the Oriental Churches. At the same time it must be admitted that the various attempts of the Roman Catholic missionaries have not been altogether unsuccessful. We find the Patriarch of Armenia, in the thirteenth century, not only submitting to the Pope, but becoming a Franciscan friar, and publishing a new edition of the Armenian Bible, including all Jerome's " Prefaces,"

and many alterations and corruptions from the Vulgate. These, however, were mere casual events, which had no effect on the Armenian Church in general.

The Armenians acknowledge the Nicene Creed, and daily use the Apostles'. They agree with the universal Church in acknowledging Three Persons in the Divine Nature, but that the Holy Ghost proceeds only from the Father. They believe that our Saviour descended into hell, and liberated all the souls of the damned by the grace and favour of his glorious presence; and that this liberation was not for ever, nor by a plenary pardon or remission, but only till the end of the world, when they will return to their former place of torment. They hold that neither the souls nor bodies of any saints or prophets are in heaven, except the Virgin Mary and the Prophet Elijah, and that they will not be admitted into heaven until the day of judgment; yet, in imitation of the Greek and Roman churches, they invoke those saints with prayers, do them reverence, adore their pictures and images, and burn to them lamps and candles. The worship is conducted, after the Eastern manner, by prostrating their bodies, and thrice kissing the ground. When they first enter the church they uncover, and cross themselves three times, after which they cover their heads, and sit cross-legged on carpets. The greater part of the public service is performed before day-light in the morning. They are strictly attentive to the vigils of the church festivals; and on Saturday evenings they all resort to the churches, and perfume their houses with incense when they return home. In their monasteries, the whole Psalter of David is read every twenty-four hours; but in the cities and churches it is divided into eight portions, and each portion into eight parts, at the end of each of which the Gloria Patri is said. The Armenians acknowledge seven sacraments, as does the Roman Church, and administer baptism and the eucharist in a peculiar manner, They practise immersion, which they consider most essential to the sacrament.