Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/140

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124 A^IMONIUM. David (2 Sam. viii 12, z. zL 1. zil. 26, &c), Je- hoshapliat (2 Chron, xx.), Uzziah (ib. xicvi. 8), and Jotham (zxvii. 5), and subsequentlj by Nebuchad- nezzar. (Jlsreffk xzyiL 1, &c.) They renewed their opposition to the Jews after me captivity (^Nehem. iv. 3, 7, 8), and were again conquered by Jadas Macoibaeas. (1 Mace ▼. 6, &«.) Jnstin Martyr speaks of a great multitude of Ammonites existing in his day (^Dial. p. 272); but Origen shortly after speaks of the name as being merged in the conmion appellation of ArabSj under which the Idumaeans and the Moabites were comprehended together with the Ishmaelites and Joctanites. (Orig. in Johum^ lib. i.) [G. W.] AMMO'NIUM. [Oasis.] A'MNIAS ("A/u^KU, "Afivciof ), a river in Pontus. In the broad plain on the banks of this stream the generals of Mithridates defeated Nicomedes, king of Bithynia, and the ally of the Romans, b. c. 88. (Appian. JfithridaL cl8; Strab. p. 562.) The phun through which the river flowed is called by Strabo Domanitis. Hamilton {Besearches, &c. vol. i. p. 362) identifies the Amnias with an aJOHuent of the Halys, now called Costambol Ckai, and some- times Giaour Irmak, It appears that the river is also called Kara StL [G. L.] AMNI'SUS {'AfxyurSs), a town in the N. of Crete, and the harbour oi Cnossus in the time of Minos, was situated at the mouth of a river of the same name (the modem Aposelemt). It possessed a sanctuary of Eileithyia, and the nymphs of the river, called ^AfunauUits and 'A/ityio-fScs, were sacred to this goddess. (Horn. Od. xix. 188 ; Strab. p. 476 ; Apoll. Rhod. iiL 877; Callim. Hymn, in JHan. 15; Stoph. B. s. V.) AMORGOS CAfiopy6s: JSth. 'Afutpyivos, also

  • Ati6pyio5f*AfJu>pyiTris: Amorgo), an island of the

Sporades in the Aegean sea, S£. of Naxos. It is rarely mentioned in history, and is chiefly celebrated as the birthplace of the iambic poet Simonides. (Strab. p. 487.) There was in Amorgos a manu- factory of a peculiar kind of linen garments, which bore the name of the island, and which were dyed red. (Steph. B. s. v. Eustath. ad Dionys. 526; Pollux, vii. 16.) In dyeing them use appears to have been made of a kind of lichen, which is still found in the island, and of which Toumefort has given an account. The soil of Amorgos is fertile. It produces at present com, oil, wine, ^, tobacco, and cotton, all of good quality. Hence it was considered under the Roman empire one of the most favourable places for banishment. (Tac. Arm. iv. 30.) We leam from Scylax (p. 22) that Amorgos contained three towns, the names of which, according to Stephanus («. V. *Afiopy6s)j were Minoa (M^i^ami, Mi yvta, Ptol. V. 2. § 33), the birthplace of Simonides, Arcesino ('Apiceo-fn?), and Aegiale (Ai7t(£Aij, BryiaAif , Ptol.). Remains of all these cities have been discovered, and a minute description of them is given by Ross, who spent several days upon the island. They are all situated on the western side of the island opposite Naxos, A^iale at the N., and Arcesine at the S., while ifinoa lies more in the centre, at the head of a large and convenient harbour, now called Ta Katapola^ beq^nse it is Koerh, r^v roKiy. It appears, from the inscriptions found in the island, that it possessed other domes besides the above-mentioned towns. It is probable that Melania (McAov/a), which Stephanus in another passage (s. v. *ApKfaiv7j') mentions as one of the three towns of Amorgos in place of Aegiale, may have been one of these domes. . AMPE. Wg leam from several inscriptions Uiat Milesians were settled in Minoa and A^^e, and that they formed in the latter town a separate conuniiiii^. (Bockh, Corp. Inter. voL iL No. 2264; Ross, Ituer. Gr. Ined. vol. ii No. 112, 120—122.) Theisland contams at present 3,500 inhabitants. (Toame- fort. Voyage^ &c vol. ii. p. 182, seq.; Fiedler, Retsej Sx. vol. ii. p. 325, seq. ; and more eepsai^j Ross, jReisen aufden Griech. Intdn, vol. L p. 173, seq., vol. ii. p. 39, seq.)-)*:^ AMORITES, one of tlie seven Canaanitish tribes ((Ten. X. 16) who held possession of the Promised Land, during the times of the Patriarchs, until the coming in of the Children of Israel. It appears to have been one of the most powerful tribes, and the name is used as a general term for all the Cansao- ites. (^Gen. xv. 16.) Their original ^eat was at the south-west of the Dead Sea, between the Amale- KiTAE and the Yale of Siddim, and their prindpal city was Hazezon-Tamar, or Engedi QAwhJi^ (^Gen. xiv. 7, and 2 Chron. xx. 2.) At the time of the exodus, however, they had seized and occupied the country on the east side of the Dead Sea and of the Valley of the Jordan, where they had established two powerful kingdoms, the capitals of which were Heshbon and Basax. Heshbon, the southern part of this extensive country, had been taken firam the Moabites and Ammonites by Sihon, and extended from the Amon (Mcjdi) to the Jabbok (ZerJn) (^Numb. xxi. 26), and this was the {dea cm which the Ammonites grounded th^ claim to that ooontiy in the days of Jephthah. (Judges^ xi.) This dis- trict comprehended Mount Gilcnd, and was settled by the Tribes of Reuben and Gad. The northern division of Basan, of which Og was the king, ex- tended from the Jabbok to the northern extremity of the Promised Land, to Mount Hermon, which the Ammonites named Shenir. This country was given to the half tribe of Manasseh. (^Numb. xxi.; DeuL iL iii. ; 1 Chron. v. 23.) All this r^un was compre- hended in Peraea. The Amoritos are also found on the western coast of Palestine, in the vicinity of the Tribe of Dan (Judges^ i. 34), and in the borders of the Tribe of Ephraim (v. 35). Still the south- eastern extremity of Canaan is recognised as their proper seat (v. 36; comp. Numb, xxxiv. 4, and Joshua, XV. 3), and the ^actice of using this name as a general designation of all the Canaanitish tribes renders it ^icult to determine their exact limits. [G.W.] AMO'RIUM ('iWpioy: Eth. 'A^iopte^s), a city of Phrygia, according to Strabo (p. 576). Its pro- bable position can only be deduced from the Peu- tinger Table, which places it between Pessinns (^Bala nissar) and Laodicea. Hamilton {^Retearchis^ &c. vol. i. p. 451) identifies it with Hergan Kalek, where there are the ruins of a large city ; but the present remains appear to belong to the fourth or fifth centuries of our aera. This determination would place Amorium in GaJatia. [G. L.] AMPE ("Afwnj: Eth. 'Aftroibs), a place where Darius settled the Milesians who were made prison- ers at the capture of Miletus, b. c. 494. (Herod, vi. 20.) Herodotus describes the place as on the Eiy- thraean sea (Persian Gulf); he adds that ^e Tigris flows past it. This description does not enable us to fix the place. It has been supposed to be the lamba of Ptolemy, and the Ampelone of Pliny (vi. 28), who calls it " Colonia Miledonm."^ Tzetzos has the name Ampe. (Harduin's note on Plin. vi. 28.) , [G. L.] V. I V •• ' /. 'h.:.:- A / -t-*fc " ^SSi