28 MAIMoNIDES name RaMBaM; Arab. Abu Amram Must (bdalhih j'/y/j Maimon ul-Kortolti a Jew ih theologian and philosoplu-r, born in Cor ii, March 30, 1185, died in Cairo . lec. i:;. rji'4. He was the descendan
- unily di>iini:ui-hed in the annals of thi
Jewish community of his native city, at tha 1 a principal seat of Arabic learning, am 1 from hi> father Maimon, a theologica and astronomical writer in Arabic, a superio elu. -ation. He vas distinguished by a rar pr>liciciicy in mathematics, astronomy, medi cine, philosophy, and theology, as well as by a --ing ability as a writer in Arabic anc v. In consequence of the great persecu tion of Jews, Christians, and sectarian Moham medans by the dynasty of the Almohades in va, he retired with his father to Fez, and ,uently proceeded to Egypt (1165), pass- ing through Acre and Jerusalem, where his father died. He established himself in Mitzr or Fostat (Old Cairo), where he maintained if for some time by trade, until his sci- entific acquirements secured his appointment as physician to the court of Saladin, which office he also held under two succeeding reigns. At the same time he was active as a rabbi in the Jewish congregation of Cairo, and espe- cially as a theological teacher, his fame at- tracting numerous pupils even from the most distant countries of the West. But he exer- cised a far more powerful influence upon his brethren by his numerous writings, with few exceptions in Arabic, almost all of which have sin iv been acknowledged as standard works. The most distinguished Hebrew translators of the age vied in spreading his masterpieces all over the Jewish world, and thus enabled him to become almost the second lawgiver of his people, and to inaugurate among them a period of literary and philosophical activity, which is still regarded as the golden age of the Jews in exile. Of his works, of which numerous origi- nal MSS. are extant in the libraries of Oxford, Rome, Parma, &c., embracing among others treatises on medicine, mathematics, and as- tronomy, the most frequently reprinted (in Hebrew translations or original) are: Permh nhnah ("Commentary on the Mishnah"), KBng in introduction and an ethical trea- >vn under the title of Shemonah pera- KL-ht Chanters"); Sepher hammiLoth Book of the Commandments"), a sys- tematic compend of the Biblical command- ' ("rah ("The Copy of the Law"), a of Jewish observances, written illy in Hebrew, in many respects the aost extraordinary strictly rabbinical produc- , generally known under the appellation of } tilt 'hfL7,lL.lh /'PI... <- TT__ III l1 .' Hand"), from its M dfrUons, )W H-rufyin- ha,,,], and the nu- value of the letters of which the word is composed bc-ing J4; and Moreh nebukhim MAINE (" The Guide of the Perplexed "), a philosophy of Judaism, which from its influence on the de- velopment of Jewish science and genius is the most important production of the author. The original Arabic text of the last named work, in Hebrew letters, from an Oxford manuscript, was published with a French translation and notes by S. Munk (Le guide des egares, traite de theologie et de philosophic par Moise ~ben Maimoun, 3 vols., Paris, 1856-'66). Some of the views of Maimonides having been violently attacked by various western rabbis, his ortho- doxy and the rights of philosophy in the syna- gogue were vindicated among others by his learned son and successor as physician to the Egyptian court, Abraham ben Moses. M l. (Lat. Mamus), a river of Germany, formed by two streams rising in N. E. Bavaria, the White Main in the Fichtelgebirge and the Red Main in the Franconian Jura, which unite about -13 m. N. W. of Baireuth. From the junction the river flows W., but with several long bends S. and N., into the Rhine at Castel, opposite Mentz; length about 250 m. It is navigable for nearly 200 m. to its junction with fhe Regnitz, and the Ludwig's canal connects it with the Danube. The principal towns on its banks are Schweinfurt, Wtirzburg, Aschaf- fenburg, Offenbach, and Frankfort. MAINE, one of the New England states, the most easterly of the American Union, and the tenth admitted under the constitution, between lat. 42 57' and 47 32' N., and Ion. 66 52' and 71 6' W.', extreme length N. and S. 303 m., extreme width 212 m. ; area, 35,000 sq. m. It .s bounded N. W. and N. by Quebec, E. by New Brunswick, S. E. and S. by the Atlantic ocean, and W. by New Hampshire. As estab- ished by the treaty of 1842, the boundary on
- he east is the St. Croix river and a line run-
state Seal of Maine. ning due N. from a monument at its source
- o bt, John river ; on the north the line fol-
ows the St. John and St. Francis rivers to a monument at the outlet of Lake Pohena- ?amook; and on the northwest it follows the nghlands from this lake in a S. W. direction
