tions of Ali, Mohammed being created by Ali, and Salman by Mohammed. Ali is designated as the “lord,” Mohammed as the “veil,” and Salman as the “gate.” The symbol of Ali is ma‘am, “the meaning,” and the symbol of Mohammed is ism, “the name.” This trinity is eternal, and despite the superficial resemblance of this belief to the Christian doctrine, it appears rather to be due to the transformation of the ancient local cults in Syria and Phœnicia. Salman-al-Farisi in turn created five persons, known as “the incomparable ones,” who are the real creators of the world. The mystical character of their doctrines is further increased by the assumption of two worlds, an upper and a lower one, and corresponding to seven divine manifestations in each, there are seven adversaries, one appearing with each manifestation, which, moreover, consists in each case of a ma‘am, “meaning” (representing Ali), and an ism, “name” (representing Mohammed). Leaving aside the seven—or, rather, fourteen—divine manifestations in the upper world, we have for the lower world as the seven manifestations of ma‘am, Abel, Seth, Joseph, Joshua, Asaf, Peter, and Ali, and as seven manifestations of ism, Adam, Noah, Jacob, Moses, Solomon, Jesus, and Mohammed.
Among the populace great veneration is paid also to Khodr, a mythical personage corresponding to St. George, who delivered the country of a great monster, and in return for this and other feats the Nosairians dedicate their daughters to Khodr. Before giving them in marriage they proceed to the convent of Mar Jorjis (St. George), near Beirut, and there pay ransom money to the monks of the convent, the amount varying, according to the vow, from a third to the entire sum of the dowry.
The Nosairians believe in migration of souls, which for the faithful will be a progress in seven stages from pure to more pure, until they become stars, as they originally were; but sinners will be transformed into Jews, Christians, camels, mules, asses, dogs, and sheep. They practice circumcision and ablution, and pray in the open air three times a day. Their chief festivals are (1) Al-Gadir, falling on the eighteenth day of the month of pilgrimage, commemorating the supposed proclamation by Mohammed of Ali as his successor; (2) Fitr, “breaking of the fast,” sacred to Mohammed, and the first of the festivals of the year; (3) the festival of sacrifices, sacred to Ismail, the founder of the Ismailitic sect, on the tenth day of the pilgrimage month; (4) Ashura, the tenth day of the month of Muharram, commemorating the murder of Hussein, the son of Ali; (5) al-Gadir the second, on the ninth day of the first month of Rabi’, commemorating Mohammed's recognition of the mission of the sons of Ali, Hasan and Hosein; (6) Christmas, known as “the festival of the birth,” on the night of the twenty-fourth of December, in memory of the birth of the Messiah, by the wife of Lazarus, daughter of Annai, according to the statement in the Koran. Besides these there are a large number of minor festivals, betraying Persian as well as Christian and old Syriac influences.
The charges of immoral practices indulged in on the occasion of their festivals are pure fabrications, due in part to the mystical character of some of their rites, particularly of those practiced at the initiation of members of the sect. Their religion inculcates benevolence, honesty, and patience. While split up into various divisions, the sub-sects differ only in matters of minor importance. Each community is governed by a chief, who is almost entirely independent. Consult Dussand, L'Histoire et la religion des Nosaries (Paris, 1900).
ANSBACH, äns'bäG, or ANSPACH (originally Onolzbach). A town of Bavaria, capital of
the circle of Middle Franconia (Mittelfranken), on the Rezat, 25 miles southwest of Nuremberg (Map: Germany, D 4). Its only notable buildings are the churches of St. Gumbert and St. John, and the castle, once the residence of the margraves of Ansbach, now used as a library and picture gallery. The town has several schools, a theatre, and a public slaughter house. It has manufactures of cotton and half-silken fabrics, tobacco, earthenware, playing cards, cutlery, and white lead; also a considerable trade in wool, flax, and corn. Ansbach sprang up around a Benedictine monastery founded by St. Gumbert in the eighth century. It was the capital of the principality of Ansbach, which from the close of the Middle Ages was for three centuries ruled by margraves of the Franconian branch of the House of Hohenzollern (of Brandenburg, later of Prussia). After belonging for a short time to Prussia, Ansbach and its territory, together with the Old principality of Bayreuth, which had also been ruled by margraves of the Hohenzollern line and had shared the fortunes of Ansbach, were transferred by Napoleon I. to Bavaria, Pop., 1890, 14,200; 1900, 17,555.
ANSCHÜTZ, än'shụts, Heinrich (1785-1865). A German actor. He was born at Luckau, and studied at the University of Leipzig, in which city he saw the performances of Iffland, Esslair, and other distinguished actors who occasionally played there. He began his career as an actor at Nuremberg in 1807, and finally became a member of the Hofburgtheater in Vienna. He played both heroic and character parts, and was for many years the central figure at the famous play-house with which he was so long identified. He published an autobiography under the title of Heinrich Anschütz, Erinnerungen aus dessen Leben und Wirken (Vienna, 1866).
ANSCHÜTZ, Karl (1815-70). A German musician. He was born in Coblentz, and in 1857 settled in New York, where he became well known chiefly as a conductor of opera and as a pioneer manager of German opera. He was also conductor of the Arion Society (1860-62).
ANSCHÜTZ, Ottomar (1846—). A German photographer, born at Lissa, in Posen, He
devoted himself to instantaneous photography, and to reproducing the movements of men and animals with the aid of a “tachyscope” of his own invention. (See Stroboscope.) Anschütz's invention has been applied to useful purposes in physiology.
ANS'DELL, Richard (1815-85). An English painter of genre and animal pictures, born at Liverpool. He enjoyed a high repute both at home and abroad. The following are some of his more popular works: "Death of Sir William Lambton at Marston Moor" (1842), "Mary, Queen of Scots, Returning from the Chase" (1844), "Spanish Shepherd" (1858), "'Buy a Dog, Ma'am?'" (1800), "Treading Out the Corn" (1805), "Feeding the Goats in the Alhambra" (1871), "Home of the Red Deer" (1877), "Lucky
