posal, from which he compiled four collections of Arabic poems. The most famous of these is known as the Hamasa — i.e., "heroic" anthology. Though Abu Temmam achieved high renown as a poet, his reputation rests chiefly upon this anthology. The Arabic text of the Hamasa was published by G. W. Freytag in two volumes (Bonn, 1828-47), and an edition has also been published in Bulak (1869) and Calcutta (1856). The German poet Friedrich Rückert published a German translation of the Hamasa (Stuttgart, 1846).
ABU'TILON (Ar. aubutililii) , or Flowering Maple. A genus of mostly shrubby tropical
or semi-tropical plants of the natural order Mal-
vaceæ, including about seventy species. A num-
ber of species are grown like Geraniums or
Fuchsias in pots in greenhouses and in summer
planted out in borders. The leaves are long-
stalked, often maple-like or vine-like, and gen-
erally edged or mottled with white; the flowers
are pendant, one, two or more inches long, vary-
ing in color from red to yellow and white and
intermediate shades. The more commonly cul-
tivated species are: Abutilon striatum, Abutilon
Thompson!, Abutilon venosum. Abutilon in-
signe, etc. Abutilon avicenna'. known as Velvet-
leaf, is a common weed in ditl'ercnt parts of the
United States. See Plate of Abutilon.
ABUT'MENT (Fr. ahoutir, to end in, to
touch by the extremity, from buiif, end, compare
Engl. butt). In architecture, that part of a wall
or pier which takes the weight or thrust of the
construction above it, as of an arch, vault, or
truss. The name is not generally used to designate
minor supports, but only those at the end of a
series; neither does it refer to vertical, but to
diagonal thrusts. An abutment arch is the land
arch of a bridge, or any arch in a series that
is next to the abutment.
ABÛ-YÛSÛF YAKÛB, ii'boo-yoo'suf ya'kub,
called Al-Mansûr, or "The Victorious" (1160-98). The fourth sultan of the Almohade dynasty in Africa and Spain. His father was killed at the siege of Santarem, 1184, and as soon as he had quelled certain insurrections in Morocco, Abû-Yûsûf Yakûb turned his arms against the Christians and carried off to Africa 40,000 captives. In subsequent expeditions he captured Torres and Silves. in Portugal, and defeated the Christians under Alfonso III., near Valencia. He died in Morocco. See Almohades.
A'BY, 6'bs, Christoph Theodor. See Aeby.
ABY'DOS (Gk. (
Greek characters)). In ancient geography, a town of Asia Minor, situated at the narrowest part of the Hellespont, opposite Sestos. It is celebrated as the place where Xerxes and his vast army passed into Europe in 480 B.C.; also as the scene of the story of Hero (q.v.) and Leander. The people of Abydos were proverbial for their effeminate and dissolute manners. There is another Abydos in Upper Egypt (Thebaïs), on the left bank of the Nile and on the main route of commerce with Libya. It is mentioned in the earliest Egyptian inscriptions, and, especially under the nineteenth dynasty, was a city of considerable extent and importance. Later it declined, and in the time of Strabo, about the beginning of the Christian era, it was in ruins. Abydos was celebrated as the burial place of Osiris, and the bodies of pious Egyptians were brought thither for interment from all parts of the land. Magnificent temples, dedicated to Osiris, were built at this place by Seti I., and by his son Rameses II. In the latter temple was found, in 1818, a portion of the famous tablet of Abydos, containing a list of Egyptian kings. The second and more important part of this tablet was found in 1864 in the temple built by Seti I. In recent years excavations conducted at Abydos by Amélineau and Flinders Petrie have brought to light important remains of the first Egyptian dynasty. See Petrie, F., and also Egypt.
ABYDOS, Bride of. A narrative poem in two cantos, by Lord Byron (published 1813). The heroine, Zuleika, is an Oriental character of ideal purity and beauty.
AB'YLA AND CAL'PE. See Hercules, Pillars of.
ABYS'MAL ACCU'MULA'TIONS. Deposits which gather upon the bottom of the abysmal depths of the ocean. They consist chiefly of red and gray clays, and the so-called oozes, which latter are combinations of the clays with the shells of minute organisms such as Radiolarians, Foraminifera, and Diatoms. For a more detailed description of these abysmal accumulations and other forms of deep-sea deposits the reader is referred to the article on Oceanic Deposit.
ABYSS' (Gk. u/3ot(toc, obi/ssos, bottomless,
from (i, a, priv. + ih'amr, byssos, depth, bottom).
A designation applied in the Greek translation
of the Old Testament to the primitive "chaos"
as described in Genesis i : 2. The Hebrew term
— tf'hdm — occurs some thirty times, and was mod-
ified in the course of time to convey the notion
of the "watery deep" in general surrounding
the earth, on which, according to what appears
to be a later conception, the earth was supposed
to rest, and fiom which springs and rivers were
fed. The situation of Sheol being, according to
primitive Semitic ideas, in the depths of the
earth, the term "abyss" is used in the New Testa-
ment (Romans x : 7) as the designation for the
abode of the dead, and then more specifically for
the prison in which evil powers are confined
(so in seven passages of Revelation, ix : 1 ;
xi : 7, etc. See also Luke viii : 31). In the
Revised Version of the New Testament, the Greek
term is rendered by "abyss," but in the Author-
ized Version and in both the Authorized and
Revised Versions of the Old Testament expres-
sions like "deep" and "bottomless pit" are em-
ployed.
ABYS'SAL FAU'NA. See Distribution of Animals.
AB'YSSINIA (Ar., from a root connected with Ar. al-Habash, "collection, body of men"). A country in East Africa, situated between the Red Sea and the Blue Nile, and extending from about 5° to 15° N. lat., and 36° to 43° E. long. (Map: Africa, H 4). It is bounded by Nubia on the northwest, the Italian colony of Eritrea on the northeast, the country of the Danakil on the east, British East African possessions on the south, and the Egyptian Sudan on the west; but its boundaries can hardly lie drawn with precision, on account of the changes caused by foreign treaties and frequent wars between the Negus and the neighboring tribes. It comprises the kingdoms of Tigré, Amhara with Gojam, and Shoa, and the outlying
