Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/687

NIZHNI-NOVGOROD. 587 NOAH. Cathedral of the Transfiirmatioii. n>l)iiilt in IS.'U Blid hoKliii!< the tombs of the princes ami jiriii- cesses of Xizhni-Novgorod. The chief secular buildings are the palace of the Governor, the JIuseum of Art, housed in one of the Kremlin towers, and the theatre. The educational insti- tutions inolude a theol(ii;ical seminary, an insti- tution fur llie sons of noblemen, a military acad- emy, two gymnasia, a Kculschutc. and a number of special schools. The fair to hich the city chiefly owes its fame and importance was transferred to Nizhni- Novgorod from Makariev (about ryo miles below the city) in 1817. The value of the merchandise brought annually to the fair averaged somewhat over .*lt;.n(IO.Ono' for the decade of 1S1---26. about $II(i.()ll{).000 for 18T7-SU, and about $89,000,000 for ISST-iMj. The construction of railways and the general modernization of commercial metliods in Russia during the last part of the nineteenth cen- tury have miturally detracted from the impor- tance of the fair. It is still, however, a great factor in the economic life of the country, and derives additional interest from the fact that it is the most important representative of a com- mercial system which is rapidly disappearing from civilized countries. The central industrial governments of Russia arc represented at the fair by their different manufactures, the regions of the Lower Volga by fish, and that of the Kama by salt. The Caucasus sends petroleum, wine, and native manufactures; the southwestern gov- ernments, .sugar; and the region along the middle course of the Volga, grain and lumber. From Siberia come furs, tallow, and oil; from China, tea: from Central Asia, furs and raw cotton; from Persia, fruit; and from Western Europe manufactures and groceries. The fair, which opens in the last week of July and lasts till about the middle of September, attracts over 100,000 merchants from every part of the Empire. There are thousands of shops, the material of construction being stone, and a splendid fair palace was erected in 1800. The grounds are lighted by electricity and traversed by an electric railway line. The industries of the city are com- paratively unimportant. The chief products are beer, locomotives, machinery, and candles. There are a number of important financial institution.s. Population, in 1807. 05.100. which is increased during the fair to about '200.000. The town was founded by the Graijd Prince of Suzdal. Yuri Vsevolodovitch. in 1221. It was attacked repeatedly by the Tatars and the neigh- boring princes and sufTered much from famine and pests. It was annexed to the Principality of JIosciiw about the close of the fourteenth century. NIZ;HNI-TAGILSK, ta-gllsk'. An important mining and irnn manufacturing centre in the Government of Perm, Russia, situated in the Ural Mountains, 88 miles northwest of Ekater- inburg (Map: Russia, J 3). In the vicinity are €Xt<>nsive iron, copper, gold, and platinum de- posits and large iron foundries ;nid steel mills. The first iron mill in this region was founded by Nikita ncmidoff in 1725. Population, in 1807, about :in. 0(1(1. NIZHNI-TCHIRSK. chirsk. A town in the territory of the Don Cossacks. South Russia, situated on the Don. 210 miles northeast of NovoTcherkask. It lies in a vinegrnwing dis- trict and has an important annual fair lasting for ten days. Population, in 1807, 15,100. Vol. XIV.— 38. NJORD, nyerd. In Scandinavian mythology, the fatlicr of Frey. See /EsiB; Fkey, NOACK, mViik, August (1822—), A Ger- man historical painter, born at Darmstadt. A pupil of Sohn. Le>-.ing. and Schadow at the Diisscldort Academy in 18.'i0-42, he studied after- wards in Munich and Antwerp. In 1855 he .settled in his native city and was appointed grand ducal court painter, and in 1871 profes.sor at the Polytechnicum. Besides a "Visit of Landgrave Philip the .Magnianimous to Luther" (Rostock Gallery), and •■The Disputation at JIarburg" (Darmstadt Gallery), he painted .sev- eral fine altarpieces. NOAH, no'a (Ileb. .Yo(a)c/i). According to the liixak of Genesis, the son of Laniech. who ap- pears in the Old Testament in a double ca))acily: (a) the chief survivor of the Deluge, which in- volved the destruction of all mankind (Gen. vi.- i.. 17), and hence the second father of mankind; and (b) the first agriculturist to plant vines (ib., ix. 20-27). According to critical scholars, in the biblical study of Noah two traditions have been connected with him and combined, the one a story of a destructive flood which came to the Hebrews from the Babylonians (see Df.i.I'GE), the other a tradition as to the beginnings of civilization, of which •wine' is a general symbol in the Old Testament. This second tradition be- longs to the same category as the tracing of the arts to Tubal Cain and Jubal (Gen. iv. 21-22) and of the building of cities to Cain (ib., 17) ; it is of a 'scholastic' character, whereas the other rests upon popular mythology and legend- ary lore. The attachment of various originally independent stories to one and the .same per- sonage is a common phenomenon in the process of myth and legend formation. The hero of the Babylonian deluge story bears two names — Pir- napishtim ('source of life') and Atra-hasis or Hasis-atra ( 'very clever' or 'very pious' ) . Both names are symbolical, and it is possible that a connection with Noah appears in the character of the latter as the father of the new mankind — in this sense the 'source of life' — and in the de- scription of Noah (Gen. vi. 0| as .■tadilik tuiiiiin, 'pious exceedingly.' which is almost a literal translation of Hasis-ntra. It is not absolutely certain, however, that the name of the hero in the Hebrew story was Noah. Gen. v. 29 suggests that it was Naliani or Nahman. NOAH, Book of. See Apoc'Kypn., section on Old Testament. NOAH, MoRDECAi Mantel ( 178.5- 18i31). An American journalist and politician, born in Phil- adeljihia. He was appointed Consul-fJeneral at Tunis in ISl:?. at a time when the second war with England ofTered the Barbary Powers almost irresistible inducements to |)rey on .merican commerce. After his return to the I'nited Slates the following year he edited the Xijlioiial Adrcr- tificr (a Democratic paper) and the Couvirr end Knijuvrcr. He established the Evrninij Star in 18.34, but soon withdrew from connection with the daily press and became one of the founders of the weekly Sundni/ Tiiiiex. He held at various times the otTiccs of sheritT of New York Comity, survev'or of the port of New York, and a judge of the Court of Sessions. He was, a Jew, and in 1820 attempted to found a Jewish colony on Grand Island in the Niagara River. He wrote a number of dramas and other works, including