LBAM 



ARAl'i 



ARAM, the high-land, is a pr-graphical designation given in il- 

 I'M Tectaueot to all the countries between I'li.i -nicia, Palestine, 

 Arabia, the Tigris, and Armenia, or to those countries which the 

 Greeks called Sj-ri and Mesopotamia (Jer. vil 8 j 1 King* u. 28). 

 Aram was dirided into 



1. Aram of Damascus, the territory of Damasctu, whose rulers 

 waged almost continual war with the Hebrews from the time of David 

 to that of the Babylonian exile (2 Sam. viil 6 ; I Kings xi. 24, eq. ; 



eq.). 



2. Arani-Zobah, which was, aooording to Syrian authorities, Xisibin, 

 the Ureek Nisibia, But this cannot be, because Nisibin is in Aram 

 Naharaim, or Mesopotamia, which according to Paal. Ix. differs froui 

 Aram Zobah. We read also in the Holy Scriptures that the king of 

 Zobah obtained auxiliaries from beyond the Euphrates from Aram- 

 Naharaim. Aooording to Benjamin of Tudela, Zobah meann Haleb, or 

 Aleppo. Spanheim and Bochart think that Aram-Zobah means that 

 part of the territory of Hamath where the town of Zobah was 

 situated, not far from Taduior or Palmyra ; because, according to 

 2 Chr. viii. 3, 4, Solomon marched to Hamath-Zobah, prevailed 

 against it, and built Taduior in the desert." And according to 1 Chr. 

 xriii. 3, when David went to establish his dominion towards the 

 rn IT Kuphrates, he slew Hadarezer, the king of Zobah, and pursued 

 him to Hamath. We think, therefore, that Hamath, being a part of 

 Aram, sometimes went under the name of Aram-Zobah. The 

 inhabitants of Aram-Zobah were frequently involved in war with the 

 Hebrews, 1 Sam. xiv. 47 ; 2 Sam. viii. 3 ; x. 6 ; 1 Chron. xviii. 8. 



3. Anun of the Two Rivera is the Mesopotamia of the Greeks, or 

 the countries between the Euphrates and the Tigris (Oen. xxiv. 10 ; 

 Deut xxtii. 4 ; Judges Hi. 8), which was also called Padan Aram, 

 literally, the flat of the high land (Oen. xxv. 20 ; xxxi. 18). (Bochart, 

 Pkalry. ii. li ; Winer, tn Kncyctop. von Brick tatd GrtAer ; Michaelis' 

 .Spirit lieograpk. Iltbr., ii. p. 117, seq.). 



ARANIJA. [CASTII.I.A LA VJEJA.] 



ARANJL'EZ. [CABTILLA LA NUBVA.] 



AllAR. ISAOSE.] 



ARARAT 1, the name of a region in the centre of the high-lands 

 of Armenia, now partly belonging to Turkey,_ and partly to the 

 Russian government of Armenia. The mountains of thin region 

 are cal]pd the mountains of Ararat, on which the Ark rested 

 (Oen. viii 4). The whole of Armenia is called the kingdom of 

 Ararat (Jer. 11 27). The region is also named in 2 Kings xix. 37, 

 and Isaiah xxxvii. 38. 



2. A celebrated mountain of Armenia, called by the Turks Aghri 

 Tagh or Painful Mountain, in allusion to the toilsomeness of its 

 ascent, is situated to the south-west of the town of Erivan, about five 

 miles from the right bank of the river Aras, the ancient Araxee, and 

 nearly midway between the Caspian and the Black Sea. It rises 

 majestically from the midst of a great plain detached from the other 

 mountains of the country in two conical peaks, one of which, standing 

 north-west of the other rises far above the limit of perpetual snow 

 and is the highest point in Western Asia. The highest peak stands in 

 39" 42' N. lat, 44 35' E. long., and is 17,260 feet above the sea 1. 

 more than 1500 feet higher than Mont Blanc, the highest point in 

 Europe. It stands upon the table-land of Armenia, which is 7000 

 feet above the level of the sea, so that the mountain rises majestically 

 more than 10,000 feet above its base. The smaller cone is separated 

 froui the greater by a plain of great extent, and is considerably lower, 

 for the snow disappears from its summit in summer. Seen from the 

 north the mountain rises from a widely-extended green plain, fertilised 

 by the clear waters of the Araxes, and covered with villages ; and 

 when it is unveiled by clouds the ice-dad cones uhine with dazzling 

 splendour against the clear blue expanse of the heavens. Such a 

 mountain must naturally be seen from a vast distance, and it is said 

 to serve a* a landmark to navigators on the Caspian. A remarkable 

 circumstance as connected with the traditions belonging to this 

 mountain has been observed, namely, that when seen from afar and 

 in certain positions the summit bus a striking resemblance to a whip. 

 The whole country round is full of traditionary stories about Noah s 

 ark and the flood. The Armenians call Ararat Maasis-eeusar or 

 Mountain of the Ark, the Persians Koh-i-Nuh or Mountain of Noah. 

 It is a common belief that the remains of the ark still exist on the 

 MM,, mil, and that the wood is converted into stone. At Erivan they 

 show the spot where Noah first planted the vine, and the name of 

 another town, Nakhchivan or Nakhdjovan, means ' place of descent,' 

 being the place where Noah first settled when he came out of the ark. 



Several attempt* have been made to reach the top of the mountain, 

 but no one has got much beyond the snow limit. The great mnrmnn 

 of ice and snow accumulate on the summit, and the extreme rarefac- 

 tion of tho air render the higher part of the ascent very toilsome and 

 painful ; nd hitherto the summit has never been actually reached. 



r those who have made the attempt the Russian traveller Parrot has 



been the most successful. Its conical shape, its detached position, 



u *? j ta bem oompowxJ chiefly of igneous rocks covered 



rith aahes and decomposed lava, clearly show tha> Mount Ararat is 



rieMUc origin, although it has no crater, nor is there any record of 



"? ISP**; . To"""*" 1 , who made a partial ascent of the mountain 



ui 1 , 00, says that they pawed over a mat and beautiful plain to the 



base of th. mountain j and at the beginning of the ascent they found 



moving sand, which continued for a great way up, their feet sinking 

 in it so that they slipped back at each step, which made the ascent 

 exceedingly laborious ; that they afterwards came upon sharp frag- 

 ments which cut their shoes to pieces, and then to large blocks piled 

 upon one another. Colonel Monteith, who ascended some way up 

 Mount Ararat, says that be passed great quantities of pumice-stone. 

 On one side of the greater cone there is a vast cleft (which may have 

 been a crater), with lofty precipitous sides, and sharp pinnacles of 

 black rock. This cleft is so great that it can be seen distinct 1 , 

 Erivan; and between it and the foot of the mountain there is a 

 succession of low round-topped eminences. 



ARAS, the ancient Araxtt, a large river of Armenia, is formed 9 

 miles below Haaan-Kaleh by the Kaleh-.Su au<l th.- Ilin^.lSu. The 

 Kalrh-Su rises a little east of Erz-rum and runs eastward through the 

 plain of Pasin ; at Hasan-Kaleh it is 20 to 30 yards wi.l.-. Ti,.- 1 

 Su fines in tin- I'.in. ! lt,,.rh on the south-western pi 

 Pasin, and running through a deep ravine in a general north-north- 

 east direction, is joined by the Kaleh-Su nearly in the centre <>f i In- 

 plain of Pasin at Cholan-Kopri (Shepherd's Bridge). [ARMENIA.] 

 The I ling* i|-Su U the true Aras and is sometimes so called above the 

 junction. Below Chobau-Kopri the Aras is the recognised name. 

 The general course of the Aras from this point is eastward along the 

 southern border of the province of Kara to its junction with the 

 Arpa (the Harpasua of Xi-noj.h<>ii). which enters it on the left bank, 

 having passed the ruins of the old Armenian city of Anni ul 

 miles to the northward. The Arpa and the Aras which after the 

 junction run for a few miles nearly on the parallel of 40 N. t'. TIM 

 part of the boundary between Russian and Turkish Armenia. I i 

 continued its eastward course nearly as far as the meridian of the 

 principal summit of the mountains of Ararat, it runs* south-eastward 

 along their eastern base past Nakhchivau to Djulfa, a ruined Armenian 

 city, the inhabitant!! of which were forced to emigrate in 1603 by 

 Shah Abbas, who settled them in a suburb of Isfahan, since called 

 Djulfu, In the interval just indicated the Aras receives on it 

 bank several small feeders ; among others the Zenghi or Zengui, which 

 flows pant Krivan and forms the outlet of Lake Goukcha or Sivan. 

 Below Djulfa the river nine nearly due east for about 60 miles, making 

 a fall of about 6 feet near the termination of this distance at a place 

 called Ereapar. The Aras then turns to the north-east, running in 

 that direction for 125 miles to its junction with the Kur, the am -lent 

 Cyrus, which brings down the drainage of the southern ]>art of the 

 Caucasus into the Aras, near 39 50' N. lat., 48 20' K. long. Tin- 

 united stream, after running about 30 miles east, turns suddenly to 

 the south, and enters the Caspian Lake by three mouths (about 

 39 20' N. lat.) ; a long projecting tongue of land or delta i 

 formed between the Caspian on the E., and the gulf .!' Ki/il-.itrh mi 

 the W. Between 46" and 48 E. long, the Aras divides ItuM'iu fnun 

 Persia. The length of the Aras is about 700 miles. 



The A rax, when not swollen by sudden rains or the melting of the 

 enow on the high mountains of Armenia, is easily passed eithrr in 

 boats or at the fords, particularly in the upper ports ; but in its 

 swollen state the current is extremely impetuous and dangerous. 



The Araxes was known to Herodotus, though only from hearsay 

 (I 202 v iv. 40) ; he describes it as flowing eastward from the country 

 M:itieni, and dividing at its approach to the Caspian into 40 

 channels, only one of which made its way clear to the Lake, the rest 

 being obstructed KO as to form swamps. This seems in substance to 

 agree with Strata's description of the outlets of the Cyrus ami tl- 

 Araxes (p. 601). It is a question much disputed whatrivurHelodotal 

 means by the Araxes; but it seems most probable that ho meant the 

 Aras of Armenia. If thiu supposition will not reconcile all the diffi- 

 culties, an it t-1-rt.-unly v, ill not, it must be remembered that he km \v 

 hut little of the regions bordering on the west, east, and south 



' 



The name Araxes was given to various rivers and places in countries 

 widely separated. An Araxea (now the Bend Kiuir or Kum I 

 llowr,l through mountainous Persia ami > nt-nil the Lake of 

 Ilakhtegan. Xenophon gives the name of Araxes to the Chaborras, 

 now the Khabour, an affluent of the Euphrates. 



AKACCANA, a territory in .South Ann-lira, extending from tho 

 Biobio on the north to the Callacalla on the south between 36 4-1 '.m.l 

 89 50' S. lat., and reaching from the Pacific to the crest of the 

 Andes, which separates it from the Pehuenchcs Indians who inhabit 

 the eastern slopes of tin 1 Chilian Andes between the head waters of 

 Vejjronncl the Rio Colorado. The territory although nominally 

 subject to Chili is to all intents and purposes indi -|" -ml. nt. It is 

 divided by the Araucanians into four parallel u-trarchies, 



nearly equal in size, ami distinguished in their language by names 

 indicating the position on the coast, on the plains of the interior, on 

 the lower slopes of the Andes, and on the high mountains. Each 

 tetrarchy they iliviih- into five provinces, and each of 

 district*. Tho tetrarchy of tho coast contains, proceeding from north 

 to south, the provinces of Arauco, Jucapel, lllicnra, Boroa, and 

 Nagtolten; the plain country those of Encol, 1' "-urn, 



Maqiiegua, and Mariquina : the tetnux-hy of the lower Andes 

 comprises the provinces of Marven, Colhue, Chacaico, Quecherejua, 

 and Guanagua. The tetrarchy of the Andes was formerly possessed 

 by a separate tribe called Puelchea, which afterwards became united to 



