A B R 



Abk VHAM, Ifracl P'll^ro, a Jouilli nil>bi, who floiirilla-d 

 at Amllcidam about tlic middle of tin- i ytli ctntur)-. He 

 wrote a book iiititltd, tlic Sceptre of Jiidali, .whicli is an 

 cxpofitioii of the prophecy of Jacob, and intended to con- 

 fate the notion of the MelTiah's having »6hia!ly appeared. 

 Bafnage lias given a particular account of this book, which 

 he faw in M.S. Hill, des Juifs. 1. ix. c. 36. § 14—21. 



Abraham, I/h of. See 5/. Mary. 



AliR.VHAMI AN.S, or Abrahamites, in Ecrhpnica! 

 Hi/lory, a fed of heretics, who renewed theerrorof thcrAij- 

 LiciAss. 



They took their names from that of their leader Abraham, 

 a native of Antioch, by the Arabs called Ibrahim ; whence 

 alfo the name Ibi-ahimiah, given by them to this fed. The 

 Abrahaniians arofe about the clofe of the eighth century, 

 and were fupprcfTed by Cyriacus, patriarch of Antioch. 



The fame denomination is nlfo applied to a party of 

 monks, who fufTered death for the worfliip of images, under 

 Theophilus. 



A15RAHAMSD0RF, in Gfos;rnphy, a popiJous large 

 village in Upper Hiingar)-. E. long. 19" 50'. N. lat. 46° 20'. 



ABR AM's Cnri, a cretk which falls into Hudfon's river 

 in America, near the city of Hudfon. 



ABRAMBOE, a town in the kingdom of Fetu on tlie 

 African coall, in which is held a brilliant atlembly of the na- 

 tives from all parts of the kingdom, to celcbi-ate, by dancing, 

 and other diverfions, the birth-day of the king. 



ABRAMIS, in Irhlhyology, a name given by Bellonius 

 and others, to the cyprinut lalus, or bream. 



ABRANTES, in Geography, a town of Eftramadura in 

 Portugal, feated on an eminence near the river Tajo, and 

 fncompaffed with delightful gardens and olive-yards. It 

 contains about .'ijoo inhabitants, four convents, and an 

 hofpital. It was fortified by Peter II., raifed to a county 

 Viy Alphonfvis V., and promoted to a marquifute by John V. 

 in 1718. W. long. 7° 18'. N. lat. 39° 13'. 



ABRASA, in Surgery. See Abrasion. 



ABIIASAXAS. See Abraxas. 



ABRASION, compofed of the Latin ah, and rado, to 

 Jhave, or /crape njf, a fuperficial excoriation or ulceration of 

 any part of the body : but the term is generally applied to 

 a furface which lias been rubbed off by external violence. 

 The minute portions of abraded flcin are not to be haftily 

 taken away ; as, by careful re -application, they may often 

 adhere and unite, thus preventing the confequences of a 

 recent wound. See Adhesion qnd Agglutination 

 OF Wounds. 



Sores attended with excoriation are denominated alrafa. 

 The part nibbed off is technically named abrafum. Vide 

 (Jribafii Je Uori. Curat. 1. iii. c. lf>. 



ABRAVANNUS, ip ylncient Geography, the name of a 

 promontory and river of Galloway, in Scotland, fo called 

 from jiber, which, in Celtic, denotes the mouth of a river, 

 and nvon, a river. It is probably that fmall river which falls 

 into the bay of Glenluce, a little to the fouth of the Mul 

 of Galloway. 



ABRAUM, in Natural Hijlory, a name given by fome 

 writers to a fpecies of red clay, ufed in England by the ca- 

 binet-makers, &c. to give a red colour to new mahogany 

 wood ; we have it from the Ifle of Wight, but it is alfo 

 found in Gennany and Italy. 



ABRAXAS, a barbarous word, denoting a power which 

 prefides over three hundred and fixty-live others, the number 

 of days in the year. 



/Ihraxas is a word of obfcure origin : it is fuppofed to 

 be technically compounded of the Greek letters, conlidered 



ABR 



as numeral chambers : according to the cuftom of the Ore* 

 cians, who expreired their numbers by lettei-s of the alphabet; 

 the values of which in the prefent word ftand tlius : A s, 

 B 2, P ICO, A 1, s6o, A I, £ 200 ; which added together 

 make the number 365. 



The word is ufually written, among modern authors, 

 abraxas, though as fome hold, by a conupt tranfpofition of 

 the letters S and H, for air/^/'ax, as it is found in all the Greek 

 fathers, as well as on ancient Rones. Irenxus indeed (lib.i. 

 c. 23. p- 99. ed. Grabc) has abraxas, but the reafon may- 

 be, tliat the chapter in which the word occtirs is only extant 

 in Latin : fo that though it be in Greek charafters, the or- 

 thography is of Latin copyills or trandators. — In llriftnefs 

 the word ought to be written in Greek charaftcrs, ABPA'JAH; 

 fince, befides that the inventor of it fpoke that language, 

 the v.ord does not contain the number 365, wlieii written in 

 the Latin charafter. Hence a farther error in moll books, 

 which occurs in the fmaller or running charafter, on ac- 

 count of the Greek figma ; this having in ancient in- 

 fcriptions the fame figure with the Latin C, is often rendered 

 by a Roman C inftead of S ; whence abracax for abrafax. 



Beaufobre (Hill, de Manich. torn. ii. p. 55, 56. ) "conjec- 

 tures, v.itli a very great degree of probability, that abraxas, 

 or abrafax, is derived from two Greek words, w'hich figiiify 

 magnificent Saviour. For the epithet aJ^.^o-, the firll part of 

 abrafiix, is particularly applied, in the fenfe of magnificent or 

 fplendid, to Apollo and Bacchus, who, according to Ma- 

 crobius, ( Sat. 1. i. c. 18.) are the fame deities ; and the 

 fecond word of which abrafax is compofed is Ta-ji, which 

 is ufed by Homer for fave, or la, w hich denotes falva- 

 t'lon. 



Many learned modems affirm, that the Bafilidians ufed to 

 call the fuprcme God Abraxas. For this they have the au- 

 thority of Jerome (Adv. Lucif. p. 304.), and of the author 

 of the additions to Tertullian's Book of Prefcriptions, c. 46. 

 But that thefe writers are miftaken, we m.ay conclude from 

 the better authority of Irenxus (lib. i. c. 23.), who informs 

 us, that their opinion was, that the Father of all was in- 

 effable, or without a name, and that abraxas was the firft 

 of their 365 heavens, or the prince of the angels that refided 

 in them. It is probable that they applied this term to the 

 arcana of their philofophy, and not to their theology. Ac- 

 cordingly, Jerome aflures us, [iibifupra,) that it is the fame 

 with Mythras, or the Sun, which is the deity worlhipped by 

 the Perfians, Hence we learn, why abraxas is faid to be 

 the chief of the 365 heavens, or angels who refide in them, 

 and rule over the 365 days of the year ; for the fun may, 

 ■with great propriety, to prefide over all the days of 

 the year, and in the hieroglyphlcal language, be faid to 

 contain in himfelf the paits of which the year is compofed, 

 and to rule over it. Abraxas is, therefore, a technical term, 

 much in the fpirit of the cabbaliftic or oriental philofophy ; 

 which, joiiied with that hieroglyphical difpofition for which 

 the Egyptians were remaikable, will account for the emble- 

 matical figu.vs that appear on feveral of thofe gems, called 

 by Montfaucon (Pal^og. Grxc. 1. ii. c. 8.) abraxiei. But 

 there is no fufRcient evidence that thefe belonged to the 

 Bafilidians. 



Several have even fufpefted that they difcover fome trace 

 of the gofpel trinity concealed in this word ; which they 

 explain, by fuppofing it compounded of the initial letters 

 of the Hebrew words Ab ben rouah, q. d. father, fon, and 

 fpirit. Wendelin, canon of Tournay, and father Har- 

 douin, have given more precife explications of the word, ac- 

 cording to this fyftem. The former makes it lland for 

 pater, Jilius, f^'-iritus functus, falus a I'lgno ; the latter, im- 

 proving 



