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N E H 
NE'GROPONT, or Egripo, a feaport town on the weft 
coaft of the ifland of the fame name, probably fituated on 
the ruins of Chalcis, the ancient capital of the ifland. 
The admiral of Turkey, who is alfo governor of the 
ifland and the adjacent parts of Greece, reiides here; and 
the harbour is feldom without a fleet of galleys. It is 
alfo the fee of a Greek bifliop. Eat. 3S. 30. N. Ion. 23. 
54. E. 
NEGUA'DA. See Nekkade'. 
NEGUN'DO, f in botany. See Vitex. 
NE'GUS, f. A mixture of wine, water, fugar, lemon, 
and nutmeg.—The mixture now called negus was invented 
in queen Anne’s time by colonel Negus. Malone's Life 
of Dry den. 
NEHALE'NIA, agoddefs mentioned in Keyfler's Tra¬ 
vels, “ Diftertatio de Dea Nehalenia, numine Walachro- 
rum topico.” Her qualities or attributes are not clearly 
made out. Gibfon on Camden’s Britannia fays fhe was 
the goddefs of chalk-workers. 
NEHAVEN'D, a town of PerJia, in the province of 
Irak, celebrated for a battle between the caliph Omar 
and Jezdegird king of Perfia, in the year 638, in which 
the latter loft his life aiid kingdom. Some fuppofe this 
town to have been built by Noah, and that it was firft 
called Nohavevd: fixty miles f’outh of Hamadan, and zoo 
north-weft of Ifpahan. 
NE'HEIM, a town of Weftphalia : feven miles north- 
north-weft of Arenfberg, and forty-eight north-eaft of 
Cologne. 
NE'HEIM, or Ne'me, a town of Weftphalia, in the 
bifhopric of Paderborn : twelve miles north-eaft of Pader- 
born. 
NEHEL'AMITE, [Heb. a dreamer.] The cognomen 
of Shemaiah thefalfe prophet. Jer. 
NEHEMI'AH, [Heb. confolation,] an eminent and 
pious Jew, governor of Judah and Jerufalem under Ar- 
taxerxes Longimanus, was born in the land of captivity, 
where he was promoted to the honourable poll of cup¬ 
bearer to the king of Perfia. In that book of the Hebrew 
Scriptures which bears his name, and is generally allowed 
to have been written by him, (though it is fometimes 
called the Second Book of Ezra,) we are told that he was 
the fon of Hachaliah, but without any mention of the 
tribe to which he belonged. In Dr. Rees’s Cyclopaedia, 
he is called “ the fon of Helkiah of the tribe of Levi,” 
but we know not upon what authority. Many are of 
opinion, that he was a defeendant from a branch of the 
royal family of Judah; which hypothefis is rendered 
probable from his high and confidential Ration at the 
rerfian court. While he was in attendance upon the king 
at the palace of Shufhan, B. C. 445, he received intelli¬ 
gence, by one of his nation who had lately come from 
Jerufalem, of the ruinous and defencelefs condition in 
which that city ftill remained, notwithstanding the many 
favours which the monarch had bellowed upon Ezra, and 
the other Jews who had been permitted to return to the 
land of their forefathers ; in confequence of which they 
were expofed to the predatory incurhons of their enemies, 
as well as to the contempt and reproach of their jealous 
neighbours. This account filled him with the deepeft 
affliction, the marks of which were difeernibie on his 
countenance when his office next called him into the royal 
p'refence. Upon the king’s inquiring into the caufe of 
liis grief, Nehemiah took the opportunity of laying be¬ 
fore him the diftreffed condition of his country, and 
humbly petitioned that he might be fent with a royal 
commiffion to remedy the evil. As the facred text in¬ 
forms us that queen Either was then fitting with the king, 
it is moft probable that Ihe fupported this requeft; which 
the monarch was pleafed to grant. Accordingly, a royal 
decree was ilfued for re-building the walls and gates of 
Jerufalem; and Nehemiah was empowered, with the com¬ 
miffion oEgovernor of the province of Judea, to carry it 
into execution. At the fame time orders were fent to 
Sanballat, governor of Samaria, and to others of the king’s 
N E H 
officers on this fide of the Euphrates, to furnilh him with 
what affiftance he might require out of the royal treafury, 
and all other necefiary materials for his undertaking. 
The king alfo honoured Nehemiah with an efcort of 
troops, to conduCt him in fafety to the country he was to 
govern. Thefe he appears to have difmifled at fome dis¬ 
tance from Jerufalem: for he entered that city in a pri¬ 
vate manner, and continued in it three days before he 
made public the appointment which he had received. 
During this interval, he privately (ook a furvey of the 
city and its walls; and, finding that their ruinous con« 
dition correfponded with tln^ account which had been 
given him at Shulhan,"be fiummoned the heads of the 
people to meet him, to whom he opened his commiffion, 
and declared his determination to put it in force without 
delay. Having received aflurances of their willingnefs 
zealoufly to co-operate with him in his great defign, he 
divided the whole body of the people into feveral compa¬ 
nies, affigning to each the quarter where they were to 
work, but referving to himfelf the fuperintendence and 
direction of the whole. 
While Nehemiah was proceeding with this defign, he 
had many obltacles to encounter from the fecret machi¬ 
nations of Sanballat, as well as the Moabites and Ammo¬ 
nites, to impede the work; to which they were excited, 
not only by their ancient enmity to the Jewifh nation, 
but by the profpeCt of being obliged to reftore thofe 
eftates of the Jews which they had feized on during their 
captivity. They even went !o far as to hire fome treache¬ 
rous Jews to difeourage both the governor and people, 
with the fpecious pretence that they were fent from God 
to put a flop to the enterprife. This impofture Nehemiah 
foon deteCled; but, fufpeCting that thofe enemies might 
refort to forcible meafures, when they found that their 
infidious practices were of no avail, he ordered the people 
to arm themfelves, even while they were at work, placing 
guards at particular places for their defence, and trum¬ 
peters at convenient diftances from each other to fummon 
them to any fpot where a hoftile attack might be made. 
One of the greateft difficulties, however, which he had, 
to remove, arofe from the impoverifhed and miferabie 
condition of the lower claffes of the people, who were to 
bear the greateft lhare of the labour, but were by their 
circumftances rendered unable, as well as indifpoled, to 
devote themfelves to the work. To this condition they 
had been reduced by the avarice of their richer brethren, 
who, taking advantage of their diftreiles on their return 
from captivity, had lent them money at exorbitant in- 
tereft, and reduced them to the neceffity of mortgaging 
their lands, and felling their foils and daughters into l'er- 
vitude, in order to procure fubiiltence for themfelves and 
families. Nehemiah, when he became apprifed of this ftate 
of things, called a general afleinbly of the people, in 
which he feverely reproached the wealthy Jews on ac¬ 
count of the cruelty and illegality of their conduCt; and, 
partly by perfuafion, and partly by his own authority, 
obliged them to rgftore their ill-gotten property to the 
poor owners. Encouraged by this relief from oppreffion, 
and the care which was taken of their necefiary fuftenance, 
the people applied themfelves with fuch zeal and fpirit to 
their affigned talks, that in fifty-two days the repair of 
the wall and gates of the city was completely finilhed ; 
after which a public dedication of them was celebrated 
with great folcmnity, by the priefts and levites, and all 
the people. 
Having thus executed the principal bufinefs for which 
he obtained the king’s permiffion to proceed to Jerufalem, 
Nehemiah appointed his brothers Hanani and Hananiah 
to be governors of the city, and returned, 3s is reafonably 
fuppofed, into Perfia, to folicit a new and more extenfive 
commiffion. His ablence, however, appears to have been 
but of Ihort duration; and, after reluming the govern¬ 
ment, one of the firft objects of his attention was the in- 
creafe of the population of the city. With this view, he 
prevailed on the nobler and richer Jews to build houfes in 
