814 
ZEN 
Z E R 
the Zendavesta, are printed in the 8th volume of the Novi 
Commentarii Soc. Reg. Gotting.; and in the 1st and 3d vo¬ 
lumes of the Commentationes. 
Some have thought that the truths which are observable 
in the Zendavesta, Vendidad Sadi, and other writings of the 
eastern nations, were derived from the disciples of Nesto- 
rius, who were found very early on the coast of Malabar. 
But this, Mr. Bryant thinks, is a groundless surmise; be¬ 
cause the religious sects among which these writings have 
been preserved, are widely separated, and most of them have 
no connection with Malabar or the Christians of that quarter. 
And besides, the Brahmins and Banians adhere closely to 
their own rites, and abhor all other persuasions; and they 
are influenced by customs and scruples which prevent their 
intercourse with other people. In their writings there occurs 
no trace of Christianity, or of its founder; and thence Mr. 
Bryant infers, that whatever truths may be found in the 
writings of these people, they were derived from a higher 
source, and by a different channel. Anal, of Ancient 
Mythology. 
ZENDEROOD, a river of Persia, which rises in a moun¬ 
tain to the east of Ispahan, and passes through that capital, 
where three handsome bridges are built across it. It is after¬ 
wards employed and absorbed in irrigating the fields and 
gardens round the capital. 
ZENEGUANCA, a bay of New Granada, on the coast 
of the province of Santa Martha. 
ZENGG, or Segna, a town of Austrian Croatia, in the 
military district formerly called the Littorale, on the Adriatic. 
It stands at the foot of a steep mountain, and has a good 
harbour. It is a bishop’s see, and contains 2800 inhabitants; 
42 miles south-east of Fiume. 
ZENGHI, a river of Armenia, which falls into the Aras ; 
10 miles south of Erivan. 
ZENGUIA, a village of Syria, in the pachalic of Aleppo, 
on the Euphrates; 55 miles north-north-east of Aleppo. 
ZENIEH, a village of Caramania, in Asiatic Turkey; 15 
miles north of Selefkeh. 
ZENITARA, a river of New Granada, in the province of 
Antioquia, which enters the Rio de Magdalena. 
ZE'NITH, s. [Arabic.] The point over head opposite to 
the nadir. 
Fond men! if we believe that men do live 
Under the zenith of both frozen poles, 
Though none come thence, advertisement to give. 
Why bear we not the like faith of our souls ? Davies. 
ZENIZO, a small island of New Granada, near the coast 
of the province of Carthagena, at the entrance of the river 
Magdalena. 
ZENNAR, the name of a mystical thread worn by Brah¬ 
mins, and by many individuals of other tribes of Hindoos. 
So prolix and minute are the authors of the Ordinances of 
the Hindoos, that rules for almost every occurrence of life, 
however trifling, have been laid down ; not that any thing 
connected with the zennar has been deemed trifling by those 
who ordained it, by those who wear it, or those who revere 
it. On the contrary, the individuals to be so distinguished, 
the mode of manulacturing the sacred article, and its inves¬ 
titure, with many particulars, have occupied the attention of 
lawgivers, and are attended to with great respect by their 
obedient followers. 
Brahmins affect to consider the zennar as of highly mys¬ 
terious and sacred import, and do not consider an individual 
as fully a member of his tribe until he have assumed this 
holy emblem. A Brahmin should be invested with it at the 
age of eight years, by the hands of his father, who, with 
Ins Guru, or spiritual preceptor, twists that first put on. A 
Kshetriya receives it at eleven, from a Brahmin. A Vaisya 
at twelve years of age. A Sudra is on no account permitted 
to wear it. For a description of these four grand divisions 
comprising the whole race, see Hindoo. 
ZENNOR, a parish of England, in Cornwall, adjoining 
the Land’s End; 6 miles west-south-west of St. Ives. Popu¬ 
lation 671. 
ZENO, called th eE/eatic, in order to distinguish him from 
Zeno the Stoic, was a native of Elea, in Magna Graecia, 
and said to have been the adopted son of Parmenides, whose 
disciple he was, flourished about the year 463, B. C. and 
chose to live in his native city rather than at Athens, for the 
sake of maintaining his independence. He is lepresented as 
a zealous friend of civil liberty, and as having lost his life in 
his opposition to a tyrant. It is said, that having been de¬ 
tected in a conspiracy against the petty tyrant of the place of 
his nativity, he endured the most cruel torments, because he 
would not betray his accomplices; and that at length his 
countrymen, roused by his fortitude, fell upon the usurper 
and stoned him to death. To him the invention of the dia¬ 
lectical art has been erroneously ascribed. 
According to Aristotle, Zeno taught that nothing can be 
produced either from that which is similar or dissimilar ; that 
there is only one being, and that is God; that this being is 
eternal, homogeneous, and spherical, neither finite nor in¬ 
finite, neither quiescent nor moveable; that there are many 
worlds; that there is in nature no vacuum; that all bodies 
are composed of four elements, heat and moisture,- cold and 
dryness; and that the body of man is from the earth, and 
his soul an equal mixture of these four elements. He argued 
with great subtlety against the possibility of motion. If 
Seneca’s account of this philosopher deserves credit, he 
reached the highest point of scepticism, and denied the real 
existence of external objects. 
Bayle depreciates the practical philosophy of Zeno, on 
account of his vindication of the warmth with which he resent¬ 
ed reproach, by saying, “ If I were indifferent to censure I 
should also be indifferent to praise.” His works, though 
unknown to the moderns, were held in high estimation 
among the ancients. Diog. Laert. Bay/e. Brucker, by 
Enfield. 
Zeno, the founder of the Stoic sect, was born about the 
year 366, before Christ, and died, as it is said, in the 1st 
year of the 129th Olympiad, or 264 B. C. For an account 
of him, see the article Stoics. 
Zeno, Roman emperor of the East, was a descendant of 
an Isaurian family of distinction, and at first bore the name 
of “ Trascalissaeus.” Being a commander of the Isaurian 
troops in the service of Leo I., he married Ariadne, a daugh¬ 
ter of the emperor, who created him a patrician, and raised 
him to the chief command of all the armies in the East. See 
Rome. 
ZENOBIA ( Queen ), was a native of Syria, in the third 
century, who claimed descent from the Macedonian kings of 
Egypt. See Rome. 
ZENTHA, or Szentka, a small town of Hungary, on the 
Theiss; 60 miles north of Belgrade, and 52 west of Tomes- 
var. 
ZENTLA, a settlement of Mexico, in the province of 
Valladolid, containing 105 Indian families. 
ZENTLALPAN, a settlement of Mexico, near the city of 
Mexico, containing 273 Indian families. 
ZENTORA, a small river of Quito, in the province of 
Mainas, which runs east, and enters the Napo. 
ZEOLITE. See Mineralogy. 
ZEPEDA, a settlement of New Granada, in the province 
of Santa Martha. 
ZE'PHYR, or Ze'phyrus, s. [zephyr us, Lat.] The west 
wind; and poetically any calm soft wind. 
They are as gentle 
As zephyrs blowing below the violet. Shakspcare. 
Mild as when Zephyrus on Flora breathes. Milton. 
ZEP1TA, a settlement of New Granada, in the province of 
Pamplona.—There is another settlement of this name in 
Peru. 
ZEPTAU, or Zoptau, a small town of the Austrian states, 
in Moravia, circle of Olmutz. Here are several iron works. 
ZERBST, or Anhalt- Zerbst, a small principality of 
the interior of Germany, of which the town of Zerbst was the 
capital until 1793, when the branch of the house of Anhalt 
in possession of that district, becoming extinct, the territory 
was 
