Chapter XV: Part 15

ASSUMPTION, FEAST OF. The feast of the "Assumption of the blessed Virgin Mary" (Lat. _festum assumptionis, dormitionis, depositionis, pausationis B. V. M._; Gr. [Greek: koimaesis] or [Greek: analaephis taes theotokou]) is a festival of the Christian Church celebrated on the 15th of August, in commemoration of the miraculous ascent into heaven of the mother of Christ. The belief on which this festival rests has its origin in apocryphal sources, such as the [Greek: eis taen koimaesin taes uperagias despoinaes] ascribed to the Apostle John, and the _de transitu Mariae_, assigned to Melito, bishop of Sardis, but actually written about A.D. 400. Pope Gelasius I. (492-496) included them in the list of apocryphal books condemned by the _Decretum de libris recipiendis et non recipiendis_; but they were accepted as authentic by the pseudo-Dionysius (_de nominbus divinis c. 3_), whose writings date probably from the 5th century, and by Gregory of Tours (d. 593 or 594). The latter in his _De gloria martyrum_ (i. 4) gives the following account of the miracle: As all the Apostles were watching round the dying Mary, Jesus appeared with His angels and committed the soul of His Mother to the Archangel Michael. Next day, as they were carrying the body to the grave, Christ again appeared and carried it with Him in a cloud to heaven, where it was reunited with the soul. This story is much amplified in the account given by St John of Damascus in the homilies _In dormitionem Mariae_, which are still read in the Roman Church as the lesson during the octave of the feast. According to this the patriarchs and Adam and Eve also appear at the death-bed, to praise their daughter, through whom they had been rescued from the curse of God; a Jew who touches the body loses both his hands, which are restored to him by the Apostles; and the body lies three days in the grave without corruption before it is taken up into heaven.

The festival is first mentioned by St Andrew of Crete (c. 650), and, according to the Byzantine historian Nicephorus Callistus (_Hist. Eccles._ xvii. 28), was first instituted by the Emperor Maurice in A.D. 582. From the East it was borrowed by Rome, where there is evidence of its existence so early as the 7th century. In the Gallican Church it was only adopted at the same time as the Roman liturgy. But though the festival thus became incorporated in the regular usage of the Western Church, the belief in the resurrection and bodily assumption of the Virgin has never been defined as a dogma and remains a "pious opinion," which the faithful may reject without imperilling their immortal souls, though not apparently--to quote Melchior Cano (_De Locis Theolog._ xii. 10)--without "insolent temerity," since such rejection would be contrary to the common agreement of the Church. By the reformed Churches, including the Church of England, the festival is not observed, having been rejected at the Reformation as being neither primitive nor founded upon any "certain warrant of Holy Scripture."

See Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopadie_ (ed. 3), s. "Maria"; Mgr. L.
Duchesne, _Christian Worship_ (Eng. trans., London, 1904); Wetzer and
Welte, _Kirchenlexikon_, s. "Marienfeste"; The _Catholic
Encyclopaedia_ (London and New York, 1907, &c.), s. "Apocrypha,"
"Assumption."

ASSUR (Auth. Vers. _Asshur_), a Hebrew name, occurring in many passages of the Old Testament, for the land and dominion of Assyria.[1] The _country_ of Assyria, which in the Assyro-Babylonian literature is known as _mat Assur_ (_ki_), "land of Assur," took its name from the ancient city of _Assur_, situated at the southern extremity of Assyria proper, whose territory, soon after the first Assyrian settlement, was bounded on the N. by the Zagros mountain range in what is now Kurdistan and on the S. by the lower Zab river. The kingdom of Assyria, which was the outgrowth of the primitive settlement on the site of the city of Assur, was developed by a probably gradual process of colonization in the rich vales of the middle Tigris region, a district watered by the Tigris itself and also by several tributary streams, the chief of which was the lower Zab.[2]

It seems quite evident that the _city_ of Assur was originally founded by Semites from Babylonia at quite an early, but as yet undetermined date. In the prologue to the law-code of the great Babylonian monarch Khammurabi (c. 2250 B.C.), the cities of Nineveh and Assur are both mentioned as coming under that king's beneficent influence. Assur is there called _A-usar_ (_ki_),[3] in which combination the ending _-ki_ ("land territory") proves that even at that early period there was a province of Assur more extensive than the city proper. It is probable that this non-Semitic form _A-usar_ means "well watered region,"[4] a most appropriate designation for the river settlements of Assyria. The problem as to the meaning of the name Assur is rendered all the more confusing by the fact that the city and land are also called _Assur_ (as well as _A-usar_), both by the Khammurabi records[5] and generally in the later Assyrian literature. Furthermore, the god- and country-name _Assur_ also occurs at a late date in Assyrian literature in the forms _An-sar, An-sar_ (_ki_), which form[6] was presumably read _Assur_. In the Creation tablet, the heavens personified collectively were indicated by this term _An-sar_, "host of heaven," in contradistinction to the earth = _Ki-sar_, "host of earth." In view of this fact, it seems highly probable that the late writing _An-sar_ for _Assur_ was a more or less conscious attempt on the part of the Assyrian scribes to identify the peculiarly Assyrian deity _Asur_ (see ASSUR, the god, below) with the Creation deity An-sar. On the other hand, there is an epithet _Asir_ or Ashir ("overseer") applied to several gods and particularly to the deity _Asur_, a fact which introduced a third element of confusion into the discussion of the name _Assur_. It is probable then that there is a triple popular etymology in the various forms of writing the name _Assur_; viz. _A-usar_,[7] _An-sar_ and the stem _asaru_, all of which is quite in harmony with the methods followed by the ancient Assyro-Babylonian philologists.[8]

See also A.H. Layard, _Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and
Babylon_ (1853); G. Smith, _Assyrian Discoveries_ (1875); R.W. Rogers,
_History of Babylonia and Assyria_, i. 297; ii. 13; ii. 30, 76, 102;
J.F. M'Curdy, _History, Prophecy and the Monuments_, SS 74, 171 f.,
247, 258, 283; 57, 59 f. (on the god). (J. D. Pr.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The name Assur is not connected with the Asshur of 1 Chron. ii.
24; ii. 45. Note that it is customary to spell the god-name _Asur_
and the country-name _Assur_.

[2] Cf. Rassam, _Asshur and the Land of Nimrod_, 250-251, and many
other works.

[3] Robert Harper, _Code of Hammurabi_, pp. 6-7, lines 55-58.

[4] Thus already Delitzsch, _Wo lag das Paradies?_ p. 252. The
element _a_ means "water," and in _u-sar_ it is probable that _u_
also means "water," while _sar_ is "park, district." See Prince,
_Materials for a Sumerian Lexicon_, s.v. _usar_.

[5] The name appears as _As-sur_ (_ki_) and _As-su-ur_ (_ki_). See
King, _Letters and Inscriptions of Hammurabi_, iv. p. 23, obv. 27;
and Nagel, _Beitrage zur Assyriologie_, iv. p. 404; also _Cun. Texts
from Bab. Tablets_, vi. pl. 19, line 7.

[6] Meissner-Rost, _Bauinschrift Sanheribs_, K. 5413a; K. 1306, rev.
16.

[7] See on this entire subject, Morris Jastrow, Jr., _Journal Amer.
Orient. Soc._, xxiv. pp. 282-311; also _Die Religion Bab. u. Assyr._,
pp. 207 ff.

[8] On the philological methods of the ancient Babylonian priesthood,
see Prince, _Materials for a Sumerian Lexicon_, Introduction.

ASSUR, the primitive capital of Assyria, now represented by the mounds of Kaleh Sherghat (Qal'at Shergat) on the west bank of the Tigris, nearly midway between the Upper and Lower Zab. It is still doubtful (see discussion on the name in the preceding article) whether the national god of Assyria took his name from that of the city or whether the converse was the case. It is most probable, however, that it was the city which was deified (see Sayce, _Religion of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia_, 1902, pp. 366, 367). Sir A.H. Layard, through his assistant Hormuzd Rassam, devoted two or three days to excavating on the site, but owing to the want of pasturage and the fear of Bedouin attacks he left the spot after finding a broken clay cylinder containing the annals of Tiglath-Pileser I., and for many years no subsequent efforts were made to explore it. In 1904, however, a German expedition under Dr W. Andrae began systematic excavations, which have led to important results. The city originally grew up round the great temple of the god Assur, the foundation of which was ascribed to the High-priest Uspia. For many centuries Assur and the surrounding district, which came accordingly to be called the land of Assur (_Assyria_), were governed by high-priests under the suzerainty of Babylonia. With the decay of the Babylonian power the high-priests succeeded in making themselves independent kings, and Assur became the capital of an important kingdom. It was already surrounded by a wall of crude brick, which rested on stone foundations and was strengthened at certain points by courses of burnt brick. A deep moat was dug outside it by Tukulti-Inaristi or Tukulti-Masu (about 1270 B.C.), and it was further defended on the land side by a _salkhu_ or outwork. In the 15th century B.C. it was considerably extended to the south in order to include a "new town" which had grown up there. The wall was pierced by "the gate of Assur," "the gate of the Sun-god," "the gate of the Tigris," &c., and on the river side was a quay of burnt brick and limestone cemented with bitumen. The temples were in the northern part of the city, together with their lofty towers, one of which has been excavated. Besides the temple of Assur there was another great temple dedicated to Anu and Hadad, as well as the smaller sanctuaries of Bel, Ishtar, Merodach and other deities. After the rise of the kingdom, palaces were erected separate from the temples; the sites of those of Hadad-nirari I., Shalmaneser I., and Assur-nazir-pal have been discovered by the German excavators, and about a dozen more are referred to in the inscriptions. Even after the rise of Nineveh as the capital of the kingdom and the seat of the civil power, Assur continued to be the religious centre of the country, where the king was called on to reside when performing his priestly functions. The city survived the fall of Assyria, and extensive buildings as well as tombs of the Parthian age have been found upon the site.

See _Mitteilungen der deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft_ (1904-1906).
(A. H. S.)

ASSUR, ASUR, or ASHUR, the chief god of Assyria, was originally the patron deity of the city of Assur on the Tigris, the ancient capital of Assyria from which as a centre the authority of the _patesis_ (as the rulers were at first called) spread in various directions. The history of Assyria (q.v.) can now be traced back approximately to 2500 B.C., though it does not rise to political prominence until c. 2000 B.C. The name of the god is identical with that of the city, though an older form A-shir, signifying "leader," suggests that a differentiation between the god and the city was at one time attempted. Though the origin of the form Ashur (or Assur) is not certain, it is probable that the name of the god is older than that of the city (see discussion on the name above).

The title _Ashir_ was given to various gods in the south, as Marduk and Nebo, and there is every reason to believe that it represents a direct transfer with the intent to emphasize that Assur is the "leader" or head of the pantheon of the north. He is in fact to all intents and purposes of the north. Originally like Marduk a solar deity with the winged disk--the disk always typifying the sun--as his symbol, he becomes as Assyria develops into a military power a god of war, indicated by the attachment of the figure of a man with a bow to the winged disk.[1] While the cult of the other great gods and goddesses of Babylonia was transferred to Assyria, the worship of Assur so overshadowed that of the rest as to give the impression of a decided tendency towards the absorption of all divine powers by the one god. Indeed, the other gods, Sin, Shamash (Samas), Adad, Ninib and Nergal, and even Ea, take on the warlike traits of Assur in the epithets and descriptions given of them in the annals and votive inscriptions of Assyrian rulers to such an extent as to make them appear like little Assurs by the side of the great one. Marduk alone retains a large measure of his independence as a concession on the part of the Assyrians to the traditions of the south, for which they always manifested a profound respect. Even during the period that the Assyrian monarchs exercised complete sway over the south, they rested their claims to the control of Babylonia on the approval of Marduk, and they or their representatives never failed to perform the ceremony of "taking the hand" of Marduk, which was the formal method of assuming the throne in Babylonia. Apart from this concession, it is Assur who pre-eminently presides over the fortunes of Assyria.[2] In his name, and with his approval as indicated by favourable omens, the Assyrian armies march to battle. His symbol is carried into the thick of the fray, so that the god is actually present to grant assistance in the crisis, and the victory is with becoming humility invariably ascribed by the kings "to the help of Assur." With the fall of Assyria the rule of Assur also comes to an end, whereas it is significant that the cult of the gods of Babylonia--more particularly of Marduk--survives for several centuries the loss of political independence through Cyrus' capture of Babylonia in 539 B.C. The name of Assur's temple at Assur, represented by the mounds of Kaleh Sherghat, was known as E-khar-sag-gal-kur-kurra, i.e. "House of the great mountain of the lands." Its exact site has been determined by excavations conducted at Kaleh Sherghat since 1903 by the German Oriental Society. The name indicates the existence of the same conception regarding sacred edifices in Assyria as in Babylonia, where we find such names as E-Kur ("mountain house") for the temple of Bel (q.v.) at Nippur, and E-Saggila ("lofty house") for Marduk's (q.v.) temple at Babylon and that of Ea (q.v.) at Eridu, and in view of the general dependence of Assyrian religious beliefs as of Assyrian culture in general, there is little reason to doubt that the name of Assur's temple represents a direct adaptation of such a name as E-Kur, further embellished by epithets intended to emphasize the supreme control of the god to whom the edifice was dedicated. The foundation of the edifice can be traced back to Uspia (Ushpia), c. 2000 B.C., and may turn out to be even older. Besides the chief temple, the capital contained temples and chapels to Anu, Adad, Ishtar, Marduk, Gula, Sin, Shamash, so that we are to assume the existence of a sacred precinct in Assur precisely as in the religious centres of the south. On the removal of the seat of residence of the Assyrian kings to Calah (c. 1300 B.C.), and then in the 8th century to Nineveh, the centre of the Assur cult was likewise transferred, though the sanctity of the old seat at Assur continued to be recognized. At Nineveh, which remained the capital till the fall of the Assyrian empire in 606 B.C., Assur had as his rival Ishtar, who was the real patron deity of the place, but a reconciliation was brought about by making Ishtar the consort of the chief god. The combination was, however, of an artificial character, and the consciousness that Ishtar was in reality an independent goddess never entirely died out. She too, like Assur, was viewed as a war deity, and to such an extent was this the case that at times it would appear that she, rather than Assur, presided over the fortunes of the Assyrian armies. (M. Ja.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See Prince, _Journ. Bibl. Lit._, xxii. 35.

[2] As essentially a _national_ god, he is almost identical in
character with the early Yahweh of Israel. See Sayce, Hibbert
Lectures, _Religion of Ancient Babylonia_, p. 129.

ASSUR-BANI-PAL ("Assur creates a son"), the _grand monarque_ of Assyria, was the prototype of the Greek Sardanapalus, and appears probably in the corrupted form of Asnapper in Ezra iv. 10. He had been publicly nominated king of Assyria (on the 12th of Iyyar) by his father Esar-haddon, some time before the latter's death, Babylonia being assigned to his twin-brother Samas-sum-yukin, in the hope of gratifying the national feeling of the Babylonians. After Esar-haddon's death in 668 B.C. the first task of Assur-bani-pal was to finish the Egyptian campaign. Tirhakah, who had reoccupied Egypt, fled to Ethiopia, and the Assyrian army spent forty days in ascending the Nile from Memphis to Thebes. Shortly afterwards Necho, the satrap of Sais, and two others were detected intriguing with Tirhakah; Necho and one of his companions were sent in chains to Nineveh, but were there pardoned and restored to their principalities. Tirhakah died 667 B.C., and his successor Tandaman (Tanuat-Amon) entered Upper Egypt, where a general revolt against Assyria took place, headed by Thebes. Memphis was taken by assault and the Assyrian troops driven out of the country. Tyre seems to have revolted at the same time. Assur-bani-pal, however, lost no time in pouring fresh forces into the revolted province. Once more the Assyrian army made its way up the Nile, Thebes was plundered, and its temples destroyed, two obelisks being carried to Nineveh as trophies (see Nahum iii. 8). Meanwhile the siege of insular Tyre was closely pressed; its water-supply was cut off, and it was compelled to surrender. Assur-bani-pal was now at the height of his power. The land of the Manna (Minni), south-east of Ararat, had been wasted, its capital captured by the Assyrians, and its king reduced to vassalage. A war with Teumman of Elam had resulted in the overthrow of the Elamite army; the head of Teumman was sent to Nineveh, and another king, Umman-igas, appointed by the Assyrians. The kings of Cilicia and the Tabal offered their daughters to the harem of Assur-bani-pal; embassies came from Ararat, and even Gyges of Lydia despatched envoys to "the great king" in the hope of obtaining help against the Cimmerians. Suddenly the mighty empire began to totter. The Lydian king, finding that Nineveh was helpless to assist him, turned instead to Egypt and furnished the mercenaries with whose help Psammetichus drove the Assyrians out of the country and suppressed his brother satraps. Egypt was thus lost to Assyria for ever (660 B.C.). In Babylonia, moreover, discontent was arising, and finally Samas-sum-yukin put himself at the head of the national party and declared war upon his brother. Elamite aid was readily forthcoming, especially when stimulated by bribes, and the Arab tribes joined in the revolt. The resources of the Assyrian empire were strained to their utmost. But thanks in some measure to the intestine troubles in Elam, the Babylonian army and its allies were defeated and driven into Babylon, Sippara, Borsippa and Cutha. One by one the cities fell, Babylon being finally starved into surrender (648 B.C.) after Samas-sum-yukin had burnt himself in his palace to avoid falling into the conqueror's hands. It was now the turn of the Arabs, some of whom had been in Babylon during the siege, while others had occupied themselves in plundering Edom, Moab and the Hauran. Northern Arabia was traversed by the Assyrian forces, the Nabataeans were almost exterminated, and the desert tribes terrorized into order. Elam was alone left to be dealt with, and the last resources of the empire were therefore expended in preventing it from ever being again a thorn in the Assyrian side.

But the effort had exhausted Assyria. Drained of men and resources it was no longer able to make head against the Cimmerian and Scythian hordes who now poured over western Asia. The Cimmerian Dugdamme (Lygdamis in Strabo i. 3, 16), whom Assur-bani-pal calls "a limb of Satan," after sacking Sardis, had been slain in Cilicia, but other Scythian invaders came to take his place. When Assur-bani-pal died in 626 (?) B.C. his empire was already in decay, and within a few years the end came. He was luxurious and indolent, entrusting the command of his armies to others whose successes he appropriated, cruel and superstitious, but a magnificent patron of art and literature. The great library of Nineveh was to a considerable extent his creation, and scribes were kept constantly employed in it copying the older tablets of Babylonia, though unfortunately their patron's tastes inclined rather to omens and astrology than to subjects of more modern interest. The library was contained in the palace that he built on the northern side of the mound of Kuyunjik and lined with sculptured slabs which display Assyrian art at its best. Whether Kandalanu (Kinela-danos), who became viceroy of Babylonia after the suppression of the revolt, was Assur-bani-pal under another name, or a different personage, is still doubtful (see SARDANAPALUS).

AUTHORITIES.--George Smith, _History of Assurbanipal_ (1871); S.A.
Smith, _Die Keilschrifttexte Asurbanipals_ (1887-1889); P. Jensen in
E. Schrader's _Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek_, ii. (1889); J.A.
Knudtzon, _Assyrische Gebete an den Sonnengott_ (1893); C. Lehmann,
_Schamashschumukin_ (1892). (A. H. S.)

ASSUS [mod. _Behram_], an ancient Greek city of the Troad, on the Adramyttian Gulf. The situation is one of the most magnificent in all the Greek lands. The natural cleavage of the trachyte into joint planes had already scarped out shelves which it was comparatively easy for human labour to shape; and so, high up this cone of trachyte, the Greek town of Assus was built, tier above tier, the summit of the crag being crowned with a Doric temple of Athena. The view from the summit is very beautiful and of great historical interest. In front is Lesbos, one of whose towns, Methymna, is said to have sent forth the founders of Assus, as early, perhaps, as 1000 or 900 B.C. The whole south coast-line of the Troad is seen, and in the south-east the ancient territory of Pergamum, from whose masters the possession of Assus passed to Rome by the bequest of Attalus III. (133 B.C.). The great heights of Ida rise in the east. Northward the Tuzla is seen winding through a rich valley. This valley was traversed by the road which St Paul must have followed when he came overland from Alexandria Troas to Assus, leaving his fellow-travellers to proceed by sea. The north-west gateway, to which this road led, is still flanked by two massive towers, of Hellenic work. On the shore below, the ancient mole can still be traced by large blocks under the clear water. Assus affords the only harbour on the 50 m. of coast between Cape Lectum and the east end of the Adramyttian Gulf; hence it must always have been the chief shipping-place for the exports of the southern Troad. The great natural strength of the site protected it against petty assailants; but, like other towns in that region, it has known many masters--Lydians, Persians, the kings of Pergamum, Romans and Ottoman Turks. From the Persian wars to about 350 B.C. Assus enjoyed at least partial independence. It was about 348-345 B.C. that Aristotle spent three years at Assus with Hermeas, an ex-slave who had succeeded his former master Eubulus as despot of Assus and Atarneus. Aristotle has left some verses from an invocation to Arete (Virtue), commemorating the worth of Hermeas, who had been seized by Persian treachery and put to death.

Under its Turkish name of Behram, Assus is still the commercial port of the southern Troad, being the place to which loads of valonia are conveyed by camels from all parts of the country. Explorations were conducted at Assus in 1881-1883 by Mr J.T. Clarke for the Archaeological Institute of America. The main object was to clear the Doric temple of Athena, built about 470 B.C. This temple is remarkable for a sculptured architrave which took the place of the ordinary frieze. The scenes are partly mythological (labours of Heracles), partly purely heraldic. Eighteen panels were transported to the Louvre in 1838; other fragments rewarded the Americans, and a scientific ground-plan was drawn. The well-preserved Hellenistic walls were also studied.

See J.T. Clarke, _Assos_, 2 vols., 1882 and 1898 (Papers of Arch.
Inst. of America, i. ii.); and authorities under TROAD. (D. G. H.)

ASSYRIA. The two great empires, Assyria and Babylon, which grew up on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, can be separated as little historically as geographically. From the beginning their history is closely intertwined; and the power of the one is a measure of the weakness of the other. This interdependence of Assyrian and Babylonian history was recognized by ancient writers, and has been confirmed by modern discovery. But whereas Assyria takes the first place in the classical accounts to the exclusion of Babylonia, the decipherment of the inscriptions has proved that the converse was really the case, and that, with the exception of some seven or eight centuries, Assyria might be described as a province or dependency of Babylon. Not only was Babylonia the mother country, as the tenth chapter of Genesis explicitly states, but the religion and culture, the literature and the characters in which it was contained, the arts and the sciences of the Assyrians were derived from their southern neighbours. They were similar in race and language. (See BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.)

AST, GEORG ANTON FRIEDRICH (1778-1841), German philosopher and philologist, was born at Gotha. Educated there and at the university of Jena, he became privat-docent at Jena in 1802. In 1805 he became professor of classical literature in the university of Landshut, where he remained till 1826, when it was transferred to Munich. There he lived till his death on the 31st of October 1841. In recognition of his work he was made an aulic councillor and a member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. He is known principally for his work during the last twenty-five years of his life on the dialogues of Plato. His _Platon's Leben und Schriften_ (1816) was the first of those critical inquiries into the life and works of Plato which originated in the _Introductions_ of Schleiermacher and the historical scepticism of Niebuhr and Wolf. Distrusting tradition, he took a few of the finest dialogues as his standard, and from internal evidence denounced as spurious not only those which are generally admitted to be so (_Epinomis, Minos, Theages, Arastae, Clitophon, Hipparchus, Eryxias, Letters and Definitions_), but also the _Meno, Euthydemus, Charmides, Lysis, Laches, First and Second Alcibiades, Hippias Major and Minor, Ion, Euthyphro, Apology, Crito_, and even (against Aristotle's explicit assertion) _The Laws_. The genuine dialogues he divides into three series:--(1) the earliest, marked chiefly by the poetical and dramatic element, i.e. _Protagoras, Phaedrus, Gorgias, Phaedo_; (2) the second, marked by dialectic subtlety, i.e. _Theaetetus, Sophist, Statesman, Parmenides, Cratylus_; (3) the third group, combining both qualities harmoniously, i.e. the _Philebus, Symposium, Republic, Timaeus, Critias_. The work was followed by a complete edition of Plato's works (11 vols., 1819-1832) with a Latin translation and commentary. His last work was the _Lexicon Platonicum_ (3 vols., 1834-1839), which is both valuable and comprehensive. In his works on aesthetics he combined the views of Schelling with those of Winckelmann, Lessing, Kant, Herder, Schiller and others. His histories of philosophy are marked more by critical scholarship than by originality of thought, though they are interesting as asserting the now familiar principle that the history of philosophy is not the history of opinions, but of reason as a whole; he was among the first to attempt to formulate a principle of the development of thought. Beside his works on Plato, he wrote, on aesthetics, _System der Kunstlehre_ (1805) and _Grundriss der Aesthetik_ (1807); on the history of philosophy, _Grundlinien der Philosophie_ (1807, republished 1809, but soon forgotten), _Grundriss einer Geschichte der Philosophie_ (1807 and 1825), and _Hauptmomente der Geschichte der Philosophie_ (1829); in philology, _Grundlinien der Philologie_ (1808), and _Grundlinien der Grammatik, Hermeneutik und Kritik_ (1808).

ASTARA, a port of Russian Transcaucasia, government of Baku, on the Caspian, in 38 deg. 27' N. lat. and 48 deg. 53' E. long., on the river of the same name, which forms the frontier between Persia and Russia. Russian merchandize is landed there and forwarded to Azerbaijan and Tabriz via Ardebil.

ASTARABAD, a province of Persia bounded N. by the Caspian Sea and Russian Transcaspian, S. by the Elburz Mountains, W. by Mazandaran, and E. by Khorasan. The country, mountainous in its southern portion, possesses extensive forests, fertile valleys, producing rice, wheat and other grains in abundance, and rich pasturages. The soil, even with little culture, is exceedingly productive, owing to the abundance of water which irrigates and fertilizes it. But while the province in many parts presents a landscape of luxuriant beauty, it is a prey to the ravages of disease, principally malarial fevers due to the extensive swamps formed by waters stagnating in the forests, and to the frequent incursions of the Goklan and Yomut Turkomans, who have their camping-grounds in the northern part of the province, and until about 1890 plundered caravans sometimes at the very gates of Astarabad city, and carried people off into slavery and bondage. The province has a population of about 100,000 and pays a yearly revenue of about L30,000. The inhabitants, notwithstanding the unhealthiness of their climate, are a strong and athletic race, belying their yellow and sickly appearance. The province has the following buluk (administrative divisions):--(1) Astarabad town; (2) Astarabad rustak (villages); (3) Sadan rustak; (4). Anazan; (5) Katul; (6) Findarisk, with Kuhsar and Nodeh; (7) Shahkuh Savar.

ASTARABAD, the capital of the province, is situated on the Astar, a small tributary of the Kara Su (Black river), which flows into the Caspian Sea 20 m. W. of the city, and about 18 m. S. of the Gurgan river, in 36 deg. 51' N. lat. and 54 deg. 26' E. long. It is surrounded by a mud wall about 30 ft. in height and about 3-1/2 m. in circuit, but much of the enclosed space is occupied by gardens, mounds of refuse, and ruins. At one time of greater size, it was reduced by Nadir Shah within its present limits. Astarabad owes its origin to Yazid ibn Mohallab, who occupied the province early in the 8th century for Suleiman, the seventh of the Omayyad caliphs (715-717), and was destroyed by Timur (Tamerlane) in 1384. Jonas Hanway, the philanthropist (d. 1786), visited the place in 1744, and attempted to open a direct trade through it between Europe and central Asia. Owing to the noxious exhalations of the surrounding forests the town is so extremely unhealthy during the hot weather as to have acquired the title of the "Abode of the Plague." It has post and telegraph offices, and a population of about 10,000. Since 1890 the Turkomans who impeded trade by their perpetual raids have been kept more in check, and with the decrease of insecurity the commercial activity of Astarabad has increased considerably.

ASTARTE, a Semitic goddess whose name appears in the Bible as Ashtoreth.[1] She is everywhere the great female principle, answering to the Baal of the Canaanites and Phoenicians[2] and to the Dagon of the Philistines. She had temples at Sidon and at Tyre (whence her worship was transplanted to Carthage), and the Philistines probably venerated her at Ascalon (1 Sam. xxxi. 10). Solomon built a high-place for her at Jerusalem which lasted until the days of King Josiah (1 Kings xi. 5; 2 Kings xxiii. 13), and the extent of her cult among the Israelites is proved as much by the numerous biblical references as by the frequent representations of the deity turned up on Palestinian soil.[3] The Moabites formed a compound deity, Ashtar-Chemosh (see MOAB), and the absence of the feminine termination occurs similarly in the Babylonian and Assyrian prototype Ishtar. The old South Arabian phonetic equivalent 'Athtar is, however, a male deity. Another compound, properly of mixed sex, appears in the Aramaean Atargatis ('At[t]ar-'athe), worn down to Derketo, who is specifically associated with sacred pools and fish (Ascalon, Hierapolis-Mabog). (See ATARGATIS.)

The derivation of the name Ishtar is uncertain, and the original attributes of the goddess are consequently unknown. She assumes various local forms in the old Semitic world, and this has led to consequent fusion and identification with the deities of other nations. As the great nature-goddess, the attributes of fertility and reproduction are characteristically hers, as also the accompanying immorality which originally, perhaps, was often nothing more than primitive magic. As patroness of the hunt, later identification with Artemis was inevitable. Hence the consequent fusion with Aphrodite, Artemis, Diana, Juno and Venus, and the action and reaction of one upon the other in myth and legend. Her star was the planet Venus, and classical writers give her the epithet Caelestis and Urania. Whether Astarte was also a lunar goddess has been questioned. As the female counterpart of the Phoenician Baal (viewed as a sun-god), and on the testimony of late writers (Lucian, Herodian) that she was represented with horns, the place-name Ashteroth-Karnaim in Gilead ("Ashteroth of the horns") has been considered ample proof in favour of the theory. But it is probable that the horns were primarily ram's horns,[4] and that Astarte the moon-goddess is due to the influence of the Egyptian Isis and Hathor. Robertson Smith, too, argues that Astarte was originally a sheep-goddess, and points to the interesting use of "Astartes of the flocks" (Deut. vii. 13, see the comm.) to denote the offspring. To nomads, Astarte may well have been a sheep-goddess, but this, if her earliest, was not her only type, as is clear from the sacred fish of Atargatis, the doves of Ascalon (and of the Phoenician sanctuary of Eryx), and the gazelle or antelope of the goddess of love (associated also with the Arabian Athtar).

The literature is vast; see G.A. Barton, _Amer. Journ. of Sem. Lang._
vols. ix. x., and his _Semitic Origins_; Driver, Hastings' _Dict.
Bible_, i. pp. 167-171; Zimmern, _Keilinschr. und das alte Test.^3_
pp. 420 sqq.; Lagrange, _Etudes d. Relig. Sem._ pp. 123-140; and the
articles ADONIS, APHRODITE, ARTEMIS, BAAL. (S. A. C.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The vocalization suggests the Heb. bosheth, "shame"; see BAAL.

[2] Add also the Hittites; for Sutekh, the Egyptian equivalent of the
male partner, see W.M. Muller, _Mitt. d. vorderasiat. Gesell._
(1902), v. pp. 11, 38. Astarte was introduced also into Egypt and had
her temple at Memphis. See also S.A. Cook, _Religion of Ancient
Palestine, Index_, s.v.

[3] Such figurines are in a sense the prototypes of the Venus of
Medici. On the influence of her cult upon that of the Virgin Mary,
see Rosch, _Studien u. Krit._ (1888), pp. 265 sqq.

[4] A model of an Astarte with ram's horns was unearthed by R.A.S.
Macalister at Gezer (_Pal. Explor. Fund, Quart. Statement_, 1903, p.
227 with figure facing).

ASTELL, MARY (1668-1731), English author, was born at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She was instructed by her uncle, a clergyman, in Latin and French, logic, mathematics and natural philosophy. In her twentieth year she went to London, where she continued her studies. She published, in 1697, a work entitled _A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, wherein a Method is offered for the Improvement of their Minds_. With the same end in view she elaborated a scheme for a ladies' college, which was favourably entertained by Queen Anne, and would have been carried out had not Bishop Burnet interfered. The most important of her other works was _The Christian Religion, as professed by a Daughter of the Church of England_, published in 1705.

ASTER (Gr. [Greek: astaer], a star), the name of a genus of plants, given from the fact of the flowers having a radiated or star-like appearance (see below). The Greek word also provides many derivatives: e.g. _asterism_ (Gr. [Greek: asterismos]), a constellation (q.v.); _asteroid_ (Gr. [Greek: astero-eidaes], star-like), an alternative name for planetoids or minor planets (see PLANET).

The genus of composite plants named aster (natural order _Compositae_) is found largely in North America, and scattered sparingly over Asia, Europe and South America. They are usually herbaceous perennials; their flowers arranged in numerous heads (_capitula_) recall those of the daisy, whence they are popularly known in England as Michaelmas daisies, since many are in bloom about that time. They are valuable plants in a garden, the various species flowering from late summer right on to November or December. The only British species is _Aster Tripolium_, found abundantly in saline marshes near the sea. One of the species, _Aster alpinus_, grows at a considerable height on the mountains of Europe. Some of them, such as _Aster spectabilis_ of North America, are very showy. They are mostly easy to cultivate in ordinary garden soil, and are readily propagated by dividing the roots in early spring. The following are some of the better known forms:--_A. alpinus_, barely 1 ft. high, and _A. Amellus_, 1-1/2 ft., with its var. _bessarabicus_, have broadish blunt leaves and large starry bluish flowers; _A. longifolius_ var. _formosus_, 2 ft., bright rosy lilac; _A. acris_, 2 to 3 ft., with blue flowers in August; _A. ericoides_, 3 ft., with heath-like leaves and masses of small white flowers; _A. puniceus_, 4 to 6 ft., blue or rosy-lilac; _A. turbinellus_, 2 to 3 ft., mauve-coloured, are showy border plants; and _A. Novae-Angliae_, 5 to 6 ft., rosy-violet; _A. Novi-Belgii_, 3 to 6 ft., pale blue; _A. laevis_, 2 to 6 ft., blue-lilac; and _A. grandiflorus_, 3 ft., violet, are especially useful from their late-flowering habit.

The China aster (_Callistephus chinensis_) is also a member of the order _Compositae_. It is a hardy annual, a native of China, which by cultivation has yielded a great variety of forms. Some of the best for ornamental gardening are the chrysanthemum-flowered, the paeony-flowered, the crown or cockade, the comet, and the globe-quilled. Crown asters have a white centre, and dark crimson or purple circumference, and are very beautiful. The colours range from white and blush through pink and rose to crimson, and from lilac through blue to purple, in various shades. They should be sown early in March in pans, in a gentle heat, the young plants being quickly transferred to a cool pit, and there pricked out in rich soil as soon as large enough, and eventually planted out in the garden in May or June, in soil which has been well worked and copiously manured, where they grow from 8 to 18 in. high, and flower towards the end of summer. They also make handsome pot plants for the conservatory.

ASTERIA, or STAR-STONE (from Gr. [Greek: astaer], star), a name applied to such ornamental stones as exhibit when cut _en cabochon_ a luminous star. The typical asteria is the star-sapphire, generally a bluish-grey corundum, milky or opalescent, with a star of six rays. (See SAPPHIRE.) In red corundum the stellate reflexion is less common, and hence the star-ruby occasionally found with the star-sapphire in Ceylon is among the most valued of "fancy stones." When the radiation is shown by yellow corundum, the stone is called star-topaz. Cymophane, or chatoyant chrysoberyl, may also be asteriated. In all these cases the asterism is due to the reflexion of light from twin-lamellae or from fine tubular cavities or thin enclosures definitely arranged in the stone. The _astrion_ of Pliny is believed to have been our moonstone, since it is described as a colourless stone from India having within it the appearance of a star shining with the light of the moon. All star-stones were formerly regarded with much superstition.

ASTERID, a group of starfish. They are the starfish proper, and have the typical genus _Asterias_ (see STARFISH).

ASTERISK (from Gr. [Greek: asteriskos], a little star), the sign * used in typography. The word is also used in its literal meaning in old writers, and as a description of an ornamental form (star-shaped) in one of the utensils in the Greek Church.

ASTERIUS, of Cappadocia, sophist and teacher of rhetoric in Galatia, was converted to Christianity about the year 300, and became the disciple of Lucian, the founder of the school of Antioch. During the persecution under Maximian (304) he relapsed into paganism, and thus, though received again into the church by Lucian and supported by the Eusebian party, never attained to ecclesiastical office. He is best known as an able defender of the semi-Arian position, and was styled by Athanasius the "advocate" of the Arians. His chief work was the _Syntagmation_, but he wrote many others, including commentaries on the Gospels, the Psalms, and Romans. He attended many synods, and we last hear of him at the synod of Antioch in 341.

ASTERIUS, bishop of Amasia, in Pontus, c. 400. He was partly contemporary with the emperor Julian (d. 363) and lived to a great age. His fame rests chiefly on his _Homilies_, which were much esteemed in the Eastern Church. Most of these have been lost, but twenty-one are given in full by Migne (_Patrol. Ser. Gr._ xl. 164-477), and there are fragments of others in Photius (_Cod._ 271). Asterius was a man of much culture, and his works are a valuable contribution to our knowledge of the history of preaching.

ASTHMA (Gr. [Greek: asthma], gasping, whence [Greek: asthmaino], I gasp for breath), a disorder of respiration characterized by severe paroxysms of difficult breathing (_dyspnoea_) usually followed by a period of complete relief, with recurrence of the attacks at more or less frequent intervals. The term is often loosely employed in reference to states of embarrassed respiration, which are plainly due to permanent organic disease of the respiratory organs (see RESPIRATORY SYSTEM: _Pathology_).

The attacks occur quite suddenly, and in some patients at regular, in others at irregular intervals. They are characterized by extreme difficulty both in inspiration and expiration, but especially in the latter, the chest becoming distended and the diaphragm immobile. In the case of "pure," "idiopathic" or "nervous" asthma, there is no fever or other sign of inflammation. But where the asthma is secondary to disease of some organ of the body, the symptoms will depend largely on that organ and the disease present. Such secondary forms may be bronchitic, cardiac, renal, peptic or thymic.

The mode of onset differs very markedly in different cases. In some the attack begins quite suddenly and without warning, but in others various sensations well known to the patient announce that an attack is imminent. According to the late Dr Hyde Salter the commonest warning is that of an intense desire for sleep, so overpowering that though the patient knows his only chance of warding off the attack is to keep awake, he is yet utterly unable to fight against his drowsiness. Among other patients, however, a condition of unwonted mental excitement presages the attack. Again the secondary forms of the disease may be ushered in by flatulence, constipation and loss of appetite, and a symptom which often attends the onset, though it is not strictly premonitory, is a profuse diuresis, the urine being watery and nearly colourless, as in the condition of hysterical diuresis. In the majority of instances the attack begins during the night, sometimes abruptly but often by degrees. The patient may or may not be aware that his asthma is threatening. A few hours after midnight he is aroused from sleep by a sense of difficult breathing. In some cases this is a slowly increasing condition, not becoming acute for some hour or more. But in others the attack is so sudden, so severe, that the patient springs from his bed and makes his way at once to an open window, apparently struggling for breath. Most asthmatics have some favourite attitude which best enables them to use all the auxiliary muscles of respiration in their struggle for breath, and this attitude they immediately assume, and guard fixedly until the attack begins to subside. The picture is characteristic and a very painful one to watch. The face is pale, anxious, and it may be livid. The veins of the forehead stand out, the eyes bulge, and perspiration bedews the face. The head is fixed in position, and likewise the powerful muscles of the back to aid the attempt at respiration. The breath is whistling and wheezing, and if it becomes necessary for the patient to speak, the words are uttered with great difficulty. If the chest be watched it is seen to be almost motionless, and the respirations may become extraordinarily slowed. Inspiration is difficult as the chest is already over-distended, but expiration is an even far greater struggle. The attack may last any time from an hour to several days, and between the attacks the patient is usually quite at ease. But notwithstanding the intensely distressing character of the attacks, asthma is not one of the diseases that shorten life.

In the child, asthma is usually periodic in its recurrence, but as he ages it tends to become more erratic in both its manifestations and time of appearance. Also, though at first it may be strictly "pure" asthma, later in life it becomes attended by chronic bronchitis, which in its turn gives rise to emphysema.

As to the underlying cause of the disease, one has only to read the many utterly different theories put forward to account for it, to see how little is really known. But it has now been clearly shown that in the asthmatic state the respiratory centre is in an unstable and excitable condition, and that there is a morbid connexion between this and some part of the nasal apparatus. Dr Alexander Francis has shown, however, that the disease is not directly due to any mechanical obstruction of the nasal passages, and that the nose comparatively rarely supplies the immediate exciting cause of the asthmatic attack. Paroxysmal sneezing is another form in which asthma may show itself, and, curiously enough, this form occurs more frequently in women, asthma of the more recognized type in men. In infants and young children paroxysmal bronchitis is another form of the same disease. Dr James Goodhart notes the connexion between asthma and certain skin troubles, giving cases of the alternation of asthma and psoriasis, and also of asthma and eczema. The disease occurs in families with a well-marked neurotic inheritance, and twice as frequently in men as in women. The immediate cause of an attack may be anything or nothing. Dr Hyde Salter notes that 80% of cases in the young date from an attack of whooping cough, bronchitis or measles.

In the general treatment of asthma there are two methods of dealing with the patient, either that of hardening the individual, widening his range of accommodation, and thus making him less susceptible, or that of modifying and adapting the environment to the patient. These two methods correspond to the two methods of drug treatment, tonic or sedative. During the last few years the method of treatment first used by Dr Alexander Francis has come into prominence. His plan is to restore the stability of the respiratory centre, by cauterizing the septal mucous membrane, and combining with this general hygienic measures. In his own words the operation, which is entirely painless and insignificant, is performed as follows:--"After painting one side of the septum nasi with a few drops of cocaine and resorcin, I draw a line with a galvano-cautery point from a spot opposite the middle turbinated body, forwards and slightly downwards for a distance of rather less than half an inch. In about one week's time I repeat the operation on the other side." In his monograph on the subject, he classifies a large number of cases treated in this manner, most of which resulted in complete relief, some in very great improvement, and a very few in slight or no relief.

ASTI (anc. _Hasta_), a town and episcopal see of Piedmont, Italy, in the province of Alessandria, situated on the Tanaro; it is 22 m. W. by rail from Alessandria. Pop. (1901) town, 19,787; commune, 41,047. Asti has still numerous medieval towers, a fine Gothic cathedral of the 14th century, the remains of a Christian basilica of the 6th century, and the octagonal baptistery of S. Pietro (11th century). It was the birthplace of the poet Vittorio Alfieri. In ancient times it manufactured pottery. It is now famous for its sparkling wine (_Asti spumante_), and is a considerable centre of trade.

ASTLEY, JACOB ASTLEY, BARON (1570-1652), royalist commander in the English Civil War, came of a Norfolk family. In 1598 he joined Counts Maurice and Henry of Orange in the Netherlands, where he served with distinction, and afterwards fought under the elector palatine Frederick V. and Gustavus Adolphus in the Thirty Years' War. He was evidently thought highly of by the states-general, for when he was absent, serving under the king of Denmark, his company in the Dutch army was kept open for him. Returning to England with a well-deserved reputation, he was in the employment of Charles I. in various military capacities. As "sergeant-major," or general of the infantry, he went north in 1639 to organize the defence against the expected Scottish invasion. Here his duties were as much diplomatic as military, as the discontent which ended in the Civil War was now coming to a head. In the ill-starred "Bishops' War," Astley did good service to the cause of the king, and he was involved in the so-called "Army Plot." At the outbreak of the Great Rebellion (1642) he at once joined Charles, and was made major-general of the foot. His characteristic battle-prayer at Edgebill has become famous: "O Lord, Thou knowest how busy I must be this day. If I forget Thee, do not forget me. March on, boys!" At Gloucester he commanded a division, and at the first battle of Newbury he led the infantry of the royal army. With Hopton, in 1644, he served at Arundel and Cheriton. At the second battle of Newbury he made a gallant and memorable defence of Shaw House. He was made a baron by the king, and at Naseby he once more commanded the main body of the foot. He afterwards served in the west, and with 1500 men fought stubbornly but vainly the last battle for the king at Stow-on-the-Wold (March 1646). His remark to his captors has become as famous as his words at Edgehill, "You have now done your work and may go play, unless you will fall out amongst yourselves." His scrupulous honour forbade him to take any part in the Second Civil War, as he had given his parole at Stow-on-the-Wold; but he had to undergo his share of the discomforts that were the lot of the vanquished royalists. He died in February 1651/2. The barony became extinct in 1668.

ASTLEY, SIR JOHN DUGDALE, Bart. (1828-1894), English soldier and sportsman, was a descendant of Lord Astley, and son of the 2nd baronet (cr. 1821). From 1848 to 1859 he was in the army, serving in the Crimean War and retiring as lieutenant-colonel. He married an heiress in 1858, and thenceforth devoted himself to horse-racing, pugilism and sport in general. He succeeded to the baronetcy in 1873, and from 1874 to 1880 was Conservative M.P. for North Lincolnshire. He was a popular figure on the turf, being familiarly known as "the Mate," and won and lost large sums of money. Just before his death, on the 10th of October 1894, he published some entertaining reminiscences, under the title of _Fifty Years of my Life_.

ASTON, ANTHONY (fl. 1712-1731), English actor and dramatist, began to be known on the London stage in the early years of the 18th century. He had tried the law and other professions, which he finally abandoned for the theatre. He had some success as a dramatic author, writing _Love in a Hurry_, performed in Dublin about 1709, and _Pastora, or the Coy Shepherdess_, an opera (1712). For many years he toured the English provinces with his wife and son, producing pieces which he himself wrote, or medleys from various plays fitted together with songs and dialogues of his own.

ASTON MANOR, a municipal and parliamentary borough of Warwickshire, England, adjoining Birmingham on the north-east. Pop. (1901) 77,326. There are extensive manufactures, including those of motors and cycles with their accessories, also paper-mills, breweries, &c., and the population is largely industrial. Aston Hall, erected by Sir Thomas Holte in 1618-1635, is an admirable architectural example of its period, built of red brick. It stands in a large park, the whole property being acquired by the corporation of Birmingham in 1864, when the mansion became a museum and art gallery. It contains the panelling of a room from the house of Edmund Hector, which formerly stood in Old Square, Birmingham, where Dr Samuel Johnson was a frequent visitor. Aston Lower Grounds, adjoining the park, contain an assembly hall, and the playing field of the Aston Villa Football Club, where the more important games are witnessed by many thousands of spectators. Aston Manor was incorporated in 1903. The parliamentary borough returns one member. The corporation consists of a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. Area, 960 acres.