Chapter VII: Front Matter (7)

Of Erigena's early life nothing is known. Bale quotes the story that he travelled in Greece, Italy and Gaul, and studied not only Greek, but also Arabic and Chaldaean. Since, however, Bale describes him as "ex patricio genitore natus," it is a reasonable inference (so R.L. Poole) that Bale confused him with one John, the son of Patricius, a Spaniard, who tells much the same story of his own travels. The knowledge of Greek displayed in Erigena's works is not such as to compel us to conclude that he had actually visited Greece. That he had a competent acquaintance with Greek is manifest from his translations of Dionysius the Areopagite and of Maximus, from the manner in which he refers to Aristotle, and from his evident familiarity with Neoplatonist writers and the fathers of the early church. Roger Bacon, in his severe criticism on the ignorance of Greek displayed by the most eminent scholastic writers, expressly exempts Erigena, and ascribes to him a knowledge of Aristotle in the original.

Among other legends which have at various times been attached to Erigena are that he was invited to France by Charlemagne, and that he was one of the founders of the university of Paris. The only portion of Erigena's life as to which we possess accurate information was that spent at the court of Charles the Bald. Charles invited him to France soon after his accession to the throne, probably in the year 843, and placed him at the head of the court school (_schola palatina_). The reputation of this school seems to have increased greatly under Erigena's leadership, and the philosopher himself was treated with indulgence by the king. William of Malmesbury's amusing story illustrates both the character of Scotus and the position he occupied at the French court. The king having asked, "Quid distat inter sottum et Scottum?" Erigena replied, "Mensa tantum."

The first of the works known to have been written by Erigena during this period was a treatise on the eucharist, which has not come down to us (by some it has been identified with a treatise by Ratramnus, _De corpore et sanguine Domini_). In it he seems to have advanced the doctrine that the eucharist was merely symbolical or commemorative, an opinion for which Berengarius was at a later date censured and condemned. As a part of his penance Berengarius is said to have been compelled to burn publicly Erigena's treatise. So far as we can learn, however, Erigena's orthodoxy was not at the time suspected, and a few years later he was selected by Hincmar, archbishop of Reims, to defend the doctrine of liberty of will against the extreme predestinarianism of the monk Gottschalk (Gotteschalchus). The treatise _De divina praedestinatione_, composed on this occasion, has been preserved, and from its general tenor one cannot be surprised that the author's orthodoxy was at once and vehemently suspected. Erigena argues the question entirely on speculative grounds, and starts with the bold affirmation that philosophy and religion are fundamentally one and the same--"Conficitur inde veram esse philosophiam veram religionem, conversimque veram religionem esse veram philosophiam." Even more significant is his handling of authority and reason, to which we shall presently refer. The work was warmly assailed by Drepanius Florus, canon of Lyons, and Prudentius, and was condemned by two councils--that of Valence in 855, and that of Langres in 859. By the former council his arguments were described as _Pultes Scotorum_ ("Scots porridge") and _commentum diaboli_ ("an invention of the devil").

Erigena's next work was a Latin translation of Dionysius the Areopagite (see DIONYSIUS AREOPAGITICUS) undertaken at the request of Charles the Bald. This also has been preserved, and fragments of a commentary by Erigena on Dionysius have been discovered in MS. A translation of the Areopagite's pantheistical writings was not likely to alter the opinion already formed as to Erigena's orthodoxy. Pope Nicholas I. was offended that the work had not been submitted for approval before being given to the world, and ordered Charles to send Erigena to Rome, or at least to dismiss him from his court. There is no evidence, however, that this order was attended to.

The latter part of his life is involved in total obscurity. The story that in 882 he was invited to Oxford by Alfred the Great, that he laboured there for many years, became abbot at Malmesbury, and was stabbed to death by his pupils with their "styles," is apparently without any satisfactory foundation, and doubtless refers to some other Johannes. Erigena in all probability never left France, and Haureau has advanced some reasons for fixing the date of his death about 877.

Erigena is the most interesting figure among the middle-age writers. The freedom of his speculation, and the boldness with which he works out his logical or dialectical system of the universe, altogether prevent us from classing him along with the scholastics properly so called. He marks, indeed, a stage of transition from the older Platonizing philosophy to the later and more rigid scholasticism. In no sense whatever can it be affirmed that with Erigena philosophy is in the service of theology. The above-quoted assertion as to the substantial identity between philosophy and religion is indeed repeated almost _totidem verbis_ by many of the later scholastic writers, but its significance altogether depends upon the selection of one or other term of the identity as fundamental or primary. Now there is no possibility of mistaking Erigena's position: to him philosophy or reason is first, is primitive; authority or religion is secondary, derived. "Auctoritas siquidem ex vera ratione processit, ratio vero nequaquam ex auctoritate. Omnis enim auctoritas, quae vera ratione non approbatur, infirma videtur esse. Vera autem ratio, quum virtutibus suis rata atque immutabilis munitur, nullius auctoritatis adstipulatione roborari indiget" (_De divisione naturae_, i. 71). F.D. Maurice, the only historian of note who declines to ascribe a rationalizing tendency to Erigena, obscures the question by the manner in which he states it. He asks his readers, after weighing the evidence advanced, to determine "whether he (Erigena) used his philosophy to explain away his theology, or to bring out what he conceived to be the fullest meaning of it." These alternatives seem to be wrongly put. "Explaining away theology" is something wholly foreign to the philosophy of that age; and even if we accept the alternative that Erigena endeavours speculatively to bring out the full meaning of theology, we are by no means driven to the conclusion that he was primarily or principally a theologian. He does not start with the datum of theology as the completed body of truth, requiring only elucidation and interpretation; his fundamental thought is that of the universe, nature, [Greek: to pan], or God, as the ultimate unity which works itself out into the rational system of the world. Man and all that concerns man are but parts of this system, and are to be explained by reference to it; for explanation or understanding of a thing is determination of its place in the universal or all. Religion or revelation is one element or factor in the divine process, a stage or phase of the ultimate rational life. The highest faculty of man, reason, _intellectus_, _intellectualis visio_, is that which is not content with the individual or partial, but grasps the whole and thereby comprehends the parts. In this highest effort of reason, which is indeed God thinking in man, thought and being are at one, the opposition of being and thought is overcome. When Erigena starts with such propositions, it is clearly impossible to understand his position and work if we insist on regarding him as a scholastic, accepting the dogmas of the church as ultimate data, and endeavouring only to present them in due order and defend them by argument.

Erigena's great work, _De divisione naturae_, which was condemned by a
council at Sens, by Honorius III. (1225), who described it as
"swarming with worms of heretical perversity," and by Gregory XIII. in
1585, is arranged in five books. The form of exposition is that of
dialogue; the method of reasoning is the syllogistic. The leading
thoughts are the following. _Natura_ is the name for the universal,
the totality of all things, containing in itself being and non-being.
It is the unity of which all special phenomena are manifestations. But
of this nature there are four distinct classes:--(1) that which
creates and is not created; (2) that which is created and creates; (3)
that which is created and does not create; (4) that which neither is
created nor creates. The first is God as the ground or origin of all
things, the last is God as the final end or goal of all things, that
into which the world of created things ultimately returns. The second
and third together compose the created universe, which is the
manifestation of God, God _in processu_, _Theophania_. Thus we
distinguish in the divine system beginning, middle and end; but these
three are in essence one--the difference is only the consequence of
our finite comprehension. We are compelled to envisage this eternal
process under the form of time, to apply temporal distinctions to that
which is extra- or supra-temporal. The universe of created things, as
we have seen, is twofold:--_first_, that which is created and
creates--the primordial ideas, archetypes, immutable relations, divine
acts of will, according to which individual things are formed;
_second_, that which is created and does not create, the world of
individuals, the effects of the primordial causes, without which the
causes have no true being. Created things have no individual or
self-independent existence; they are only in God; and each thing is a
manifestation of the divine, _theophania_, _divina apparitio_.

God alone, the uncreated creator of all, has true being. He is the
true universal, all-containing and incomprehensible. The lower cannot
comprehend the higher, and therefore we must say that the existence of
God is above being, above essence; God is above goodness, above
wisdom, above truth. No finite predicates can be applied to him; his
mode of being cannot be determined by any category. True theology is
negative. Nevertheless the world, as the _theophania_, the revelation
of God, enables us so far to understand the divine essence. We
recognize his being in the being of all things, his wisdom in their
orderly arrangement, his life in their constant motion. Thus God is
for us a Trinity--the Father as substance or being ([Greek: ousia]),
the Son as wisdom ([Greek: dynamis]), the Spirit as life ([Greek:
energeia]). These three are realized in the universe--the Father as
the system of things, the Son as the word, i.e. the realm of ideas,
the Spirit as the life or moving force which introduces individuality
and which ultimately draws back all things into the divine unity. In
man, as the noblest of created things, the Trinity is seen most
perfectly reflected; _intellectus_ ([Greek: nous]), _ratio_ ([Greek:
logos]) and _sensus_ ([Greek: dianoia]) make up the threefold thread
of his being. Not in man alone, however, but in all things, God is to
be regarded as realizing himself, as becoming incarnate.

The infinite essence of God, which may indeed be described as
_nihilum_ (nothing) is that from which all is created, from which all
proceeds or emanates. The first procession or emanation, as above
indicated, is the realm of ideas in the Platonic sense, the word or
wisdom of God. These ideas compose a whole or inseparable unity, but
we are able in a dim way to think of them as a system logically
arranged. Thus the highest idea is that of _goodness_; things are,
only if they are good; being without well-being is naught. _Essence_
participates in goodness--that which is good has being, and is
therefore to be regarded as a species of good. _Life_, again, is a
species of essence, _wisdom_ a species of life, and so on, always
descending from genus to species in a rigorous logical fashion.

The ideas are the eternal causes, which, under the moving influence of
the spirit, manifest themselves in their effects, the individual
created things. Manifestation, however, is part of the being or
essence of the causes, that is to say, if we interpret the expression,
God of necessity manifests himself in the world and is not without the
world. Further, as the causes are eternal, timeless, so creation is
eternal, timeless. The Mosaic account, then, is to be looked upon
merely as a mode in which is faintly shadowed forth what is above
finite comprehension. It is altogether allegorical, and requires to be
interpreted. Paradise and the Fall have no local or temporal being.
Man was originally sinless and without distinction of sex. Only after
the introduction of sin did man lose his spiritual body, and acquire
the animal nature with its distinction of sex. Woman is the
impersonation of man's sensuous and fallen nature; on the final return
to the divine unity, distinction of sex will vanish, and the spiritual
body will be regained.

The most remarkable and at the same time the most obscure portion of
the work is that in which the final return to God is handled.
Naturally sin is a necessary preliminary to this redemption, and
Erigena has the greatest difficulty in accounting for the fact of sin.
If God is true being, then sin can have no substantive existence; it
cannot be said that God knows of sin, for to God knowing and being are
one. In the universe of things, _as_ a universe, there can be no sin;
there must be perfect harmony. Sin, in fact, results from the will of
the individual who falsely represents something as good which is not
so. This misdirected will is punished by finding that the objects
after which it thirsts are in truth vanity and emptiness. Hell is not
to be regarded as having local existence; it is the inner state of the
sinful will. As the object of punishment is not the will or the
individual himself, but the misdirection of the will, so the result of
punishment is the final purification and redemption of all. Even the
devils shall be saved. All, however, are not saved at once; the stages
of the return to the final unity, corresponding to the stages in the
creative process, are numerous, and are passed through slowly. The
ultimate goal is _deificatio_, _theosis_ or resumption into the divine
being, when the individual soul is raised to a full knowledge of God,
and where knowing and being are one. After all have been restored to
the divine unity, there is no further creation. The ultimate unity is
that which neither is created nor creates.

EDITIONS.--There is a complete edition of Erigena's works in J.P.
Migne's _Patrologiae cursus completus_ (vol. cxxii.), edited by H.J.
Floss (Paris, 1853). The _De divina praedestinatione_ was published in
Gilbert Mauguin's _Veterum auctorum qui nono saeculo de
praedestinatione et gratia scripserunt opera et fragmenta_ (Paris,
1650). The commentary ("Expositiones") on Dionysius' _Hierarchiae
caelestes_ appeared in the _Appendix ad opera edita ab A. Maio_ (ed.
J. Cozza, Rome, 1871). Of the _De divisione naturae_, editions have
been published by Thomas Gale (Oxford, 1681); C.B. Schluter (Munster,
1838); and in Floss's _Opera omnia_; there is a German translation by
Ludwig Noack, _Johannes Scotus Erigena uber die Eintheilung der Natur_
(3 vols., 1874-1876). Erigena was also the author of some poems edited
by L. Traube in _Monumenta Germaniae historica. Poetae Latini aevi
Carolini_, iii. (1896). A commentary on the _Opuscula sacra_ of
Boetius is attributed to him and edited by E.K. Rand (1906).
Monographs on Erigena's life and works are numerous; see St Rene
Taillandier, _Scot Erigene et la philosophie scholastique_ (1843); T.
Christlieb, _Leben u. Lehre des Johannes Scotus Erigena_ (Gotha,
1860); J.N. Huber, _Johannes Scotus Erigena_ (Munich, 1861); W.
Kaulich, _Das speculative System des Johannes Scotus Erigena_ (Prague,
1860); A. Stockl, _De Joh. Scoto Erigena_ (1867); L. Noack, _Uber
Leben und Schriften des Joh. Scotus Erigena: die Wissenschaft und
Bildung seiner Zeit_ (Leipzig, 1876); R.L. Poole, _Medieval Thought_
(1884), and article in _Dictionary of National Biography_; T.
Wotschke, _Fichte und Erigena_ (Halle, 1896); M. Baumgartner in Wetzer
and Welte's _Kirchenlexikon_, x. (1897); Alice Gardner's _Studies in
John the Scot_ (1900); J. Draseke, _Joh. Scotus Erigena und seine
Gewahrsmanner_ (Leipzig, 1902); S.M. Deutsch in Herzog-Hauck's
_Realencyklopadie fur protestantische Theologie_, xviii. (1906); J.E.
Sandys, _Hist. of Classical Scholarship_ (1906), pp. 491-495. See also
the general works on scholastic philosophy, especially Haureau, Stockl
and Kaulich. An admirable resume is given by F.D. Maurice, _Medieval
Phil._ pp. 45-79. (R. Ad.; J. M. M.)

ERIGONE, in Greek mythology, daughter of Icarius, the hero of the Attic deme Icaria. Her father, who had been taught by Dionysus to make wine, gave some to some shepherds, who became intoxicated. Their companions, thinking they had been poisoned, killed Icarius and buried him under a tree on Mount Hymettus (or threw his body into a well). Erigone, guided by her faithful dog Maera, found his grave, and hanged herself on the tree. Dionysus sent a plague on the land, and all the maidens of Athens, in a fit of madness, hanged themselves like Erigone. Icarius, Erigone and Maera were set among the stars as Bootes (or Arcturus), Virgo and Procyon. The festival called Aeora (the "swing") was subsequently instituted to propitiate Icarius and Erigone. Various small images (in Lat. _oscilla_) were suspended on trees and swung backwards and forwards, and offerings of fruit were made (Hyginus, _Fab._ 130, _Poet. astron._ ii. 4; Apollodorus iii. 14). The story was probably intended to explain the origin of these _oscilla_, by which Dionysus, as god of trees (Dendrites), was propitiated, and the baneful influence of the dog-star averted (see also OSCILLA).

ERIN, an ancient name for Ireland. The oldest form of the word is Eriu, of which Erinn is the dative case. Eriu was itself almost certainly a contraction from a still more primitive form _Iberiu_ or _Iveriu_; for when the name of the island was written in ancient Greek it appeared as [Greek: Iouernia] (Ivernia), and in Latin as _Iberio_, _Hiberio_ or _Hibernia_, the first syllable of the word Eriu being thus represented in the classical languages by two distinct vowel sounds separated by _b_ or _v_. Of the Latin variants, _Iberio_ is the form found in the most ancient Irish MSS., such as the _Confession_ of St Patrick, and the same saint's _Epistle to Coroticus_. Further evidence to the same effect is found in the fact that the ancient Breton and Welsh names for Ireland were Ywerddon or Iverdon. In later Gaelic literature the primitive form Eriu became the dissyllable Eire; hence the Norsemen called the island the land of Eire, i.e. Ireland, the latter word being originally pronounced in three syllables. (See IRELAND: _Notices of Ireland in Greek and Roman writers_.) Nothing is known as to the meaning of the word in any of its forms, and Whitley Stokes's suggestion that it may have been connected with the Sanskrit _avara_, meaning "western," is admittedly no more than conjecture. There was, indeed, a native Irish legend, worthless from the standpoint of etymology, to account for the origin of the name. According to this myth there were three kings of the Dedannans reigning in Ireland at the coming of the Milesians, named MacColl, MacKecht and MacGrena. The wife of the first was Eire, and from her the name of the country was derived. Curiously, Ireland in ancient Erse poetry was often called "Fodla" or "Bauba," and these were the wives of the other two kings in the legend.

ERINNA, Greek poet, contemporary and friend of Sappho, a native of Rhodes or the adjacent island of Telos, flourished about 600 (according to Eusebius, 350 B.C.). Although she died at the early age of nineteen, her poems were among the most famous of her time and considered to rank with those of Homer. Of her best-known poem, [Greek: Elakate] (the _Distaff_), written in a mixture of Aeolic and Doric, which contained 300 hexameter lines, only 4 lines are now extant. Three epigrams in the Palatine anthology, also ascribed to her, probably belong to a later date.

The fragments have been edited (with those of Alcaeus) by J.
Pellegrino (1894).

ERINYES (Lat. _Furiae_), in Greek mythology, the avenging deities, properly the angry goddesses or goddesses of the curse pronounced upon evil-doers. According to Hesiod (_Theog._ 185) they were the daughters of Earth, and sprang from the blood of the mutilated Uranus; in Aeschylus (_Eum._ 321) they are the daughters of Night, in Sophocles (_O.C._ 40) of Darkness and Earth. Sometimes one Erinys is mentioned, sometimes several; Euripides first spoke of them as three in number, to whom later Alexandrian writers gave the names Alecto (unceasing in anger), Tisiphone (avenger of murder), Megaera (jealous). Their home is the world below, whence they ascend to earth to pursue the wicked. They punish all offences against the laws of human society, such as perjury, violation of the rites of hospitality, and, above all, the murder of relations. But they are not without benevolent and beneficent attributes. When the sinner has expiated his crime they are ready to forgive. Thus, their persecution of Orestes ceases after his acquittal by the Areopagus. It is said that on this occasion they were first called Eumenides ("the kindly"), a euphemistic variant of their real name. At Athens, however, where they had a sanctuary at the foot of the Areopagus hill and a sacred grove at Colonus, their regular name was Semnae (venerable). Black sheep were sacrificed to them during the night by the light of torches. A festival was held in their honour every year, superintended by a special priesthood, at which the offerings consisted of milk and honey mixed with water, but no wine. In Aeschylus, the Erinyes are represented as awful, Gorgon-like women, wearing long black robes, with snaky locks, bloodshot eyes and claw-like nails. Later, they are winged maidens of serious aspect, in the garb of huntresses, with snakes or torches in their hair, carrying scourges, torches or sickles. The identification of Erinyes with Sanskrit Saranyu, the swift-speeding storm cloud, is rejected by modern etymologists; according to M. Breal, the Erinyes are the personification of the formula of imprecation ([Greek: ara]), while E. Rohde sees in them the spirits of the dead, the angry souls of murdered men.

See C.O. Muller, _Dissertations on the Eumenides of Aeschylus_, (Eng.
tr., 1835); A. Rosenberg, _Die Erinyen_ (1874); J.E. Harrison,
_Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion_ (1903); and _Journal of
Hellenic Studies_, xix. p. 205, according to whom the Erinyes were
primarily local ancestral ghosts, potent for good or evil after death,
earth genii, originally conceived as embodied in the form of snakes,
whose primitive haunt and sanctuary was the omphalos at Delphi; E.
Rohde, _Psyche_ (1903); A. Rapp in Roscher's _Lexikon der Mythologie_,
and J.A. Hild in Daremberg and Saglio's _Dictionnaire des antiquites_,
s.v. FURIAE.

ERIPHYLE, in Greek mythology, sister of Adrastus and wife of Amphiaraus. Having been bribed by Polyneices with the necklace of Harmonia, she persuaded her husband to take part in the expedition of the Seven against Thebes, although he knew it would prove fatal to him. Before setting out, the seer charged his sons to slay their mother as soon as they heard of his death. The attack on Thebes was repulsed, and during the flight the earth opened and swallowed up Amphiaraus together with his chariot. His son Alcmaeon, as he had been bidden, slew his mother, and was driven from place to place by the Erinyes, seeking purification and a new home (Apollodorus iii. 6. 7).

ERIS, in Greek mythology, a sister of the war-god Ares (Homer, _Iliad_, iv. 440), and in the Hesiodic theogony (225) a daughter of Night. In the later legends of the Trojan War, Eris, not having been invited to the marriage festival of Peleus and Thetis, flings a golden apple (the "apple of discord") among the guests, to be given to the most beautiful. The claims of the three deities Hera, Aphrodite and Athena are decided by Paris in favour of Aphrodite, who as a reward assists him to gain possession of Helen (Hyginus, _Fab._ 92; Lucian, _Charidemus_, 17). Hesiod also mentions (_W. and D._ 24) a beneficent Eris, the personification of honourable rivalry. In Virgil (_Aeneid_, viii. 702) and other Roman poets Eris is represented by Discordia.

ERITH, an urban district in the north-western parliamentary division of Kent, England, 14 m. E. by S. of London, on the South Eastern & Chatham railway. Pop. (1891) 13,414; (1901) 25,296. It lies on the south bank of the Thames and extends up the hills above the shore, many villas having been erected on the higher ground. The park of a former seat, Belvedere, was thus built over (c. 1860), and the mansion became a home for disabled seamen. The church of St John the Baptist, though largely altered by modern restoration, retains Early English to Perpendicular portions, and some early monuments and brasses. Erith has large engineering and gun factories, and in the neighbourhood are gunpowder, oil, glue and manure works. The southern outfall works of the London main drainage system are at Crossness in the neighbouring lowland called Plumstead Marshes. Erith is the headquarters of several yacht clubs. Erith, the name of which is commonly derived from A.S. _Aerra-hythe_ (old haven), was anciently a borough, and was granted a market and fairs in 1313. Down to the close of the 17th century it was of some importance as a naval station.

ERITREA, an Italian colony on the African coast of the Red Sea. It extends from Ras Kasar, a cape 110 m. S. of Suakin, in 18 deg. 2' N., as far as Ras Dumeira (12 deg. 42' N.), in the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, a coast-line of about 650 m. The colony is bounded inland by the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Abyssinia and French Somaliland. It consists of the coast lands lying between the capes named and of part of the northern portion of the Abyssinian plateau. The total area is about 60,000 sq. m. The population is approximately 450,000, of which, exclusive of soldiers, not more than 3000 are whites.

The land frontier starting from Ras Kasar runs in a south-westerly direction until in about 14 deg. 15' N., 36 deg. 35' E. it reaches the river Setit, some distance above the junction of that stream with the Atbara. This, the farthest point inland, is 198 m. S.W. of Massawa. The frontier now turns east, following for a short distance the course of the river Setit; thence it strikes north-easterly to the Mareb, and from 38 deg. E. follows that river and its tributaries the Belesa and Muna, until within 42 m. of the sea directly south of Annesley Bay. At this point the frontier turns south and east, crossing the Afar or Danakil country at a distance of 60 kilometres (37.28 m.) from the coast-line. About 12 deg. 20' N. the French possessions in Somaliland are reached. Here the frontier turns N.E. and so continues until the coast of the Red Sea is again reached at a point south of the town of Raheita. In the southern part of the colony are small sultanates, such as those of Aussa and Raheita, which are under Italian protection. The Dahlak archipelago and other groups of islands along the coast belong to Eritrea.

_Physical Features._--The coast-line is of coral formation and is, in
the neighbourhood of Massawa, thickly studded with small islands. The
chief indentations are Annesley Bay, immediately south of Massawa, and
Assab Bay in the south. The colony consists of two widely differing
regions. The northern division is part of the Abyssinian highlands.
The southern division, part of the Afar or Danakil country, includes
all the territory of the colony south of Annesley Bay. These two
regions are connected by a narrow strip of land behind Annesley Bay,
where the Abyssinian hills approach close to the sea. From this bay
the coast-line trends S.E. so that at Tajura Bay the distance between
the Abyssinian hills and the sea is over 200 m. The Afar country is
part of the East African rift-valley, and in the southern parts of the
valley its surface is diversified by ranges of hills, frequently
volcanic, and by lakes. The plains, however, extend over large areas,
they are generally arid and are often covered with mimosa trees which
form a kind of jungle called by the natives _khala_. The torrents
which descend from the Abyssinian plateau usually fail to reach the
sea. They are mostly bordered by dense vegetation; in the dry season
water is found in pools in the river beds or can be obtained by
digging. The principal rivers enter and are lost in one or other of
two salt plains or basins, that of Asali in the north and that of
Aussa in the south. The Hawash flows through the Aussa country in a
N.E. direction, but is lost in lakes Abbebad and Aussa (see
ABYSSINIA). The Raguali and other rivers drain into the Asali basin.
This basin, like that of Aussa, is in places 200 ft. below sea-level.
On the west the Asali basin reaches to the Abyssinian foot-hills; in
its southern part is the small lake Alelbad. The eastern edge of the
basin is formed by a ridge of gypsum and on its margin grow palms. In
parts the salt lies thick on the plain, which then has the appearance
of a lake frozen over. South of Lake Alelbad is a volcano called
Artali or Erta-ale ("the smoky"), and farther to the S.E., in about 13
deg. 15' N., is the peak of Afdera, which was in eruption in June
1907. The hills, 1000 to 4000 ft. in height, which run more or less
parallel to and a few miles from the coast, include the volcano of
Dubbi (reported active in 1861), some 30 m. S. of the port of Edd
(Eddi). In 14 deg. 52' N., 39 deg. 53' E. and near the northern end of
the zone of depression the volcano of Alid (2985 ft.) rises from the
trough. Its chief crest forms an elongated ring and encloses a crater
over half a mile in diameter and with walls 350 ft. high. North and
south of Alid extends a vast lava field. Dubbi and Alid are in Italian
territory; the greater part of Afar belongs to Abyssinia.

At Annesley Bay the narrow coast plain is succeeded by foothills
separated by small valleys through which flow innumerable streams.
From these hills the ascent to the plateau which constitutes northern
Eritrea is very steep. This tableland, which has a general elevation
of about 6500 ft., is fairly fertile despite a desert region--Sheb--to
the S.E. of Keren. It is characterized by rich, well-watered valleys,
verdant plains and flat-topped hills with steep sides, running in
ranges or isolated. The highest hills in Eritrean territory rise to
about 10,000 ft. The plateau is known by various names, the region
directly west of Massawa being called Hamasen. To the west and north
the plateau sinks in terraces to the plains of the Sudan, and eastward
falls more abruptly to the Red Sea, the coast plain, known as the
Samhar, consisting of sandy country covered with mimosa and, along the
khors, with a somewhat richer vegetation.

The colony contains no navigable streams. For a short distance the
Setit (known in its upper course as the Takazze), a tributary of the
Atbara, forms the frontier, as does also in its upper course the Gash
or Mareb (see ABYSSINIA). The Mareb, often dry in summer, in the
floods is a large and impassable river. Both the Setit and Mareb have
a general westerly course across the Abyssinian plateau. The Baraka
(otherwise Barka) and Anseba rise in the Hamasen plateau near Asmara
within a short distance of each other. The Baraka flows west and then
north; the Anseba, which has a more easterly course, also flows
northward and joins the Baraka a little N. of 17 deg. N. A few miles
below the confluence the Baraka leaves Italian territory. It is (as is
the Anseba) an intermittent stream. After heavy rain it discharges
some of its water into the Red Sea north of Tokar. The whole of the
hill country north of Asmara belongs to the drainage area of the
Baraka or Anseba. Of the numerous streams which, north of the Danakil
country, run direct from the hills to the Red Sea, the Hadas may be
mentioned, as along the valley of that stream is one of the most
frequented routes to the tableland. The Hadas, in time of flood,
reaches the ocean near Adulis in Annesley Bay.

_Climate._--The climate in different parts of the colony varies
greatly. Three distinct climatic zones are found:--(1) that of the
coastlands, including altitudes up to 1650 ft., (2) that of the
escarpments and valleys, and (3) that of the high plateau and alpine
summits. In the coast zone the heat and humidity are excessive during
most of the year, June, September and October being the hottest
months. Rains occur between November and April, during which time the
temperature is lower. In this zone malarial fevers prevail in winter.
The heat is greatest at Massawa, where the mean temperature averages
88 deg. F., but where, in summer, the thermometer often rises to 120
deg. F. in the shade. In the second zone the climate is more temperate
and there is considerable variation in temperature owing to nocturnal
radiation. This zone falls within the regime of the summer monsoon
rains, while those districts adjoining the coast zone enjoy also
winter rains. August is the most rainy and May the hottest month. On
the high plateau, i.e. the third zone, the climate is generally
moderately cool. Slight rain falls in the spring and abundant monsoon
rains from June to September. The heat is greatest in the dry season,
November to April. Above 8500 ft. the climate becomes sub-alpine in
character.

_Flora and Fauna._--In the low country the flora differs little from
that of tropical Africa generally, whilst on the plateau the
vegetation is characteristic of the temperate zone. The olive tree
grows on the high plateau and covers the flanks of the hills to within
3000 ft. of sea-level. The sycamore-fig tree grows to enormous
proportions in parts of the plateau. Lower down durra, maize and
bultuc grow in profusion. In the northern part of the colony,
especially along the Khor Baraka, the dom palm flourishes. The fauna
includes, in the low country, the lion, panther, elephant, camel, and
antelope of numerous species. On the plateau the fauna is that of
Abyssinia (q.v.).

_Inhabitants._--The inhabitants of the plains and foothills are for
the most part semi-nomad shepherds, living on durra and milk. In the
north these people are largely of Arab or Hamitic stock, such as the
Beni-Amer, but include various negro tribes. Afar and Somali form the
population of the southern regions. The inhabitants of the plateau are
Abyssinians. The nomads are Mussulmans and are, as a rule, docile and
pacific, though the Danakils are given to occasional raiding. The
Abyssinians are more warlike, but they have settled down under Italian
rule. Among the native industries are mat-weaving, cotton-weaving,
silver-working and rudimentary iron and leather working. (See AFARS;
SOMALILAND and ABYSSINIA.)

_Towns._--The principal places on the coast are Massawa (q.v.), pop.
about 10,000, the chief seaport of the colony, Assab, chief town of
the Danakil region, to which converges the trade from Abyssinia across
the Aussa country, and Zula (q.v.), identified with the ancient
Adulis. The chief town in the interior is Asmara (q.v.), the capital
of the colony and under the Abyssinians capital of the province of
Hamasen, and favourite headquarters of Ras Alula (see below and also
ABYSSINIA). It is situated 7800 ft. above the sea, and has something
of the aspect of a European town. Keren, 50 m. N.W. of Asmara, is the
centre for a district (Bogos) fertilized by the upper course of the
Anseba; Agordat, on the river Baraka, on the road from Keren to
Kassala, is the centre of the Beni-Amer, Algheden and Sabderat tribes;
Mogolo, on the lower Mareb, is the rendezvous of the Baria and Baza
tribes. Towards Abyssinia the chief towns are Saganeiti (capital of
the Okule-Kusai province), Godofelassi and Adi-Ugri, the two latter
situated in the fertile plain of the Serae; Adiquala, on the edge of
the Mareb gorge; and Arrasa, the centre of the districts constituting
the province of Deki-Tesfa.

_Agriculture and Trade._--The nomads of the plains possess large herds
of cattle and camels. The low country is almost entirely pastoral and
unsuited for the cultivation of crops. On the other hand almost all
European cereals flourish in the intermediate zone and on the high
plateau, and the Abyssinian is a good agriculturist and understands
irrigation. Numbers of emigrants from Italy possess farms on the
plateau. Experiments in the cultivation of coffee, tobacco and cotton
have given good results in the intermediate zone. Besides camels and
oxen, sheep and goats are numerous, and meat, hides and butter are
articles of local trade. Hides are the principal export (about L50,000
a year). Wax, gum, coffee and ivory are also exported. Pearl fishing
is carried on at Massawa and the Dahlak islands. The annual value of
the fisheries is about L40,000 (pearls L10,000, mother of pearl
L30,000). Gold mines are worked near Asmara. Salt, obtained from the
salt lakes in the Aussa and Danakil countries, is a valuable article
of commerce. Cotton goods are the chief imports. There is a little
trade with northern Abyssinia, but it is undeveloped. For the five
years 1901-1905 the average value of the external trade was L456,000
per annum. The imports more than doubled the exports.

_Communications._--A railway, 65 m. long, connects Massawa with
Asmara. An extension of the line is planned from Asmara to Sabderat
and Kassala. The whole territory is crossed by camel and mule paths
between the sea and the high plateau, and between the various centres
of population. Every valley that brings water to the Red Sea has a
route leading to the high plateau. The great arteries, however, number
three, which, starting from Massawa by way of Asmara, run, two to
Abyssinia, and one to Kassala and Khartum. They are all more or less
practicable for carts, and are flanked by a good telegraph line as
long as they lie in Italian territory. There are also two caravan
routes from Assab Bay, across the Danakil country to southern
Abyssinia. The northern leads by a comparatively easy ascent to Yejju,
the more southern follows the valley of the Hawash. A telegraph line
500 m. long connects Massawa with Adis Ababa via Asmara. Massawa is
also telegraphically connected with the outside world by a cable to
Perim via Assab. There is regular steamship communication with Italy.

_Administration._--Eritrea is administered by a civil governor
responsible to the ministry of foreign affairs at Rome. It is divided
into six provinces, each governed by a regional commissioner. Some
tracts of frontier territory are detached from the various regions and
entrusted to political residents, as, for instance, on the Sudan
frontier and also on the Abyssinian boundary, where strict
surveillance is necessary to repress raiding incursions from Tigre,
and where the chief intelligence department is established. The six
regions or principal provinces are:--Asmara, which includes Hamasen
and other small districts; Keren, which comprises the high territories
to the north of Asmara, i.e. the Bogos country; Massawa, extending
over all the tribes between the high plateau and the sea from the
Hababs to the Danakil; Assab, which extends from Edd to Raheita;
Okule-Kusai, the plateau country S.E. of Asmara; Serae, including
Deki-Tesfa, the country S.W. of Asmara. The regional commissioners and
the political residents act either by means of the village headmen
(_Shum_ or _Chicca_), by the chiefs of districts in the few localities
where villages are still organized in districts, or by the headmen of
tribes, and by the councils of the elders wherever these remain.

Revenue is derived from customs duties, direct taxation and tribute
paid by the nomad tribes. The local revenue, which for the period
1897-1907 was about L100,000 a year, is supplemented by grants from
Italy, the total cost of the administration being about L400,000
yearly. Nearly half the expenditure is on the military force
maintained.

_Justice._--Civil justice for natives is administered, in the first
instance, by the headmen of villages, provinces, tribes, or by
councils of notables (_Shumagalle_); in appeal, by the residents and
regional tribunals, and, in the last instance, by the colonial court
of appeal. Europeans are entirely under Italian jurisdiction. Penal
justice is administered by Italian judges only. An administrative
tribunal settles, without appeal, questions of tribute, disputes
concerning family, village or tribal landmarks, as well as suits
involving the colonial government. The civil laws for the natives are
those established by local usage. Europeans are answerable to the
Italian civil code. Penal laws are the same as in Italy, except where
modified by local usages. Appeal to the Rome court of cassation is
admitted against all penal and civil sentences.

_Defence._--Defence is entrusted to a corps of colonial troops, partly
Italian and partly native; to a militia (_milizia mobile_) formed by
natives who have already served in the colonial corps; and to the
_chitet_ or general levy which, in time of war, places all male
able-bodied inhabitants under arms. The regional commissioners and
political residents have at their disposal some hundreds of irregular
paid soldiers under native chiefs. In war time these irregulars form
part of the colonial corps, but in time of peace serve as frontier
police. The colonial corps, about 5000 strong, garrisons the chief
places of strategic importance, such as Asmara, Keren and Saganeiti.
The irregular troops, on foot, or mounted on camels, number about 1000
men. The militia consists of 3500 men of all arms, and is intended in
time of war to reinforce the various divisions of the colonial corps.
The _chitet_ yields between 3000 and 4000 men, to be employed on the
lines of communication or in caravan service. All these troops are
intended to ward off a first attack, so as to allow time for the
arrival of reinforcements from Italy. The customs and political
surveillance along the coast is entrusted, afloat, to the Massawa
naval station, and, ashore, to a coastguard company 400 strong
stationed at Meder, with detachments at Assab, Massawa, Raheita, Edd
and Taclai.

_History._--Traces of the ancient Eritrean civilization are scarce. During the prosperous periods of ancient Egypt, Egyptian squadrons asserted their rule over the west Red Sea coast, and under the Ptolemies the port of Golden Berenice (Adulis?) was an Egyptian fortress, afterwards abandoned. During the early years of the Roman empire, Eritrea formed part of an important independent state--that of the Axumites (Assamites). At the end of the reign of Nero, and perhaps even earlier, the king of the Axumites ruled over the Red Sea coast from Suakin to the strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, and traded constantly with Egypt. This potentate called himself "king of kings," commanded an army and a fleet, coined money, adopted Greek as the official language, and lived on good terms with the Roman empire. The Axumites belonged originally to the Hamitic race, but the immigration of the Himyaritic tribes of southern Arabia speedily imposed a new language and civilization. Therefore the ancient Abyssinian language, Geez, and its living dialects, Amharic and Tigrina, are Semitic, although modified by the influence of the old Hamitic Agau or Agao. Adulis (Adovlis), slightly to the north of Zula (q.v.), was the chief Axumite port. From Adulis started the main road, which led across the high plateau to the capital Axomis (Axum). Along the road are still to be seen vestiges of cities and inscribed monuments, such as the Himyaritic inscriptions on the high plateau of Kohait, the six obelisks with a Saban inscription at Toconda, and an obelisk with an inscription at Amba Sait. Other monuments exist elsewhere, as well as coins of the Axumite period with Greek and Ethiopian inscriptions. After the rise of the Ethiopian empire the history of Eritrea is bound up with that of Ethiopia, but not so entirely as to be completely fused. The documents of the Portuguese expedition of the 16th century and other Ethiopian records show that all the country north of the Mareb enjoyed relative autonomy under a vassal of the Ethiopian emperor.

Michael, counsellor of Solomon, who was king of the country north of the Mareb, usurped the throne of Solomon during the reign of the Emperor Atzie Jasu II. (1729-1753), and, after proclaiming himself ras of Tigre and "protector of the empire," ceded the North Mareb country to an enemy of the rightful dynasty. Hence a long struggle between the dispossessed family and the occupants of the North Mareb throne. The coast regions had meantime passed from the control of the Abyssinians. In the 16th century the Turks made themselves masters of Zula, Massawa, &c., and these places were never recovered by the Abyssinians. In 1865 Massawa and the neighbouring coast was acquired by Egypt, the khedive Ismail entertaining projects for connecting the port by railway with the Nile. The Egyptians took advantage of civil war in Abyssinia to seize Keren and the Bogos country in 1872[1], an action against which the negus Johannes (King John), newly come to the throne, did not at the time protest. In 1875 and 1876 the Egyptians, who sought to increase their conquests, were defeated by the Abyssinians at Gundet and Gura. Walad Michael, the hereditary ruler of Bogos, fought as ally of King John at Gundet and of the Egyptians at Gura. For two years Walad Michael continued to harass the border, but in December 1878 he submitted to King John, by whose orders he was (Sept. 1879) imprisoned upon an amba, or flat-topped mountain, whence he only succeeded in escaping in 1890. In 1879 his territory was given by King John to Ras Alula, who retained it until, in August 1889, the Italians occupied Asmara (see ABYSSINIA: _History_).

An Egyptian garrison remained at Keren in the Bogos country until 1884, when in consequence of the revolt of the Mahdi it was withdrawn, Bogos being occupied by Abyssinia on the 12th of September of that year. On the 5th of February 1885 an Italian force, with the approval of Great Britain, occupied Massawa, the Egyptian garrison returning to Egypt. This occupation led to wars with Abyssinia and finally to the establishment of the colony in its present limits. The history of the Italian-Abyssinian relations is fully told in the articles ITALY and ABYSSINIA (history sections).

It was not, however, at Massawa that Italy first obtained a foothold in eastern Africa. The completion of the Suez Canal led Italy as well as Great Britain and France to seek territorial rights on the Red Sea coasts. The purchase of Assab and the neighbouring region for L1880, from the sultan Berehan of Raheita for use as a coaling station by the Italian Rubattino Steamship Company, in March 1870, formed the nucleus of Italy's colonial possessions. This purchase was protested against by Egypt, Turkey and Great Britain; the last named power being willing to recognize an Italian commercial settlement, but nothing more. (The Indian government viewed the establishment of the Italians on the new highway to the East with a good deal of ill-humour.) Eventually, the British opposition being overcome and that of Egypt and Turkey disregarded, Assab, by a decree of the 5th of July 1882, was declared an Italian colony. Between 1883 and 1888 various treaties were concluded with the sultan of Aussa ceding the Danakil coast to Italy and recognizing an Italian protectorate over the whole of his country--through which passes the trade route from Assab Bay to Shoa.

On the 1st of January 1890 the various Italian possessions on the coast of the Red Sea were united by royal decree into one province under the title of the Colony of Eritrea--so named after the Erythraeum Mare of the Romans. At first the government of the colony was purely military, but after the defeat of the Italians by the Abyssinians at Adowa, the administration was placed upon a civil basis (1898-1900). The frontiers were further defined by a French-Italian convention (24th of January 1900) fixing the frontier between French Somaliland and the Italian possessions at Raheita, and also by various agreements with Great Britain and Abyssinia. A tripartite agreement between Italy, Abyssinia and Great Britain, dated the 15th of May 1902, placed the territory of the Kanama tribe, on the north bank of the Setit, within Eritrea. A convention of the 16th of May 1908 settled the Abyssinian-Eritrean frontier in the Afar country, the boundary being fixed at 60 kilometres from the coast. The task of reconstructing the administration on a civil basis and of developing the commerce of the colony was entrusted to Signor F. Martini, who was governor for nine years (1898-1906). Under civil rule the colony made steady though somewhat slow progress.

AUTHORITIES.--See B. Melli, _La Colonia Eritrea dalle sue origini al
anno 1901_ (Parma, 1901); G.B. Penne, _Per l'Italia Africana. Studio
critico_ (Rome, 1906); R. Perini, _Di qua dal Mareb_ (Florence, 1905),
a monograph on the Asmara zone; F. Martini, _Nell' Africa Italiana_
(3rd ed., Milan, 1891); A.B. Wylde, _Modern Abyssinia_, chaps. v.-ix.
(London, 1901); E.D. Schoenfeld, _Erythraa und der agyptische Sudan_,
chaps. i.-xii. (Berlin, 1904); Luigi Chiala, _La Spedizione di
Massana_ (Turin, 1888); _Abyssinian Green Books_ published at
intervals in 1895 and 1896, covering the period from 1870 to the end
of the Italo-Abyssinian War; Vico Mantegazza, _La Guerra in Africa_
(Florence, 1896); General Baratieri, _Memorie d'Africa_ (Rome, 1898);
C. de la Jonquiere, _Les Italiens en Erythree_ (Paris, 1897); G.F.H.
Berkeley, _The Campaign of Adowa_ (London, 1902). For orography and
geology see an article by P. Verri in _Boll. Soc. geog. italiana_,
1909, and for climate an article in _Rivista coloniale_ (1906), by A.
Tancredi. A. Allori compiled a _Piccolo Dizionario eritreo,
italiano-arabo-amarico_ (Milan, 1895).

For Afar consult W. Munzinger, "A Journey through the Afar Country" in
_Journ. Royal Geog. Soc._ for 1869; V. Bottego, "Nella Terra dei
Danakil," in _Boll. Soc. Geog. Italiana_, 1892; Count C. Rossini, "Al
Ragali" in _L'Espl. Comm._ of Milan, 1903-1904; and articles by G.
Dainelli and O. Marinelli in the _Riv. Geog. Italiana_ of Florence for
1906-1908, dealing with the volcanic regions.

Bibliographies will be found in G. Fumagalli's _Bibliografia Etiopica_
(Milan, 1893) and in the _Riv. Geog. Italiana_ for 1907.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] During the Second Empire unsuccessful efforts were made by France
to obtain a Red Sea port and a foothold in northern Abyssinia. (See
SOMALILAND: _French_.)

ERIVAN, a government of Russia, Transcaucasia, having the province of Kars on the W., the government of Tiflis on the N., that of Elisavetpol on the N. and E., and Persia and Turkish Armenia on the S. It occupies the top of an immense plateau (6000-8000 ft.). Continuous chains of mountains are met with only on its borders, and in the E., but the whole surface is thickly set with short ridges and isolated mountains of volcanic origin, of which Alagoz (14,440 ft.) and Ararat (16,925 ft.) are the most conspicuous and the most important. Both must have been active in Tertiary times. Lake Gok-cha (540 sq. m.) is encircled by such volcanoes, and the neighbourhood of Alexandropol is a "volcanic amphitheatre," being entirely buried under volcanic deposits. The same is true of the slopes leading down to the river Aras; and the valley of the upper Aras is a stony desert, watered only by irrigation, which is carried on with great difficulty owing to the character of the soil. The government is drained by the Aras, which forms the boundary with Persia and flows with great velocity down its stony bed, the fall being 17-22 ft. per mile in its upper course, and 9 ft. at Ordubad, where it quits the government, while lower down it again increases to 23 ft. Many of the small lakes, filling volcanic craters, are of great depth. Timber is very scarce. A variety of useful minerals exists, but only rock-salt is obtained, at Nakhichevan and Kulp. The climate is extremely varied, the following being the average temperatures and mean annual rainfall at Alexandropol (alt. 5078 ft.) and Aralykh (2755 ft.) respectively: year 42 deg., January 12 deg., July 65 deg., mean rainfall 16.2 in.; and year 53 deg., January 20.5 deg., July 79 deg., rainfall 6.3 in. The population numbered 829,578 in 1897 (only 375,086 women), of whom 82,278 lived in the towns. An estimate in 1906 gave a total of 909,100. They consist chiefly of Armenians (441,000), Tatars (40%), Kurds (49,389), with Russians, Greeks and Tates. Most of the Armenians belong to the Gregorian (Christian) Church, and only 4020 to the Armenian Catholic Church. The Tatars are mostly Shiite Mussulmans, only 27,596 being Sunnites; 7772 belong to the peculiar faith of the Yezids. While barley only can be grown on the high parts of the plateau, cotton, mulberry, vines and all sorts of fruit are cultivated in the valley of the Aras. Cattle-breeding is extensively carried on; camels also are bred, and leeches are collected out of the swamps and exported to Persia. Industry is in its infancy, but cottons, carpets, and felt goods are made in the villages. A considerable trade is carried on with Persia, but trade with Asia Minor is declining. The government is divided into seven districts--Erivan, Alexandropol, Echmiadzin (chief town, Vagarshapat), Nakhichevan, Novobayazet, Surmali (chief town, Igdyr), and Sharur-daralagoz (chief town, Norashen). The principal towns are Erivan (see below), Alexandropol (32,018 inhabitants in 1897), Novobayazet (8507), Nakhichevan (8845), and Vagarshapat (3400).