Chapter II: Part 2

ISATIN, C8H5NO2, in chemistry, a derivative of indol, interesting on account of its relation to indigo; it may be regarded as the anhydride of ortho-aminobenzoylformic or isatinic acid. It crystallizes in orange red prisms which melt at 200-201 deg. C. It may be prepared by oxidizing indigo with nitric or chromic acid (O. L. Erdmann, _Jour. prak. Chem._, 1841, 24, p. 11); by boiling ortho-nitrophenylpropiolic acid with alkalis (A. Baeyer, _Ber._, 1880, 13, p. 2259), or by oxidizing carbostyril with alkaline potassium permanganate (P. Friedlander and H. Ostermaier, _Ber._, 1881, 14, p. 1921). P. J. Meyer (German Patent 26736 (1883)) obtains substituted isatins by condensing para-toluidine with dichloracetic acid, oxidizing the product with air and then hydrolysing the oxidized product with hydrochloric acid. T. Sandmeyer (German Patents 113981 and 119831 (1899)) obtained isatin-[alpha]-anilide by condensing aniline with chloral hydrate and hydroxylamine, an intermediate product isonitrosodiphenylacetamidine being obtained, which is converted into isatin-[alpha]-anilide by sulphuric acid. This can be converted into indigo by reduction with ammonium sulphide. Isatin dissolved in concentrated sulphuric acid gives a blue coloration with thiophene, due to the formation of indophenin (see _Abst. J.C.S._, 1907). Concentrated nitric acid oxidizes it to oxalic acid, and alkali fusion yields aniline. It dissolves in soda forming a violet solution, which soon becomes yellow, a change due to the transformation of sodium N-isatin into sodium isatate, the _aci_-isatin salt being probably formed intermediately (Heller, _Abst. J.C.S._, 1907, i. p. 442). Most metallic salts are N-derivatives yielding N-methyl ethers; the silver salt is, however, an O-derivative, yielding an O-methyl ether (A. v. Baeyer, 1883; W. Peters, _Abst. J.C.S._, 1907, i. p. 239).

/\ /CO /\ /CO /\ /CO /\ /CO
/ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \
| | \CO | | \CO | | \ | | \
| | / | | / | | //C(OH) | | //COAg.
\ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ // \ / \ //
\/ \NH \/ \N(Na) \/ \N \/ \N

Isatin([psi]) Sodium salt Isatin Silver salt

ISAURIA, in ancient geography, a district in the interior of Asia Minor, of very different extent at different periods. The permanent nucleus of it was that section of the Taurus which lies directly to south of Iconium and Lystra. Lycaonia had all the Iconian plain; but Isauria began as soon as the foothills were reached. Its two original towns, Isaura Nea and Isaura Palaea, lay, one among these foothills (_Dorla_) and the other on the watershed (Zengibar Kale). When the Romans first encountered the Isaurians (early in the 1st century B.C.), they regarded Cilicia Trachea as part of Isauria, which thus extended to the sea; and this extension of the name continued to be in common use for two centuries. The whole basin of the Calycadnus was reckoned Isaurian, and the cities in the valley of its southern branch formed what was known as the Isaurian Decapolis. Towards the end of the 3rd century A.D., however, all Cilicia was detached for administrative purposes from the northern slope of Taurus, and we find a province called at first Isauria-Lycaonia, and later Isauria alone, extending up to the limits of Galatia, but not passing Taurus on the south. Pisidia, part of which had hitherto been included in one province with Isauria, was also detached, and made to include Iconium. In compensation Isauria received the eastern part of Pamphylia. Restricted again in the 4th century, Isauria ended as it began by being just the wild district about Isaura Palaea and the heads of the Calycadnus. Isaura Palaea was besieged by Perdiccas, the Macedonian regent after Alexander's death; and to avoid capture its citizens set the place alight and perished in the flames. During the war of the Cilician and other pirates against Rome, the Isaurians took so active a part that the proconsul P. Servilius deemed it necessary to follow them into their fastnesses, and compel the whole people to submission, an exploit for which he received the title of Isauricus (75 B.C.). The Isaurians were afterwards placed for a time under the rule of Amyntas, king of Galatia; but it is evident that they continued to retain their predatory habits and virtual independence. In the 3rd century they sheltered the rebel emperor, Trebellianus. In the 4th century they are still described by Ammianus Marcellinus as the scourge of the neighbouring provinces of Asia Minor; but they are said to have been effectually subdued in the reign of Justinian. In common with all the eastern Taurus, Isauria passed into the hands of Turcomans and Yuruks with the Seljuk conquest. Many of these have now coalesced with the aboriginal population and form a settled element: but the district is still lawless.

This comparatively obscure people had the honour of producing two Byzantine emperors, Zeno, whose native name was Traskalisseus Rousoumbladeotes, and Leo III., who ascended the throne of Constantinople in 718, reigned till 741, and became the founder of a dynasty of three generations. The ruins of Isaura Palaea are mainly remarkable for their fine situation and their fortifications and tombs. Those of Isaura Nea have disappeared, but numerous inscriptions and many sculptured _stelae_, built into the houses of _Dorla_, prove the site. It was the latter, and not the former town, that Servilius reduced by cutting off the water supply. The site was identified by W. M. Ramsay in 1901. The only modern exploration of highland Isauria was that made by J. S. Sterrett in 1885; but it was not exhaustive.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--W. M. Ramsay, _Historical Geography of Asia Minor_
(1890), and article "Nova Isaura" in _Journ. Hell. Studies_ (1905); A.
M. Ramsay, ibid. (1904); J. R. S. Sterrett, "Wolfe Expedition to Asia
Minor," _Papers Amer. Inst. of Arch._ iii. (1888); C. Ritter,
_Erdkunde_, xix. (1859); E. J. Davis, _Life in As. Turkey_ (1879).
(D. G. H.)

ISCHIA (Gr. [Greek: Pithekousa], Lat. _Aenaria_, in poetry _Inarime_), an island off the coast of Campania, Italy, 16 m. S.W. of Naples, to the province of which it belongs, and 7 m. S.W. of the Capo Miseno, the nearest point of the mainland. Pop. about 20,000. It is situated at the W. extremity of the Gulf of Naples, and is the largest island near Naples, measuring about 19 m. in circumference and 26 sq. m. in area. It belongs to the same volcanic system as the mainland near it, and the Monte Epomeo (anc. [Greek: Epopeus], viewpoint), the highest point of the island (2588 ft.), lies on the N. edge of the principal crater, which is surrounded by twelve smaller cones. The island was perhaps occupied by Greek settlers even before Cumae; its Eretrian and Chalcidian inhabitants abandoned it about 500 B.C. owing to an eruption, and it is said to have been deserted almost at once by the greater part of the garrison which Hiero I. of Syracuse had placed there about 470 B.C., owing to the same cause. Later on it came into the possession of Naples, but passed into Roman hands in 326, when Naples herself lost her independence. The ancient town, traces of the fortifications of which still exist, was situated near Lacco, at the N.W. corner of the island. Augustus gave it back to Naples in exchange for Capri. After the fall of Rome it suffered attacks and devastations from the successive masters of Italy, until it was finally taken by the Neapolitans in 1299.

Several eruptions are recorded in Roman times. The last of which we have any knowledge occurred in 1301, but the island was visited by earthquakes in 1881 and 1883, 1700 lives being lost in the latter year, when the town of Casamicciola on the north side of the island was almost entirely destroyed. The hot springs here, which still survive from the period of volcanic activity, rise at a temperature of 147 deg. Fahr. and are alkaline and saline; they are much visited by bathers, especially in summer. They were known in Roman times, and many votive altars dedicated to Apollo and the nymphs have been found. The whole island is mountainous, and is remarkable for its beautiful scenery and its fertility. Wine, corn, oil and fruit are produced, especially the former, while the mountain slopes are clothed with woods. Tiles and pottery are made in the island. Straw-plaiting is a considerable industry at Lacco; and a certain amount of fishing is also done. The potter's clay of Ischia served for the potteries of Cumae and Puteoli in ancient times, and was indeed in considerable demand until the catastrophe at Casamicciola in 1883.

The chief towns are Ischia on the E. coast, the capital and the seat of a bishop (pop. in 1901, town, 2756; commune, 7012), with a 15th-century castle, to which Vittoria Colonna retired after the death of her husband in 1525; Casamicciola (pop. in 1901, town, 1085; commune, 3731) on the north, and Forio on the west coast (pop. in 1901, town, 3640; commune, 7197). There is regular communication with Naples, both by steamer direct, and also by steamer to Torregaveta, 2 m. W.S.W. of Baiae and 12(1/2) m. W.S.W. of Naples, and thence by rail.

See J. Beloch, _Campanien_ (Breslau, 1890), 202 sqq. (T. As.)

ISCHL, a market-town and watering-place of Austria, in Upper Austria, 55 m. S.S.W. of Linz by rail. Pop. (1900) 9646. It is beautifully situated on the peninsula formed by the junction of the rivers Ischl and Traun and is surrounded by high mountains, presenting scenery of the finest description. To the S. is the Siriuskogl or Hundskogl (1960 ft.), and to the W. the Schafberg (5837 ft.), which is ascended from St Wolfgang by a rack-and-pinion railway, built in 1893. It possesses a fine parish church, built by Maria Theresa and renovated in 1877-1880, and the Imperial Villa is surrounded by a magnificent park. Ischl is one of the most fashionable spas of Europe, being the favourite summer residence of the Austrian Imperial family and of the Austrian nobility since 1822. It has saline and sulphureous drinking springs and numerous brine and brine-vapour baths. The brine used at Ischl contains about 25% of salt and there are also mud, sulphur and pine-cone baths. Ischl is situated at an altitude of 1533 ft. above sea-level and has a very mild climate. Its mean annual temperature is 49.4 deg. F. and its mean summer temperature is 63.5 deg. F. Ischl is an important centre of the salt industry and 4 m. to its W. is a celebrated salt mine, which has been worked as early as the 12th century.

ISEO, LAKE OF (the _Lacus Sebinus_ of the Romans), a lake in Lombardy, N. Italy, situated at the southern foot of the Alps, and between the provinces of Bergamo and Brescia. It is formed by the Oglio river, which enters the northern extremity of the lake of Lovere, and issues from the southern end at Sarnico, on its way to join the Po. The area of the lake is about 24 sq. m., it is 17(1/2) m. in length, and 3 m. wide in the broadest portion, while the greatest depth is said to be about 984 ft. and the height of its surface above sea-level 607 ft. It contains one large island, that of Siviano, which culminates in the Monte Isola (1965 ft.) that is crowned by a chapel, while to the south is the islet of San Paolo, occupied by the buildings of a small Franciscan convent now abandoned, and to the north the equally tiny island of Loreto, with a ruined chapel containing frescoes. At the southern end of the lake are the small towns of Iseo (15 m. by rail N.W. of Brescia) and of Sarnico. From Paratico, opposite Sarnico, on the other or left bank of the Oglio, a railway runs in 6(1/4) m. to Palazzolo, on the main Brescia-Bergamo line. Towards the head of the lake, the deep wide valley of the Oglio is seen, dominated by the glittering snows of the Adamello (11,661 ft.), a glorious prospect. Along the east shore (the west shore is far more rugged) a fine carriage road rims from Iseo to the considerable town of Pisogne (13(1/2) m.), situated at the northern end of the lake, and nearly opposite that of Lovere, on the right bank of the Oglio. The portion of this road some way S. of Pisogne is cleverly engineered, and is carried through several tunnels. The lake's charms were celebrated by Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu, who spent ten summers (1747-1757) in a villa at Lovere, then much frequented by reason of an iron spring. The lake has several sardine and eel fisheries. (W. A. B. C.)

ISERE [anc. _Isara_], one of the chief rivers in France as well as of those flowing down on the French side of the Alpine chain. Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhone is about 180 m., during which it descends a height of about 7550 ft. Its drainage area is about 4725 sq. m. It flows through the departments of Savoie, Isere and Drome. This river rises in the Galise glaciers in the French Graian Alps and flows, as a mountain torrent, through a narrow valley past Tignes in a north-westerly direction to Bourg St Maurice, at the western foot of the Little St Bernard Pass. It now bends S.W., as far as Moutiers, the chief town of the Tarentaise, as the upper course of the Isere is named. Here it again turns N.W. as far as Albertville, where after receiving the Arly (right) it once more takes a south-westerly direction, and near St Pierre d'Albigny receives its first important tributary, the Arc (left), a wild mountain stream flowing through the Maurienne and past the foot of the Mont Cenis Pass. A little way below, at Montmelian, it becomes officially navigable (for about half of its course), though it is but little used for that purpose owing to the irregular depth of its bed and the rapidity of its current. Very probably, in ancient days, it flowed from Montmelian N.W. and, after passing through or forming the Lac du Bourget, joined the Rhone. But at present it continues from Montmelian in a south-westerly direction, flowing through the broad and fertile valley of the Graisivaudan, though receiving but a single affluent of any importance, the Breda (left). At Grenoble, the most important town on its banks, it bends for a short distance again N.W. But just below that town it receives by far its most important affluent (left) the Drac, which itself drains the entire S. slope of the lofty snow-clad Dauphine Alps, and which, 11 m. above Grenoble, had received the Romanche (right), a mountain stream which drains the entire central and N. portion of the same Alps. Hence the Drac is, at its junction with the Isere, a stream of nearly the same volume, while these two rivers, with the Durance, drain practically the entire French slope of the Alpine chain, the basins of the Arve and of the Var forming the sole exceptions. A short distance below Moirans the Isere changes its direction for the last time and now flows S.W. past Romans before joining the Rhone on the left, as its principal affluent after the Saone and the Durance, between Tournon and Valence. The Isere is remarkable for the way in which it changes its direction, forming three great loops of which the apex is respectively at Bourg St Maurice, Albertville and Moirans. For some way after its junction with the Rhone the grey troubled current of the Isere can be distinguished in the broad and peaceful stream of the Rhone. (W. A. B. C )

ISERE, a department of S.E. France, formed in 1790 out of the northern part of the old province of Dauphine. Pop. (1906) 562,315. It is bounded N. by the department of the Ain, E. by that of Savoie, S. by those of the Hautes Alpes and the Drome and W. by those of the Loire and the Rhone. Its area is 3179 sq. m. (surpassed only by 7 other departments), while its greatest length is 93 m. and its greatest breadth 53 m. The river Isere runs for nearly half its course through this department, to which it gives its name. The southern portion of the department is very mountainous, the loftiest summit being the Pic Lory (13,396 ft.) in the extensive snow-clad Oisans group (drained by the Drac and Romanche, two mighty mountain torrents), while minor groups are those of Belledonne, of Allevard, of the Grandes Rousses, of the Devoluy, of the Trieves, of the Royannais, of the Vercors and, slightly to the north of the rest, that of the Grande Chartreuse. The northern portion of the department is composed of plateaux, low hills and plains, while on every side but the south it is bounded by the course of the Rhone. It forms the bishopric of Grenoble (dating from the 4th century), till 1790 in the ecclesiastical province of Vienne, and now in that of Lyons. The department is divided into four arrondissements (Grenoble, St Marcellin, La Tour du Pin and Vienne), 45 cantons and 563 communes. Its capital is Grenoble, while other important towns in it are the towns of Vienne, St Marcellin and La Tour du Pin. It is well supplied with railways (total length 342 m.), which give access to Gap, to Chambery, to Lyons, to St Rambert and to Valence, while it also possesses many tramways (total length over 200 m.). It contains silver, lead, coal and iron mines, as well as extensive slate, stone and marble quarries, besides several mineral springs (Allevard, Uriage and La Motte). The forests cover much ground, while among the most flourishing industries are those of glove making, cement, silk weaving and paper making. The area devoted to agriculture (largely in the fertile valley of the Graisivaudan, or Isere, N.E. of Grenoble) is about 1211 sq. m. (W. A. B. C.)

ISERLOHN, a town in the Prussian province of Westphalia, on the Baar, in a bleak and hilly region, 17 m. W. of Arnsberg, and 30 m. E.N.E. from Barmen by rail. Pop. (1900) 27,265. Iserlohn is one of the most important manufacturing towns in Westphalia. Both in the town and neighbourhood there are numerous foundries and works for iron, brass, steel and bronze goods, while other manufactures include wire, needles and pins, fish-hooks, machinery, umbrella-frames, thimbles, bits, furniture, chemicals, coffee-mills, and pinchbeck and britannia-metal goods. Iserlohn is a very old town, its gild of armourers being referred to as "ancient" in 1443.

ISFAHAN (older form _Ispahan_), the name of a Persian province and town. The province is situated in the centre of the country, and bounded S. by Fars, E. by Yezd, N. by Kashan, Natanz and Irak, and W. by the Bakhtiari district and Arabistan. It pays a yearly revenue of about L100,000, and its population exceeds 500,000. It is divided into twenty-five districts, its capital, the town of Isfahan, forming one of them. These twenty-five districts, some very small and consisting of only a little township and a few hamlets, are Isfahan, Jai, Barkhar, Kahab, Kararaj, Baraan, Rudasht, Marbin, Lenjan, Kerven, Rar, Kiar, Mizdej, Ganduman, Somairam, Jarkuyeh, Ardistan, Kuhpayeh, Najafabad, Komisheh, Chadugan, Varzek, Tokhmaklu, Gurji, Chinarud. Most of these districts are very fertile, and produce great quantities of wheat, barley, rice, cotton, tobacco and opium. Lenjan, west of the city of Isfahan, is the greatest rice-producing district; the finest cotton comes from Jarkuyeh; the best opium and tobacco from the villages in the vicinity of the city.

The town of Isfahan or Ispahan, formerly the capital of Persia, now the capital of the province, is situated on the Zayendeh river in 32 deg. 39' N. and 51 deg. 40' E.[1] at an elevation of 5370 ft. Its population, excluding that of the Armenian colony of Julfa on the right or south bank of the river (about 4000), is estimated at 100,000 (73,654, including 5883 Jews, in 1882). The town is divided into thirty-seven _mahallehs_ (parishes) and has 210 mosques and colleges (many half ruined), 84 caravanserais, 150 public baths and 68 flour mills. The water supply is principally from open canals led off from the river and from several streams and canals which come down from the hills in the north-west. The name of the Isfahan river was originally Zendeh (Pahlavi _zendek_) rud, "the great river"; it was then modernized into Zindeh-rud, "the living river," and is now called Zayendeh rud, "the life-giving river." Its principal source is the Jananeh rud which rises on the eastern slope of the Zardeh Kuh about 90 to 100 m. W. of Isfahan. After receiving the Khursang river from Feridan on the north and the Zarin rud from Chaharmahal on the south it is called Zendeh rud. It then waters the Lenjan and Marbin districts, passes Isfahan as Zayendeh-rud and 70 m. farther E. ends in the Gavkhani depression. From its entrance into Lenjan to its end 105 canals are led off from it for purposes of irrigation and 14 bridges cross it (5 at Isfahan). Its volume of water at Isfahan during the spring season has been estimated at 60,000 cub. ft. per second; in autumn the quantity is reduced to one-third, but nearly all of it being then used for feeding the irrigation canals very little is left for the river bed. The town covers about 20 sq. m., but many parts of it are in ruins. The old city walls--a ruined mud curtain--are about 5 m. in circumference.

Of the many fine public buildings constructed by the Sefavis and during the reign of the present dynasty very little remains. There are still standing in fairly good repair the two palaces named respectively Chehel Situn, "the forty pillars," and Hasht Behesht, "the eight paradises," the former constructed by Shah Abbas I. (1587-1629), the latter by Shah Soliman in 1670, and restored and renovated by Fath Ali Shah (1797-1834). They are ornamented with gilding and mirrors in every possible variety of Arabesque decoration, and large and brilliant pictures, representing scenes of Persian history, cover the walls of their principal apartments and have been ascribed in many instances to Italian and Dutch artists who are known to have been in the service of the Sefavis. Attached to these palaces were many other buildings such as the Imaretino built by Amin ed-Dowleh (or Addaula) for Fath Ali Shah, the Imaret i Ashref built by Ashref Khan, the Afghan usurper, the Talar Tavileh, Guldasteh, Sarpushideh, &c., erected in the early part of the 19th century by wealthy courtiers for the convenience of the sovereign and often occupied as residences of European ministers travelling between Bushire and Teheran and by other distinguished travellers. Perhaps the most agreeable residence of all was the Haft Dast, "the seven courts," in the beautiful garden of Saadetabad on the southern bank of the river, and 2 or 3 m. from the centre of the city. This palace was built by Shah Abbas II. (1642-1667), and Fath Ali Shad Kajar died there in 1834. Close to it was the Aineh Khaneh, "hall of mirrors" and other elegant buildings in the Hazar jerib (1000 acre) garden. All these palaces and buildings on both sides of the river were surrounded by extensive gardens, traversed by avenues of tall trees, principally planes, and intersected by paved canals of running water with tanks and fountains. Since Fath Ali Shah's death, palaces and gardens have been neglected. In 1902 an official was sent from Teheran to inspect the crown buildings, to report on their condition, and repair and renovate some, &c. The result was that all the above-mentioned buildings, excepting the Chehel Situn and Hasht Behesht, were demolished and their timber, bricks, stone, &c., sold to local builders. The gardens are wildernesses. The garden of the Chehel Situn palace opens out through the Ala Kapu ("highest gate, sublime porte") to the Maidan-i-Shah, which is one of the most imposing piazzas in the world, a parallelogram of 560 yds. (N.-S.) by 174 yds. (E.-W.) surrounded by brick buildings divided into two storeys of recessed arches, or arcades, one above the other. In front of these arcades grow a few stunted planes and poplars. On the south side of the maidan is the famous Masjed i Shah (the shah's mosque) erected by Shah Abbas I. in 1612-1613. It is covered with glazed tiles of great brilliancy and richly decorated with gold and silver ornaments and cost over L175,000. It is in good repair, and plans of it were published by C. Texier (_L'Armenie, la Perse_, &c., vol. i. pls. 70-72) and P. Coste (_Monuments de la Perse_). On the eastern side of the maidan stands the Masjed i Lutf Ullah with beautiful enamelled tiles and in good repair. Opposite to it on the western side of the maidan is the Ala Kapu, a lofty building in the form of an archway overlooking the maidan and crowned in the fore part by an immense open throne-room supported by wooden columns, while the hinder part is elevated three storeys higher. On the north side of the maidan is the entrance gate to the main bazaar surmounted by the Nekkareh-Khaneh, or drumhouse, where is blared forth the appalling music saluting the rising and setting sun, said to have been instituted by Jamshid many thousand years ago. West of the Chehel Situn palace and conducting N.-S. from the centre of the city to the great bridge of Allah Verdi Khan is the great avenue nearly a mile in length called Chahar Bagh, "the four gardens," recalling the fact that it was originally occupied by four vineyards which Shah Abbas I. rented at L360 a year and converted into a splendid approach to his capital.

It was thus described by Lord Curzon of Kedleston in 1880: "Of all the
sights of Isfahan, this in its present state is the most pathetic in
the utter and pitiless decay of its beauty. Let me indicate what it
was and what it is. At the upper extremity a two-storeyed pavilion,[2]
connected by a corridor with the Seraglio of the palace, so as to
enable the ladies of the harem to gaze unobserved upon the merry scene
below, looked out upon the centre of the avenue. Water, conducted in
stone channels, ran down the centre, falling in miniature cascades
from terrace to terrace, and was occasionally collected in great
square or octagonal basins where cross roads cut the avenue. On either
side of the central channel was a row of oriental planes and a paved
pathway for pedestrians. Then occurred a succession of open parterres,
usually planted or sown. Next on either side was a second row of
planes, between which and the flanking walls was a raised causeway for
horsemen. The total breadth is now fifty-two yards. At intervals
corresponding with the successive terraces and basins, arched doorways
with recessed open chambers overhead conducted through these walls
into the various royal or noble gardens that stretched on either side,
and were known as the Gardens of the Throne, of the Nightingale, of
Vines, of Mulberries, Dervishes, &c. Some of these pavilions were
places of public resort and were used as coffee-houses, where when the
business of the day was over, the good burghers of Isfahan assembled
to sip that beverage and inhale their _kalians_ the while; as Fryer
puts it: 'Night drawing on, all the pride of Spahaun was met in the
Chaurbaug and the Grandees were Airing themselves, prancing about with
their numerous Trains, striving to outvie each other in Pomp and
Generosity.' At the bottom, quays lined the banks of the river, and
were bordered with the mansions of the nobility."

Such was the Chahar Bagh in the plenitude of its fame. But now what a
tragical contrast! The channels are empty, their stone borders
crumbled and shattered, the terraces are broken down, the parterres
are unsightly bare patches, the trees, all lopped and pollarded, have
been chipped and hollowed out or cut down for fuel by the soldiery of
the Zil, the side pavilions are abandoned and tumbling to pieces and
the gardens are wildernesses. Two centuries of decay could never make
the Champs Elysees in Paris, the Unter den Linden in Berlin, or
Rotten Row in London, look one half as miserable as does the ruined
avenue of Shah Abbas. It is in itself an epitome of modern Iran."

Towards the upper end of the avenue on its eastern side stands the medresseh (college) which Shah Hosain built in 1710. It still has a few students, but is very much out of repair; Lord Curzon spoke of it in 1888 as "one of the stateliest ruins that he saw in Persia." South of this college the avenue is altogether without trees, and the gardens on both sides have been turned into barley fields. Among the other notable buildings of Isfahan must be reckoned its five bridges, all fine structures, and one of them, the bridge of Allah Verdi Kahn, 388 yds. in length with a paved roadway of 30 ft. in breadth, is one of the stateliest bridges in the world, and has suffered little by the march of decay.

Another striking feature of Isfahan is the line of covered bazaars, which extends for nearly 3 m. and divides the city from south to north. The confluence of people in these bazaars is certainly very great, and gives an exaggerated idea of the populousness of the city, the truth being that while the inhabitants congregate for business in the bazaars, the rest of the city is comparatively deserted. When surveyed from a commanding height within the city, or in the immediate environs, the enormous extent of mingled garden and building, about 30 m. in circuit, gives an impression of populousness and busy life, but a closer scrutiny reveals that the whole scene is nothing more than a gigantic sham. With the exception of the bazaars and a few parishes there is really no continuous inhabited area. Whole streets, whole quarters of the city have fallen into utter ruin and are absolutely deserted, and the traveller who is bent on visiting some of the remarkable sites in the northern part of the city or in the western suburbs, such as the minarets dating from the 12th century, the remains of the famous castle of Tabarrak built by the Buyid Rukn addaula (d. 976), the ruins of the old fire temple, the shaking minarets of Guladan, &c., has to pass through miles of crumbling mud walls and roofless houses. It is believed indeed that not a twentieth part of the area of the old city is at present peopled, and the million or 600,000 inhabitants of Chardin's time (middle of the 17th century) have now dwindled to about 85,000. The Armenian suburb of Julfa, at any rate, which contained a population of 30,000 souls in the 17th century, has now only 4000, and the Christian churches, which numbered thirteen and were maintained with splendour, are now reduced to half a dozen edifices with bare walls and empty benches. Much improvement has recently taken place in the education of the young and also in their religious teaching, the wealthy Armenians of India and Java having liberally contributed to the national schools, and the Church Missionary Society of London having a church, schools and hospitals there since 1869.

The people of Isfahan have a very poor reputation in Persia either for courage or morals. They are regarded as a clever but at the same time dissolute and disorderly community, whose government requires a strong hand. The _lutis_ (hooligans) of Isfahan are proverbial as the most turbulent and rowdy set of vagabonds in Persia. The priesthood of Isfahan are much respected for their learning and high character, and the merchants are a very respectable class. The commerce of Isfahan has greatly fallen off from its former flourishing condition, and it is doubtful whether the trade of former days can ever be restored. (A. H.-S.)

_History._--The natural advantages of Isfahan--a genial climate, a
fertile soil and abundance of water for irrigation--must have always
made it a place of importance. In the most ancient cuneiform
documents, referring to a period between 3000 and 2000 B.C., the
province of _Anshan_, which certainly included Isfahan, was the limit
of the geographical knowledge of the Babylonians, typifying the
extreme east, as Syria (or _Martu-ki_) typified the west. The two
provinces of _Anshan_ and _Subarta_, by which we must understand the
country from Isfahan to Shuster, were ruled in those remote ages by
the same king, who undoubtedly belonged to the great Turanian family;
and from this first notice of Anshan down to the 7th century B.C. the
region seems to have remained, more or less, dependent on the
paramount power of Susa. With regard to the eastern frontier of
Anshan, however, ethnic changes were probably in extensive operation
during this interval of twenty centuries. The western Iranians, for
instance, after separating from their eastern brethren on the Oxus, as
early perhaps as 3000 B.C., must have followed the line of the Elburz
mountains, and then bifurcating into two branches must have scattered,
westward into Media and southward towards Persia. The first
substantial settlement of the southern branch would seem then to have
been at Isfahan, where _Jem_, the eponym of the Persian race, is said
to have founded a famous castle, the remains of which were visible as
late as the 10th century A.D. This castle is known in the Zoroastrian
writings as _Jem-gird_, but its proper name was _Saru_ or _Saruk_
(given in the Bundahish as _Sruwa_ or _Srobak_), and it was especially
famous in early Mahommedan history as the building where the ancient
records and tables of the Persians were discovered which proved of so
much use to Albumazar and his contemporaries. A valuable tradition,
proceeding from quite a different source, has also been preserved to
the effect that Jem, who invented the original Persian character,
"dwelt in Assan, a district of Shuster" (see Flugel's _Fihrist_, p.
12, l. 21), which exactly accords with the Assyrian notices of Assan
or Anshan classed as a dependency of Elymais. Now, it is well known
that native legend represented the Persian race to have been held in
bondage for a thousand years, after the reign of Jem, by the foreign
usurper _Zohak_ or _Biverasp_, a period which may well represent the
duration of Elymaean supremacy over the Aryans of Anshan. At the
commencement of the 7th century B.C. Persia and Ansan are still found
in the annals of Sennacherib amongst the tributaries of Elymais,
confederated against Assyria; but shortly afterwards the great Susian
monarchy, which had lasted for full 2000 years, crumbled away under
continued pressure from the west, and the Aryans of Anshan recovered
their independence, founding for the first time a national dynasty,
and establishing their seat of government at Gabae on the site of the
modern city of Isfahan.

The royal city of Gabae was known as a foundation of the Achaemenidae
as late as the time of Strabo, and the inscriptions show that
Achaemenes and his successors did actually rule at Anshan until the
great Cyrus set out on his career of western victory. Whether the
_Kabi_ or _Kavi_ of tradition, the blacksmith of Isfahan, who is said
to have headed the revolt against Zohak, took his name from the town
of Gabae may be open to question; but it is at any rate remarkable
that the national standard of the Persian race, named after the
blacksmith, and supposed to have been first unfurled at this epoch,
retained the title of _Darafsh-a Kavani_ (the banner of Kavi) to the
time of the Arab conquest, and that the men of Isfahan were, moreover,
throughout this long period, always especially charged with its
protection. The provincial name of Anshan or Assan seems to have been
disused in the country after the age of Cyrus, and to have been
replaced by that of Gabene or Gabiane, which alone appears in the
Greek accounts of the wars of Alexander and his successors, and in the
geographical descriptions of Strabo. Gabae or Gavi became gradually
corrupted to _Jai_ during the Sassanian period, and it was thus by the
latter name that the old city of Isfahan was generally known at the
time of the Arab invasion. Subsequently the title of Jai became
replaced by _Sheheristan_ or _Medineh_, "the city" _par excellence_,
while a suburb which had been founded in the immediate vicinity, and
which took the name of _Yahudieh_, or the "Jews' town," from its
original Jewish inhabitants, gradually rose into notice and superseded
the old capital.[3]

_Sheheristan_ and _Yahudieh_ are thus in the early ages of Islam
described as independent cities, the former being the eastern and the
latter the western division of the capital, each surrounded by a
separate wall; but about the middle of the 10th century the famous
Buyid king, known as the _Rukn-addaula_ (_al-Dowleh_), united the two
suburbs and many of the adjoining villages in one general enclosure
which was about 10 m. in circumference. The city, which had now
resumed its old name of Isfahan, continued to flourish till the time
of Timur (A.D. 1387), when in common with so many other cities of the
empire it suffered grievously at the hands of the Tatar invaders.
Timur indeed is said to have erected a _Kelleh Minar_ or "skull tower"
of 70,000 heads at the gate of the city, as a warning to deter other
communities from resisting his arms. The place, however, owing to its
natural advantages, gradually recovered from the effects of this
terrible visitation, and when the Safavid dynasty, who succeeded to
power in the 16th century, transferred their place of residence to it
from Kazvin, it rose rapidly in populousness and wealth. It was under
Shah Abbas the first, the most illustrious sovereign of this house,
that Isfahan attained its greatest prosperity. This monarch adopted
every possible expedient, by stimulating commerce, encouraging arts
and manufactures, and introducing luxurious habits, to attract
visitors to his favourite capital. He built several magnificent
palaces in the richest style of Oriental decoration, planted gardens
and avenues, and distributed amongst them the waters of the Zendeh-rud
in an endless series of reservoirs, fountains and cascades. The baths,
the mosques, the colleges, the bazaars and the caravanserais of the
city received an equal share of his attention, and European artificers
and merchants were largely encouraged to settle in his capital.
Ambassadors visited his court from many of the first states of Europe,
and factories were permanently established for the merchants of
England, France, Holland, the Hanseatic towns, Spain, Portugal and
Moscow. The celebrated traveller Chardin, who passed a great portion
of his life at Isfahan in the latter half of the 17th century, has
left a detailed and most interesting account of the statistics of the
city at that period. He himself estimated the population at 600,000,
though in popular belief the number exceeded a million. There were
1500 flourishing villages in the immediate neighbourhood; the enceinte
of the city and suburbs was reckoned at 24 m., while the mud walls
surrounding the city itself, probably nearly following the lines of
the Buyid enclosure, measured 20,000 paces. In the interior were
counted 162 mosques, 48 public colleges, 1802 caravanserais, 273 baths
and 12 cemeteries. The adjoining suburb of Julfa was also a most
flourishing place. Originally founded by Shah Abbas the Great, who
transported to this locality 3400 Armenian families from the town of
Julfa on the Arras, the colony increased rapidly under his fostering
care, both in wealth and in numbers, the Christian population being
estimated in 1685 at 30,000 souls. The first blow to the prosperity of
modern Isfahan was given by the Afghan invasion at the beginning of
the 18th century, since which date, although continuing for some time
to be the nominal head of the empire, the city has gradually dwindled
in importance, and now only ranks as a second or third rate provincial
capital. When the Kajar dynasty indeed mounted the throne of Persia at
the end of the 18th century the seat of government was at once
transferred to Teheran, with a view to the support of the royal tribe,
whose chief seat was in the neighbouring province of Mazenderan; and,
although it has often been proposed, from considerations of state
policy in reference to Russia, to re-establish the court at Isfahan,
which is the true centre of Persia, the scheme has never commanded
much attention. At the same time the government of Isfahan, owing to
the wealth of the surrounding districts, has always been much sought
after. Early in the 19th century the post was often conferred upon
some powerful minister of the court, but in later times it has been
usually the apanage of a favourite son or brother of the reigning
sovereign.[4] Fath Ali Shah, who had a particular affection for
Isfahan, died here in 1834, and it became a time-honoured custom for
the monarch on the throne to seek relief from the heat of Teheran by
forming a summer camp at the rich pastures of Ganduman, on the skirts
of Zardeh-Kuh, to the west of Isfahan, for the exercise of his troops
and the health and amusement of his courtiers, but in recent years the
practice has been discontinued. (H. C. R.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] These figures are approximate for the centre of the town north of
the river. The result of astronomical observations taken by the
German expedition for observing the transit of Venus in 1874 and by
Sir O. St John in 1870 on the south bank of the river near, and in
Julfa respectively was 51 deg. 40' 3.45" E., 32 deg. 37' 30" N. The
stone slab commemorating the work of the expedition and placed on
the spot where the observations were taken has been carried off and
now serves as a door plinth of an Armenian house.

[2] This pavilion was the Persian telegraph office of Isfahan for
nearly forty years and was demolished in 1903.

[3] The name of Yahudieh or "Jews' town" is derived by the early Arab
geographers from a colony of Jews who are said to have migrated from
Babylonia to Isfahan shortly after Nebuchadrezzar's conquest of
Jerusalem, but this is pure fable. The Jewish settlement really dates
from the 3rd century A.D. as is shown by a notice in the Armenian
history of Moses of Chorene, lib. iii. cap. 35. The name _Isfahan_
has been generally compared with the Aspadana of Ptolemy in the
extreme north of Persis, and the identification is probably correct.
At any rate the title is of great antiquity being found in the
Bundahish, and being derived in all likelihood from the family name
of the race of _Feridun_, the _Athviyan_ of romance, who were
entitled _Aspiyan_ in Pahlavi, according to the phonetic rules of
that language.

[4] Zill es Sultan, elder brother of Muzafar ed d-n Shah, became
governor-general of the Isfahan province in 1869.

ISHIM, a town of West Siberia, in the government of Tobolsk, 180 m. N.W. of Omsk, on a river of the same name, tributary, on the left, of the Irtysh. Pop. (1897) 7161. The town, which was founded in 1630, has tallow-melting and carries on a large trade in rye and rye flour. The fair is one of the most important in Siberia, its returns being estimated at L500,000 annually.

ISHMAEL (a Hebrew name meaning "God hears"), in the Bible, the son of Abraham by his Egyptian concubine Hagar, and the eponym of a number of (probably) nomadic tribes living outside Palestine. Hagar in turn personifies a people found to the east of Gilead (1 Chron. v. 10) and Petra (Strabo).[1] Through the jealousy of Sarah, Abraham's wife, mother and son were driven away, and they wandered in the district south of Beersheba and Kadesh (Gen. xvi. J, xxi. E); see ABRAHAM. It had been foretold to his mother before his birth that he should be "a wild ass among men," and that he should dwell "before the face of" (that is, to the eastward of) his brethren. It is subsequently stated that after leaving his father's roof he "became an archer,[2] and dwelt in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt." But the genealogical relations were rather with the Edomites, Midianites and other peoples of North Arabia and the eastern desert than with Egypt proper, and this is indicated by the expressions that "they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur that is east of Egypt, and he settled to the eastward of his brethren" (see MIZRAIM). Like Jacob, the ancestor of the Israelites, he had twelve sons (xxv. 12-18, P), of which only a few have historical associations apart from the biblical records. Nebaioth and Kedar suggest the Nabataei and Cedrei of Pliny (v. 12). the first-mentioned of whom were an important Arab people after the time of Alexander (see NABATAEANS). The names correspond to the Nabaitu and Kidru of the Assyrian inscriptions occupying the desert east of the Jordan and Dead Sea, whilst the Massa and Tema lay probably farther south. Dumah may perhaps be the same as the Domata of Pliny (vi. 32) and the [Greek: Doumetha] or [Greek: Doumaitha] of Ptolemy (v. 19, 7, viii. 22, 3)--Sennacherib conquered a fortress of "Aribi" named Adumu,--and Jetur is obviously the Ituraea of classical geographers.[3]

"Ishmael," therefore, is used in a wide sense of the wilder, roving
peoples encircling Canaan from the north-east to the south, related to
but on a lower rank than the "sons" of Isaac. It is practically
identical with the term "Arabia" as used by the Assyrians. Nothing
certain is known of the history of these mixed populations. They arc
represented as warlike nomads and with a certain reputation for wisdom
(Baruch iii. 23). Not improbably they spoke a dialect (or dialects)
akin to Arabic or Aramaic.[4] According to the Mahommedans, Ishmael,
who is recognized as their ancestor, lies buried with his mother in
the Kaaba in Mecca. See further, T. Noldeke, _Ency. Bib., s.v._, and
the articles EDOM, MIDIAN. (S. A. C.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] On Paul's use of the story of Hagar (Gal. iv. 24-26), see _Ency.
Bib._ col. 1934; and H. St J. Thackeray, _Relation of St Paul to
contemporary Jewish Thought_ (London, 1900), pp. 196 sqq.; Hagar
typifies the old Sinaitic covenant, and Sarah represents the new
covenant of freedom from bondage. The treatment of the concubine and
her son in Gen. xvi. compared with ch. xxi. illustrates old Hebrew
customs, on which see further S. A. Cook, _Laws of Moses, &c._
(London, 1903), pp. 116 sqq., 140 sq.

[2] The Ituraean archers were of Jetur, one of the "sons" of Ishmael
(Gen. xxv. 15), and were Roman mercenaries, perhaps even in Great
Britain (_Pal. Expl. Fund, Q.S._, 1909, p. 283).

[3] With Adbeel (Gen. xxv. 13) may be identified Idibi'il (-ba'il) a
tribe employed by Tiglath-Pileser IV. (733 B.C.) to watch the
frontier of Musri (Sinaitic peninsula or N. Arabia?).

[4] This is suggested by the fact that Ashurbanipal (7th century)
mentions as the name of their deity Atar-Samain (i.e. "Ishtar of the
heavens").

ISHPEMING, a city of Marquette county, Michigan, U.S.A., about 15 m. W. by S. of Marquette, in the N. part of the upper peninsula. Pop. (1890) 11,197; (1900) 13,255, of whom 5970 were foreign-born; (1904) 11,623; (1910) 12,448. It is served by the Chicago & North Western, the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic, and the Lake Superior and Ishpeming railways. The city is 1400 ft. above sea-level (whence its name, from an Ojibway Indian word, said to mean "high up"), in the centre of the Marquette Range iron district, and has seven mines within its limits; the mining of iron ore is its principal industry. Ishpeming was settled about 1854, and was incorporated as a city in 1873.

ISHTAR, or ISTAR, the name of the chief goddess of Babylonia and Assyria, the counterpart of the Phoenician Astarte (q.v.). The meaning of the name is not known, though it is possible that the underlying stem is the same as that of Assur (q.v.), which would thus make her the "leading one" or "chief." At all events it is now generally recognized that the name is Semitic in its origin. Where the name originated is likewise uncertain, but the indications point to Erech where we find the worship of a great mother-goddess independent of any association with a male counterpart flourishing in the oldest period of Babylonian history. She appears under various names, among which are Nana, Innanna, Nina and Anunit. As early as the days of Khammurabi we find these various names which represented originally different goddesses, though all manifest as the chief trait the life-giving power united in Ishtar. Even when the older names are employed it is always the great mother-goddess who is meant. Ishtar is the one goddess in the pantheon who retains her independent position despite and throughout all changes that the Babylonian-Assyrian religion undergoes. In a certain sense she is the only real goddess in the pantheon, the rest being mere reflections of the gods with whom they are associated as consorts. Even when Ishtar is viewed as the consort of some chief--of Marduk occasionally in the south, of Assur more frequently in the north--the consciousness that she has a personality of her own apart from this association is never lost sight of.

We may reasonably assume that the analogy drawn from the process of reproduction among men and animals led to the conception of a female deity presiding over the life of the universe. The extension of the scope of this goddess to life in general--to the growth of plants and trees from the fructifying seed--was a natural outcome of a fundamental idea; and so, whether we turn to incantations or hymns, in myths and in epics, in votive inscriptions and in historical annals, Ishtar is celebrated and invoked as the great mother, as the mistress of lands, as clothed in splendour and power--one might almost say as the personification of life itself.

But there are two aspects to this goddess of life. She brings forth, she fertilizes the fields, she clothes nature in joy and gladness, but she also withdraws her favours and when she does so the fields wither, and men and animals cease to reproduce. In place of life, barrenness and death ensue. She is thus also a grim goddess, at once cruel and destructive. We can, therefore, understand that she was also invoked as a goddess of war and battles and of the chase; and more particularly among the warlike Assyrians she assumes this aspect. Before the battle she appears to the army, clad in battle array and armed with bow and arrow. In myths symbolizing the change of seasons she is portrayed in this double character, as the life-giving and the life-depriving power. The most noteworthy of these myths describes her as passing through seven gates into the nether world. At each gate some of her clothing and her ornaments are removed until at the last gate she is entirely naked. While she remains in the nether world as a prisoner--whether voluntary or involuntary it is hard to say--all fertility ceases on earth, but the time comes when she again returns to earth, and as she passes each gate the watchman restores to her what she had left there until she is again clad in her full splendour, to the joy of mankind and of all nature. Closely allied with this myth and personifying another view of the change of seasons is the story of Ishtar's love for Tammuz--symbolizing the spring time--but as midsummer approaches her husband is slain and, according to one version, it is for the purpose of saving Tammuz from the clutches of the goddess of the nether world that she enters upon her journey to that region.

In all the great centres Ishtar had her temples, bearing such names as E-anna, "heavenly house," in Erech; E-makh, "great house," in Babylon; E-mash-mash, "house of offerings," in Nineveh. Of the details of her cult we as yet know little, but there is no evidence that there were obscene rites connected with it, though there may have been certain mysteries introduced at certain centres which might easily impress the uninitiated as having obscene aspects. She was served by priestesses as well as by priests, and it would appear that the votaries of Ishtar were in all cases virgins who, as long as they remained in the service of Ishtar, were not permitted to marry.

In the astral-theological system, Ishtar becomes the planet Venus, and
the double aspect of the goddess is made to correspond to the
strikingly different phases of Venus in the summer and winter seasons.
On monuments and seal-cylinders she appears frequently with bow and
arrow, though also simply clad in long robes with a crown on her head
and an eight-rayed star as her symbol. Statuettes have been found in
large numbers representing her as naked with her arms folded across
her breast or holding a child. The art thus reflects the popular
conceptions formed of the goddess. Together with Sin, the moon-god,
and Shamash, the sun-god, she is the third figure in a triad
personifying the three great forces of nature--moon, sun and earth, as
the life-force. The doctrine involved illustrates the tendency of the
Babylonian priests to centralize the manifestations of divine power in
the universe, just as the triad Anu, Bel and Ea (q.v.)--the heavens,
the earth and the watery deep--form another illustration of this same
tendency.