Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/73

 should be found of it; it is therefore probable that we should read.

 AESYME. [.]

 AETHAEA (AIIMua: JStL AiBauvs), a town of HocBBi of nnkDonm site, the inhabitants of which ifT^dtad fma ^«rta inth the Thtiriatae in b. c. 464. (ThQC L 101; Steph. B. s. v.)

 AETHI'CES, a barbarooa Epirot clan, who lived Vr nibbefT, are placed by Strabo on the Thessalian side at Pindns. They are mentioned bj Homer, vho ichtes that the Centaurs, expelled by Peirithons fnoi Ml PfcUon, took refnge among the Aethices. (Haa). II 0. 744; Strab. pp. 327, 434; Steph. B. t. r. AitfiJcTo.)

 AETHIO'PIA (n AiewrUi, Herod, iii. 114; Dion Cas. fir. 5; Stiab. pp. 2, 31, 38, &c.; Plin. H, N. T. 8. § 8, tL 3a I 35; Seneca, Q. N. iv. 2, &&; StfpL B.: Etk, aIMoM^, Altfimrc^, Aethiops, fern. Aidmlt: Adj. AJftovur^s, Aethiopicos: the KusH of the Hebreivs, Ezech. xxxix. 10; Job. xxviii. 19; Anus is. 7), oorreapoiids, in its more extended ac- cepUtioii, to the modern r^ons of Nvbia^ Senmaar^ K^rdofm and northeni Al»f$tmia. In describing ActUopia howerer, w« mnst distinguish between the tas^t^saaat of the name as an etimic or generic dmpatioQ on the one hand, and, on the other, as RStiieted to the pcorince or kingdom of MeroS, or tbe crilised Aethiopia (yi Aidunrla iWr^p Atymrrov, txMASyvmrof, Herod. iL 146; Ptol. iv. 7.) Aethio|ia, as a gmeric or ethnic designation, onrnprisfs the inhabitants of A£ica who dwelt be- tween the equator, the Bed Sea, and the Atlantic, far Stnbo speaks oif Hesperian Aethiopians S. of the PWasii and Maori, and Herodotus (iv. 197) de- scribes them as occupying the whole of Sonth Libya. Tbe name Aethiqpians is probably Semitic, and if tod^cDoos, certainly so, since the Aethiopic language is pure Semitic. Mr. Salt sajs that to this day the Abyaanians call themselTes lUopjtnoan, The Greek pngiaphers however derived the name £nHn cSldw — Hy aad applied it to all the sun-burnt dark-com- {ilenaiied races aibovo Egypt Herodotus (iii. 94, vil 70) indeed speaks of Aethiopians of Ada, whom Ivfnbably BO designated from their bong of a darker kae than their immediate nmghbours. like the Aethiopians of the Kfle, they were tributaiy to Persia io the rogn c£ Darios. They were a straight-haired nee, while their Libyan namesakes were, according to the historiaai, wooUy-hairedL But the expression {tiKhftrm rpixt^"''-) must not be construed too filesQj, as neither the ancient Aethiopians, as de- fKtBred on the manuments,*nor their modern repre- aeatstiTcSythe Bishiries and Shangallas, have,strictly VCR an equeatrian peoj^, wearing crests and head MDoor made of the hide and manes of horses. From Beraktos ((. c) we infer that they were a Mongolic xaoe, isolated in the steppes of Kurdistan. Tbe boundaries of the African Aethiopians are ne- <nttri]y ind^nito. If they were, as seems probable, the aaoestore of the SkcmgaUoB^ Biah&ries^ and Nu- iiaw. their frontiers may be loosely stated as to the & the Abyssinian Highlands, to the W. the Libyan ^eieit, to the X. Egypt and Marmarica, and to the L the Indian Ocean and the Bed Sea. The boun- daries of Aethiopia Proper, or AlerocS, will admit of Btte particular definition. Their Eastern frontier however being a coast line Bay be described. It extended from lat. 9 to lat. ^ N. Beginning at the headland of Prosum (Cope id Gordo), where Africa Barbaria commences, wecome successively upon the promontory of Khaptum ^ ('PaiTTiJv 5po$), Noti Comu (N<^row ic^par), Point Zingis (Ztyyis)f Aromata {hpuixirnv ijepoy. Cape Guardafui), the easternmost point of Africa; the headknd of Elephas (*EAc^: Djebel Feeh or Cape FeHx); Mnemium (^Mvritutov: Cape CaiTnez), the extreme spur of Mt. Isium (J'lfftov tpos)^ and, finally, the headland of Barium, a little to the south of the Sinus Immundns, or Foul Bay, nearly in the parallel of Syene. The coast line was much indented, and contained some good harbours, Avaliticus Sinus, Aduliticus ^us, &c, which in the Macedonian era, if not earlier, were the emporia of an active commerce both with Arabia and Libya. (Ptol.; Strabo; Plin.)
 * peikiDg, the negto-hair. The Asiatic Aethiopians

From the headland of Bazium to Mount Zingis, a barrier of primitive rocks intermingled with basalt and limestone extends and rises to a height of 8000 feet in some parts. In the north of this range were the gold mines, from which the Aethiopians derived an abundance of that metal. Aethiopia was thus separated from its coast and harbours, which were accessible from the interior only by certain gorges, the caravan roads. The western slope of this range was also steep, and the streams were rapid and often dried up in summer. A tract, called the eastern desert, accordingly intervened between the Arabian hills and the Nile and its tributary the Astaboras. The river system of Aethiopia differed indeed considerably from that of Egypt. The Nile from its junction with the Astaboras or Tacasze presented, during a course of nearly 700 miles, alternate rapids and cataracts, so that it was scarcely available for inland navigation. Its fertilising overflow was also much restricted by high escarped banks of limestone, and its alluvial deposit rarely extended two miles on either side of the stream, and more frequently covered only a narrow strip. Near the river dhourra or millet was rudely cultivated, and canals now choked up with «uid, show that the Aethiopians practised the art of irrigation. Further from the Nile were pastures and thick jungle-forests, where, in the rainy seasons, the gadfly prevailed, and drove the herdsmen and their cattle into the Ajabian hills. The jungle and swamps abounded with wild beasts, and elephants were both caught for sale and used as food by the natives. As rain falls scantily in the north, Aethiopia must have contained a considerable portion of waste land beside its eastern and western deserts. In the south the Abyssinian highlands are the cause of greater humidity, and consequently of more general fertility. The whole of this region has at present been very imptffecUy explored. The natives who have been for centuries carried off by their northern neigh- bours to the slave-markets are hostile to strangers. Bru<» and Burckhardt skirted only the northern and southern borders of Aethiopia above Merok': jungle fever and wild beasts exclude the traveller from the valleys of the Astapus and Astaboras: and the sands have buried most of the cultivable soil of ancient Aethiopia. Yet it is probable that two thousand years have made few changes in the general aspect of its inhabitants.

The population of this vague region was a mixture of Arabian and Libyan races in combination with the genuine Aethiopians. The ktter were distinguished by well formed and supple limbs, and by a facial outline resembling the Caucasian in all but ite inclination to prominent lips and a somewhat sloping forehead. The elongated Nubian eye, depictured on the monuments, is still seen in the Shangallas. As neither Greeks nor Romans penetrated beyond Napata,