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 travaux, xviii.; Messerschmidt, “Die Inschrift der Stele Nabonaids,” in Mitteilungen der vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft, i., 1896). According to Berossus he was allied with Nabopolassar of Babylon, whose son Nebuchadrezzar married Amyitis, the daughter of the Median king (who is wrongly called Astyages). The countries north and east of the Tigris and the northern part of Mesopotamia with the city of Harran (Carrhae) became subject to the Medes. Armenia and Cappadocia were likewise subdued; the attempt to advance farther into Asia Minor led to a war with Alyattes of Lydia. The decisive battle, in the sixth year, was interrupted by the famous solar eclipse on the 28th of May 585 predicted by Thales. Syennesis of Cilicia and Nebuchadrezzar (in Herodotus named Labynetus) of Babylon interceded and effected a peace, by which the Halys was fixed as frontier between the two empires, and Alyattes’s daughter married to Cyaxares’s son Astyages (Herod. i. 74). If Herodotus’s dates are correct, Cyaxares died shortly afterwards.

In a fragmentary letter from an Assyrian governor to King Sargon (about 715 ) about rebellions of Median chieftains, a dynast Uvakshatar (i.e. Cyaxares) is mentioned as attacking an Assyrian fortress (Kharkhar, in the chains of the Zagros). Possibly he was an ancestor of the Median king.

 CYBELE, or (Gr. , ), a goddess native to Asia Minor and worshipped by most of the peoples of the peninsula, was known to the Romans most commonly as the  (q.v.), or the Great Idaean Mother of the Gods—Magna Deum Mater, Mater Deum Magna Idaea. She was known by many other names, such as Mater Idaea, Dindymene, Sipylene, derived from famous seats of worship, and Mountain Mother, &c., in token of her character, but Cybele is the name by which she is most frequently known in literature. Her cult became centralized in Phrygia, had found its way into Greece, where it never flourished greatly, as early as the latter 6th century, and was introduced at Rome in 204 Under the Empire it attained to great importance, and was one of the last pagan cults to die. Cybele was usually worshipped in connexion with (q.v.), as Aphrodite with Adonis, the two being a duality interpreted by the philosophers as symbolic of Mother Earth and her vegetation.

 CYCLADES, a compact group of islands in the Greek Archipelago, forming a cluster around the island of Syra (Syros), the principal town of which, now officially known as Hermoupolis, is the capital of a department. Population of the group (1907) 130,378. The islands, though seldom visited by foreigners, are for the most part highly interesting and picturesque, notwithstanding their somewhat barren appearance when viewed from the sea; many of them bear traces of the feudal rule of Venetian families in the middle ages, and their inhabitants in general may be regarded as presenting the best type of the Greek race. To the student of antiquity the most interesting are: (q.v.), one of the greatest centres of ancient religious, political and commercial life, where an important series of researches has been carried out by French archaeologists; (q.v.), where, in addition to various buildings of the Hellenic and Roman periods, the large prehistoric stronghold of Phylakopi has been excavated by members of the British school at Athens; and Thera (see ), the ancient capital of which has been explored by Baron Hiller von Gaertringen. Thera is also of special interest to geologists owing to its remarkable volcanic phenomena. Naxos, the largest and most fertile island of the group, contains the highest mountain in the Cyclades (Zia, 3290 ft.); the island annually exports upwards of 2000 tons of emery, a state monopoly the proceeds of which are now hypothecated to the foreign debt. The oak woods of Ceos (Zeá) and Ios furnish considerable supplies of valonia. Kimolos, which is absolutely treeless, produces fuller’s-earth. The famous marble quarries of Paros have been practically abandoned in modern times; the marble of Tenos is now worked by a British syndicate. The mineral wealth of the Cyclades has hitherto been much neglected; iron ore is exported from Seriphos, manganese and sulphur from Melos, and volcanic cement (pozzolana) from Santorin. Other articles of export are wine, brandy, hides and tobacco. Cythnos, Melos and other islands possess hot springs with therapeutic qualities. The prosperity of Syra, formerly an important distributing centre for the whole Levant, has been declining for several years.

Population (1907):—Syra 31,939 (communes, Hermoupolis 18,132, Mykonos 4589, Syra 9218); Andros 18,035 (Andros 8536, Arni 2166, Gaurio 2897, Corthion 4436); Thera 19,597 (Thera 4226, Egiale 1513, Amorgos 2627, Anaphe 579, Emporium 2172, Therasia 679, Ios 2090, Kalliste 3519, Oea 2192); Ceos 11,032 (Ceos 3817, Dryopis 1628, Cythnos 1563, Seriphos 4024); Melos, 12,774 (Melos 4864, Adamas 529, Siphnos 3777, Kimolos 2015, Pholegandros 962, Sikinos 627); Naxos 25,185 (Naxos 2064, Apiranthe 2421, Vivlos 4343, Coronis 3205, Marpessa 1313, Naoussa 1670, Paros 3586, Tragea 4661, Hyrie 1922); Tenos 11,816 (Tenos 4697, Panorme 2658, Peree 2801, Sosthenion 1660).

 CYCLAMEN, in botany, a genus belonging to the natural order Primulaceae, containing about ten species native in the mountains of central Europe and the Mediterranean region. C. europaeum (Sow-bread) is found as an introduced plant in copses in Kent and Sussex. The plants are low-growing herbs with large tuberous rootstocks, from the surface of which spring a number of broad, generally heart-shaped or kidney-shaped, long-stalked leaves, which in cultivated forms are often beautifully marbled, ribbed or splashed. The flowers are nodding, and white, pink, lilac or crimson in colour. The corolla has a short tube and five large reflexed lobes. After flowering the stalk becomes spirally coiled, drawing the fruit down to the soil. Cyclamen is a favourite winter and spring flowering plant. C. persicum is probably the best known. It is a small-growing kind bearing medium-sized leaves and numerous flowers. C. giganteum is a large, strong-growing species; not quite so free flowering as C. persicum, but in all other respects superior to it when well grown. C. papilio differs in the fringed character of the petals. It has been obtained by selection from C. persicum. There is also a very beautiful crested race, probably derived from C. giganteum.

The plants are raised from seed, and, with good cultivation, flower in fifteen to eighteen months from date of sowing. Seed should be sown as soon as ripe, in July or August, in pots or pans, filled up to 2 in. of the rim with broken crocks for drainage. The soil should consist of fibrous yellow loam, leaf-mould in flakes, and coarse silver-sand, in equal parts. Sow the seed thinly— in. to in. apart—and cover with a very thin sprinkling of the soil. Protect with a square of glass covered with a piece of brown paper for shade, and place on a shelf in a warm greenhouse. The soil should never be allowed to get dry.

When the seedlings appear, remove the covering, care being taken that they do not suffer for want of shade, water or a moist atmosphere. As soon as the third leaf appears, repot singly into thumb-pots in slightly coarser soil, so that the crowns of the little plants are just above the level of the soil. In December transfer into a little richer soil, consisting of two parts fibrous loam broken into small bits by hand and the fine particles rejected, one part flaked leaf-mould, passed through a half-inch sieve, half a part of plant ash from the burnt refuse heap and half a part of coarse silver-sand. Keep through the winter in a moist atmosphere at a temperature not below 50° Fahr., and as near the glass as possible. In March they should be ready for their next shift into 5-in. pots. The potting compost should be the same as for the last shift, with the addition of half a part of well-sweetened manure, such as a spent mushroom bed. Keep in a warm moist atmosphere and shade from strong sunlight. In June remove to cold frames and stand them on inverted pots well clear of one another. Slugs show a marked partiality for the succulent young leaves and should be excluded by dusting round the frames occasionally with newly slaked lime. The inverted pots serve as traps. The frames may thus be frequently syringed without keeping the plants unduly wet. Shade heavily from direct sunlight, but afford as much diffused light as practicable. Ventilate on all favourable occasions, and close the frames early after copious syringing.

By the end of the month they will be ready for the final shift into 7-in. pots. Much care must be used in handling them, the leaves being large, tender and numerous. The soil is as for the last potting. The frames should be kept close and heavily shaded