Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/62

Rh 52 M E S M E S ministrative and diplomatic skill of the Turkish officials to the test. The Turkish influence has here made at one time great advance and at another lost all the ground it had gained, the rich and powerful sheikhs of the Muntefitch sometimes becoming for a season rulers over the whole of Southern Irak and even over the town of Basra. The present writer once visited the great sheikh Nasir in his camp near Suk-esh-Shiyukh ; and he received the impression of having to do with a very remarkable and astute personage. The old Syrian population of Irak has almost entirely dis appeared ; the few remnants left are distinguished by a special religion, in regard to which see the article MAND^ANS. Ethno- graphically the country is subject to a double influence. On the one hand the connexion with Nejd, the central plateau of Arabia, continues uninterrupted; the emigration from that region being mainly directed towards Irak and Jezira, In Baghdad even, the Agel-Bedouins from Central Arabia have a quarter of their own. With the earnings obtained in these rich districts the emigrants return to their homes. But quite as strong at least is the influ ence of Persia. Persian customs are in fashion ; in Baghdad there is an important Persian quarter ; and Kerbela and Meshed AH to the west of the Euphrates may be considered regular Persian &quot;enclaves.&quot; In these places are buried the son-in-law of Mohammed, the caliph Ali, and his sou Hosein (in Kerbela), the chief saints of the Shiite sect ; and their tombs are not only shrines of pilgrimage to the living, but the dead are brought by countless caravans from Persia to be buried in ground which they have made holy. The neighbourhood of Kerbela reeks with the odour of corpses ; and from the midst of them pestilence has often begun its march. Throughout the whole of Irak the Shiites have many ad herents, for example, the Khazael already mentioned. Persian influence prevails on the Arab population of Irak, and the inter mingling of the races can still be very clearly traced ; in this dis tant corner of the Turkish empire a more international tone prevails than in any other district. And, however small when compared with former times the commercial and intellectual intercourse of various nations in these regions may be at the present day, the attentive observer must notice that such intercourse does still exist, though within restricted limits. No trace, indeed, is to be found of that rich intellectual development which was produced in the time of the caliphs through the reciprocal action of Persian and Arabic elements. Still the quickwittedness of the inhabitants of Irak makes a decided impression on the traveller passing through Asiatic Turkey ; and one might venture to prophesy that the country might to some extent recover its former position in the world, especially if English influence from India were more widely extended, and should lead to the construction of a railway. The trade which passes through Irak is even now not unimportant ; horses, for example, are exported in considerable numbers from southern Irak to India. But it might be very much improved, as the country, it is said, could support five hundred times as many inhabitants as it actually contains. There is also a considerable export of dates, a fruit which forms the chief sustenance of a great number of the inhabitants ; and the breeding of cattle (especially buffaloes) is extensively carried on. Only a few steamboats as yet navigate the majestic rivers. Communication by water is carried on by means of the most primitive craft. Goods are transported in the so-called &quot; terrades,&quot; moderately big high-built vessels, which also venture out into the Persian Gulf as far as Kuwet. Passengers are conveyed, especially on the Euphrates, in the wz.es/iM/, a very long and narrow boat, mostly pushed along the river bank with poles. The Mesopotamia!! &quot; kelleks &quot; rafts laid on goatskin bladders come down as far as Baghdad, where round boats made of plaited reeds pitched with asphalt are in use. At Basra, on the other hand, we see the &quot;belem,&quot; boats of a large size, having the appearance of being hollowed out of tree trunks, and partly in fact so constructed. Throughout Irak in general Indian influence is partially at work ; in the hot summer months, for instance, when the natives live in underground apartments (serdab), the Indian punkah is used in the houses of the rich. As regards language, the local Arabic dialect has evidently been affected on the one hand by Persian, on the other by the Bedouin forms of speech. See Ritter, Die Erdkunde von Asien, 2d ed. vol. vii., 10th and llth parts, Berlin, 1843, 1844; Chesney, Expedition for the Survey of the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris, 2 vols., London, 18-50; W. Ainsworth, Researches in Assyria, .Babylonia, and Cfialdsea, London, 1838 ; Fr. Delitzsch, Wo lag das Parodies? Leipsic, 1881. Map: Kiepert, Die Enphrat- und Tigrislander, Berlin, 1854. (A. SO.) MESSENE, the chief city of Messenia, founded, under the auspices of Epaminondas, as a bulwark against the Spartans. After the battle of Leuctra that general sent to all the exiled Messenians, in Africa, Sicily, or Italy, and invited them to return to the land of their fathers. Many came with eagerness, and in 369 B.C. the city was built by the combined army of Thebans under Epaminondas and Argives under Epiteles, assisted by the Messenians themselves. The site was chosen in conformity with a vision which appeared to Epaminondas, and the walls were raised to the sound of flutes playing the airs of Sacadas and Pronomus. The citadel was erected on the summit of Mount Ithome, and the city on its southern slope and in the adjoining valley. City and citadel were enclosed by a wall 47 stadia in length. Near the centre of the city was the agora, with a famous spring called Arsinoe, and .various temples and statues, among the latter an iron statue of Epaminondas. The Hierothysion con tained many statues of gods and heroes, among them a bronze statue of Epaminondas. In the gymnasium Avere statues of Hermes, Hercules, and Theseus by Egyptian artists. In the stadium was a bronze statue of the great hero Aristomenes, who had a sepulchral monument else where in the city. On the summit of the citadel was a famous spring called Clepsydra, and near it a temple of Zeus Ithomatas, with a statue by the famous Argive artist Ageladas, executed originally for the Messenian Helots who settled in Naupactus (see MESSENIA). It was in honour of this statue that the festival of the Ithonicea was performed. The situation of Messene is one of the finest and most romantic in the world. The view of Mount Ithome, with its level summit and its ancient and mediaeval ruins, as one issues from the Langadha Pass in the Taygetua mountains, is beautiful beyond description. And the view from the summit of the mountain itself, which rises, steep and rugged, to the height of 2631 feet, and is crowned by the ruins of fortifications of Cyclopean work manship, is enchanting, hardly equalled by any other in Greece. Near the middle of the ruins of the lower city stands a wretched village named Mavrommati (Black Eye), so called from the Turkish name of the spring Arsinoe, which still flows as plentifully as in the old days. These ruins are the most imposing in Greece, and furnish the finest existing specimen of Hellenic military architecture. Almost the entire circuit of the ancient walls can be traced, and in some places they are standing to their full height. They are built of large hewn stones laid in beautifully regular layers without mortar, and are surmounted by towers, of which there seem to have been originally over thirty. Seven of these are still in a good state of preser vation, and bear testimony to the thoroughness of the great enterprise undertaken by Epaminondas. Two gates can still be distinguished, one on the slope of Mount Ithome, the other (the northern or Megalopolis gate) on the north side. The latter is a dipylon or double gate, opening into a circular enclosure 62 feet in diameter. The walls of this enclosure are built with extreme care, and the soffit stone of the inner portal, which has been partly moved from its place, reminds one of the lintel of the so-called treasury of Atreus at Mycenae. It is 18 ft. 8 in. x 4 ft. 2 in. x 2 ft. 10 in. Within the town several ancient sites can still be distinguished the stadium, the theatre, and several temples. MESSENIA (in Homer Messene), a state of Greece, and the most westerly of the three peninsulas of the Pelopon nesus. Its area is a little over 1160 square miles. It is separated from Elis and Arcadia on the north by the river Neda and the Nomian mountains, and from Laconia on the east by the lofty range of Taygetus. The other sides are washed by the sea, which indents its shores with four gulfs or bays, Messenia, Phcenicus, Pylus, and Cyparissus. On its south-west corner are the CEnussae Islands, and oppo site the bay of Pylus (Navarino) the famous Sphacteria, The interior is divided by mountain chains into fertile plains, watered by rivers, the chief of which is the Pamisus (with its tributaries Leucasia, Charadrus, Amphitus, and Aris), falling into the Messenian Gulf. The great valley