Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/328

Rh 308 A K A A R A language of various bodies of Christians, Jacobites, Nes- torians, and Maronites. The systematic study of Syriac by grammars and lexicons was commenced pretty early. Of native grammarians, may be mentioned Jacob of Edessa (7th century) and Barhebraeus ; of lexicographers, Bar-Ali and Bar-Bahlul (9th and 10th centuries respectively). By the Maronites the study of Syriac was transplanted to Europe in the 16th century. A corrupt dialect (Neo- Syriac) is still spoken in some districts near Mosul, in Antilibanus, &c., and has been grammatically handled by Stoddart, Noldeke, and others. Besides the two main branches of Aramaic already discussed, several minor Aramaic dialects claim to be noticed. The Samaritan dialect, spoken by the mixed population introduced into Northern Palestine after the deportation of the Ephraim- ites, has long been superseded as a living tongue by Arabic, but is still the sacred language of the Samaritan communi ties. The most important literary monument of this dialect is the Samaritan translation of the Pentateuch ; but we possess also Samaritan liturgies and other remains. Another written dialect is the Mandean, the language of a mystical sect on the Euphrates and Tigris, whose Book of Adam has been edited by Norberg. Other dialects are known only from inscriptions, as the dialect of the Hauran, and that of certain Egyptian monuments. Helps to the Study of the Aramaic Dialects. There is as yet no good Grammar of the Chaldee dialects. That most commonly used is Winer s Grammatik des biblischcn und targumischcn Chaldaismus, which has passed through several editions, and of which there is an American translation by Riggs. Luzzato s Elemcnti grammaticali del Caldeo Biblico c deldialctto Tnlmudico Babilonesc (Padua, 1865) is in some respects preferable to Winer. The Chahldischc Grammatik of Fuerst (Leipsic, 1835) is unfinished. The best Chaldee Lexicon is still the old Lexicon Chaldaicum Talmudicum et Rabbinwum of Buxtorf (Basil, 1640). The worthless modern reprint by Fischer is to be avoided, but the Clialdaischcs Wortcrbuch of J. Levy, 2 vols. Leipsic, 1867-68, may be used with caution. On the controversy as to the real character of the Chaldee dialects, the student may be re ferred to the books of introduction to the Old Testament, especially to Schrader s edition of De Wette, which gives full references to rele vant literature. Of recent Syriac Grammars may be mentioned those of Hoffmann (Grammaticce Syriacce Libri III., Hala3, 1827) and Uhlemann (Grammatik dcr Syrisclicn Sprachc, 2 Aufl., Berlin, 1857) in Germany, and of Cowper (London, 1858) in English. An elaborate and pretentious reconstruction of Hoilinann s Grammar by Professor Merx of Tiibingen, treats all the Aramaic dialects, but is not yet finished (part i. 1867, part ii. 1870). The Grammar of Amira (Rome, 1596) is still referred to. There is no complete Syriac Lexicon ad equate to modern requirements. Michaelis s edition of Castellus (Gottingen, 1788), and Schaafs Lexicon Concordantiale to the New Testament (Leyden, 1708), are valuable ; and a great Thesaurus, compiled from numerous sources, and from the collections of several scholars, is now being published by the Clarendon Press under the editorship of Dr Payne Smith. On the Samaritan litera ture see the introduction to Nutt s Fragments of a Samaritan Targum, London, 1874. There is a Samaritan Grammar by Tlhlemaun (Leipsic, 1837), and an Essay on the Mandean dialect by Noldeke (Gottingen, 1862). The Aramaic inscriptions have been in vestigated by Geseuius, De Vogue, Noldeke, and others. (W. R. S.) ARAN ISLANDS, SOUTH, three islands of carboniferous limestone, which lie across Galway Bay, on the west coast of Ireland, in a south-easterly direction, forming a kind of natural breakwater. They are called respectively begin ning with the most northern Inishmore (or Aranmore), _ the Great Island ; Inishmaan, the Middle Island ; and Inisheer, the Eastern Island. The first has an elevation of 354 feet, the second of 259, and the third of 202. These islands are remarkable for a number of architectural remains of a very early date. In Aranmore which has been sung by Moore there stand, on a cliff 220 feet high, large remains of a circular cyclopean tower, called Dun- Aengus, ascribed to the Fir-bolg or Belgse; and seven other similar structures are found in the group. Aran more also bears the name of Aran-na-naomh, Aran-of-The- Saints, from the number of religious recluses who took up their abode in it, and gave a celebrity to the holy wells, altars, and shrines, to which many are still attracted. No less, indeed, than twenty buildings of ecclesiastical or monastic character have been enumerated in the three islands. The total area is 11,287 acres. ARANDA, PEDRO PABLO ABARCA Y BOLEA, Count of, a descendant of a noble family in Aragon, was born at Saragossa, 21st Sept. 1718. He served for several years in the army, and, after retiring with the rank of lieutenant- colonel, spent some time in travelling through France, Italy, and Prussia. He seems to have fallen under the displeasure of Ferdinand VI., but on the accession of Charles III. in 1759, he was appointed ambassador to the court of Poland, an office which he held for several years. On his return he took the command of the army sent against the Portuguese, and gained some successes. He was then appointed captain-general of Valencia, from which place, two years later, in 1765, he was summoned to Madrid to assist in quelling an insurrection. His success was rewarded by the appointment to the Presidency of the Court of Castile. While holding this office he induced the king to give his consent to an order for the banish ment from Spain of all the Jesuits. His further intention of abolishing the Inquisition was prematurely disclosed, and great indignation was excited against him. He was dis missed from the presidency of the council, and sent as ambas sador to Paris. Here he was instrumental in bringing about peace between Spain and Bri tain. The presidency from which Aranda had been dismissed was held for a short time by his political adversary, Grimaldi, who was succeeded by the count of Florida Blanca. On the dismissal of the latter in 1792, Aranda was recalled to his former position, but from it he was again quickly driven by the influence of Godoy, the queen s favourite. Soon after he obtained permission to retire to his own estates, where he died in 1799. ARANJUEZ (Ara Jovis ?}, a town in Spain, in the province of Madrid, situated 1640 feet above the sea, in a beautiful valley on the left bank of the Tagus, near its junction with the Jarama, 28 miles S.S.E. of the capital, and 22 E.N.E. of Toledo, and united by rail with both these cities. The master of the Order of Santiago had a country seat at Aranjuez in the 14th and 15th centuries, which passed, along with the mastership, into the possession of the crown of Spain in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella (1522). It became a favourite resort of the Spanish court during the spring months ; and its successive occupants, from the Emperor Charles V. down to Ferdinand VII., modified it according to their respective tastes. The larger palace, a building in the French style, due to Philip V., stands at the meeting of the rivers, and is surrounded with the luxuriant foliage of oaks and sycamores and elms. Many of the elms, which were originally brought from England in the reign of Philip II., have attained an extra ordinary size. The Casa del Labrador, or Farmer s House, as it is called, is a smaller palace built by Charles IV., and full of elaborate ornamentation. The inhabitants of the town continued to live for the most part in troglodytic fashion in excavations in the hill-sides, till the reign of Charles III. (1759-1788), whose minister, Grimaldi, laid the town out in imitation of the Dutch style, with straight wide streets, and uniform two-story houses. It contains two parish churches S. Antonio and del Paycs an hos pital, a Franciscan convent, a bull-ring, and a theatre. The manufactures are flour, chocolate, leather, and glass ; but most of the inhabitants are dependent on agricultural pursuits. A yearly fair is held on the 4th, 5th, and 6th of September. Great attention is given to the rearing of horses and mules, and the royal stud used to be remarkable for the beauty of its cream-coloured breed. The ordinary population is between 3000 and 4000, but during the residence of the court, the number of inhabi-