Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 2.pdf/311

273 doubt that in this number are to be found men who would hold their own in competition with non-Jews.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. Henriques valentine, Athletes of the Bible; Israel Abrahams, Jewish Life in the Middle Ages, 1896, pp. 375, 376; Hamburger, R. B. T.; Nowack. Lehrbuch der Hebrschen Archäologie; Berliner, Aus dem Innern Leben; Zunz, Zur Geschichte; R. K. Fox, Sporting Annual; Young Israel, London, 1897; Jewish Chronicle, London, 19(8): Jewish World, London, 1901; Jüdische Turn-ziltung, Nos. 1-3, Berlin, 1901.

A.

F. H. V.

ATHRIBIS: A city, during the Ptolemaic period, in Lower Egypt on the Damietta arm of the Nile near the present Bencha (Benḥa al-Asi), south- west of Zagazeeg. On the hill near Benba there are vestiges of the old city of Athribis. A Jewish col- ony must have dwelt bere, as is proven by two Greek inscriptions which were discovered on the hill in 1876. The first reads, "In honor of King Ptolemy and of Queen Cleopatra, Ptolemy, son of Epicydus, chief of the guards, together with the Jews resident in Athribis [consecrate] this place of prayer to God the Most High." The second inscription reads, "In honor of King Ptolemy and of Queen Cleopatra and of their children, Hermias and his wife Philọtera and their children [consecrate] this exedra and this place of prayer." It seems probable that all the persons mentioned here were Jews. The expression "God the Most High" is the equivalent of the Hebrew "El Elyon" (compare Eusebius, "Prep. Evan." 1.10, ). The word used for "a place of prayer occurs in this same sense in other Jewish inscriptions, in the New Testament, Josephus, Philo, etc. The exedra mentioned in the second inscription was probably a hall or an arcade used for religious or philosophical discussions (=. LXX. to Ezek. xlii. 4: "the hall of the schoolhouse," nɔ, B. B. 116; see Jastrow, "Dict." s.v. ). It is impossible to tell the exact date of these inscriptions, as Ptolemy V., VI., and VIII. had each a wife whose name was Cleopatra. S. Reinach thinks it probable that Ptolemy V. is intended, who died in 181

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 'Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique,1889, xiii. 178 et seq.; S. Reinach, ''Rev. Et. Juives'', xvii. 235 et seq.

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G.

ATHRONGES: Leader of the Jews during the insurrection under Archelaus (1. 6 ). A shepherd and bold adventurer, without any other claim to power but that of gigantic strength and stature, he managed, in common with his four brothers of equal size and vigor, to rally large bodies of men around him, and, after assuming the royal title, to wage war both on the Romans and on the forces of Archelaus. After a protracted and brave struggle, he and his brothers were defeated. Rapoport bas explained the name "Athronges" by the Hebraized Persian word "orange," or "melon" (see Fleischer in Levy, "Neuhebr. Wörterb." i. 77), and identified it with Ben Batiah, "Son of the Cucumber" (that is, like a cucumber), the popular hero, the size of whose fist [] has become proverbial in ancient rabbinical literature (Kelim xvii. 12; Tosef., Kelim, B. M. vii. 2); the form of his hand having, as Rapoport thinks, given rise to both terms, At a later time, legend identified him with the leader of the insurrection, Abba Saḳḳara, the nephew of Jolanan ben Zakkai.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Josephus, Ant. xvii. 10, 87; B. J. ii. 4, 83:Schürer, Gesch i. 348; Rapoport, 'Erek Millin, s.v.

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K.

ATLANTA: Since 1868 capital of the State of Georgia in the United States. The city was captured and burned by the United States troops in 1864, and all of the civic and congregational records were destroyed.

From the best tradition obtainable, it appears that the first Jewish resident of Atlanta was Jacob Haas, who, with his family, settled there about 1846, to be followed soon after by Moses Sternberg. The daughter of Jacob Haas was the first Jewish child born in the place. She married her cousin, also named Jacob Haas.

The Hebrew Benevolent Congregation was formed during the war, and held services on holidays in the Masonic Temple, located on Decatur street. It is now the leading Jewish congregation in the place. Other religious organizations are the Ahawat Achim and Gemilath Chesed. In 1867 a social organization, the Concordia, was founded, in 1870 the Hebrew Ladies' Benevolent Association, and later the Hebrew Relief Association.

In 1889 there was established here, by District Grand Lodge No. 5 of the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith, the Hebrew Orphans' Home, of which the Hon. Simon Wolf of Washington is president. In 1900 it cared for sixty-eight inmates. The rabbis of the community have been the Revs. Borcheim, Henry Gersoni, E. B. M. Brown, J. S. Jacobson, Leo Reich, and David Marx.

Atlanta has furnished two Jewish members to the Georgia legislature; namely, Col. Samuel Weil and Adolph Brandt. David Mayer, one of the earlier settlers, was instrumental in the organization of the public-school system of Atlanta, and was commonly known as "the father of the public schools."

In a total population of 100,000 there is an estimated Jewish population of 1,500 to 2,000. Jews are engaged on a large scale in the manufacture of paper boxes and other goods made from paper, also furniture, machinery, and cotton goods. A cotton-mill owned by a Jewish family has the unique distinction of making bags from cloth woven in the same building, in which the cotton was also spun. Jews are also engaged in the manufacture of harness, candy, crackers, paints, mattresses, spring beds, iron bedsteads, clothing, stationery, and leather.

A.

ATLAS, ELAZAR (LAZAR): Literary critic; son of David Atlas; born March 5, 1851, in Beisegola, in the government of Kowno, Russia. His early years were spent at Novo Zhagory in the study of the Talmud. In 1884 he arrived at Warsaw and became one of the chief contributors to the year-book "Ha-Asif," which N. Sokolow then published. In 1888 he edited the year-book "Ha-Kerem," of which only one number appeared. Next, be collected a number of literary essays, which he had published from time to time in "Ha-Zefirah," and issued them under the title מה לפנים ומה לאחור ("What Is Progressive and What Retrogressive," Warsaw, 1898). II.-18