Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/499

AMARI. tpr of instruction, lie rosi^icd his ])rofcssorship at Florence in 187S ami renioveJ to Home, where he continueil liis liistorieal studies. He died July 10, 1889. Other writings of Amari are upon the languajre and history of the Arabs, in the Revue Archiologique, the Journal Asiatique, etc.

AMAR'NA LET'TERS. A collection of more than three hundred letters and dispatches, inscribed upon clay tablets, which were found, in the winter of 1SS7-88, in the village of Tel-1 1-Aniarna (q.v. ) in Jliddle Egypt. They represent the Asiatic correspondence of the Egyptian court about 1-100 B.C., and it is a remarkable fact that they are in the cuneiform character, and, with three exceptions, in the Babylonian language, which would thus appear to have been the medium of diplomatic conmiuuieation throughout Western Asia. One of the Icttei's is in the language of ilitani. in northern Mesopo- tamia, and two are in that of Argapi or Arzaya (probably Cyprus). Among the writers are the Egyptian kings Amenophis III. (q.v.). and .menophis IV. (q.v.), and the kings of Jlitani, of Babylonia, of the Hittites, and of Alashia (Cyprus). It a])pears from these letters that the Egyptian kings of the eighteenth dynasty intermarried with the royal houses of both !Mitani and Babylonia. Amenophis III. married a sister of Kadashman-Bel, King of Babylonia, and also a sister of Dushratta, King of Jlitaiii ; while Amenophis IV. married a niece of his father's Milanian wife. Frequent reference is made to connnercial atTairs. implving a consider- able intereouise between Egypt and the Asiatic states. By far the greater number of the Amarna letters proceed from Egyptian officials and subject allies in Syria, at that time a de- pendency of Egypt, and afford a valuable insight into the state of Palestine before the Hebrew in- vasion. The growing weakness of Egypt and the extension of the Hittite dominion in the north can be clearly seen, and the withdrawal of the Egyptian troops gave opportunity for conflicts between the princes of the small city-states into which the land was broken up. To add to the general confusion, the country was threatened on the east by the Khabiri — marauding nom- ads from the Arabian Desert, whose sphere of activity extended from southern Palestine as far north as Sidon. Beirut, and Gebal. Some scholars are inclined to identify the Khabiri with the Hebrews; bnt this theory has not met with general approval. The letters of the Pales- tinian princes, which are full of mutual recrim- inations, reveal the fact that there were two chief parties; one loyal to Egypt, the other pro- fessing loyalty, but in reality allied with the enemies of Egypt. The latter party seems to be everywhere successful. Among the most zealous supporters of Egypt was the Piince of Jerusalem, which appears, at this time, as a city of some importance. For a translation into German of the Amarna tablets, consult Winekler, in Sriira- der's KeiUnschriftUcheBibliofhckCiierlinASQe) : English translation by Sletealfc, under the title. The Tcil El Amarna Letters (New York, 1S9C).

AM'ARYL'LIDA'CEÆ (The Amartllis Family). An order of monocotyledonous plants with about 75 genera and nearly 1000 species. The plants resemble those of the Liliacea> in -many respects, except that they all have inferior ovaries. The species are mostly tropical and subtropical, and are generally found in dry regions. Many are bulbous, leafing and flowering only in the wet season, while others have thick fleshy leaves covered with wax or otherwise protected for their xerophytic habit. The inflorescence is usually a scape; the flowers have an inferior three-celled ovary, six stamens, and six petal-like segments to the i)erianth. In some s])ecies, as in Narcissus, a sort of corona is present between the normal perianth and the stiimens. The fruit is a capsule or berry. The recent classification by Pax is into Amaryllid- oidea;, of which the chief genera are Hajmianthus, Galanlhus, Amaryllis, Crinum, and Narcissus; Agavoideae, with Agave and Fourcrora. the lead- ing genera; Hypoxidoidea>, with Alstroemeria, Bomaria and Anigoz;inthus: and Campynemat- oidese, represented by Canipynema. Home of these are of gieat economic value (see Ag.we; Hemp, Sisal), while many others are extensively cultivated as ornamentals. See N.pcissf.s; Amaryllis; Blood Flower; Alstrcemeria ; (JALANTIIUS, etc.

AM'ARYL'LIS (from the famous nymph Aiiiari/Uis). A genus of bulbous-rooted plants of the natural order Amar3'llidacca>, having a simple six-partite perianth, and containing a large number of species, natives of the warmer regions of the globe. Many of them have flowers of very great bcaut.y. Many of the species for- merly grouped under Amaryllis have been sepa- rated into (lillerent genera, of which Amaryllis, Ncrine, HipiJcastrum and Brunisvigia are the best known. A .species of this genus. Amaryllis forraosissima, was brought to Europe from South America in the end of the seventeenth century, and has since been in connuon cultivation as a garden flower. Its scentless flowers are of a beautiful red color, exhibiting a play of golden gleams in the sunshine. Amaryllis belladonna, known also as a Belladonna Lily, has a scape 1-3 feet high, bearing an umbel of rose-colored fragiant flowers. Amaryllis amabilis, Amaryllis josephinte, and Amaryllis vittata are among the most admired bulbous-rooted plants. Amaryllis sarniensis is one of the most hardy species, flow- ering freely in Guernsey, with a little protection during winter, and although commonlv called Guernsey Lily, it is supposed to be a native of Japan. By artificial impregnation, a gieat num- ber of hybrid forms have been produced in this genus. Consult J. G. Baker, Handbook of the Aiiiart/Uidcc (London, 1888).

AMARYLLIS. A shepherdess in the Idyls of Theocritus and in Vergil's Eclogues. The name is sometimes used as the type of a bucolic sweet- heart, as in the pastoral of The Faithful Shep- herdess, by Fletcher, and Milton's Lycidas.

AM'ASA. See.

AMASIA, a-ma'se-a (ancient Gk. ' Afidacta, Anias(ia). A town of Asiatic Turkey, the capital of the sanjak of the same name, in the vilayet of Sivas, on the right bank of the Veshil-Irmak, 200 miles southwest of Trebizond (Map: Turkey in Asia, G 2). It stands in a deep and narrow valley, and the river flows through a narrow channel, between precipitous rocky banks. The environs are very fraitful and of much natural beauty. Amasia is the centre of the silk industry in Asia Minor, and exports silk to Aleppo. Damascus, and even Constantinople. It contains a fine bazaar and a large number of