Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/165

ASK. ASK, ask ('Ash Tree'). The name in Norse mythology of the first man created by the gods. See also.

AS'KALON. See.

ASKEW, as'ku, or Ascough, Anne (1521-46). An English Protestant zealot and martyr. She was born at Stallingborough, Lincolnshire. She was of gentle birth, and against her will was made to subtly the place of a deceased elder sis- ter, as wife of Thomas Kyme, by whom she had two children. She was highly educated and de- voted to biblical study. Because she had offend- ed the priests. her husband, a stanch Roman Catholic, put her out of his house, which she willingly left. She went to London, it is sup- posed, to sue for a separation, but was arrested on a charge of heresy in March, 1545. Examined by the Bishop of London and others on the doc- trine of transubstantiation, she denied its truth. She was imprisoned, but released on bail and acquitted on June 13. Again she antagonized her persecutors by the steadfast profession of her faith, and was rearrested in June, 1546, tortured by the rack, and finally burned at the stake in Smithfield, July 16, 1546. Consult: J. Bale, The Lattre Examinacyon of Anne Askew, etc. (Marburg, 1547); M. Webb, An Account of Anne Askew (London, 1865).

ASKHABAD, as'Ka-bad' (Ar. and Pers. aakh, love + ahiid. dwelling, town). A town of Rus- sian Turkestan. the political centre of the Trans- Caspian territory, situated on the Trans-Caspian Railway, 200 miles southeast of Mikhailovsk, the seaward terminus of the railway (Map: Asia Central, G 2). It is a thriving town, owing its prosperity to its position near the Persian frontier, which has made of it a commercial entrepôt for goods exchanged between Russia, Persia. Khiva, Bokhara, and Turkestan. It has a garrison of 4000 soldiers. Population, in 1897, about 20,000.

ASKJA, ask'ya. The largest volcano of Ice- land, situated in the centre of the island, in about latitude 65° N. and longitude 16° 45' W. (Map: Denmark, G 1). It has a crater over 700 feet deep, and is still active. Its last erup- tion took place in 1875, and traces of it are found in the large pumice-covered tract on the northeastern slope of the mountain.

ASLAUGA'S. a-slou'goz- KNIGHT. A German story by Fonqué (1814), translated by Carlyle in German Romances.

ASMAI, as-mi', or ASMAYI (c. 740-830 B.C.). The preceptor of Harun-al-Rashid, and an important representative of Arabic literature. Sir Henry Rawlinson calls Asmai's history of the kings of Persia and Arabia previous to Islam, "perhaps the most valuable and authentic historic volume in the whole range of Arabian literature." His romance of Antar has been called "the Iliad of the desert." Several of his pupils became celebrated.

ASMANNSHAUSEN, as'mans-hou'zen. See .

ASMODE'US (Heb. ashmedai, probably from shamad, to destroy). Asmodeus figures largely in later Hebrew tradition, where he ai)pears as the (diief of the demons, just as Lilith was their queen (Talmud Babli, Erubin 100b). In Tobit (iii. 8, 17) he appears simply as an evil spirit possessed of great lust. It is probable that Asmo-

deus is the same as Æshma, or Æshma dæra; i.e. the 'covetous' demon who plays a prominent role in Mazdaism, the religion of Persia. In the Book of Tobit, both have the same quality of lust and the same power of killing any one standing in their way. In the Book of Tobit, Asmodeus is represented as having loved Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, and slain seven men in succession who were married to Sarah. When, however, Tobias came with the intention of marrying Sarah, he succeeded, with the help of his companion Raphael, in exorcising the demon by fumigating the heart and liver of a fish. Flying to Upper Egypt, the demon was pursued by Raphael, and bound, so that the couple henceforth had peace (Tobit, vi. 14, vii. 2). In Talmudic legends, Asmodeus is brought into association with Solomon, and while aiding him on certain occasions, notably in building the temple, he is regarded also as the cause of the offenses which history attaches to Solomon.

AS'MONE'ANS. An influential family of the Jews which attained prominence under the leadership of Judas Maccabæus. See.

ASNIÈRES, as'nyar'. A northern suburb of Paris, France, 3 miles distant, on the left bank of the Seine. It is the chief town of its canton, an important railway junction, has domestic industries, and is a favorite summer pleasure resort of the Parisians. Population, in 1897, 24,317.

ASNYK, as'nek, (1838-97). A Polish poet and dramatist, born at Kalisch. He studied medicine at Warsaw and Breslau, but finally turned to philosophy and took his degree at Heidelberg in 1866. During several years he was a political exile for participation in the in- surrection of 1863, and about that time he began to publish poetry. He resided at Cracow from 1870 till his death. Several volumes of his 'poetical' work appeared under the pseudonym of 'El—y,' and have given their author a high place in Polish lyrical literature. As a dramatic writer, he produced, among other successful pieces, Cola Rienzi; The Jew; The Friends of Job, and a tragedy dealing with Lithuanian history, called Kiejstut.

ASOKA, a-sfi'ka, written also ACOKA, ji-sho'ka, ASHOKA. A renowned king of early India, famous as the patron of Buddhism, to which he stands in a similar relation to that of Constantine to Christianity. His full name was Asoka Vardhana. He was the son of Bindu- sfira Amitragliata, of the Maurya line, and he ascended the throne of Magadha (modern Behar) about B.C. 272, as inheritor of the northern empire which his famous grandfather, Chandra- gupta, or Sandrocottus (q.v.), the contemporary of Alexander the Great, had founded. Through conquest he extended his power by bringing the kingdoms of Bengal and Orissa into his vast domain. At first he seems to have been of a cruel and savage nature, as shown by his causing his own brothers to be assassinated when he succeed- ed to the crown; but he appears to have experi- enced a change of heart or to have undergone a transformation when he was converted from Brahmanism to Buddhism. He devoted himself zealously to spreading the faith of the Buddha, convoking great Buddhist councils and making Buddhism the State religion of his extensive realm. The numerous edicts which he caused to