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ASTYAGES. inscriptions of Nabonidus, Cyrus, the king of Anzan, revolted against his lord, Astyages. The troops of Astyages deserted him and delivered him to Cyrus, who captured Ecbatana in B.C. 550.

ASTY'ANAX (Gk., lord of the city, from iarv, asty, city + avat, anax. ruler, lord). The son of Hector and Andromache, deported with his mother from the ruins of Troy by Pyrrhus. Upon the fortunes of these two Trojans, Racine has founded his admirable tragedy, Andromaque. At the death of Pyrrhus, Astyanax became king of Epirus. According to another legend, he was hurled from the walls of Troy, in fulfillment of an oracle.

ASUNCION, a-soon'the-on, Nuestr. Senora DE i.A, nw:V-stra sa-nyo'-rii da la. The capital of Paraguay, an episcopal city, situated on the east baiTk of the Paraguay River (Map: Paraguay, F 9). The city was founded in 1530, on the feast-day of the Assumption of the Virgin (Au- gust 15), and for more than a century was the capital of all the Spanish territory in the valley of the Rio de la Plata. There are a cathedral, several other churches, a government palace, a public library, a national college, and an agricultural school. The regularity of its streets and its fine situation on the river bank make it notable among South American cities. A railway connects it with various points, and a line of steamers with Buenos Ayres. It is the chief centre of trade for the entire country, and has a considerable commerce, the principal articles of export being leather, tobacco, sugar, and yerba maté, or Paraguay tea. Population, 1895. 45,000; 1900, 51,700.

ASUR, a'soor. See.

ASURBANIPAL, a'soor-ba'ne-pal. See ;.

ASURNAZIRPAL, a'soor- na'zer-pal (Assyr. aiur-nai;ir-]>(il, "Asshur is the protector of the son.") King of Assyria from B.C. 885 to 860. He extended the Empire westward to the Mediter- ranean, and made Phœnieia, Sidon, Tyre, and Byblos tributary to his sway, restoring the Empire from Lebanon to the Tigris, as it had ex- isted under Tiglathpileser. The principal his- torical sources concerning Asurnazirpal, consist- ing of stone inscriptions, a monolith, an obelisk, and a tablet of alabaster, are no in the British Museum. A record of his achievements is given in the so-called 'Standard Inscription,' of which more than 100 copies have been made, scattered throughout the principal museums of Europe and America.

ASVAGHOSHA, ash'va-g'ho'shil, or ACVAGHOSA. A Buddhist monk, author of a life of the Buddha, written in Sanskrit, and entitled Buddha-carila, or "Acts of the Buddha." He lived in the Second or the Fourth Century A.M.. and his poetical work on the legend of Buddlia follows the manner of a classical Sanskrit epic, but is written with the elaboration and artificiality of the later court poetry. It was translated into Chinese between a.d. 414 and 421. For the Sanskrit edition consult Cowell, A^%:ag-hoslurs RuddlM-carita (Oxford, 1893): and Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XLIX.; and on the Chinese version consult Asvaghosha, Discourse on the Awakening of Faith, translated by Suzuki (Chicago, 1900).

ASVALAYANA, or AQVALAYANA, ash'-va-lii'ya-na. The name of an ancient Sanskrit author, familiar in connection with Vedic literalure, because of the Srauta-Sūtra and the Grhya-Sūtra. which bear his name. See.

ASVAMEDHA, as'vii-m.id'ha (horse-sacri- fiee). A Vedic and later Hindu rite, believed to be efficacious in insuring progeny. The sacrifice was performed only by kings.

ASVINS, iis'vinz. Two Vedic divinities of the heaven, the Aryan Dioscuroi, later called Dasra and Xasatya. They are the first bringers of light in the morning sky, and the husbands of Surya. daughter of the sun god. The Asvins are the divine physicians, and are frequently im- plored in the Rigveda, where they are always addressed together for release from ills of all kinds.

ASWAIL, as'wal. See ;.

ASWAN, a-swan'. See.

ASY'LUM (Lat., Gk. anv7Mv, asijlon, right of sanctuary, refuge, a place safe from violence, from a, a priv. -|- ai'Ari, syle, right of seizure ). A place of refuge. In ancient times, sacred places, especially the temples and altars of the gods, were appointed as asylums to which crim- inals as well as persecuted individuals might flee for refuge, and to molest them in such places was regarded as an impiety. An analogous in- stitution is the 'cities of refuge' (Num. xxxv. 9-34). Among the Greeks in early times these asylums might be sometimes useful in pre- venting hasty retribution; but in the course of time they were so much abused that their sanc- tity was in a great measure disregarded. Thus Pausanias, who fled to the altar of Athene, was taken and slain there by the Lacedæmonians, and in other cases the refugee was compelled to leave the asylum by fire or starvation. In Rome, the Emperor Tiberius abolished all such places of refuge from law, excepting those in the temples of Juno and Æsculapius. The custom of allowing to real or supposed criminals a place of safety in temples was also adopted by the Chris- tian Church. In the time of Constantine the Great, the churches were made asylums; and Theodosius II. extended the privilege to all courts, alleys, gardens, and houses belonging to the Church. In A.D. 681 the Synod of Toledo ex- tended the privilege of asylum to a space of 30 paces around every church. In the lawless periods of the Middle Ages, the influence of the Church often prevented deeds of gross injustice and violence; but the sanctity of churches was abused by criminals, and this led to several modifications which gradually destroyed the privilege of sanctuary (q.v.). In England it was abolished by acts passed in 1534 and 1697. The word asylum is now applied to places of shelter for unfortunate or destitute persons, and espe- cially to hospitals for the insane. See.

ASYLUM, In international law, a privilege accorded by the law of nations or by custom to foreign legations to shelter within their precincts persons subject to the jurisdiction of the State in which such legation is maintained. As this definition indicates, the right, so far as it exists at all, is a right to extend protection, not to claim it; and this circumstance differentiates it strikingly from the institution of asylum or sanctuary (q.v.) as practiced in primi-