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* KURDS. 632 KURNBEEGEB. pression. The vast majority of the Kurds, who iiuinbcr about 2,000,000, profess Ishim, which has brought them into antagonism with the Ar- menians ami other Christi.ui peoples of their environment. Consult: Jlillingen, lliW Life Amony the Koords (Lomlon. 1S70); Creagh, Armenians. Kourds, and Turks- ( ib.. 1S80) ; IIous- saye, Les rnce.i liumaines de la Perse (Paris, 1888) ; Chantre, liecherches nntliropologiques dans I'Asie occidentale (Paris, 1898); id., "Les Kurdes," in the Bulletins de la Hoeictc d'Anthro- poloiiir dr Lifon for 1889. KURENBERG, ku'rfnberK, Der voN, or Deb KuKE.N'BEKGER. A German poet of the twelftli cen- tury, of a knightly race settled near Linz. in Ujiper Austria. His love songs, dating from about 1150-70, were edited by Waekernagel (1827) in Haupt. Dcs Minncsantis I'riihling (Leipzig. 1888)', and ill Bartsch, Deutsche Liederdichter (Stutt- gart. ]89j). As they are in part composed in the Xibchingen stanza, some literary historians credited Kiirenberg with the autliorsliip of the Nibelungenlied in its original version. Consult Kiircnherg und die yihelungen (Stuttgart, 1874). KTJRG, koorg. A province of British Indi.i. See CooRU. KTJRGANS, koUr'gonz. The name applied to ancient sepulchres and grave mounds found in various regions of European Russia and Siberia. The dolichocephalic type of the Trans-Baikal Kurgans is thought by some to be related to the Hakkas, wliom they regard as the best modern representatives of the primitive Chinese. KURIA MTJRIA (knri're-:i mou're-a) ISL- ANDS. A group of islands situated off the soutlii-rn coast of Arabia (Map: Turkey in Asia (Arabia), T 12). They aggregate 29 square miles in area, are barren and almost uninhab- ited, and contain deposits of guano. They were ceded to England by the Sultan of Oman in 185-1 as a landing-place for the Red Sea telegraph cable. KURILE (koo'ril) ISLANDS (from Russ. ArMnV?, to smoke: so called from the active vol- canoes in the group; in Japanese, Cliishima, Thousand Isles). A chain of about thirty-two islands of volcanic origin in the Xorth Pacific Ocean, belonging to .Japan and lying between Kamtcliatka and Yezo (Map: Japan, C 2). Some of the peaks, as Chikuratski (6400 feet), Blakis- ton (4400), Matua (5120), Milne (.5650), are rich in forests. They form one of the eleven provinces of what is known as the Hokkaido, the other ten being in the island of Yezo. Area, 015.3 square miles; coast-line. 1490 miles; population, December .31, 1898, 1192. The chief exports are fish and furs. The islands were discovered by the Dutch navigator De Yries. and occupied by Cossacks in 1766. though from ancient times claimed iiy .Japan. After a long diplomatic strife, Japan obtained in 1875 those held by Russia in exchange for the southern half of Saghalin. The principal islands are Itorup, Kunashiri, Para- mushiri, and Shumshu. In 1890 a .Japanese commercial company began the settlement and commercial develn])nient of these islands. KTTRISCHES HAPF, koo'rish-es haf. An extensive lagoon separated from the Baltic Sea by a bar of sand called the Kurische Nehrung, from one to two miles in width. The lagoon ex- tends nearly 60 miles along the coast of East Prussia, from Labiau to Memel, where it is con- nected with the Baltic by the Memel Deeps, a channel about 1000 feet wide and 12 feet deep (Map: Germany, .11). Its greatest breadtli at the southern extremity is about 28 miles, but its average breadth is not over 14 miles. The water of the Kurisches Haff is fresh, as it receives a number of streams, among which is the large river Xiemen or Memel. Owing to its shallow- ness, the Haff is of very little commercial im- portance. KTTRLAND, kOurland. One of the Baltic provinces of Russia. See Courlasd. KTJRNAH, kocir'na, or GTIRNAH. An Egjp- tian village on the west bank (if the Xile, oppo- site Karnak, in about latitude 25" 50' X. In the vicinity stands the temple built by Seti I. in honor of Amnion of Thebes and of Seti's father, Rameses I. Some of the reliefs and inscriptions were added, after the death of Seti, by his son, Rameses II. Originally the temple was ap- proached through two successive courts, but only traces of these are left. A portico, its roof sup- ported by eight lofty columns, forms the facade of the temple. The rear wall of the portico is covered with reliefs and is pierced by three doors. The central door gives access to a hypostyle hall with six sculptured columns, into which three chambers open on either side. The walls of the hall and of the chamber are adorned with reliefs representing Seti I. and Rameses 11. A door at the upper end of the hall leads to the sanctuary, on the walls of which Seti I. is depicted offering incense before the sacred ram of Amnion. The sanctuary contains four square pillars, and is Hanked by several chambers. The door on the right of the portico leads to the hall of. Rameses II., which originall.y contained ten columns, but only traces of them remain. Several chambers to the rear of this hall are in a ruinous condi- tion. The door on the left of the portico gives entrance to a vestibule (with two columns), into which open three chambers, of which the walls are richly decorated with reliefs. A door to the left of the vestibule, near the entrance, opens upon a narrow corridor leading to several rooms in the rear of the building. One of the rooms contains reliefs executed in the time of Piamcses II.; the rest are in ruins. X'^ot far from Kur- nah is the cemetery about Drah Abu-'l-X^igga. one of the oldest cemeteries about Thebes. It was explored by Mariette, whose excavations in tliis place enriched the Egyptian Xational JIuseum w ith many valuable antiquities. Consult : De- scription de rEgi/pte (Paris. 1809-29) ; Mariette, Voj/ape dans hi Uaute-Egijpte (2d ed., Paris, 189.3)': ^Vilkinson. Topography of Thebes (Lon- don, 1835). See also Thebes. KXJRNBERGER, kiim'berg-er, Ferdinand (1821-79). A German novelist and critic, born and educated in Vienna. He lived at various times, in Dresden, Hamburg, Frankfort, Muutch, Gratz, and Vienna. His literary re]nitati(m is largely due to the novel Dcr Amerikamiide (1856) which describes the experiences in Ameri- ca of Xikolaus Lenau. under the name of Moor- feld. and gives no flattering picture of life and morals in the New World. His other novels in- clude: Der Hausti/rann (1876). a story of the Tyrol, of marked originality and vitality, the yovellen (1861-62 and 1878), and the' post- humous collection published by Lauser in 1893. He wrote three dramas: Catilina (,1855); Fir-