[1] These figures are approximate for the centre of the town north of
the river. The result of astronomical observations taken by the
German expedition for observing the transit of Venus in 1874 and by
Sir O. St John in 1870 on the south bank of the river near, and in
Julfa respectively was 51 deg. 40' 3.45" E., 32 deg. 37' 30" N. The
stone slab commemorating the work of the expedition and placed on
the spot where the observations were taken has been carried off and
now serves as a door plinth of an Armenian house.
[2] This pavilion was the Persian telegraph office of Isfahan for
nearly forty years and was demolished in 1903.
[3] The name of Yahudieh or "Jews' town" is derived by the early Arab
geographers from a colony of Jews who are said to have migrated from
Babylonia to Isfahan shortly after Nebuchadrezzar's conquest of
Jerusalem, but this is pure fable. The Jewish settlement really dates
from the 3rd century A.D. as is shown by a notice in the Armenian
history of Moses of Chorene, lib. iii. cap. 35. The name _Isfahan_
has been generally compared with the Aspadana of Ptolemy in the
extreme north of Persis, and the identification is probably correct.
At any rate the title is of great antiquity being found in the
Bundahish, and being derived in all likelihood from the family name
of the race of _Feridun_, the _Athviyan_ of romance, who were
entitled _Aspiyan_ in Pahlavi, according to the phonetic rules of
that language.
[4] Zill es Sultan, elder brother of Muzafar ed d-n Shah, became
governor-general of the Isfahan province in 1869.
ISHIM, a town of West Siberia, in the government of Tobolsk, 180 m. N.W.
of Omsk, on a river of the same name, tributary, on the left, of the
Irtysh. Pop. (1897) 7161. The town, which was founded in 1630, has
tallow-melting and carries on a large trade in rye and rye flour. The
fair is one of the most important in Siberia, its returns being
estimated at L500,000 annually.
ISHMAEL (a Hebrew name meaning "God hears"), in the Bible, the son of
Abraham by his Egyptian concubine Hagar, and the eponym of a number of
(probably) nomadic tribes living outside Palestine. Hagar in turn
personifies a people found to the east of Gilead (1 Chron. v. 10) and
Petra (Strabo).[1] Through the jealousy of Sarah, Abraham's wife, mother
and son were driven away, and they wandered in the district south of
Beersheba and Kadesh (Gen. xvi. J, xxi. E); see ABRAHAM. It had been
foretold to his mother before his birth that he should be "a wild ass
among men," and that he should dwell "before the face of" (that is, to
the eastward of) his brethren. It is subsequently stated that after
leaving his father's roof he "became an archer,[2] and dwelt in the
wilderness of Paran, and his mother took him a wife out of the land of
Egypt." But the genealogical relations were rather with the Edomites,
Midianites and other peoples of North Arabia and the eastern desert than
with Egypt proper, and this is indicated by the expressions that "they
dwelt from Havilah unto Shur that is east of Egypt, and he settled to
the eastward of his brethren" (see MIZRAIM). Like Jacob, the ancestor of
the Israelites, he had twelve sons (xxv. 12-18, P), of which only a few
have historical associations apart from the biblical records. Nebaioth
and Kedar suggest the Nabataei and Cedrei of Pliny (v. 12). the
first-mentioned of whom were an important Arab people after the time of
Alexander (see NABATAEANS). The names correspond to the Nabaitu and
Kidru of the Assyrian inscriptions occupying the desert east of the
Jordan and Dead Sea, whilst the Massa and Tema lay probably farther
south. Dumah may perhaps be the same as the Domata of Pliny (vi. 32) and
the [Greek: Doumetha] or [Greek: Doumaitha] of Ptolemy (v. 19, 7, viii.
22, 3)--Sennacherib conquered a fortress of "Aribi" named Adumu,--and
Jetur is obviously the Ituraea of classical geographers.[3]
"Ishmael," therefore, is used in a wide sense of the wilder, roving
peoples encircling Canaan from the north-east to the south, related to
but on a lower rank than the "sons" of Isaac. It is practically
identical with the term "Arabia" as used by the Assyrians. Nothing
certain is known of the history of these mixed populations. They arc
represented as warlike nomads and with a certain reputation for wisdom
(Baruch iii. 23). Not improbably they spoke a dialect (or dialects)
akin to Arabic or Aramaic.[4] According to the Mahommedans, Ishmael,
who is recognized as their ancestor, lies buried with his mother in
the Kaaba in Mecca. See further, T. Noldeke, _Ency. Bib., s.v._, and
the articles EDOM, MIDIAN. (S. A. C.)