William P. Dickson.
AMPLIATUS ('AaiitXiotos, RV correctly with y A B F G, Vulg. Boh. Orig., for TR 'AmtXiSs, D E L P, AV Amplias, the abbrev. form). — A Chris- tian greeted by St. Paul (Ro 16') as the ' beloved in the Lord.' It is a very common Roman slave name. (Lightfoot, Philippians, p. 172; CIL vi. 4899, 5154, etc.)
Some further interest attaches to the name. It occurs in one of the earliest chambers of the Cata- comb of St. Domitilla, inscribed in large, bold letters over a cell belonging to the end of the 1st or beginning of the 2nd cent. A later inscription in the same chamber also contains the same name. The simplicity of the earliest inscription suggests a slave, and the prominence assigned to the name suggests that it belonged to some prominent member of the early Roman Church, perhaps a member of the household of Domitilla.
LtTERATCRB.— De Rossi. BxUl. Arch. Chrit. Ser. III. vol. vi. 881) lip. 57-74 ; Atheiueum, March 4, 1884, p. 2S« ; Sanday and '.eadlam, ifomaru, p. 424. \^ (^\ IIkADLAM.
AMRAM. — (c-iCB ' the people is exalted ').
1. A Levite, son of Kohath and grandson of Levi (Nu H"-'», 1 Ch 6»- »•■"). He married Jo.hebed his father's sister, by whom he begat Aaron and Moses (Ex 6'»-=°) and Miriam (Nu 26=», 1 Ch 6').
2. A son of Bani who had contracted a marriage with a ' strange woman ' in the time of Ezra (Ezr 10'«).
Amramites, The (•p^pl•n). — A branch of the Kohathit« familj' of the tribe of Levi. The name occurs in the account of the cen.sus taken by Moses
(Nu 3-"'), and again in the Chronicler's account of the organisation of the Levites in the time ol David (1 Ch 26'^). W. C. Allen.
AMRAPHEL (S5i;>:), mentioned as 'king of Shinar ' (Gn 14'). Schrader, who suggested that the name was a corruption for ' Amraphi ' ('j-idn), was the hrst to identify this king with Khammurabi, the 6th king in the 1st Dynasty of Babylon. The cuneiform inscriptions inform us that Khamraura'oi was king of Babylon and N. Babylonia ; that he re- belled against the supremacy of Elam ; that he over- threw his rival Eriaku, kingof Larsa; and, after con- quering Sumer and Accad, was the first to make a united Kingdom of Babylonia. He reigned 55 years. Winckler gives the date of his reign as 2264-2210 : Sayce [Patr. Pal. p. 12) gives 2320 as the date of his uniting Babylonia. But the chron. is uncer- tain. The name is given by Hommel as Chammu- rapaltu {Gesch. d. Morgenlandes, p. 5S), and it has sometimes been transcribed as Chammu-ragas. Mr. Pinches considers Amraphel to be a Sem. name = Amarapla = Amarpal ('I see a son'), or Amra-apla = Amrapal (' see a son ').
It is Clear that the identification is not free from difficulty, so far as the Biblical account is con- cerned. (1) The date of Khammurabi, according to the reckoning of Winckler and Sayce, etc., is 400 years earlier than the cent, to which Gn 14 is generally ascribed. (2) A. is described as ' king of Shinar ' ; and Shinar has generally been identititd with Shumer, the S. part of Babylonia. Kham- murabi, while subject to the suzerainty of Elam, was king of Babylon and N. Babylonia, but not of Shumer orS. Babylonia. Thisdifficultyhas been met by the assumption that Shinar is to be understood to denote in Gn all Chald^a, of which Babylon was the capital. No great exactitude in geog. terms can be expected. Shinar (Sangar), in the inscrip- tions, seems to be situated in Mesopotamia. Possibly Heb. tradition confused the Shinar of Mesopotamia with the Shumer of S. Babylonia.
It seems best at present to suspend judgment upon this much disputed identification. The results of Assyriological research in illustration of Gn 14 are still much disputed.
Jos. (Ant. I. ix.) transcribes the name as 'A/xopa- ^(6?)!, although the LXX has 'A/iap/paX.
H. E. Ryle.
AMULETS (Dvn^ Is 3», AV ear-rings). — 1. Origin. The connexion with lahash, to mutter as a snake-charmer (Ps 58°), points to something that has had whispered or chanted over it words of power and protection. Cf. Heb. hartom, magician, and its connexion with heret, the graving-pen of the learned writer, and the Arab, 'talisman' similarly associated with the tailasan or long robe of the sacred dervish. The same idea of power through secret lore and sanctity is exemplified at the present day in Jerus., where crucifixes, pictures of the Virgin, and rosaries are laid on the pavement at the door of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre so as to give them this holy value in the market.
2. Meaning. The central meaning of the a. is something that faith may clasp as a prophylactic against known and unknown dangers. It assumes a connexion between holiness and healing, between piety and prosperity, the first being appreciated lor the sake of the second. It is a testimony to the sense of sin, for it is only that which is want- ing in holiness that requires to be covered or pro- tected. Hence the Arab, proverb says, 'The eye of the sun needs no veil.' Its light is pure, and therefore no protection is required.
The a. unites the protector and the protected ; w liat lays a duty on divine power lays on human weakness a corresponding devotion. Fulness of consecration makes fulness of claim. Hence to