Upper Egypt). the ΝΟΣ
368 MIJAMIN
Philol. 18, 62{f.) to identify with the Migron of 1S 14%, south of the Wady Suweinit, by supposing that the Assyrian, before marching through the pass, is pictured as seizing by a coup-de-main this yosition at its southern end. This is accepted by Driver (Isaiah, p. 72), but Dillmann a Buhl both object to it as too artificial, and agree in locating Isaiah’s Migron at the modern Makrun, about 4 mile S.E. of the village of Burka (cf. Baedeker-Socin, Pal.? 121). J. A. SELBIE.
MIJAMIN (j>:> and }’>'>).—1. One of those who had married a foreign wife, Ezr 10” (B ᾿Αμαμείν, A Meaulu, called in 1 Es 9% Maelus). 2. Eponym of the 6th of the priestly courses, 1 Ch 24° (B Βενια- μείν, A Μειαμείν). his family returned with Zerubbabel, Neh 12° (y** Μειμίν), and was repre- sented at the sealing of the covenant 107 (B Μιαμείμ, A Miayelvy)=Miniamin of Neh 12",
MIKLOTH (ni$p>).—1. A son of Jeiel, 1 Ch 8°= 9t-, The words ‘and Mikloth’ (m\$p>:) have prob- ably been dropped at the end of 881 (B καὶ Μακαλώθ). In 957 they are found both in MT and LXX (B Μακελλώθ, A Μακεδώθ). 2. An officer of David, 1 Ch 27‘. There is a strong suspicion that the MT is corrupt. The name is wanting in LXX (BA).
MIKNEIAH (3n;2:7>).—A gate-keeper of the ark, 1 Ch 1518 (B Μακελλειά, A Maxed, τὶ Μακκελλά) 2! (B Maxend, A Maxevlas).
MILALAI ($45, LXX om.).—The eponym of a priestly family, Neh 12®,
MILCAH (n25>, Μελχά).---4, Daughter of Haran, and wife of Nahor who was her uncle,* Gn 11. The names of her children are given in 22%, Rebekah was her granddaughter, 9415. 34. 47, All
these passages proceed from J. Néldeke (ZDMG xlii. 484) conjectures that Milcah may be the same name as Πρὸ, the goddess worshipped by the Phe- nicians. Ball (SBOT) thinks it possible that azo and 13>: (also Gn 1139) may be phonetic or dialectic variants of the same (tribal or local) name; cf.
onya2=Assyr. Kaldu. ‘The weakening and dis- appearance of m is a well-known feature of Baby- lonian.’ This, however, appears somewhat pre- carious. See, further, art. [ScAH,
2. Daughter of Zelophehad, Nu 26% 27! 36%, Jos 175 (all P). There can be little doubt that Kuenen is right in pronouncing Zelophehad’s ‘ daughters’ to be really towns, and, if the above conjecture of Néldeke be correct, Milcah may be an abbreviated form of Beth-milcah (see Gray, Heb. Prop. Names, p- 116). J. A. es
MILCOM.—See MoLeca.
MILDEW (jpy yérdkén, Sxpa, rubigo). —This word occurs with iq shiddaphin, ἀνεμοφθορία, aére corruptus (Dt 28", 1 K 887, 2 Ch 6%, Am 4°, Hag 2"), Yérdkén signifies ‘yellowness’ or ‘pallor’ (cf Arab. yerakdn = ‘jaundice’). It is in contrast with siiddaphén, which signifies the drying up or scorching of the grain or fruit by heat. during the siroccos or khamsin winds Mildew consists of various species of parasitic fungi, which grow at the expense of their host. and suck out the juices of the grain or fruit, and so destroy them. As shiddaphon is due to excessive drought, yérakon is due to excessive moisture. They are both peculiarly liable to occur in a climate marked by
* For other instances of marriages of relatives in the family of Terah, Dillmann cites Gn 9012 243 2919, pointing out at the same time that ‘such marriages are only a short way of eg the amalgamation of fair-sized communities into one whole.’
MILETUS
long periods of uninterrupted heat, followed by a winter season, during which most of the rainfall of the year takes place within two or three months. G. E. Post.
MILE.—See WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
MILETUS (Μίλητος) was in very early times the most famous and important of the Ionian cities, an ancient Greek colony on the coast of Caria. lt was situated at the southern end of the sea entrance to the gulf into which the river Meander formerly emptied itself. But the silt which the river carries with it has entirely filled up the gulf, and forced the coastline far out to sea. Hence the modern Palatia, which marks the site of Miletus, is about 5 or 6 miles from the sea, and Lade, which in the time of Strabo (A.D. 19) was an island in front of the harbour of Miletus, is now a small hill in the low alluvial plain. Once the greatest Greek city in Asia, Miletus was a second-rate town under the Romans, and now is, and is likely always to continue, an obscure village or a ruin. Our ignorance of the exact truth as to the situa- tion of Miletus in relation to the coastline about the middle of the lst cent. makes the cireum- stances narrated in Ac 20'°-2]! rather obscure, The present coastline extends nearly direct north- wards on the west side of the site of Miletus, But in A.D. 19 Miletus was situated on the south coast of a gulf of irregular shape (Λατμικὸς Κόλπος), which extended far into the country east- wards. The south-eastern extremity of this gulf is nowalake. The rest of the gulf is now land, often swampy, through which the Meander flows in two arms—one keeping near the north side of the low alluvial plain, and one near the south side. The southern arm in its upper part seems to be the channel of the ancient river. The two arms unite close on the north-west side of the site of Miletus, and flow into the sea by one mouth. We do not know the exact line of the coast about A.D. 50; but Strabo gives a rough idea of its situation 30 years earlier.