Abaelard. See Abelard.
Abagarus. See Abgarcs.
Abag'tha (Heb. Abagtka, XP52X, prob. Persian
[comp. BlGTHA, BlGTHAK, BlGTHAXA, BAGOAs],
and, according to Bohlen, from the Sanscrit bagaddta, fortune-given ; Sept. 'AfiaTa^a), one of the seven chief eunuchs in the palace of Xerxes, who were commanded to bring in Vashti (Esth. i, 10), B.C. 483.
Aba'na [many Ab'ana~] (Heb. Abanah', i"t3-X ; Sept. 'Ajiavct ; Vulg. A bana ; or rather, as in the mar- gin, Amanah [q. v.] ; Heb. Amanah' ', !t2"2X [comp. Isa. xxiii, 16], since the latter means perennial; Ge- senius, Thesaur. Heb. p. 116), a stream mentioned by Naaman as being one of the rivers of Damascus ; an- other being the Pharpar (2 Kings v, 12). The main stream by which Damascus is now irrigated is called Barada, the Chrysorrhoas, or "golden stream" of the ancient geographers (Strabo, p. 755), which, as soon as it issues from a cleft of the Anti-Lebanon mountains, is immediately divided into three smaller courses. The central or principal stream runs straight toward the city, and there supplies the different public cis- terns, baths, and fountains ; the other branches diverge to the right and left along the rising ground on either hand, and, having furnished the means of extensive irrigation, fall again into the main channel, after dif- fusing their fertilizing influences, and are at length lost in a marsh or lake, which is known as the Bahr el -Mi //, or Lake of the Meadow. Dr. Richardson (Travels, ii, 499) states that the " water of the Barada, like the water of the Jordan, is of a white, sulphureous hue, and an unpleasant taste." Some contend that the Barada is the Abana, and are only at a loss for the Pharpar; others find both in the two subsidiary streams, and neglect the Barada; while still others seek the Abana in the small river Fijik, which Dr. Richardson describes as rising near a village of the same name in a pleasant valley fifteen or twenty miles to the north-west of Damascus. It issues from the Limestone rock, in a deep, rapid stream, about thirty feet wide. It is pure and cold as iced water; and, after coursing down a stony and rugged channel for above a hundred yards, falls into the Barada, which comes from another valley, and at the point of junction is only half as wide as the Fijih. The Abana or Amana lias been identified by some (especially Ge- senius, Heb. Lex.') with the Barada, from the coinci- dence of the name Amana mentioned in Cant, iv, 8, as one of the tops of Anti-Lilianus, from which the Chrysorrhoas (or Barada) flows; and the ruins of
ABAUZIT
Abila, now found on the banks of that stream, are thought to confirm this view. A better reason for this identification is, that Naaman would be more likely to refer to some prominent stream like the Barada, rather than to a small and comparatively remote fountain like the Fijih. See Pharpar. The turbid character of the water of Barada is no objection to this view, since Naaman refers to Abana as important for its medicinal qualities rather than on account of its limpid coldness. The identification of the Abana with the Barada is confirmed by the probable coincidence of the Pharpar with the Arvaj ; these being the only consid- erable streams in the vicinity of Damascus {Bibliotheca Sacra, 1849, p. 371 ; Robinson's Researches, new ed. iii, 447). This is the view taken by the latest traveller who has canvassed the question at length (J. L. Por- ter, in the Jour. ofSacr. Literature, July, 1853, p. 245 sq.). According to Schwarz {Palest, p. 54), the Jews of Damascus traditionally identify the Barada with the Amana (q. v.). The Arabic version of the passage in Kings has Barda. According to Lightfoot {Cent. Ckor. iv) the river in question was also called Kirmi- jon CP'"?"1!?), a name applied in the Talmud to a river of Palestine (Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. col. 2138). See Damascus.
Abarbanel. See Abrabenel.
Ab'arim (Heb. Abarim', n"n2", regions beyond, i. e. east of the Jordan ; Sept. 'A/fopi/i, but to irtpav in Num. xxvii, 12, Vulg. Abarim; in Jer. xxii, 20, Sept. to Tvtpav TtiQ Sa\uoor)c,, Vulg. transeuntes, Auth. Vers, "passages"), a mountain (t^"i3"il in, Num. xxvii, 12; Deut. xxxii, 49), or rather chain of hills (n*n D","l3"fl, Num. xxxiii, 47, 48), which form or belong to the mountainous district east of the Dead Sea and the lower Jordan, being situated in the land of Moab (Num. xxi, 11), on the route to Palestine (Num. xxvii, 12). It was the last station but one of the Hebrews on their way from Egypt to Canaan (Num. xxxiii, 47, 48). See Ije-abarim. The range presents many distinct masses and elevations, commanding extensive views of the country west of the river (Irby and Man- gles, p. 459). From one of the highest of these, called Mount Nebo, Moses surveyed the Promised Land be- fore he died (Deut. xxxii, 49). From the manner in which the names Abarim, Nebo, and Pisgah are con- nected (Deut. xxxii, 49, and xxxiv, 1), it would seem that thejr were different names of the same general mountain chain. See Nebo. According to Josephus, who styles it Abaris {'A/iapiv, Ant. iv, 8, 48), it was "a very high mountain, situated opposite Jericho," and Eusebius {Onomust. 'Safiav) locates it six miles west of Heshbon. The name Abarim has been tor- tured by some disciples of the Faber and Bryant school of etymologists into a connection with the name of a district of Egypt called Abaris or Aran's (Josephus, Apicn, i, 14), and so with the system of Egyptian idol- atry, from the deity of the same name. Affinities be- tween the names of two of the peaks of this range, Nebo and Peor, have also been traced with those of other Egyptian deities, Anubis and Horis. There is no good foundation for such speculations.