A'mi (Heb. Ami', i»st, prob. a corrupted form of the name Aman; Sept. 'H/uQ, the chief of a family that, returned from Babylon (Ezra ii, 57); more prop- erly called Amon (q. v.) in the parallel passage (Neh. vii, 59).
Amianthus (Aptavroe, unstained, i. e. by sin ; Heb. vii. ;:, "undented," and so tropically, Jas. i, 27; undecaying, 1 Pet. i, 4; chaste, Heb. xiii, 4), the
name of a fibrous mineral substance commonly called asbestos. This extraordinary mineral was well known to the ancients. It occurs in long, parallel, extreme- ly slender and flexible fibres ; it is found in all coun- tries more or less abundantly, and exists, forming veins, in serpentine, mica, slate, and primitive lime- stone rocks ; the most delicate variety comes most plentifully from Savoy and Corsica. Its fibrous tex- ture, and the little alteration it undergoes in strong heats, caused it to be used by the Eastern nations as an article for the fabrication of cloth, which, when soiled, was purified by throwing it into the fire, from whence it always came out clear and perfectly white ; hence it obtained the name of amianthus, or unsoiled. By the Romans this cloth was purchased at an exor- bitant price, for the purpose of wrapping up the bodies of the dead, previous to their being laid upon the fu- neral pile, in order to prevent their ashes from being mingled with those of the wood. — Smith's Diet, of Class. Ant. and Penny Cyclopaedia, s. v. Asbestus.
Amiatine Manuscript (Codex AmiatTnus), the most valuable of the Latin uncial MSS. of the Vulgate translation, of which it is designated as am (Tischendorf, A. T. Gr. 7th ed. proleg. p. ccxlvii; Scrivener, Introd. to N. T. Crit. p. 264). Its name is derived from the Cistercian Monastery of Monte Ami- atino in Tuscany, whence it was brought into the Laurentian Library at Florence, where it still remains. It was written by the Abbot Servandus about A.D. 541, and contains both Testaments, with scarcely any defect, in one very large volume, stichometrically written in a good bold hand. Bandini first pointed out its value, although it had been slightly used for the Sixtine ed. of the Vulg. in 1587-90. Fleck wretch- edly edited the N. T. part in 1840; Tischendorf col- lated it in 1843, and Tregelles in 1846 (Del Furea com. paring it for the differences) ; and it was published by Tischendorf in 1850 (Testamentum Novum, Laline in- terprets Hieronymo ; ex celeberrimo cod. Amiatino, etc., Lips. 4to), and again in 1854. The O. T. has been but little examined. The Latin text of Tregelles' N. T. is taken from this MS. (Davidson, Bib. Criticism, ii, 254 ; Tregelles, in Home's Lntrod. iv, 253). See Vulgate.
Amice (amictus, amieidum sacrum). In Roman antiquity, this was an upper garment worn over the tunic. In ecclesiastical writers, it is a square-shaped linen cloth worn by the clergy. It is called by Isi- dore the anabologium, and, he says, was originally a veil worn by women to cover the shoulders. Its use was formerly, as now, different in different places; sometimes it was worn round the neck, and sometimes over the head. When worn over the shoulders and neck, it was called the super-humemle , or simply hu- memle. It was originally worn under the alb, not, as now, over it — a custom which is still preserved among the Maronites. It is still in use in the Roman Cath- olic Church, but not in the Church of England.
Amin'adab (Apivaeafi'), a Groecized form (Matt, i, 4) of the name of Amminauab (q. v.).
Am'inon (2 Sam. xiii, 20). See Amnon.
Amir. See Bough.
Amit' tai (Hah. A mittay', "'Fl'CX, true; Sept. 'Apa- •&/), the father of the prophet Jonah, a native of Gath- hepher (2 Kings xiv, 25; Jon. i, 1). B.C. ante 820.
Am'mah (Heb. Ammah' ', i"I!S&t, a cubit, as often ; Sept. 'Ap/ic'i v. r. 'A/ifidv), a hill "that lieth before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon:" the sun went down as Joab and Abishai reached this place in pursuit of Abner (2 Sam. ii, 24). The description appears to indicate some eminence immediately east of Gibeon (q. v.). Josephus (Ant. vii, 1, 3) renders, "a place called Ammata" (ro7roc rig, Bv 'Appdrav KaXoii- <7i); compare the Anita (XFl^N) of Jonathan's Tar- gum. Both Symmachus (vd-irij) and Theodotion (vcpa-
AMMAH
199
AMMINADIB
vtityog) agree with the Vulgate in an allusion to some water-course here. It is possibly to the "excavated fountain" "under the high rock," described as near Gibeon (El- Jib) by Robinson (Researches, ii, 136). See also Metheg-ammah.
Ammah. See Cubit.
Ammaius. See Hammatii ; Emmaus.
Am'mi (Heb. Ammi', ^BJJ, my people, Sept. Xaug fiov), a figurative nanie given by Jehovah to the peo- ple of Israel (Hos. ii, 1) to denote their restoration from Babylon (Henderson, Comment, in loc). See Lo- Ammi.
Ammianus Marcellinus, a Latin historian, "the last subject of Rome who composed a profane history in the Latin language," was a native of An- tioch, born in the fourth century, and, in his youth, served with distinction in Germany, Gaul, and Persia. Retiring from a military life, he went to reside at Rome, where he wrote a valuable history of the Ro- man emperors, from Nerva, A.D. 01, where the An- nals of Tacitus end, to Valens, A.D. 378. It consist- ed of thirty-one books, of which the first thirteen are lost. He died A.D. 390 or 410. The value of his writings for general history are full}' acknowledged by Gibbon (ch. xxvi), and they are important to Church history for their details as to Julian and the state of Christianity in his time. There has been much con- troversy as to the question whether Ammianus him- self was a Christian or not. Chifflet (De Ammiani Marcellini vita et libris rerum, gestarum monoUhlion, Lovan. 1627) advocated the opinion that Ammianus was a Christian ; while Moller (Dissertat. cle Ammiano Marcellino, Altdorf. 1G85, 4to), Ditki (De A mmiano Mar- cell. Comment. Rossel, 1841), and Heyne (Censura In- genii et Historiar. Ammian. Mar cell. p. 3 sq.) combated it. It is now generally admitted that he was not a member of the Christian Church. His work contains many caustic remarks on the doctrines of Christianity. When speaking of the martyrs, of synods and other points of the Christian system, he frequently adds re- marks which clearly point to a non-Christian author. It is, however, on the other hand, equally certain that he was not addicted to the then common belief of pa- ganism. He recognised a supreme numen which curbs human arrogance and avenges human crime, and, in general, professes views which we find in Herodotus, Sophocles, and others of the best Greek writers, and which approach a monotheistic stand-point. It seems probable that he believed primitive, unadulterated Christianity to have been, as well as the philosophy of enlightened pagans, a form of deism. From this point of view Ammianus could consistently speak fa- vorably of many things he found among the Chris- tians. He censures Constantine's interference in the Arian controversy, and calls it a confusion of the ab- solute and plain Christian religion with obsolete su- perstition (Christianam religionem absolutam et simpli- cem anili superstitione confundens). By this obsolete superstition, as the connection shows, he meant in particular the controversy concerning the Trinity and Divinity of Christ. He censured Julian the Apos- tate for forbidding the Christians to receive instruc- tion in liberal studies, while he did not blame the restoration of pagan sacrifices. He was not opposed to the paganism of Julian, but to the violation of re- ligious toleration. — See Rettberg, in Herzog, Rea'-En- cyl-lopiidie, i, 279 sq. The best edition of his history is that of Wagner (Leipz. 1808, 3 vols. 8vo). An Eng- lish translation was published by Philemon Holland (Lond. 1609). Bahr, Gesch. der rdm. Literatur (Carls- ruhe, 1845), ii, 194.