Ivy ((c((T(roc) is mentioned but once in the Scrip- tures, and that in the Apocrypha, namely, in 2 Mace. vi, 7, where it is said that the Jews were compelled, when the feast of Bacchus was kept, to go in procession carrying ivy to this deity, to whom it is well known this
plant was sacred. Iv\', however, though not mentlonea by name, has a pecidiar interest to the Christian, aa
Hedera Helix.
forming the "corruptible crown" (1 Cor. ix, 25) for which the competitors at the great Isthmian games contended, and which St. Paul so beautifully contrasts with the "incorruptible crown" that shall hereafter encircle the brows of those who rim worthily the race of this mortal life. In the Isthmian contests the vic- tor's garland was either iiy or jmie Smith. See
Ckowx,
The term Kiaacc or kittvc seems to have been applied by the Greeks in a general sense, and to have included many plants, and among them some climbers, as the convolvulus, besides the common ivy {Hedera helix), which was especially dedicated to Bacchus, and which was distinguished by the name of '■^ Hedera poetica, Di- onysia aid Bacchica, quod ex ea poetarum corona; con- suerentur." It is well known that in the Dionysia, or festivals in honor of Dionj'sus, and in the processions called Oiaaoi, with which they were celebrated, women also took part, in the disguise of Bacchte, Xaiades, Nymphae, etc., adorned with garlands of ivy, etc. (Ovid, Fasti, iii, 766). Bacchus is generally thought to have been educated in India, and the Indian Bcighes has been supposed to be the original of the name. The fact of Baghes being a compound of two words signifying tiger and master or lord, would appear to confirm the identi- ty, since Bacchus is usually represented as drawn in his chariot by a tiger and a lion, and tigers, etc., are de- scribed as following him in his Indian journey. As the ivy, however, is not a plant of India, it might be object- ed to its being characteristic of an Indian god. But in the mountains which bound India to tlie north both the ivy and the vine may be foiuid, and the Greeks were acquainted with the fact that INIount Mero is the only part of India where ivy Avas produced. Indeed, Alexan- der and his companions are said to have crowned them- selves with ivy in honor of Bacchus. The ivy, Hedera helix, being a native of most parts of Europe, is too well known to require special notice. — Kitto. See Bacchus.
Ixora, a divinity of the East Indians, or the wor- shippers of Brahm. They hold him to be of infinite endurance, and illustrate this belief by saying that Brahm himself, desirous of seeing Ixora's head, ascend-
lYAR
719
JAARE-OREGIM
eci to heaven on wings, but failed to gain admittance, the [lower of Ixora preventing it. A very similar desire Vishnu cherished, but all his attempts also to this end Ixora frustrated. He is said to have two wives, one of whom constantly resides with him, and conceals herself in his hair ; the other, strangely enough, they say, dies annually, and is by Ixora restored to life again. The Brahmins represent this idol standing on a pedestal, with no less than sixteen arms, each of them grasping something of value, or representing the natural ele- ments, or weapons indicating his power. His head is adorned with long and beautiful hair ; liis face is white and shining; he has three eyes, and a crescent or half moon upon his forehead. — Broughton, Bihliothecu Hist. Sac. i, 561. See Brahminism.
lyar (I'^'^N ; 'lap, Josephus, ^n^ viii, 3, 1 ; the Ma- cedonian ' AoTtiiimoq) is the late name of that month which was the second of the sacred, and the seventh of the civil year of the Jews, and which began with the new moon of iVIay. The few memorable days in it are the 10th, as a fast for the death of Eli ; the 14th, as the second or lesser Passover for tliose whom imcleanness or absence prevented from celebrating the feast in Nisan (Numb, ix, 11) ; the '23d, as a feast instituted by Simon the ^laccabee in memory of his taking the citadel Acra, in Jerusalem (1 Mace, xiii, 51, 52); the 28th, as a fast for the death of Samuel. See C.VLENiiAR.
Gesenius derives lyar from the Hebrew root "lIS, to shim ; but Benfey and Stern, following out their the- ory of the source from which the Jews obtained such names, deduce it from the assumed Zend representative of the Persian bakor, "spring" {Monatsnamm, p. 134). The name lyar does not occur in the O. T., this month being always described as the second month, except in two places in which it is called Zif{\ Kings vi, 1,37). — Kitto. See Zif.
lyim. See Island ; Wild Beast.
Iz'eliar (Numb, iii, 19). See Izhar.
Iz'eharite (Numb, iii, 27). See Iziiar.
Iz'har (Heb. Yitshar', "iH^^, oil, as often ; Sept. 'I(Tffanp,'l(3-aap),the second son of Kohath (son of Levi),
and father of three sons (Exod. vi, 18, 21 ; Numb, xvi, 1 ; 1 Chron. vi, 2, 18, 38 ; xxiii, 12, 18). In Numb, iii, 19, his name is Anglicized " Izehar." His descendants are called Izharites (Heb. Yitshari', ''"in^';' ; Sept. 'Iffffnapi, 'I(7(Ta|0i', 'Iffffaap [Numb, iii, 27 ; 1 Chron. xxiv, 22 ; xxvi, 23, 29, in the first of which passages it is Anglicized " Izeharites"]). B.C. post 1856. See also ZoHAK. " In 1 Chron. vi, 22, Amminadab is substituted for Izhar, as the son of Kohath and father of Korah, in the line of Samuel. This, however, must be an acciden- tal error of the scribe, as in ver. 38, where the same gen- ealogy is repeated, Izhar appears again in his right place. The Codex Alex, in ver. 22 reads Izhar in place oi Amminaduh, and the jVldine and Complut. read ylm- viinadah between Izhar and Kore, making another gen- eration. But these are probably only corrections of the text. (See Burrington, Geneal. of the 0. T.)" (Smith).