Miel, Jax, a distinguished Flemish painter, was bora in a small village near Antwerp in 1599. Lanzi says he was a pupil of Vandyck. He resided some time at Kome, where he studied mider Andrea Sacchi, to whom he gave such proofs of genius that he was employed to as- sist him in his works at the Palazzo Barberini. Miel, whose disposition led him to the grotesque, introduced something ludicrous into the work, which was deemed unworthy the dignity of the subject, and he was dis- missed. He then visited Lombanly to study the works of Correggio, and also passed some time in Parma and Bologna. On his return to Pome he was employed by pope Alexander VII to paint a picture of ^foses striking the Hock for the gallery of Monte Cavallo. He also painted a Ji/iptism of ,s}. Cyril/io fur the church of S. Martino de' Monti, and the .1 nnumiation, and some fres- cos of the life of St. Lamberti. in S. ^laria dell' Anima. Subsequently he was invited to Turin by Charles Eman- uel, duke of Savoy, who appointed him court painter, and in whose service he was retained the residue of his life. After his engagement by the duke he painted no more religious works. He was elected a member of the Academy of St. Luke in 1648, and thereafter devoted himself almost entirely to hunting scenes and battle pieces. He died at Turin in 1664. jMaiiy of Miel's best works are in the Imperial (iallcry at Vienna. Sec Lan- zi, History of Painting, transl. by Poscoe (Lond. 1847, 3 vols. 8vo), iii, 307; Spooner. Biog. Hist, of the Pine A rts (N. Y. 1865, 2 vols. 8vo).
Mielk, JoiiAXN Bi:uTRAM. a German theologian, was born at Kiel March 24, 1736, where he was also ed- ucated. In 1758 the dignity of master of arts was con- ferred upon him as a reward for the defence of his dis- sertation " Jh' dii-i.<ione in infinitum." In 1768 he was appointed deacon at Neustadt, in Ilolstein ; in 1771, second minister at the Fleckenkirche at Preetz, and in 1784 chief minister at Oldcnslohe, where he died .June 14, 1801. He was very much renowned as editor of Beitrdge zur Bejorderung der hduslichen Andacht in
MIERIS
249
MIGNARD
Pn'(lr//en (1777-83). He deserves also much credit for liis translation of Millot's Unkersul History.
Mieris, Fuass, Jr., a Dutch artist and writer of note, deserves a place here as the author of a work on IJislory and EcdesiasHcal A iitiquities of the Seven United Provinces (1726). He was bom at Leyden in 1689, and died in 1763.
Mies, Jacob von. See Jacob.
Migdal-Edar ("tower of the flock"), a place on the route of Jacob (Gen. xxxv, 21), probably about two miles south of Jerusalem, near the Bethlehem road, where the cluster of ruins called Kirbet Um-Moghdala is now situated (Tobler, Dritte Wanderung, p. 81). See
EUAR.
Mig'dal-el (Heb. Migdal'-EL >X-^n?T2, tower of God; Sept. MaySaXiiiX v. r. MaySaXirj^pdfi or Mija- Xaapiji), a fortitied city of the tribe of Naphtali (Josh. xix, 38), " named between Iron and Horem, possibly deriving its name from some ancient tower— the ' tower of El, or God.' By Eusebius {Onomasticon, MaySu]\) it is spoken of as a large village lying between Dora (Tantura) and Ptolemais (Akka), at nine miles from the former, that is, just about Athlit, the ancient 'Castellum peregrinorum.' No doubt the Castellum was anciently a mif/dol or tower ; but it is impossible to locate a town of Naphtali below Carmel, and at least tv/enty-five miles from the boundaries of the tribe. It may, however, have been the Magdulum named by Herodotus (ii, 159) as the site of Pharaoh Necho's victory over Josiah (see Eaw- linson's Herod, ii, 2-16, note). But this was not the only Migdol along this coast. If the modern Hurah is Ho- rem and Yarun Iron, there is a possibiHty in finding Migdal-el in Mujeidel, at no great distance from them, namely, on the left bank of the Wady Kerkerah, eight miles due east of the Ras en-Nakurah, six miles west of Hurah and eight of Yarun (see Van de Velde's Map, 1858)." The enumeration of the towns in the above passage of Joshua, however, favors the connection of this name with the preceding as one, i. e. Migdal- el-Ho- rem, as in the Sept. In any case the present Migdal is probably the Magdala (q. v.) of the New Test. (Matt. XV, o'.t), which lay within the limits of Naphtali (q. v.).
Mig'dal-gad (Heb. Migdal'-Gad, ns-bnjri, toicer of fortune; Sept, May^aXyaO), a town in the plain of Judah, mentioned between Hadashah and Dilean (Josh. XV, 37) ; probably the el-i[ejdel a short distance north- east of Ascalon (Schwarz, Palest, p. 103 ; Van de Velde, Memoir, p. 331). It is a prnsperous village, encircled b^' luxuriant orchards and olive groves, and fields unsur- passed in fertility. Among the houses are many traces of antiquity — large hewn stones and broken columns. Some three miles south-east of Mejdel is the village of Jenin, which may perhaps be the Zenan noted by Joshua in the group with Migdal-gad ; and ten miles distant in the same direction are the ruins of Lachish and Eglon (Porter, Hand-hool-, p. 261, 272).
Migdal-Saniiah, a large village located by Jerome (Onomast. s. v. Senna, " Magdal-senna, quod interpreta- tur Turris Senna ;" but perhaps he has mereh' misread Eusebius, ^EynXj; ^swci) at seven (Euseb. eight) Ro- man miles north of Jericho, on the border of Judaea. Dr. Robinson (Hib. Pes. iii, 295) inclines to identify it with the Mejdel in the central mountains of Palestine, ■ near the edge of the Ghor, at the upper end of the Wady Fasail, and not far from Daumeh, the ancient Edumia (Van de Velde, Si/r. and Pal. ii, 307).