TIPPELSKIRCH
427
TIRATIIITE
ing to aid him in his enterprise, passed the stream (Xenoph. Anab. i, 4, 11). There, too, Darius Codo- mannus crossed on his flii;ht from Issus (Arrian, Exji. Al. ii, 13); and Alexander, following at liis leisure, made his passage at the same point {ibid, iii, 7). A bridge of boats was usually maintained at the place by the Persian kings, which of course was broken up when danger threatened. Even then, however, the stream could in general be forded, unless in the Hood season. This is clear from the very name of the place, and is contirmed by modern researches. When the natives told Cyrus that the stream had acknowledged him as its king, having never been forded until his army waded through it, they calculated on his ignorance, or thought he woidd not examine too strictly into the groundwork of a compliment (see Xenoph. Anab. i, 4, 11). When Greek ascendency and enterprise succeeded to Persian rule, Thapsacus rose into still greater importance, and embraced both sides of the river — whence it received the name of .1 mphipulis (Pliny, v, 21).
It has generally been supposed that the site of Thap- sacus was the modern De'ir (D'Anville, Rennell, Vaux, etc.). But the Euphrates expedition proved that there is no ford at Deir, and, indeed, showed that the only ford in this part of the course of the Euphrates is at lSuny('h,-ib miles below Balis, and lOo above Deir (Ains- worth. Travels in the Track of the Ten Thousand, p. 70). This, then, must have been the position of Thapsacus. Here the river is exactly of the width mentioned by Xenophon (four stades, or eight hundred yards), and here for four months in the winter of 1841-42 the river had but twentjf inches of water {ibid. p. 72). "The Euphrates is at this spot full of beauty and majesty. Its stream is wide and its waters generally clear and blue. Its banks are low and level to the left, but un- dulate gentlv to the right. Previous to arriving at this point, the course of the river is southerly, but here it turns to the east, expanding more like an inland lake than a river, and quitting (as Pliny has described it) the Palmyrean solitudes for the fertile Mygdonia" {ibid.). A paved causeway is visible on either side of the Eu- phrates at Suriyeh, and a long line of mounds may be traced, disposed, something like those of Nineveh, in the form of an irregular parallelogram. These mounds probably mark the site of the ancient city. — Smith.
Tippelskirch, Friedrich von, a Protestant the- ologian, was born at Konigsberg, March 5, 1802. For a number of years he acted as chaplain to the Prussian ambassador in Rome, was in 1837 called to Giebichen- stein, near Halle, and died in the year 186G. He pub- lished sermons and other writings, for which see Zuchold, Biblioth. Theol. ii. 1341 ; Winer, Handbuch der theol. Li- ter'atur, ii, lOG, 804; Hauck, Theolog. Jahresbericht, iii, 602. (B. P.)
Tippet (Lat. Liripipium), a narrow garment or cov- ering for the neck and shoulders; a kind of hood worn over the shoulders, which was fastened round the neck by a long pendent appendage called the liripoop. This latter portion was generally dropped during the 16th century, and only the hood was worn. The liripoop lingers in the hat-band, and is used at funerals. The tippet of the almuce had rounded ends, to distinguish it from the squared terminations of the stole; they were worn hanging down in front by canons, but by monks behind, by way of distinction. The tippets dis- appeared from the hood in the time of Henry VII. The manner of wearing the modern hood or the literate's tippet over the back, depending from the neck by a ribbon, is a corruption, and a practice eminently un- meaning. See Lee, Gloss. of Litu7-ff. Terms, s. v.; Wal- cott. Sacred A rchceol. s. v.
Tipstaff, an officer of the Court of Queen's Bench, attending the judges, with a wand or staff of office tipped with silver, to take prisoners into custodj'. A similar officer was attached to the ancient Star-cham- ber Court. See Lee, Gloss, of Liturrj. Terms, s. v.
Tira is the name for a Buddhist temple in .Japan. It is usually built on rising ground, constructed of the best cedars and tirs, and adorned within with many carved images. In the middle of the temple stands an altar with one or more gilt idols uiwn it, and a beauti- ful candlestick with perfumed candles burning before it. Kam|ifer says, "The whole empire is full of these temples, and their priests are without number. In and about Miako alone there are 3893 temples, and 37,01)3 siukkij, or priests." See (jardner. Faiths of the World, s. v.
Ti'ras (Heb. Tiras', D'n"'ln, Sept. {^tipaq; Vtilg. Thiras), the youngest son of Japheth (Gen. x, 2). B.C. 2514. As the name occurs only in the ethnological table, we have no clue, so far as the Bible is concerned, to guide us as to the identification of it with any par- ticular people. Ancient authorities generally fixed on the Thracians, as presenting the closest vert»al ap- proximation to the name (Josephus, Ant. i, 6, 1 ; Jerome, in Gen. x, 2; Targums Pseudo-Jon. and Jerus. on Gen. loc. cit. ; Targ. on 1 Chron. i, 5) ; the occasional render- ing Persia probably originated in a corruption of the original text. The correspondence between Thrace and Tiras is not so complete as to be convincing; the gentile form Bpag, however, brings them nearer togeth- er. No objection arises on ethnological grounds to placing the Thracians among the Japhetic races (Bo- chart, Fhalecj, iii, 2 ; Michaelis, Spicile;!. i, 55 sq.). Their precise ethnic position is, indeed, involved in great tm- certainty ; but all authorities agree in their general Indo-European character. The evidence of this is circumstantial rather than direct. The language has disappeared, witli the exception of the ancient names and the single word bria, which forms the termination of Mesembria, Selymbria, etc., and is said to signify " town" (Strabo, vii, 319). The Thracian stock was represented in later times by the Getse, and these, again, still later, by the Daci, each of whom inherited the old Thracian tongue (ibid. 303). But this circum- stance throws little light on the subject; for the Dacian language has also disappeared, though fragments of its vocabularj' may possibly exist either in Wallachian dialects or perhaps in the Albanian language (Diefen- bach. Or. Eur. p. 68). If Grimm's identification of the Getje with the Goths were established, the Teutonic affinities of the Thracians would be placed beyond quest ion {Gesch. d. deutsch. Spr. i, 178) ; but this view does not meet with general acceptance. The Thracians are associated in ancient history with the Pelasgians (Strabo, ix, 401), and the Trojans, with whom they had many names in common (ibid, xiii, 590); in A^a Minor they were represented by the Bithynians (Herod, i, 28 ; vii, 75). These circumstances lead to the conclusion that they belonged to the Indo-European family, but do not warrant us in assigning them to any particular branch of it. Other explanations have been offered of the name Tiras, of which we may notice the Agathijrsi, the hrst part of the name {Ac/a) being treated as a prefix (Kno- bel, Vvlkertafel, p. 129) ; Taurus and the various tribes occupying that range (Kalisch, Comm. p. 246) ; the river Tyras (Dniester), with its cognominous inhabitants the Tyritce (Hiivernick, Einlnt. ii, 231 ; Schulthess, Parad. p. 194) ; and, lastly, the maritime Tyrrheni (Tuch, in Gen. loc. cit.). — Smith. See Ethnography.