mstsius
 

NABAT.EI.
 

ander the name of Hellespontus.  The country

was  for the most part mountainous, its chief

chains being those of Ida, Olympus, and Tem¬

nus, which are terminal branches of the north¬

western part of the Taurus chain, and the union

of which forms the elevated land of southeastern

Mysia.  Their prolongations into the sea form

several  important bays and capes ;  namely,

among the former, the great Gulf of Adramyt¬

tium ;now Adramytti),  which cuts  off Lesbos

from  the  continent, and the Sinus  Elai'ticus

(now Gulf of Chandeli); and, among the latter,

Sigeum  (now Cape Yenicheri) and Lectum (now

Cape Baba), at the northwestern and southwest¬

ern extremities of the  Troad, and  Cane (now

Cape Coloni) and Hydvia (now Fokia), the north¬

ern and southern headlands of the Ela'itic Gulf.

Its rivers are numerous; some of them consider¬

able, in proportion to the size of the country, and

some of first-rate  importance in history and po¬

etry : the chief of them, beginning on the east,

were Rhyndacus andMACESTUs,TARsrus,iEsE-

pus,  Geanicus,  Rhodius, Simois, and  Scaman-

der, Satnois, Evenus, and Caious.  The tribes

of the country, besides the general appellations

mentioned above, were  known by the following

distinctive names : the Olympieni or Olympeni

('OXvpirinvoi, 'OXvpirvvoi), in the district of Olym-

pene, at the foot  of Mount Olympus ; next to

them, on the south and west, and occupying the

greater part of Mysia Proper, the Abretteni, who

had a native divinity called by the Greeks Zeiic

'ABperrnvbg ; the Trimenthuritae,  the Penta-

demitae, and the Mysocnacedones, all in the re¬

gion of Mount Temnus.

  Mysius (now Bergamo),  a tributary of the

River CaTcus in Mysia, or rather the upper part

of the Ca'icus itself, had its source  in Mount

Temnus.

  Myson (Mvoav), of Chenae, a village either in

Laeonia or on Mount  CEta, is enumerated by

Plato as one of the seven  sages,  in  place of

Periander.

  Mystia, a town in the southeast of Bruttium,

a little above the Promontorium Cocintum.

  Mytilene or Mitylene (MvriXrjvn, Mirvkbvn :

the former is the ancient form, and the one usu¬

ally found on coins  and inscriptions ; the latter

is sometimes found on inscriptions, and is the

commoner form in MSS : MvriXnvalog, Mityle-

naeus: Mytilene or  Metelin), the chief city of

Lesbos, stood on  the eastern side of the island

opposite the coast of Lesbos, upon a promontory

which was  once  an island, and both sides of

which formed excellent harbors.  Its first foun¬

dation  is ascribed  to Carians and Pelasgians.

It was early colonized by the  iEolians.   Vid.

Lesbos.  Important hints respecting  its politi¬

cal history are furnished  by the fragments of

the  poetry of Alcaeus, whence (and from  other

sources) it seems that, after the rule and over¬

throw of a series of tyrants, the city was nearly

rained by the bitter hatred and  conflicts of the

factions of the nobles and the people, till Pitta-

cus was appointed to a sort of dictatorship, and

the  nobles were  expelled.   Vid. Alc-eus, Pit-

tacus.   Meanwhile, the city had grown to great

importance as  a  naval power, and  had founded

 colonies on the coasts of Mysia anel Thrace.  At

 the beginning of  the seventh century B.C , the

 bossession of one of these colonies, Sigeum at
 

the mouth  of the Hellespont, was disputed u

war between the Mytilenaaans and Athenians.

and assigned to the latter by the award of Peri¬

ander, tyrant of Corinth.  Among the other col

onies of Mytilene were Achilleum, Assos, An-

tandrus, &c.  Mytilene submitted to the Per¬

sians  after the conquest of Ionia and -lEolis, and

furnished contingents  to the  expeditions  of

Cambyses against Egypt ano of Darius against

Scythia.  It was  active in the Ionian revolt,

after the failure of which it again became sub¬

ject to Persia, and took part in the expedition

of Xerxes against Greece.  After the Persian

war it formed an  alliance with Athens, and re¬

mained one of the most important members of

the Athenian confederacy,  retaining its inde

pendence till the fourth year of the Peloponne¬

sian war, B.C. 428, when it headed a revolt of

the greater part  of Lesbos, the progress and

suppression of which forms one of the most in¬

teresting episodes in the history of the Pelopon¬

nesian war.  (Vid.  the Histories of Greece.)

This  event  destroyed the power of Mytilene.

Its subsequent  fortunes can not be related in

detail here.  It  fell under the power of the Ro¬

mans after  the Mithradatic war.   Respecting

its important position in Greek literary history,

vid. Lesbos.

   Myttistratum.  Vid. Amestratus.

   Myus (Mvovg:  Mvovmog: ruins at Palatia),

the least city of the  Ionian confederacy, stood

in Caria, on the southern side of the Maaander,

thirty stadia from its mouth, and very near Mi¬

letus.   Its  original  site was  probably at the

mouth of the river;  but its site gradually be¬

came an unhealthy marsh;  and by the time of

Augustus  it was so deserted by its inhabitants

that the few who remained were reckoned as

citizens of Miletus.





                    N.

   Naarda  (Nadpba), a  town of Babylonia,

chiefly inhabited  by  Jews,  and with  a Jewish

academy.

   Naaemalcha or Nahemalcha (Naapp;aA^ac,

NappuXxag, i. e , the  King's Canal:  6 fiao'iXewg

irorapog,bfSaoiXiKndidpvi;,flumen regium: Nahr-

al-Malk or Ne Gruel Mclek), the greatest of the

canals connecting the Euphrates and the Tigris,

was situated near the northern limit of Babylo¬

nia, a little south of the Median Wall, in latitude

33° 5' about.  Its formation was ascribed to a

governor named Gobares.  It was repaired upon

the building of Seleucia at its junction with tho

Tigris by Seleucus Nicator, and again under the

Roman emperors Trajan, Severus, and Julian.

   Nabalia.  Vid. Navalia.

   Nabarzanes (NaBap&vvg), a Persian, conspir¬

ed along with Bessus, against Darius, the last

king of Persia.  He was  pardoned by Alex¬

 ander.

   NabaTjEI, Nabath.*:  (NaBaraloi, NaBdrai:  in

the Old Testament, Nebaioth), an Arabian peo¬

ple, descended  from  the eldest son of Ishmael,

had their original abodes in the northwestern

part  of the Arabian  peninsula, east and south¬

east of the Moabites ar.d Edomites, who dwelt

 on the east of the Dead Sea and in the mount¬

 ains  reaching from it to the Persian Gulf.   In

the changes effected among the tribes of these

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