pnugues/EB7 huggingface dataset:
NILOMETER, aninstrumentused amongst the ancients to measure the height of the water of the river Nile during the periodical inundation. The word comes from Nε∕λoς, Nile, and μετξον, measure. The Greeks more commonly called it Ns∕λoo ’ x<wnov. The nilometer is said, by several Arabian writers, to have been first set up, for this purpose, by Joseph during his regency in Egypt; and the measure of it was sixteen cubits, this being the height of the increase of the Nile which was then necessary to the fruitfulness of Egypt.

From the measure of this column, Dr Cumberland deduces an argument, in order to prove that the Jewish and Egyptian cubits were of the same length. In the Royal Library of Paris there is an Arabic treatise on nilometers, entitled Neilfi alnal al Nil, in which are described all the overflowings of the Nile, from the first to the 875th year of the Hegira. Herodotus mentions a column which had been erected in a point of the island of Delta, to serve as a nilometer; and there is still one in a mosque at the same place.

The following is Bruce’s account of the nilometer. “On the point of the island Rhode, between Geeza and Cairo, near the middle of the river, is a round tower enclosing a neat well or cistern lined with marble. The bottom of this well is on the same level with the bottom of the Nile, which has free access to it through a large opening like an embrasure. In the middle of the well rises a thin column of eight faces of blue and white marble, of which the foot is on the same plane with the bottom of the river. This pillar is divided into twenty peeks, of twenty-two inches each. Of these peeks the two lowermost are left, without any division, to stand for the quantity of sludge which the water deposits there. Two peeks are then divided, on the right hand, into twenty-four digits each; then on the left, four peeks are divided into twenty-four digits; then on the right, four, and on the left another four; again, four on the right, which completes the number of eighten peeks from the first division marked on the pillar. Thus the whole, marked and unmarked, amounts to something more than thirty-six feet English.” (See Bruce’s Travels (vol. iii.), and also the article Egypt.)
NIMBUS, in Antiquity, a circle observed upon certain medals, or around the heads of some emperors, answering to the circles of light drawn round the images of saints.
NIMETULAHITES, a description of Turkish monks, so called from their founder Nimetulahi, famous for his doctrines and the austerity of his life.
NIMWEGEN, a city of the province of Guelderland, in the circle of the same name, in the Netherlands, comprehending six cantons, and 51,100 inhabitants. Of this circle Nimwegen is the capital. It stands on the left bank of the river Waal, over which there is an excellent flying bridge. It is situated on five hills, in a rich and pleasant district, and is well fortified. The streets are wide and clean, and the houses large and well built, and it has some agreeable promenades adjoining to it. In 1830, it contained 1900 houses, and 17,734 inhabitants, viz. 8402males and 9332 females. Its chief trade consists in brewing, tanning, bleaching, distilling, and making Prussian blue, tobacco, snuff, and sealing-wax. It is celebrated for the peace concluded there in 1678 and 1679. Long. 5. 35. 21. E. Lat. 51. 51. 20. N.
NINE, the last of the radical numbers or characters, from the combination of which any definite number, however large, may be produced. “It is observed by arithmeticians,” says Hume, “that the products of 9 compose always either 9 or some lesser products of 9, if you add together all the characters of which any of the former products is composed. Thus of 18, 27, 36, which are products of 9, you make nine, by adding 1 to 8, 2 to 7, 3 to 6. Thus 369 is a product also of 9; and if you add 3, 6, and 9, you make 18, a lesser product of 9.” (See Hume’s Dialogues on Natural Religion, p. 167, 168, 2d edit.)
NINE ISLANDS, a cluster of small islands in the Pacific Ocean, which were so called by Captain Carteret. Long. 154. 30. E. Lat. 4. 40. S.
NINEVEH, the capital city of Assyria, which was founded by Ashur the son of Shem (Gen. x. 11); or, as others read the text, by Nimrod the son of Cush. However this may have been, it must be owned that Nineveh was one of the largest and most ancient cities of the world. It is very difficult to assign exactly the time of its foundation; but it cannot have been long after the building of Babel. It was situated upon the banks of the Tigris; and in the time of the prophet Jonas, who was sent thither under Jeroboam II. king of Israel, and, as Calmet thinks, under the reign of Pul, father of Sardanapalus, king of Assyria, Nineveh was a very great city, its circuit being three days’journey (Jonah, iii. 3). Diodorus Siculus, who has given us the dimensions of this city, says that it was 480 stadia, or forty-seven rfliles, in circumference, and that it was surrounded with lofty walls and towers; the former being 200 feet in height, and so very broad that three chariots might drive along them abreast, and the latter 200 feet in height, and 1500 in number; and Strabo allows it to have been much greater than Babylon. Diodorus Siculus was, however, certainly mistaken in placing Nineveh on the Euphrates, since all historians as well as geographers who speak of that city, tell us in express terms that it was situated on the Tigris. At the time of Jonah’s mission thither, it was so populous that it was reckoned to contain more than six score thousand persons who could not distinguish their right hand from their left (Jonah, iv. 11), which is generally explained of young children who had not yet attained to the use of reason; so that upon this principle it is computed that the inhabitants of Nineveh were then above 600,000 persons. Nineveh was taken by Arbaces and Belesis, in the year of [7:16:231]the world 3257, under the reign of Sardanapalus, in the time of Ahaz, king of Judah, and about the epoch of the foundation of Rome. It was reduced a second time by Astyages and Nabopolassar, who took it from Chynalada-nus, king of Assyria, in the year 3378. After this time, Nineveh no more recovered its former splendoun It was so entirely ruined in the time of Lucianus Samosatensis, who lived under the Emperor Hadrian, that no traces of it could be found, nor so much as the place where it stood. However, it was rebuilt under the Persians, and again destroyed by the Saracens about the seventh century.
NINGPO, a city of the first rank, and a great seaport, of China, in the province of Tchekiang, known to the early Portuguese navigators under the appellation of Siampoo. It is five miles in circumference, is situated in a fertile plain surrounded by hills, and is watered by numerous canals. It is much resorted to by the Chinese merchants of Fokien, as well as by those settled in Siam and Batavia, who repair thither for the purpose of buying the silks produced in its neighbourhood. It also carries on an extensive trade with Japan. Long. 120.14. E. Lat. 29.51. N.
NINIA, or Ninian, commonly called St Ninian, a holy man amongst the ancient Britons. He resided at or near a place called by Ptolemy Leucopibia, and by Bede Candida Casa; but the English and Scotch called it White-borne. He is said to have been the first who converted the Scots and Picts to the Christian faith, which he effected during the reign of Theodosius the Younger. Bede informs us that he built a church dedicated to St Martin, in a style unknown to the Britons of that time; and adds, that during his time the Saxons held this province {Gallovidian now Galloway), and that, as the converts to Christianity increased in consequence of the labours of this saint, an episcopal see was established there. Dr Henry, considering that few or none of the writings of the most ancient fathers of the British church are now extant, and that we can know but little of their personal history, and the extent of their erudition, gives a short account of some of them. Of St Ninian, he says that he was a Briton of noble birth and excellent genius. “After he had received as good an education at home as his own country could afford, he travelled for his further improvement, and spent several years at Rome, which was then the chief seat of learning as well as of empire. From thence he returned into Britain, and spent his life in preaching the gospel in the most uncultivated parts of it, with equal zeal and success.”
NINIANS, St, a large village in the parish of the same name in Scotland, about one mile and a quarter distant from Stirling. It has an ancient appearance, and consists of one large narrow street. Many of the houses are of considerable antiquity, and on them are carved the implements employed in the trade of the original proprietor. During the rebellion in 1745-46, the former church of St Ninians was used by the Highlanders as a powder magazine, and was accidentally blown up on their hurried departure for the north. The steeple, however, escaped unscathed from the general destruction, and now stands separated from the new church. Besides the parish church, there is in the village a relief chapel. Between St Ninians and the village of Bannockburn, which is situated at a short distance to the east, was fought the famous battle known by that name. The parish of St Ninians is also celebrated for being the scene of two other battles; that of Stirling, which was fought in 1297, when the Scottish army, under the command of Sir William Wallace, entirely defeated the English; and that of Sauchieburn, where the forces of James III. were defeated by those of his nobility, and the king put to death in a mill not far from the field, to which he had been carried. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the manufacture of nailsand leather; the former are considered as superior to those made in England. A considerable trade is also carried on in the manufacturing of carpets, tartan, and other stuffs of the same kind, five hundred of the inhabitants being thus employed. The population of the parish amounted in 1821 to 8274, and in 1831 to 9552.
NINON de l’Enclos, a lady of a noble family, born at Paris in the year 1615, and famous for her wit and her gallantries. Her mother was a person of exemplary piety, but her father early inspired her with the love of pleasure. Having lost her parents at fourteen years of age, and finding herself mistress of her own actions, she resolved never to marry. She had an income of ten thousand livres a year; and, according to the lessons she had received from her father, drew up a plan of life and gallantry, which she pursued until her death. Never delicate with respect to the number, but always so in the choice, of her pleasures, she sacrificed nothing to interest, but loved only whilst her taste for it continued, and had amongst her admirers the greatest lords of the court. Notwithstanding the levity of her conduct, however, she had many virtues. She was constant in her friendships, faithful to what are called the laws of honour, of strict veracity, disinterested, and more particularly remarkable for perfect probity. Women of the most respectable characters were proud of the honour of having her as their friend; at her house there was an assemblage of every thing most agreeable in the city and the court; and mothers were extremely desirous of sending their sons to that school of politeness and good taste, that they might learn sentiments of honour and probity, and those other virtues which render men amiable in society. But Madame de Sevigné remarks with great justice in her letters, that thia school was dangerous to religion and the Christian virtues, because Ninon made use of seducing maxims, capable of depriving the mind of those invaluable treasures. This singular woman was esteemed beautiful even in old age, and is said to have inspired the passion of love at eighty. She died at Paris in 1705.
NINUS, the first king of the Assyrians, is said to have been the son of Belus. It is added, that he enlarged Nineveh and Babylon; conquered Zoroaster, king of the Bactrians; married Semiramis of Ascalon; subdued almost all Asia; and died after a glorious reign of fifty-two years,, about 1150 before Christ-But all these alleged facts are apocryphal.
NIO, an island of the Archipelago, situated between Naxi on the north, Armago on the east, Santerino on the south, and Sikino on the west, and about thirty-five miles in circumference. It is remarkable for nothing but Homer’s tomb, which it is pretended is in this island, where he is said to have died in his passage from Samos to Athens. Long. 25. 35. E. Lat. 36. 4S. N.
NIOBE, according to the fictions of the ancient poets, was the daughter of Tantalus, and the wife of Amphion, king of Thebes, by whom she had seven sons and as many daughters. Having become so proud of her fertility and high birth, as to prefer herself before Latona, and to slight the sacrifices offered up by the Theban matrons to that goddess, Apollo and Diana, the children of Latona, resented this contempt; the former slew the male children, and the latter the female, upon which Niobe was struck dumb with grief, and remained without sensation. Cicero was of opinion, that on this account the poets feigned that she had been turned into stone.
NIONS, an arrondissement of the department of the Dome, in France, 470 square miles in extent. It comprehends four cantons, divided into seventy-five communes, and containing a population of 33,800 persons. The capital is the city of the same name situated on the river Aigues. It contains only 2850 inhabitants, who carry on. some trade in silks, woollens, and leather,.
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NIORT, an arrondissement of the department of the Two Sèvres, in France, extending over 594 square miles. It contains ten cantons, which are divided into ninety-four communes, and inhabited by 87,500 persons. The capital, both of the arrondissement and the department, is the city of the same name situated on the navigable river Sévres-Mortaise. It has a fine Gothic church, an athenaeum, with a library of 12,000 volumes, a chemical laboratory, a botanic garden, and a cabinet of physical preparations. It contains 1980 houses, and 15,500 inhabitants, who find occupation in making woollen goods, and in preparing leather, chiefly for gloves, of which about 20,000 dozen pairs are annually produced. It suffered much in consequence of the insurrection in La Vendée during the Revolution, but has in a great degree recovered since the return of tranquillity. Long. 0. 34. 32. W. Lat. 46. 20. 8. N.
NIPHON, an extensive island in the east of Asia, forming by much the largest portion of the empire of Japan. It is of an irregular form, with numerous windings, and is 800 or 900 miles in length, but in average breadth it does not exceed 100. The spiritual and temporal capitals of Jedo and Macao are situated in this island; but for a particular account of these the reader is referred to the article Japan.
NIPPERS, in the manège, are four teeth in the fore part of a horse’s mouth, two in the upper and two in the lower jaw. The horse puts them forth between the second and third year.
NIRGUA, a town of Colombia, in South America. It is situated upon a low mountain ridge, which extends from the Sierra Nevada of Merida to the north-east, separating the head waters of the Apure and Orinoco from the streams which fall into the Carribbean Sea, or the Lake of Maracaybo. The climate is very hot, and not at all salubrious, which, with other causes, has contributed to reduce the city; the latter is now in decay, and contains only about three thousand inhabitants. Depons describes the people as robust and strong, but lazy, and addicted to every species of vice. They consist wholly of Zamboes', that is, a mixed race, composed of negroes and Indians. There are some gold mines situated in the valley of Nirgua; and silver is likewise found in the vicinity. Nirgua is in lat. 10° north, and long. 71° 10' west of Paris, about forty-eight leagues west of Caraecas.
NIRMUL, a town of Hindustan, in the province of Berat', and district of Nandere, belonging to the nizam. It is situated four miles north of the river Godavery. Long. 79. 33. E. Lat. 19. 18. N.
NISAN, a month of the Hebrews, corresponding to our March, but which sometimes takes from February or April, according to the course of the moon. It was the first month of the sacred year at the period of the exod from Egypt (Exod. xii. 2), and it was the seventh month of the civil year. By Moses it is called Abib. The name Nisan is only found since the time of Ezra, and the return from the captivity of Babylon. On the first day of this month the Jews fasted for the death of the children of Aaron. On the tenth day was celebrated a fast for the death of Miriam the sister of Moses, and every one provided himself with a lamb for the passover. On this day the Israelites passed over Jordan under the conduct of Joshua. On the fourteenth day, in the evening, they sacrificed the paschal lamb; and the day following, being the fifteenth, was celebrated as the solemn passover. On the sixteenth they offered a sheaf of the ears of barley as the first fruits of the harvest of that year. The twenty-first, being the octave of the passover, was solemnized with particular ceremonies. On the twenty-sixth the Jews fasted in memory of the death of Joshua; and this day they commenced their prayers to obtain the rains of the spring. On the twenty-ninth they called to mind the fall of the walls of Jericho.
NISHAPOUR, an ancient city of Persia, formerly one of the richest and greatest in the extensive province of Khorassan, is situated in a fine plain, about eighty miles in length by fifty or sixty in breadth, well studded with fine villages, and plentiful gardens full of trees, which bear fruits of the highest flavour. Aeeording to Frazer, in his Narrative of a Journey into Khorassan (p. 432), it was a rich and pleasing scene, and by far the most populous and cultivated tract he had seen in Persia. This plain was formerly irrigated by 12,000 aqueducts, which have now been suffered to fall into decay, and are destitute of water. The city has suffered deeply from the wars which have at different times desolated Persia. It was destroyed by Alexander the Great, and was, after the lapse of many years, rebuilt by Sapor I., whose statue was to be seen at Nishapour until it was overturned and broken in pieces by the Arabs. About the middle of the twelfth century Nishapour was taken by the Tartars, and so completely ruined by those barbarians, that the inhabitants, on their return, could not distinguish the site of their own houses. Hakani the Persian poet, who flourished at this period, describes, in the most affecting terms, the overthrow of this greateity. It recovered from this ruin, however, and once more regained its former splendour, when it was again taken and pillaged by the savage Genghis Khan, and reduced to desolation. The inhabitants amount at present to about 15,000, who occupy only a single quarter of the city, the ruins of which are said to cover a circuit of twenty-five miles. The most delicious fruits are here found in the greatest abundance. The city is at present subject to the dominion of the king of Persia, and has nine districts dependent on it, each of which contains about ten walled villages. It is thirty miles south of Meshed, and 230 northeast of Herat.
NISHEGOROD, a province of the Russian empire, in Europe. It takes its name from the capital city, and extends in north latitude from 54. 31. to 56. 4., and in east longitude from 41. 37. to 46. 27., containing 21,142 square miles. It is divided into eleven circles, which comprehend thirteen cities and 5380 villages, which latter are formed into 762 parishes, each having a Greek church. The inhabitants are estimated at 1,59θ>000, the great mass of whom adhere to the religion of the Greek church; but there are many tribes of Tartars scattered throughout the province, who, like their ancestors, remain heathens. The whole province is undulating, with no elevations that are more than 400 feet above the level of the sea. The soil is generally sandy, but much of it is compounded of portions of clay and marl, and other earths, so that where cultivation is conducted with any degree of skill and attention, the produce is considerable. In corn the crops commonly yield one fourth more than the consumption requires. The chief grains are rye and buck-wheat; but there is much wheat grown, and the increase on appropriate soils is said to be tenfold the seed. A great quantity both of hemp and flax is raised, and all the common garden vegetables and fruits. The woods extend along the banks of the great rivers, and afford abundance of fuel, and of timber for the construction of houses and ships. The province is admirably watered, the chief river being the W olga, which receives the waters of the Oka, the Kutma, the Kirsentz, the Sura, the Wetluga, and the Alatyr, all of which are navigable to the main stream. It is a manufacturing district, producing abundance of matting, hempen and flaxen cloths, soap and candles, iron in bars and in common implements, leather, corn, spirits, and some glass. These, with live cattle, raw hides, and wood, form the principal articles of the export trade, which is chiefly carried on by the Wolga and its tributary streams. The city of Nishegorod, the capital, is 830 miles from St Petersburg, being in latitude 56.19. 43. north, and in longitude 46. 23. 5. east. It stands at the·
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junction of the Oka with the Wolga, in a picturesque situation, between hills; and it is the centre of the trade, as well as of the government of its province, and the seat of a Greek bishop. It contains 1826 houses, mostly of wood, and 12,300 inhabitants, who chiefly subsist by manufactures and trade, which connect them with the Persians, Siberians, Turks, and Tartars, who resort in great crowds, especially to a fair which lasts from the 29th of June to the end of July annually.
NISIBIN, a village of Persia, in the pachalik of Bagdad, which was in ancient times the celebrated fortress of Nisibis, and, from the time of Lucullus until the decline of the empire, was regarded by the Romans as the firmest bulwark of the East. This city was taken by Lucullus, from Tigranes, king of Armenia. It was three times besieged by the king of Persia, who, by the treaty of Dura, at last obtained quiet possession of the fortress, which had successfully resisted the utmost efforts of his arms. Ni∙ sihis, in the hands of the Persians, braved the attacks of successive emperors, and baffled the military talents of Belisarius; until at last, after the final overthrow of the house of Artaxerxes, it was reduced, along with the other cities of Mesopotamia, under the power of the Saracens. The foundations of the walls, and several detached towers, as well as part of the church built in honour of St James, who was formerly bishop of Nisibis, are still standing. They overlook the little but rapid river Mygdonius, and are approached by a small Roman bridge of twelve arches. To the west there is a view of the lofty mountains of Sinjar, covered with verdure; and the prospect to the north and east is bounded by the ridge of Mount Masius, forming a vast amphitheatre, at the extremity of which, in a clear day, may be descried the distant turrets of Merdin. The adjacent country has a pleasing appearance, the numberless villages which overspread the plains being built wholly on conical hills, bearing a striking resemblance to our feudal castles. Grecian and Roman coins, with other antiquities, are frequently dug out of the ruins. The black tents of the Kurds now cover the greater part of the city. Nisibin is seventy-eight miles south-east of Diarbekir, and seventy north-west of Mosul.
NISI PRIUS, in Law, a judicial writ which lies in cases where, the jury being impanelled and returned before the justices of the bank, one of the parties requests to have such a writ for the ease of the country, that the trial may take place before the justices in the same county on their coming thither. The purport of a writ of nisi prius is, that the sheriff is thereby commanded to bring to Westminster the men impanelled, at a certain day, before the justices, nisi prius justiciarii domini regis ad assisas capiendas venerint.