The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 462

ZADKIEL, according to the Rabbins, the name of the angel of the planet Jupiter; also pseudonym a.s.sumed by Richard James Morrison, a naval officer, believer in astrology, and the compiler of an astrological almanac.

ZAGAZIG (35), a town in the Delta of Egypt, 50 m. NE. of Cairo; a railway centre, and entrepot for the cotton and grain grown in the section of the delta round it, and once a centre of wors.h.i.+p, and the site of two temples; Tel-el-Kebir (q. v.) lies E. of it.

ZAHN, THEODOR, biblical scholar, born in Rhenish Prussia, professor of Theology at Erlangen; distinguished for his eminent scholars.h.i.+p in connection with the matter especially of the New Testament canon; _b_.

1838.

ZaHRINGEN, a village 2 m. N. of Freiburg, in Baden, with a castle now in ruins which gives name to the reigning grand-ducal family of Baden, the founders of which were counts of Breisgau.

ZAIRE, name for the CONGO (q. v.) in part of its lower course.

ZAKk.u.m, a tree, according to Moslem belief, growing in h.e.l.l, and of the bitter fruit of which the d.a.m.ned are compelled to eat so as to intensify their torment.

ZALEUCUS, law-giver of the ancient Locrians, a Greek people settled in Lower Italy, and who flourished in 700th century B.C.; had a supreme respect for law, and was severe in the enforcement of it; punished adultery with the forfeiture of sight; refused to exonerate his own son who had been guilty of the offence, but submitted to the loss of one of his own eyes instead of exacting the full penalty of the culprit; had established a law forbidding any one to enter the Senate-house armed; did so himself on one occasion in a sudden emergency, was reminded of the law, and straightway fell upon his sword as a sacrifice to the sovereignty of the claims of social order.

ZAMA, a fortified city of ancient Numidea, 100 m. SW. of Carthage, where HANNIBAL (q. v.) was defeated by Scipio Africa.n.u.s, and the SECOND PUNIC WAR (q. v.) brought to an end, and the fate of Carthage virtually sealed.

ZAMBESI, one of the four great African rivers, and the fourth largest as regards both the volume of its waters and the area it drains, the other three being the Nile, the Congo, and the Niger; its head-streams being the Lungebungo, the Leeba, and Leeambye; it waters a rich pastoral region, and it falls into the Indian Ocean after a course of nearly 1600 m., in which it drains 600,000 sq. m. of territory, or an area three times larger than that of France; owing to cataracts and rapids it is only navigable in different stretches; at 900 m. from its mouth it plunges in a cataract known as the Victoria Falls, and which rivals in grandeur those even of Niagara.

ZAMBESIA, a territory on the Zambesi, under British protection, and in the hands of the British South Africa Company, embracing Mashonaland, Matabeleland, and the country of Khama.

ZAMORA (15), ancient town of Spain, on the right bank of the Douro, 150 m. NW. of Madrid; now in a decayed state; was a flouris.h.i.+ng place in Moorish times; contains interesting ruins; manufactures linens and woollens, and trades in wine and fruits.

ZANGWILL, ISRAEL, litterateur, born in London, of Jewish parents in poor circ.u.mstances; practically self-taught; studied at London University, where he took his degree with triple honours; became a teacher, then a journalist; has written novels, essays, and poems; among his works the "Bachelor's Club," "Old Maid's Club," "Children of the Ghetto," "Dreams of the Ghetto," "The Master," "Without Prejudice," &c.; _b_. 1854.

ZANGWILL, LOUIS, man of letters, brother of preceding; self-taught; has written several works under the pseudonym of ZZ; distinguished himself at one time as a chess-player; _b_. 1869.

ZANTE (15), one of the Ionian Islands, 9 m. off the NW. coast of the Morea, is 24 m. long and 12 broad; raises currants, the produce of a dwarf vine, and exports large quant.i.ties annually. Zante (14), the capital, on a bay on the E. coast, is a clean and prosperous town, most so of any in the group of islands.

ZANZIBAR, a kingdom of East Africa, under British protection, consisting of the islands of Zanzibar (150), with a capital (30) of the same name, and the island of Pemba (50), and a strip of the coast extending 10 m. inland from Cape Delgado to Kipini; has a hot unhealthy climate, and a rich tropical vegetation; its products are cloves chiefly, coco-nuts, betel-nuts, and grain, and the exports ivory, india-rubber, gum, &c.; the natives are mostly Arab Mohammedans under a sultan.

ZAPOROGIANS, Cossacks of the Ukraine, who revolted under Mazeppa as chief, and were transported by Catherine II to the sh.o.r.es of the Sea of Azov.

ZARA (11), the capital of Dalmatia, and a seaport of Austria, on a promontory on the coast, 129 m. SE. of Trieste; it was founded by the Venetians, has a s.p.a.cious harbour, was strongly fortified, and the chief manufactures are gla.s.s and a liqueur called maraschino.

ZARAGOZA. See SARAGOSSA.

ZEA, the ancient Ceos, an island of the Grecian Archipelago; of great fertility; produces wine, honey, silk, and maize.

ZEALAND, the largest island in the Danish Archipelago, situated between the Cattegat and the Baltic, being 81 m. long and 67 m. broad, with COPENHAGEN (q. v.) on the E. coast; the surface is nearly everywhere fiat, and agriculture and cattle-rearing the chief industries.

ZEALAND (213), a province of the Netherlands, formed chiefly of islands, of which WALCHEREN (q. v.) is one, const.i.tuting a delta as if formed by the Maas and Scheldt; great part of it is reclaimed from the sea.

ZEALAND, NEW. See NEW ZEALAND.

ZEALOTS, THE, a fanatical party among the Jews in Judea, who rose in revolt against the Roman domination on the appointment over them of a Roman governor instead of a native prince, which they regarded as an insult to their religion and religious belief.

ZEBU, one of the Visaya group of the Philippine Islands, E. of Negros.

ZECHARIAH, a Hebrew prophet who appears to have been born in Babylon during the captivity, and to have prophesied in Jerusalem at the time of the restoration, and to have contributed by his prophecies to encourage the people in rebuilding the temple and reorganising its wors.h.i.+p; his prophecies are divided into two great sections, but the authenticity of the latter has been much debated; he is reckoned one of the Minor Prophets.

ZEDLITZ, JOSEPH CHRISTIAN VON, poet, born in Austrian Silesia; entered and served in the army, and did service as a diplomatist; wrote dramas and lyrics, and translated Byron's "Childe Harold" into German (1790-1862).

ZEEHAN, a towns.h.i.+p of recent growth on the W. coast of Tasmania, with large silver-lead mines wrought by several companies, and a source of great wealth.

ZEIT-GEIST (i. e. Time-spirit), German name for the spirit of the time, or the dominant trend of life and thought at any particular period.

ZEITUN (20), a town in the province of Aleppo, with iron mines, inhabited chiefly by Armenian Christians; distinguished as having for centuries maintained their independence under Turkish oppression.

ZELLER, EDUARD, German professor of Philosophy, born in Wurtemberg; studied at Tubingen; was first a disciple of Baur, and then of Hegel; became professor at Berlin, and devoted himself chiefly to the history of Greek philosophy, and distinguished himself most in that regard; _b_.

1814.

ZEMINDAR, in India a holder or farmer of land from the government, and responsible for the land-tax.

ZEM-ZEM, a sacred well in Mecca, and all built round along with the CAABA (q. v.); has its name from the bubbling sound of the waters; the Moslems think it the Well which Hagar found with her little Ishmael in the wilderness when he was dying of thirst.

ZENANA, in India the part of a house reserved for the women among Hindu families of good caste, and to which only since 1860 Christian women missionaries have been admitted, and a freer intercourse established.