by Flamsteed) was discovered to be a ternary star group by Herschel in 1783; it consists of a close pair, of magnitudes 9.2 and 10.9, revolving in a period of 180 years, associated with a star of magnitude 4.5, which is distant from the pair by 82″; these stars have an exceptionally swift proper motion, about 4″ per annum. Eridanus was the ancient name of the river Po.
ERIDU, one of the oldest religious centres of the Sumerians,
described in the ancient Babylonian records as the “city of the
deep.” The special god of this city was Ea (q.v.), god of the sea
and of wisdom, and the prominence given to this god in the
incantation literature of Babylonia and Assyria suggests not only
that many of our magical texts are to be traced ultimately to
the temple of Ea at Eridu, but that this side of the Babylonian
religion had its origin in that place. Certain of the most ancient
Babylonian myths, especially that of Adapa, may also be traced
back to the shrine of Ea at Eridu. But while of the first importance
in matters of religion, there is no evidence in Babylonian
literature of any special political importance attaching to Eridu,
and certainly at no time within our knowledge did it exercise
hegemony in Babylonia. The site of Eridu was discovered by
J. E. Taylor in 1854, in a ruin then called by the natives Abu-Shahrein,
a few miles south-south-west of Moghair, ancient Ur,
nearly in the centre of the dry bed of an inland sea, a deep valley,
15 m. at its broadest, covered for the most part with a nitrous
incrustation, separated from the alluvial plain about Moghair
by a low, pebbly, sandstone range, called the Hazem, but open
toward the north to the Euphrates and stretching southward
to the Khanega wadi below Suk-esh-Sheiukh. In the rainy
season this valley becomes a sea, flooded by the discharge of
the Khanega; in summer the Arabs dig holes here which supply
them with brackish water. The ruins, in which Taylor conducted
brief excavations, consist of a platform of fine sand enclosed
by a sandstone wall, 20 ft. high, the corners toward the cardinal
points, on the N.W. part of which was a pyramidal tower of two
stages, constructed of sun-dried brick, cased with a wall of
kiln-burned brick, the whole still standing to a height of about
70 ft. above the platform. The summit of the first stage was
reached by a staircase on the S.E. side, 15 ft. wide and 70 ft.
long, constructed of polished marble slabs, fastened with copper
bolts, flanked at the foot by two curious columns. An inclined
road led up to the second stage on the N.W. side. Pieces of
polished alabaster and marble, with small pieces of pure gold and
gold-headed copper nails, found on and about the top of the
second stage, indicated that a small but richly adorned sacred
chamber, apparently plated within or without in gold, formerly
crowned the top of this structure. Around the whole tower was
a pavement of inscribed baked bricks, resting on a layer of clay
2 ft. thick. On the S.E. part of the terrace were the remains
of several edifices, containing suites of rooms. Inscriptions on
the bricks identified the site as that of Eridu. Since Taylor’s
time the place has not been visited by any explorer, owing to
the unsafe condition of the neighbourhood; but T. K. Loftus
(1854) and J. P. Peters (1890) both report having seen it from
the summit of Moghair. The latter states that the Arabs at that
time called the ruin Nowawis, and apparently no longer knew
the name Abu-Shahrein. Through an error, in many recent
maps and Assyriological publications Eridu is described as located
in the alluvial plain, between the Tigris and the Euphrates. It
was, in fact, an island city in an estuary of the Persian Gulf,
stretching up into the Arabian plateau. Originally “on the
shore of the sea,” as the old records aver, it is now about 120 m.
from the head of the Persian Gulf. Calculating from the present
rate of deposit of alluvium at the head of that gulf, Eridu should
have been founded as early as the seventh millennium B.C. It
is mentioned in historical inscriptions from the earliest times
onward, as late as the 6th century B.C. From the evidence of
Taylor’s excavations, it would seem that the site was abandoned
about the close of the Babylonian period.
See J. E. Taylor, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xv. (1855); F. Delitzsch, Wo lag das Paradies? (1881); J. P. Peters, Nippur (1897); M. Jastrow, The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria (1898); H. V. Hilprecht, Excavations in Assyria and Babylonia (1904); L. W. King, A History of Sumer and Akkad (1910). (J. P. Pe.)
ERIE, the most southerly of the Great Lakes of North America,
between 41° 23′ and 42° 53′ N., and 78° 51′ and 83° 28′ W.,
bounded W. by the state of Michigan, S. and S.E. by Ohio,
Pennsylvania and New York, and N. by the province of Ontario.
It is nearly elliptical, the major axis, 250 m. long, lying east and
west; its greatest breadth is 60 m.; its area about 10,000 sq. m.;
and the total area of its basin 34,412 sq. m. Its elevation above
mean sea-level is 573 ft.; and its surface is nearly 9 ft. below that
of Lake Huron, which discharges into it through St Clair river,
Lake St Clair and Detroit river, and is 327 ft. above that of Lake
Ontario, this great difference being absorbed by the rapids and
falls in the Niagara river, which joins the two lakes. Lake Erie
is very shallow, and may be divided into three basins, the western
extending to Point Pelee and including all the islands, containing
about 1200 sq. m., with a comparatively flat bottom at 5 to 6
fathoms; the main basin, between Point Pelee and the narrows
at Long Point, containing about 6700 sq. m., and having a marked
shelving bottom deepening gradually to 14 fathoms; and the
portion east of the narrows, containing about 2100 sq. m., having
a depression 30 fathoms deep just east from Long Point, with
an extensive flat of 11 fathoms depth between it and the main
basin. The Canadian shore is low and flat throughout, the United
States shore is low but bordered by an elevated plateau through
which the rivers have cut deep channels. The lake basin is
relatively so small that the rivers are without importance;
Grand river, on the north shore, is the largest tributary. The
flat alluvial soil bordering on the lake is very fertile, and the
climate is well adapted for fruit cultivation. Large quantities
of peaches, grapes and small fruits are grown; the islands in the
west end have a climate much warmer and more equable than the
adjoining mainland, and are practically covered with vineyards.
The low clayey or sandy shores are subject to erosion by waves.
In severe storms the water near shore is filled with sand, which is
deposited where the currents are checked around the ends of
jetties in such a way as to form bars out into the lake across
improved channels. This shoaling has rendered continuous
dredging necessary at every harbour on the lake west of Erie, Pa.
In consequence of the shallowness of the lake its waters are easily
disturbed, making navigation very rough and dangerous, and
causing large fluctuations of surface. Strong winds are frequent,
as nearly every cyclonic depression traversing North America,
either from the westward or the Gulf of Mexico, passes near
enough to Lake Erie to be felt. Westerly gales are more frequent,
and have more effect on the water surface than easterly ones,
lowering the water as much as 7 to 8 ft. at the west end and
raising it 5 to 8 ft. at the east end. The worst storms occur
in autumn, when the immense quantity of shipping on the
lake makes them specially destructive. There are no tides, and
usually only a slight current towards the outlet, though powerful
currents are temporarily produced by the rapid return of waters
after a storm, and during the height of a westerly gale there is
invariably a reflex current into the west end of the lake. There
is an annual fluctuation in the level of the lake, varying from
a minimum of 9 in. to a maximum of 2 ft., the normal low level
occurring in February and the high level in midsummer.
Standard high water (of 1838) is 575.11 ft. above mean sea-level,
and the lowest record was 570.8 in November 1895. The
harbours and exits of the lake freeze over, but the body of the
lake never freezes completely.
Ice-breaking car ferries run across the lake all winter. General navigation opens as a rule in the middle of April and closes in the middle of December. The volume of traffic is immense, because practically all freight from the more westerly lakes finds terminal harbours in Lake Erie. Official statistics of commerce passing through the Detroit river into the lake during the season of 1906 show that 35,128 vessels, having a net register of 50,673,897 tons, carried 63,805,571 (short) tons of freight, valued at $662,971,053. The 1175 vessels engaged in this business were valued at $106,223,000. Over 90% of the whole traffic is in United States ships to United States ports. Fine passenger steamers run nightly between Buffalo and Cleveland and Detroit, and there are many shorter passenger routes.
