EDENTATA. 642 EDESSA. sifnoptiqite des espcces de mammifires fossiles des formations eocf'nes de I'atagonie (Buenos Ayres, 1894) : .Mar.sli. "The Stylinodontia, a Sub- order of Eocene Edentates," American Journal of Science, ser. 4, vol. iii. (Kew Haven, 1897). E'DENTON. A town, formerly a port of en- try, and the county-seat of Chowan County, n! C, 150 miles east by north of Raleigli : on Albemarle Sound, and on the Norfolk ,and Southern Railroad (Map: North Carol'ina, F 1). It has extensive fisheries and consider- able luml)er interests. Population, in 1890, 220.t; in 1900. .3040. Founded in 1712, Edcnton was oriu'inally kno i as Queen Anne's Creek, and received its present name in honor of Cliarles Eden, an early Colonial Governor. Here was held, on October 24. 1774. the famous Edenton Tea Party, at which fifty-two women formally voted that they would not conform "to that Pernicious Custom of Drinking Tea," and "would not pro- mote ve weare of anv manufacture from Eng- land."" EDER, fi'dor. .TosEPH Maria (1855 — ), An Austrian chemist. He was bom at Krems, and was educated at the university and at the Poly- technic Institute of Vienna. In 1882 he was apjiointed professor of chemistry at the State Industrial School in that city, and afterwards as- sisted in the organization of the Imperial Educa- tional and Experimental Institute for Photog- raphy, of which he was appointed director in 1888. Especially noteworthy are his investiga- tions on the influence of light of various wave- lengths upon silver salts, which resulted in the development of orthochromatie photography. He also invented a new photometric method and the now extensively used 'aristo papers' ( chloro-gela- tin papers) . His publications include Die Moment- phoiographie in ihrer Anivendung aiif Kunst und Wissenschaft (2d ed., 1886 and 1888) : Anlei- lung :ur Hcrstrllung von Moment photographicn (2d ed. 1887); Photographic mit BromsHher- gelatine (4th ed. 1890) ; Versuch iiher Photo- graphic mittels der Riintgenschcn Strahlen (with Valenta, 1890), and Densitotnetrie photographi- scher Trocken plat ten (1900). He ha.s been since 1887 the editor of the Jahrbiich fiir Photographic und Jicproduktionsteehnik (Halle, annually), EDERSHEIM, a'ders-him, Alfred (1825-89). An English biblical scholar. He was born in Vienna, of Jewish extraction, and was educated at the university in that city. Unable to com- plete his university ediication because of finan- cial obstacles, he accepted a tutorship in Pest, where he emliraecd Christianity. After studying theology in Edinlnirgh and Berlin, he was or- dained to the Presbyterian ministry (1840), and soon afterwards received an appointment to the Free Church, Aberdeen, with which he remained associated for twelve years. He subsequently became select preacher to the University of Ox- ford (1884-85) and Grinfield lecturer" on the Septuagint (1886-88, 1888-90). His principal work is entitled The Life and Times of Jesus the ^fcssinh (188.S), and he also published works entitled liihle Bistory (of the Old Testament, 7 vols. 1S70-S7), and Jewish .Social Life in the Time of C'hrist (1879). EDES'SA (Lat., from Gk. 'E«f<r(ro) . The an- cient capital of Macedonia, formerly known as .jEga It was situated 46 miles west of Thessakmi- ca, at the head of a defile commanding the ap- proaches from the seacoast to the interior. It was the original residence of the JIacedonian kings, and was the burial-place of the royal fami- ly long after it ceased to be the seat of government. In Edessa Philip II. was murdered by Pausanias. B.c 330. Alexander the Great (q.v.) was buried at Alexandria, but Edessa remained the royal burial-place, and when Pyrrhus occupied the ))lace the royal tombs were plundcrccl by his Gallic mercenaries. In Roman times Edessa was an important post on the great mad from Dyrrhachium to Thessalonica. The modern city of Vodena is built on the site of ICdcssa. and only scanty remains of the ancient buildings are pre- served. EDESSA, or CallirrikJe (modern name Vr- fah, or Orfa). A very ancient city on the river Daisan. in the north of Mesopotamia (in the modern Vilayet of Aleppo), 78 miles southwest of Diarbekir. Though the town is of very early origin, it is with the conquest of Persia by the Greeks that the history of Edessa first becomes clearer. Seleucus. in particular, is said to have done much for the aggrandizement of the city, and its prosperity increased under an inde|)cn- dent line of kings reigning just before and after the Christian Era. Christianity was introduced into Edessa at an early period, and the supposed relations of King Abgarus and Clirist are em- bodied in the famous letter found in Edessa by Eusebius at the beginning of the fourth cen- tury. In the reign of Trajan the place was made tributary to Rome, and in A.n. 210 became a Roman military colony under the name of Colonia ilarcia Edessenorum. It was. with Nisibis. Damascus, and Antioch, one of the four greatest cities of Syria. During this ])criod its importance in the history of the Clirislian Church continued to increase. More than tliree hundred monasteries are said to have been in- cluded within its walls; it was the birthplace of Saint Ephraim Syrus, the principal centre of Syrian learning and literature during the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries, and played an important part in the Arian and other conti'o- versies. Its famous university or school of the Persians was clo.sed on account of heretical ten- dencies by the Emperor Zeno toward the end of the fifth century. With the extension of the religion of Islam Edessa fell into the hands of the Arabian caliphs. Clirist ianity declined, and wars at home and abroad during the cali|)hate destroyed likewise its temporal splendor and prosperity,, till, in 1040.. it fell into the posses- sion of the Seljuk Turks. The Byzantine em- perors succeeded in recovering Edessa. but the viceroy contrived to make himself imleiiendent. He was, however, hard pressed by the Turks, and this rendered it easy for the Crusader Baldwin, the brother of Godfrey of Bouillon, to gain possession of the city (1097 ..n.), and make it the capital of a Latin principality, and the bul- wark of the kingdom of .Jerusalem. Under the Prankish princes, Edessa held out valiantly against the Mussulmans, till at length Zengi, ruler of Mosul, succeeded in taking the town and citadel in the year 1144. when all the Christian churches were converted into mosipies. An at- tempt made by the inhabitants to throw ofT the Molianimedan yoke eoiiiplct<'d the ruin of Edessa. Its inhabitants were defeated by Xured-Din, and
