occupation continued until the peace of Adrianople (September 1829). The town was unsuccessfully attacked by the Russians on the 9th of November 1877 after a victory gained by them a short time previously on the Deveboyun heights; it was occupied by them during the armistice (7th of February 1878) and restored to Turkey after the treaty of Berlin. In 1859 a severe earthquake destroyed much of the town, and another in November 1901 caused much damage.
The Erzerum vilayet extends from the Persian frontier at Bayazid, all along the Russian frontier and westward into Anatolia at Baiburt and Erzingan. It is divided into the three sanjaks of Bayazid, Erzerum, and Erzingan. It includes the highest portion of the Armenian plateau, and consists of bare undulating uplands varied by lofty ranges. The deep gorges of the Chorokh and Tortum streams north of the town alone have a different appearance, being well wooded in places. Both arms of the Euphrates have their rise in this country as well as the Aras (Araxes) and the Chorokh (Acampsis). It is an agricultural country with few industries. Besides forests, iron, salt, sulphur and other mineral springs are found. Some of the coal and lignite mines in Tortum have been recently worked to supply fuel for Erzerum. The population is largely Armenian and Kurd with some Turks (Moslems 500,000, Christians 140,000). (C. W. W.; F. R. M.)
ERZGEBIRGE, a mountain chain of Germany, extending
in a W.S.W. direction from the Elbe to the Elstergebirge
along the frontier between Saxony and Bohemia. Its length
from E.N.E. to W.S.W. is about 80 m., and its average
breadth about 25 m. The southern declivity is generally
steep and rugged, forming in some places an almost perpendicular
wall of the height of from 2000 to 2500 ft.; while
the northern, divided at intervals into valleys, sometimes of
great fertility and sometimes wildly romantic, slopes gradually
towards the great plain of northern Germany. The central
part of the chain forms a plateau of an average height of more
than 3000 ft. At the extremities of this plateau are situated
the highest summits of the range:—in the south-east the Keilberg
(4080 ft.); in the north-east the Fichtelberg (3980 ft.); and in
the south-west the Spitzberg (3650 ft.). Between the Keilberg
and the Fichtelberg, at the height of about 3300 ft., is situated
Gottesgab, the highest town in Bohemia. Geologically, the
Erzgebirge range consists mainly of gneiss, mica and phyllite.
As its name (Ore Mountains) indicates, it is famous for its mineral
ores. These are chiefly silver and lead, the layers of both of which
are very extensive, tin, nickel, copper and iron. Gold is found
in several places, and some arsenic, antimony, bismuth, manganese,
mercury and sulphur. The Erzgebirge is celebrated for
its lace manufactures, introduced by Barbara Uttmann in 1541,
embroideries, silk-weaving and toys. The climate is in winter
inclement in the higher elevations, and, as the snow lies deep until
the spring, the range is largely frequented by devotees of winter
sport, ski, toboganning, &c. In summer the air is bracing, and
many climatic health resorts have sprung into existence, among
which may be mentioned Kipsdorf, Bärenfels and Oberwiesenthal.
Communication with the Erzgebirge is provided by numerous
lines of railway, some, such as that from Freiberg to Brüx, that
from Chemnitz to Komotau, and that from Zwickau to Carlsbad,
crossing the range, while various local lines serve the higher
valleys.
The Elstergebirge, a range some 16 m. in length, in which the Weisse Elster has its source, runs S.W. from the Erzgebirge to the Fichtelgebirge and attains a height of 2630 ft.
See Grohmann, Das Obererzgebirge und seine Städte (1903), and Schurtz, Die Pässe des Erzgebirges (1891); also Daniel, Deutschland, vol. ii., and Gebauer, Länder und Völkerkunde, vol. i.
ERZINGAN, or Erzinjan (Arsinga of the middle ages), the chief
town of a sanjak in the Erzerum vilayet of Asiatic Turkey.
It is the headquarters of the IV. army corps, being a place of
some military importance, with large barracks and military
factories. It is situated at an altitude of 3900 ft., near the
western end of a rich well-watered plain through which runs the
Kara Su or western Euphrates. It is surrounded by orchards and
gardens, and is about a mile from the right bank of the river,
which here runs in two wide channels crossed by bridges. One
wide street traverses the town from east to west, but the others are
narrow, unpaved and dirty, except near the new government
buildings and the large modern mosque of Hajji Izzet Pasha
to the north, which are the only buildings of note. The principal
barracks, military hospital and clothing factory are at Karateluk
on the plain and along the foot-hills to the north 3 m. off, one
recent addition to the business buildings having electric power
and modern British machinery; some older barracks and a
military tannery and boot factory being in the town. The
population numbers about 15,000, of whom about half are
Armenians living in a separate quarter. The principal industries
are the manufacture of silk and cotton and of copper dishes and
utensils. The climate is hot in summer but moderate in winter.
A carriage-road leads to Trebizond, and other roads to Sivas,
Karahissar, Erzerum and Kharput. The plain, almost surrounded
by lofty mountains, is highly productive with many
villages on it and the border hills. Wheat, fruit, vines and
cotton are largely grown, and cattle and sheep are bred. Water
is everywhere abundant, and there are iron and hot sulphur
springs. The battle in which the sultan of Rum (1243) was
defeated by the Mongols took place on the plain, and the celebrated
Armenian monastery of St Gregory, “the Illuminator,”
lies on the hills 11 m. S.W. of the town.
Erzingan occupies the site of an early town in which was a temple of Anaitis. It was an important place in the 4th century when St Gregory lived in it. The district passed from the Byzantines to the Seljuks after the defeat of Romanus, 1071, and from the latter to the Mongols in 1243. After having been held by Mongols, Tatars and Turkomans, it was added to the Osmanli empire by Mahommed II. in 1473. In 1784 the town was almost destroyed by an earthquake. (C. W. W.; F. R. M.)
ESAR-HADDON [Assur-akhi-iddina, “Assur has given a
brother”], Assyrian king, son of Sennacherib; before his
accession to the throne he had also borne another name, Assur-etil-ilani-yukin-abla.
At the time of his father’s murder (the
20th of Tebet, 681 B.C.) he was commanding the Assyrian army
in a war against Ararat. The conspirators, after holding Nineveh
for 42 days, had been compelled to fly northward and invoke
the aid of the king of Ararat. On the 12th of Iyyar (680 B.C.)
a decisive battle was fought near Malatia, in which the veterans
of Assyria won the day, and at the close of it saluted Esar-haddon
as king. He returned to Nineveh, and on the 8th of Sivan was
crowned king. A good general, Esar-haddon was also an able
and conciliatory administrator. His first act was to crush a
rebellion among the Chaldaeans in the south of Babylonia and
then to restore Babylon, the sacred city of the West, which had
been destroyed by his father. The walls and temple of Bel were
rebuilt, its gods brought back, and after his right to rule had been
solemnly acknowledged by the Babylonian priesthood Esar-haddon
made Babylon his second capital. A year or two later
Media was invaded and Median chiefs came to Nineveh to offer
homage to their conqueror. He now turned to Palestine, where
the rebellion of Abdi-milkutti of Zidon was suppressed, its
leader beheaded, and a new Zidon built out of the ruins of the
older city (676–675 B.C.). All Palestine now submitted to
Assyria, and 12 Syrian and 10 Cyprian princes (including
Manasseh of Judah) came to pay him homage and supply him
with materials for his palace at Nineveh. But a more formidable
enemy had appeared on the Assyrian frontier (676 B.C.). The
Cimmerii (see Scythia) under Teuspa poured into Asia Minor;
they were, however, overthrown in Cilicia, and the Cilician
mountaineers who had joined them were severely punished.
It was next necessary to secure the southern frontier of the empire.
Esar-haddon accordingly marched into the heart of Arabia, to
a distance of about 900 m., across a burning and waterless desert,
and struck terror into the Arabian tribes. At last he was free
to complete the policy of his predecessors by conquering Egypt,
which alone remained to threaten Assyrian dominion in the West.
Baal of Tyre had transferred his allegiance from Esar-haddon to
the Egyptian king Tirhaka and opened to the latter the coast
