Amasa Amber
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
lu Iluir inlicritancc in Aimtliolli (Tiirg. Yer. i. 1). luUlitiou nvi' i" Ziuli. xi. 13 (A. ., the potti-r) is treasurtT. BUcbler transliitcd in Targ., Anmrkol lias sliown (ajraiust SiliCircT, "Gosch.," 1st cd., ii. ,'lli) by rc'fiTrinjr to .Inscplms, "('Dntia Ap." ii. 8. thai certain Tt'inpli' dlticcrs handi'il tlic keys i)f the Ti-niplc to tlicir succfssois eacli day, as a symbol of and tlii'si- were none others than the tlicir cliargf
=
—
wlio were, however, laymen and not it was in view of this that the title of Aniarkol was applied to them. In Targ. Yer. to Num. i. 6 ei scq.. iii. 1!2; II King.s, xxii. 4: II Chron. xx.xi. 13: Isa. xxii. 23, the title of Aniarkol is. however, applied to nixiim (princes), to pekkliiii (overseers), and to nltinnere lia-mif (t)w doorkeepers), in accordance with Yer. Shek. v., Num. H. iii.. Lev. K. V. The etymology given in Tosef., Shek. ii. 15, mnr k<il ("master over all"), has no more value than the cue given in Hor. 13r/, amiir kiilhi (" he who has everything to say"): wherefore the derivation from cat/wliriis (Levy, "Xeuliebr. Wijrterb. " under
AMASAI: 1. Son of Elkanah, a Levite of the Kohuihile liimily (I Chron. vi. 10, 20; II Chron. xxix. 12). 2. Chief of the captains who met David at Ziklag and offered their services to him. It is possible that he is identical with Am.s. (I Chron. xii. 19). 3. One of the priests who blew trumpets when David (I
aniarkoliin; priests.
OIDX;
!=:
must be
Gciger. "Urschrift." p. llC)
sec
BiBLiooRAPHY
who
S<'harer,
M
Gench.
ed.,
ii.
27(1 ct nrq.
The
llrst
attention to the t'crslnn lor Armenian) etymology wius Levy, in (teiffer's/^<'i7.sc/i.lH*>7, pp. 315-21S,who referred lo Prud'liuitmie in Jnnnui} ^l.^iiitiiiue, 1866, p. 11.'). Then folioweii I'ciles' Ktifini>ltnii.-<c}tr Stinlk-n, 1H71 : Noeicalleil
of the
word
duke, in (Joettiiiiiir Gihhrli- Aiiziiiifit. 1S71; and Lagarde, Armcnisctn' .s7ie//rN.IsT7, No. 1316; Semitica, i. 4.1: see also Kohnt, Arurli. 1. 1-".! Ittv. El. Juivcu. xvi. VMi liiicliler. Die Priefler umi tkr ('«/(».<, p. Jew. Qxiart. Rev. vili. 67:).
W
K.
AMASA.— Biblical Sam.
Data:
1.
According
to II
son of Ithi-a. an Israelite: I Clu-on. ii. 17 calls his father Jether, the Ishmaelite. He was a nephew of David and cousin of Ab.salom, who made him chief of the ai'iiiy that rose against David (II Sam. xvii. 2.5). After the dcatli of Absalom ami the defeat of his army, David purposed making Amasa geueral-in-chief of his forces (II Sam. xix. 14). To him was entrusted the su])i>i-ession of the uprising of ]5icliri (II Sam. xx.), liut under Slieba, the son Joab murdered Amasa and took his place as leader f>f the host. For this tieacliery Joab was subse(piently piit to death (I Kings, ii. 5, 32). 2. Son of Ilaiilai. of the Bene Epbraim. who, obeying the wonls of the pi'ophet Obed, refused to receive as captives the .Tudeuns who had been taken from Ahaz, king of Judah, bv tlie victorious Israelites under Pekah (II Chron. xxviii. 12). G. B. L. -wii.
',;'>,
llie
In Rabbinical Literature The Jerusalem Talmud relates (Sanh. x. 29r() that when Amasa and
Abiier, Saul's guards, refused to be jjarlicipants in the murder of the priests (I Sam. xxii. 1"), Ama.su lioldly said to the king: "Can you lay claim to anything moi'c than our belts and mantles (our marks of distinction)? Here they lie at your feet " This !
Amasa remained near him during his entire reign, accompanying him when he went to the witch of En-dor (Tan., ed. Buber, Emor, 4. and the parallel pa.ssages ciuoted there). It was quite natural, therefoie. that David should appoint as commander-in-chief, in place of Joab, one already tested by Saul. Amasa di<l not. however, possess the martial spirit of Joab: and when he was sent to gather an army, he devoted himself to the study of the Torah. God's law seemed more important to him than the will of the king. It was, therefore, wrong on the part of Joab to execute Amasa for did not offend Saul: and
transgressing the king's orders (Sanh. 49(0L. G.
brouirht back the
Chron. xv.
dwell
(H. v.,
of the Covenant G. B. L.
Amashsai)
.Iciusalem (Nell.
al
Ark
24).'^
AMASHAI
And
rejected.
486
.Vsiii
Minor, on
tlie
i)riest
who
G. B. L.
AMASIYAH
AMASIA, AMASIEH, Cily in
A
i:!).
.i.
or Veshil-Irniak
(tb<'
ancient
The
poiiululinn in 19(10 was 23,0110. The city is now of little' iiniiorlance: but, to judge fiom the number of .Spanish fugitives that sought shelter there, Iris).
it
must have been piosperous during the sixteenth
century.
A
tragedy of interest to Judaism occurred in the sixteenth century within its ])recincts. A Christian had entered the house of a Jew and had not come out again. A number of Jews were susjiected, and. under torture, confessed to his murdcT luid were hanged. Anumg them was the learned K. Jacob few days later the Christian ben Jo.scph Abiub. returned to the city: whereupon Sultan Solyman the Magnificent ordered thiit the per|)etrators of the conspiiacy receive summary punishment. ]{. Moses Hanioii ajijieared before the court and obtained an order thai in future any accusations of ritual niui'der should be tried before the "I'oyal tribunal" and not before an oi'dinaiy judge. This is the sicconnt given by Joseph ben Solomon ibn Verga: and it is substantially the same as that given by Joseph ha- Kohen in his " 'Emekha-Baka," though the name of the place is not nieniioned. and .loseph Abiub is ilie one who is said to have met his death. Gedaliali ibn Yahya gives the date of this false accusation as 1.53U. Joseph ha-lCohen, howcvei-, gives l.')4.5; and he is followed by Zunz and Graetz.
A
Biiu.iooRAPItv: Solomon lien Verga, Shchet Yehvitah, ed. Wiener, p. Ill, German transl. p. 227 Joseph ha-Kohen, 'Emck hn-liaka, ed. Letterls. p. 122, Cracow, ISfti, M. Wiener's transl. p. 8.5, and note p. 207 Zunz, S. /'. p. 58.
I.
AMATHTIS
Bn.
miidern 'Amateh) A fortress near the Jordan, noi-th of the river Jabbok and 21 miles south of Pellii. At the beginning of the tirst century li.c, Amathus was an important foitrcss About the year 98, held by the despot Tlieodonis. Alexander Janna'Us caplui'ed butcouM not I'etain it, and therefoie, a few years later, ra/.ed it. Amathus became the capital of one of the five districts into which the proconsul (Tabinius divided Palestine in the year 57 n.c. According to the Talnuid (Yer. Sheb. ix. 38(?) Amathus, inOV (probably only a jihonetic modification of inon. whence the modern 'Amateh) is
(till'
identical with the Biblical
Zaphon
(Josh.
xiii.
27:
but the correctness of this identilicalion, in view of the Asaphon mentioned by Josephus, is not beyond doubt. Amathus is called by the latter a son of Canaan (Josephus, "Ant." i. Another form (found in Yer. M. K. iii. .S2ff) is 6. g 2). tnoy, which suggests an original form, pnOJ?. unless the I is simply an error for y It is nowa(iays called Tell-'Amateh. Judges,
xii. 1, Ilr/j.),
Bini.ioGRAi'MV; Bulil, i')!':
C.'i"r;ivi(</nV il. Allrti Palestitia, pp. Sfi. Nt-ntuMiiT. (r. T. p.24H; Hil'li-.iheiiniT. licitrflfie zur GeftiiI'(iliMina'. p. 4S, ni.te ;i.v,- Sehurer, Ocsc/i. 1. 221,
ropliie 224,
27.1, ii. .W.
L. G.
AMATO
(HABIB) LTJSITANO
See Jr.N Kodrioo de C.vstel-Bkanco.
Physician.
