ASK, ask ('Ash Tree'). The name in Norse mythology of the first man created by the gods. See also Embla.
AS'KALON. See Ashkelon.
ASKEW, as'ku, or Ascough, Anne (1521-46).
An English Protestant zealot and martyr. She
was born at Stallingborough, Lincolnshire. She
was of gentle birth, and against her will was
made to subtly the place of a deceased elder sis-
ter, as wife of Thomas Kyme, by whom she had
two children. She was highly educated and de-
voted to biblical study. Because she had offend-
ed the priests. her husband, a stanch Roman
Catholic, put her out of his house, which she
willingly left. She went to London, it is sup-
posed, to sue for a separation, but was arrested
on a charge of heresy in March, 1545. Examined
by the Bishop of London and others on the doc-
trine of transubstantiation, she denied its truth.
She was imprisoned, but released on bail and
acquitted on June 13. Again she antagonized
her persecutors by the steadfast profession of her
faith, and was rearrested in June, 1546, tortured
by the rack, and finally burned at the stake in
Smithfield, July 16, 1546. Consult: J. Bale,
The Lattre Examinacyon of Anne Askew, etc.
(Marburg, 1547); M. Webb, An Account of Anne
Askew (London, 1865).
ASKHABAD, as'Ka-bad' (Ar. and Pers. aakh,
love + ahiid. dwelling, town). A town of Rus-
sian Turkestan. the political centre of the Trans-
Caspian territory, situated on the Trans-Caspian
Railway, 200 miles southeast of Mikhailovsk, the
seaward terminus of the railway (Map: Asia
Central, G 2). It is a thriving town, owing its
prosperity to its position near the Persian frontier,
which has made of it a commercial entrepôt for
goods exchanged between Russia, Persia. Khiva,
Bokhara, and Turkestan. It has a garrison of
4000 soldiers. Population, in 1897, about 20,000.
ASKJA, ask'ya. The largest volcano of Ice-
land, situated in the centre of the island, in
about latitude 65° N. and longitude 16° 45' W.
(Map: Denmark, G 1). It has a crater over
700 feet deep, and is still active. Its last erup-
tion took place in 1875, and traces of it are
found in the large pumice-covered tract on the
northeastern slope of the mountain.
ASLAUGA'S. a-slou'goz- KNIGHT.
A German story by Fonqué (1814), translated by Carlyle in German Romances.
ASMAI, as-mi', or ASMAYI
(Abu Said Abd-el-Melek ibn Kobaïb El-Asmaí) (c. 740-830 B.C.). The preceptor of Harun-al-Rashid, and an important representative of Arabic literature. Sir Henry Rawlinson calls Asmai's history of the kings of Persia and Arabia previous to Islam, "perhaps the most valuable and authentic historic volume in the whole range of Arabian literature." His romance of Antar has been called "the Iliad of the desert." Several of his pupils became celebrated.
ASMANNSHAUSEN, as'mans-hou'zen. See
Assmannshausen.
ASMODE'US (Heb. ashmedai, probably from
shamad, to destroy). Asmodeus figures largely
in later Hebrew tradition, where he ai)pears as
the (diief of the demons, just as Lilith was their
queen (Talmud Babli, Erubin 100b). In Tobit
(iii. 8, 17) he appears simply as an evil spirit
possessed of great lust. It is probable that Asmo-
deus is the same as Æshma, or Æshma dæra; i.e. the 'covetous' demon who plays a prominent role in Mazdaism, the religion of Persia. In the Book of Tobit, both have the same quality of lust and the same power of killing any one standing in their way. In the Book of Tobit, Asmodeus is represented as having loved Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, and slain seven men in succession who were married to Sarah. When, however, Tobias came with the intention of marrying Sarah, he succeeded, with the help of his companion Raphael, in exorcising the demon by fumigating the heart and liver of a fish. Flying to Upper Egypt, the demon was pursued by Raphael, and bound, so that the couple henceforth had peace (Tobit, vi. 14, vii. 2). In Talmudic legends, Asmodeus is brought into association with Solomon, and while aiding him on certain occasions, notably in building the temple, he is regarded also as the cause of the offenses which history attaches to Solomon.
AS'MONE'ANS. An influential family of the Jews which attained prominence under the leadership of Judas Maccabæus. See Jews.
ASNIÈRES, as'nyar'. A northern suburb of
Paris, France, 3 miles distant, on the left bank of the Seine. It is the chief town of its canton, an important railway junction, has domestic industries, and is a favorite summer pleasure resort of the Parisians. Population, in 1897, 24,317.
ASNYK, as'nek, Adam (1838-97). A Polish
poet and dramatist, born at Kalisch. He studied
medicine at Warsaw and Breslau, but finally
turned to philosophy and took his degree at
Heidelberg in 1866. During several years he
was a political exile for participation in the in-
surrection of 1863, and about that time he began
to publish poetry. He resided at Cracow from
1870 till his death. Several volumes of his
'poetical' work appeared under the pseudonym of
'El—y,' and have given their author a high
place in Polish lyrical literature. As a dramatic
writer, he produced, among other successful
pieces, Cola Rienzi; The Jew; The Friends of
Job, and a tragedy dealing with Lithuanian
history, called Kiejstut.
ASOKA, a-sfi'ka, written also ACOKA,
ji-sho'ka, ASHOKA. A renowned king of early
India, famous as the patron of Buddhism, to
which he stands in a similar relation to that
of Constantine to Christianity. His full name
was Asoka Vardhana. He was the son of Bindu-
sfira Amitragliata, of the Maurya line, and he
ascended the throne of Magadha (modern Behar)
about B.C. 272, as inheritor of the northern
empire which his famous grandfather, Chandra-
gupta, or Sandrocottus (q.v.), the contemporary
of Alexander the Great, had founded. Through
conquest he extended his power by bringing the
kingdoms of Bengal and Orissa into his vast
domain. At first he seems to have been of a cruel
and savage nature, as shown by his causing his
own brothers to be assassinated when he succeed-
ed to the crown; but he appears to have experi-
enced a change of heart or to have undergone a
transformation when he was converted from
Brahmanism to Buddhism. He devoted himself
zealously to spreading the faith of the Buddha,
convoking great Buddhist councils and making
Buddhism the State religion of his extensive
realm. The numerous edicts which he caused to
