THE NEW
INTERNATIONAL
ENCYCLOPEDIA
TAHAR’KA (?-c.668 B.C.) The name of the third King of Egypt of the twenty-fifth or Ethiopian dynasty, who ruled from about B.C. 694-093 to 668-GU7. He is the Tirhakah of the Bible, the Tdpxos, or Tap/cis, of 3Ianetho, and the Tarqfl of the Assyrian inscriptions. He seems to have been a usurper who seized upon the throne on the death of Shabataka, and strengthened his hold upon it by marrying the widow of King Shabako. In the Old Testament (Isa. x.^L-vii. 9: II. Kings xix. 9) "he is said to have come to the aid of Hezekiah, King of Judah, when Jerusalem was besieged by .Sennacherib. It would seem that no battle took rplace between the Egyptian and Assj'rian forces, ibut that the latter, before they met, were forced to retreat by a pestilence. In B.C. 670 Esarhad- don, the son of Sennacherib, invaded Egj'pt, de- feated Taharka in several engagements, sacked Memphis, and marched as far as Thebes, which surrendered to him. Taharka, in the meantime, retired to Xubia, but returned in the following year, and, deposing all the princes and other officers appointed by the Assyrian King, estab- lished himself in Memphis. Upon receipt of this intelligence, Esarhaddon gathered an army and was proceeding to the relief of his Egyptian vassals when he died on the way. His array, however, continued the march and drove Taharka out of Lower Egypt. Retreating as far as Thebes, Taharka seized upon that city and was preparing to renew the contest when he died. Taharka was an active builder, and memorials of him are found in many parts of Egypt and Nubia. At Napata (Jebel Barkal) he built a temple whose sanctuary was hewn out of the solid rock of the mountain, and he diligently restored the temples of Thebes, which he made his capital. Consult: Wiedemann, J.e(7)/p(isc7ie Geschichle (Gotha, 1884-88); Budge, A History of Egypt (New York, 1902).
TAHITI, talie-te or ta-he'te, or OTAHEITE.
The largest of the Society Islands (q.v. ) . situated
in latitude 17° 45' S.," longitude 149° 20' W.
Area, 402 square miles (Map: World, Western
Hemisphere, L 6). The island consists of two un-
equal and nearly circular portions connected by a
narrow isthmus. These are the remnants of old
volcanoes, and rise in a succession of concentric
terraces to the summits, the higher of which
has an altitude of 7608 feet, the mountains
are, however, very much eroded by nmnerous
streams, which have eut large valleys and deep
gorges down the slopes, leaving in many places
isolated crags which make the scenery very ro-
mantic. The climate is warm, but equable, the
temperature ranging from 60° to 90°. The rain-
fall is abundant, and the whole island is covered
with a luxuriant vegetation. The central peaks
are surrounded by a low strip of coastland con-
sisting of volcanic detritus, which, mixed with
coral sands from the surrounding reefs, makes
an extremely fertile soil. Nevertheless agricul-
ture is in a backward state, and only a few
square miles of land are under cultivation. The
population, in 1900, was 10,750. The chief town
is Papeiti, the capital of the French establish-
ments in the Eastern Pacific, with a cathedral,
arsenal, hospital, and a population, in 1900, of
4282, about one-half of whom were French. For
history and political and economic conditions,
see Society Island.?.
The Tahitians are typical Polynesians of the brown race. Many of them could" be called hand- some, and their general disijosition is one of gayety with an undercurrent of cruelty and de- ceit, though their bad characteristics have, doubt- less, been exaggerated. A remarkable institution of the Society Islanders was the Areois (q.v.), a society for the cultivation of poetry, the dance, and the drama combined with the indulgence of the sexual passion. Consult: Lutteroth, 0-Ta'iti (Paris, 1843) ; Vincendon, lies Taiti (ib., 1844) ; Buschmann, Apcr^u dc la langue des lies Mar- quises el lie III Jiinriue iaitienne (Berlin, 1843).
TAHITI APPLE. See Hoc Plum.
TAHLEQTTAH, ta'le-kwa'. The capital of
the Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, 80 miles
northwest of Fort Smith, Ark. (Map: Indian
Territory, .J 3). It has the Tahlcquah Institute,
Cherokee Academy, male and female seminaries,
and the Cherokee National Library. Tahlequah
was settled in 1830 and was incorporated in 1889.
Population, in 1900, 1482.
