snake”), in the chronicle of Dionysius of Tellmahre; he is no historical personality, but the eponym of the tribe. In the Syrian Doctrine of Addai (ed. Philipps 1876, p. 46) he is called Arjaw, i.e. “the lion.” The kings soon became dependants of the Parthians; their names are mostly Arabic (Bekr, Abgar, Ma‘nu), but among them occur some Iranian (Parthian) names, as Pacorus and Phratamaspates. Under Tigranes of Armenia they became his vassals, and after the victories of Lucullus and Pompey, vassals of the Romans. Their names occur in all wars between Romans and Parthians, when they generally inclined to the Parthian side, e.g. in the wars of Crassus and Trajan. Trajan deposed the dynasty, but Hadrian restored it. The kings generally used Greek inscriptions on their coins, but when they sided with the Parthians, as in the war of Marcus Aurelius and Verus (A.D. 161–165), an Aramaic legend appears instead. Hellenism soon disappeared and the Arabs adopted the language and civilization of the Aramaeans. This development was hastened by the introduction of Christianity, which is said to have been brought here by the apostle Judas, the brother of James, whose tomb was shown in Edessa. In 190 and 201 we hear of Christian churches in Edessa. King Abgar IX. (or VIII.) (179–214) himself became a Christian and abolished the pagan cults, especially the rite of castration in the service of Atargatis, which was now punished by the loss of the hands (see Bardesanes, “Book of the Laws of Countries,” in Cureton, Spicilegium Syriacum, p. 31). His conversion has by the legend been transferred to his ancestor Abgar V. in the time of Christ himself, with whom he is said to have exchanged letters and who sent him his miraculous image, which afterwards was fixed over the principal gate of the city (see Abgar; Lipsius, Die edessenische Abgarsage (1880); Dobschütz, Christusbilder (1896)). Edessa now became the principal seat of Aramaic-Christian (Syriac) language and literature; the literary dialect of Syriac is the dialect of Edessa.
Caracalla in 216 abolished the kingdom of Osroene (Dio Cass. 77, 12. 14) and Edessa became a Roman colony. The list of the kings of Osroene is preserved in the Syrian chronicle of Dionysius of Tellmahre, which is checked by the coins and the data of the Greek and Roman authors; it has been reconstructed by A. v. Gutschmid, “Untersuchungen über die Geschichte des Königreichs Osroene,” in Mémoires de l’Acad. de St Pétersbourg, t. xxxv. (1887). Edessa remained Roman till it was taken by Chosroes II. in 608; but in 625 Heraclius conquered it again. In 638 it was taken by the Arabs. (Ed. M.)
OSROES (also Osdroes or Chosroes), the Greek form of the Persian name Khosrau (see Chosroes). The form Osroes is generally used for a Parthian king who from his coins appears to have reigned from about A.D. 106–129, as successor of his brother Pacorus. But during all this time another king, Vologaeses II. (77–147) maintained himself in a part of the kingdom. Osroes occupied Armenia, and placed Exedares, a son of Pacorus, and afterwards his brother Parthamasiris on the throne. This encroachment on the Roman sphere led to the Parthian war of Trajan. In 114 Parthamasiris surrendered to Trajan and was killed. In Mesopotamia a brother of Osroes, Meherdates (Mithradates IV.), and his son Sanatruces II. took the diadem and tried to withstand the Romans. Against them Trajan united with Parthamaspates, whom he placed on the throne, when he had advanced to Ctesiphon (116). But after the death of Trajan (117) Hadrian acknowledged Osroes and made Parthamaspates king of Edessa (Osroene); he also gave back to Osroes his daughter who had been taken prisoner by Trajan (Dio Cass. 68, 17, 22. 33, Malalas, p. 270 ff.; Spartian, Vita Hadr. 5. 13; Pausan. v. 12, 6). But meanwhile Vologaeses II. had regained a dominant position; his coins begin again in 122 and go on to 146, whereas after 121 we have no coins of Osroes except in 128.
By Procopius, Pers. i. 17, 24, the name of the territory of Osroene is derived from a dynast Osroes, but this is a false etymology (see Osroene). (Ed. M.)
OSSA (mod. Kissovo or Kissavo), a mountain in the district of Magnesia in Thessaly, between Pelion and Olympus, from which
it is separated by the valley of Tempe. Height about 6400 ft.
The Giants are said to have piled Pelion upon it in their attempt
to scale Olympus.
OSSETT, a municipal borough in the Morley parliamentary division of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, 3 m. W. of Wakefield, on the Great Northern and (Horbury and Ossett station) the Lancashire and Yorkshire railways. Pop. (1901) 12,903. It includes the contiguous townships of Ossett, South Ossett and Gawthorpe. The church of the Holy Trinity, a fine cruciform structure in the Early Decorated style, was erected in 1865. Woollen cloth mills, and extensive collieries in the neighbourhood, employ the large industrial population. There are medicinal springs similar in their properties to those of Cheltenham. The municipal borough, incorporated in 1890, is under a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors. Area 3238 acres.
OSSIAN, Ossin or Oison, the legendary Irish 3rd-century hero of Celtic literature, son of Finn. According to the legend embodied in the Ossianic or Ossinic poems and prose romances which early spread over Ireland and Scotland, Ossian and his Fenian followers were defeated in 283 at the battle of Gabhra by the Irish king Carbery, and Ossian spent many years in fairyland, eventually being baptized by St Patrick. As Oisin he was long celebrated in Irish song and legend, and in recent years the Irish literary revival has repopularized the Fenian hero. In Scotland the Ossianic revival is associated with the name of James Macpherson (q.v).
See Celt: Literature; also Nutt’s Ossian and the Ossianic Literature (1899).
OSSINGTON, JOHN EVELYN DENISON, Viscount (1800–1873),
English statesman, was the eldest son of John Denison
(d. 1820) of Ossington, Nottinghamshire, where he was born on
the 27th of January 1800. Educated at Eton and Christ Church,
Oxford, he became member of parliament for Newcastle-under-Lyme
in 1823, being returned for Hastings three years later, and
holding for a short time a subordinate position in Canning’s
ministry. Defeated in 1830 both at Newcastle-under-Lyme and
then at Liverpool, Denison secured a seat as one of the members
for Nottinghamshire in 1831; and after the great Reform Act
he represented the southern division of that county from 1832
until the general election of 1837. He represented Malton from
1841 to 1857, and North Nottinghamshire from 1857 to 1872. In
April 1857 Denison was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons.
Re-elected at the beginning of three successive parliaments he
retained this position until February 1872, when he resigned and
was created Viscount Ossington. He refused, however, to accept
the pension usually given to retiring Speakers. In 1827 he had
married Charlotte (d. 1889), daughter of William, 4th duke of
Portland, but he left no children. He died on the 7th of March
1873, and his title became extinct.
OSSINING, a village of Westchester county, New York, U.S.A., 30 m. N. of New York city, on the E. bank of the Hudson river. Pop. (1900) 7939, of whom 1642 were foreign-born; (1910, U.S. census) 11,480. It is served by the New York Central & Hudson River railway, and by river steamboats. It is finely situated overlooking the Tappan Zee, an expansion of the Hudson river, and has excellent facilities for boating, sailing and yachting. The village is the seat of Mount Pleasant Academy (1814), Holbrook School (1866) and St John’s School (1843), all for boys, and has a fine public library. The Croton Aqueduct is here carried over a stone arch with an eighty-foot span. At Ossining, near the river front, is the Sing Sing Prison, the best-known penitentiary in the United States. In 1906 a law was enacted providing for a new prison in the eastern part of the state in place of Sing Sing. The site of Ossining, originally a part of the Phillipse Manor, was first settled about 1700, taking the name of Sing Sing from the Sin Sinck Indians. The village was incorporated in 1813, and was reincorporated, with enlarged boundaries and a considerably increased population, in 1906, the name being changed from Sing Sing to Ossining in 1901.
OSSORY, THOMAS BUTLER, Earl of (1634–1680), eldest son of James Butler, 1st duke of Ormonde, was born at Kilkenny on the 8th or 9th of July 1634. His early years were spent in
