MEBU. 353 HESA. MERtr, ma'roii. A fabulous mountain in Hindu mythology, the abode of the gods. It is supposed to stand at the centre of the world, and it towers to a height of 80,000 leagues; the sun, moon, and stars revolve about its summit. Regarded as a terrestrial mountain, it would seem to have been located somewhere to the north of the Himalayas. MEBV, nierf. A region in Central Asia now forming a district in the Russian Trans-Caspian province, a short distance from the northeastern corner of Persia (Map: Asia. Central, H .3). Its area is estimated at about 411,000 square miles. The northern and larger ])art is a vast sandy plain with very little vegetation. The southern part is more elevated and watered by the llur- ghab and its tributaries. The summers arc long and hot. and the annual average temperature is from about o7° to 00°, ranging from — 0° to 11.3°. The precipitation is very meagre, espe- cially in the northern part. The cliief occupation of the inhabitants is agriculture, wliicb is made possible only by irrigation. Unirrigatcd regions are utilized to some extent for stock-raising by the nomadic tribes. The chief centre of agri- culture is the oasis of ilcrv, to which the name was formerly confined. The water for irrigation is supplied by the Murgliab and ,a few of its tributaries. Wheat and rye are the chief cereals raised in the irrigated portions of the territory. Transportation is ell'ectpd principally by the use of pack animals, altliovigh the territory is crossed by the Trans-Caspian Railway line. Near the railway line are tiie Imperial estates of Murghab, with extensive irrigation works. The population of the district was 110.3.32 in 1S!)7, composed, with the exception of a few Russian .Tews and Persians, of Tekke Turkomans, divided into a number of elans. A considerable portion of them are nomadic. They all profess Islam. The capital of the district, known as Xew Merv, is situated on the .Murgbab and the Trans- Caspian Railway. It has a number of schools, churches, a meteorological observatory, and some trade. Populati(m. in 1807, 8727, consisting of Russians. Turkomans, Armenians, Persians, and Jews. About 25 miles east of Xew Merv are the ruins of three cities, of which one, existing in the time of Strabo, was, according to that his- torian, of great extent and importance. Merv is a very ancient settlement, its name iMotini) lieing mentioned in the Zend-. vesta. It once formed a siitrapv of the Persian Km|iire. An archbishopric of the Xestorian Church existed there as early as the fifth centur.v. Occupied by the Arabs in the seventh century, the city of Merv became the capital of Khorasan and a great intellectual centre, rising to still greater im- portance in the eleventh century while under the rule of the Seljuks. The prosperity of Merv came to an end with the invasion of the Turko- mans about the midille of the eleventli centur.v. The district was almost entirely ilepopulaled by the Mongols under Tulai in 1221. .t the end of the fourteenth ccntiry it fell into the hands of Timur. and after a short occupation by the Vzbeks at the beginning of the sixteenth century- was taken by the Persians, under whose rule it remained until 1787. when it was occupied and later entirely devastatcil by the Rokharinns. About the middle of the nineteenth century it was invaded bv the Tekke Turkomans, who l>e- came the ruling race. In ISS-t Merv was annexed by Russia. MERX, merks, Ad.xluert (1838—). A Ger- man theologian and Orientalist. He was born at Blcicherixle, near Xordliausen, and studied at Jlarburg, Halle, and Berlin. From lSli.5 to 1875 he was jjrofessor of Semitic philology and theology at dill'erent universities. In I lie latter year he took the chair of theology at Heidelberg. He belongs to the school of liberal theologians, who fully acknowledge the right of unrestricted criticism of the Scriptures. Among his published works are: Das Gedicht von Biob (1S71); Die Saailjanischc Uebersctzung des llohcnliedcs ins Arahixche (1883); the "Historia Artis Gram- maticip apud Syros," in Abliaiidlunijen fiir Kunde des Morgcnlatides (Leipzig, 1889) ; and Idee und Vnuidllnicn eincr allgemeinen Geschichte der Mijslii- (1803). MEBY, ma're', Jo-sepk (1798-1800). A French satirical poet, born January 21, 1708, in Aygalades ( Bouehes-du-Rhonc) . In 1S24 he went to Paris, where he aroused attention tlirough a political satire, La ViUvliade, Ics Jisuitcs (1826), by some Bonapartist poems, and by work on a satirical journal Xcnu'sis. Later he wrote dra- mas, romances, and novels rem:irkable for their exotic descriptions of lands Merv had never seen. Of his once very popular stories. Ucva (1843) and Xouvilks nouiclles (1853) are sufTiciently typical. Merv died in Paris. June 17, 1866. Consult Claudin, Mcni, sa vie inliuic (Paris, 18GG), MEBYON, niar',vox'. Cii.vrle.s (1821-08). A French etcher, born in Paris. He was educated at the Naval School in Brest, and afterwards rose to the position of lieutenant in the Navy. After making a voyage around the world (1843), he was compelled by failing health to take up etching, which he studied at Paris, achieving the highest success in this art. Though strong and precise, his execution is of rare delicacy, and his art is highly imaginative. After a few years a mental malady developed, and during his sec- ond visit to the asylum at Cliarenton he died. Of his etchings the best known are the scries of twcnt.v-three (ilates, Eaux-fnrirs sur Paris (1850- 54), most of which represent old Paris, then rapidly disappearing under the improvements of Haussmann. Consult: Wedmore, .l/c'cyon and Mt'ri/on's Paris (London. 1S70) ; Bouvennc. .Yo/f« et fifiuvrtiirs siir Cliarlis Mrriion (Paris. 1SS3) : Burtv, I/Ohirrr dr Charles Mdri/on, translated by Huish (London. 1870). MESA, m.a'sa. A Spanish word meaning 'table' (ef. Latin mrnsa). and used especially in the Southwestern United States to designate the small, isolated plateaus, usually rising abruptly from the surrounding plains, which are foiuid scattered over the region traversed by the Colo rado River. The mesas arc remnants of an ancient plain which in a former geological age was iplifted from the oc€>anbottom to a height of several thousand feet. This plain was rut down by erosion t^i its present level except where a hard superficial rock protected the umlerlying soft strata ; such places were left as isolated blocks with steeply escarped sides. The most celebrated of the mesas arc the Mesa Encantada and the Alesn Verde. The Mesa Rncantada or Enchanted Mesa, called bv the Indians Katzimo, is situnteil near the
