Zechariah
or ZACHARIAS, the name of many ancient Hebrews, including two prophets, various priests, and Levites (I Chron. ix: 21; xv: 24; xxvi: 14; Neh. xii: 35, 41).
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Single-source entries: Z (3)
Each of these 12 subjects appears in only one of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. None is long enough to carry a page by itself, so they are gathered here by letter. Anything that grows moves out to a page of its own.
Zedekiah
the son of Josiah, King of Judah, placed on the throne after Jehoiakin had been removed by Nebuchadnezzar, on his second taking of Jerusalem, 599 b. c. He reigned during 11 years, "and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God." He entered into an alliance with Pharaoh- Hophra, King of Egypt, and revolted against Nebuchadnezzar, who thereupon laid siege to Jerusalem. The prophet Jeremiah counselled Zedekiah to save his city and throne by submission to the Chaldeans; but the king, disregarding this advice, maintained his defense of the city. The Egyptians came to his relief; but, on Nebuchadnezzar offering them battle, they retreated to their own country, and Jerusalem, after undergoing a siege of 19 months (in (in the latter part of which a terrible famine raged), was taken, 586 b. c. The king endeavored to escape, but was captured, and condemned to behold his sons slain before him; after which his eyes were put out, and he was carried, bound with fetters of brass, to Babylon. The city was almost entirely destroyed, and the people led into captivity.
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Zedekias
Notwithstanding the credulity of the French people in the reign of Pepin the Short, they refused to believe in the existence of elementary spirits . The Kabalist Zedekias, being minded to convince the world, thereupon commanded the sylphs to become visible to all men. According to the Abbé de Villars, the admirable creatures Ziito responded magnificently. They were beheld in human form, sometimes ranged in battle, whether marching in good order, or under arms, or camping in superb pavilions; and, again, in aerial navies of marvellous structure, whose flying flotillas sailed through the air, at the will of the Zephyrs. But the ignorant generation to which they appeared failed entirely to understand the significance of the strange spectatle. They believed at first that the creatures were sorcerers who had betaken themselves to aerial regions for the purpose of exciting storms and sending down hail on the harvests. The sages and jurisconsuls were of the popular opinion. The emperors shared the same idea, which became so widespread that even the wise Charlemagne, and after him Louis the Debonnair, imposed heavy penalties on these supposed aerial tyrants. (See Elementary Spirits and France .)
Only in An Encyclopaedia of Occultism
Zeitz
a walled town of Prussian Saxony; in the government of Merseburg, 23 miles S. W. of Leipsic. It lies in a pleasant and fruitful district on the right bank of the White Elster. The town has a good library, containing over 12,000 volumes, and manufactures of woolens, cottons, calicoes, sugar, wax cloth, leather, pianofortes, cycles, hosiery, gloves, etc. Pop. about 35,000. ZEND AVESTA (usually interpreted to mean "authorized text" and "commentary"), the religious book of the Parsees or representatives of the old creed of fireworshipers. The original is written in the primitive Zend language, with a translation into the comparatively modern Pehlvi made by order of the Sassanian dynasty, A. D. 235-651.
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Zend
and Zend-Avesta. See Zoroaster ; Mythology
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
Zenith
an Arab word meaning literally the line of the head,--the point in the heavens directly over the head of the observer. No two observers have the same zenith. A line passing from the zenith through the observer's feet and through the center of the earth would pass through the corresponding node or point in the heavens directly opposite the zenith. This is called the nadir. Milton thus describes the fall of Satan: From morn To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,-- A summer's day; and with the setting sun Drop'd from the Zenith like a falling star. As the zenith is the highest point in the heavens, it is taken figuratively to indicate the highest point in other matters, as the zenith of one's hopes, the zenith of prosperity. Duluth has been dubbed the "Zenith City."
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Zeno of Cyprus
a Greek philosopher, founder of the Stoic school; born in Citium, a small town in Cyprus, probably about 355 b. c. MOUNTAIN ZEBRA
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Zepar
Grand duke of the infernal empire, who may be identical with Vepar, or Separ. Nevertheless, under the name of Zepar he has the form of a warrior. He casts men into the evil passions. Twenty-eight legions obey him.
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Zephaniah
a prophet, son of Cushi, who again was the son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah (the king?).
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Zephyrus
The personification of the west wind, who is described by Hesiod as a son of Astraeus and Eos. Zetes and Calais. Sons of Boreas and Orithyia , frequently called the Boreadae, who are mentioned among the Argonauts, and described as winged beings.
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Zerbst
a town of Germany in the republic of Anhalt, formerly capital of the principality of Anhalt-Zerbst; on the Nuthe, 2614 miles S. E. of. Magdeburg. The chief buildings are the Nikolaikirche, dating from the 15th century; the great Schloss, surrounded with a park; and the stately old Rathhaus, dating from the 15th century, but disfigured by additions in 1610, standing in the market place, in the center of which are the Roland column (1445), and the Butterjungfer, a slender column bearing a female figure. Zerbst contains a gymnasium of high repute-the Francisceum and has manufactures of silks, plush, cloth, leather, gloves, gold and silver lace, soap, starch, essences, tobacco, chemicals, pottery, umbrellas, musical instruments, and machinery. Gardening, iron founding, and beer brewing are also carried on.
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Zermatt
an important center for tourists in Switzerland; a small village near the upper end of the Visp valley in Valais; 25 miles S. S. W.. of Visp. It stands 5,315 feet above the sea, having to the S. the great Théodule glacier, above which towers the Breithorn on the E. and beyond the Monte Rosa group, and on the W. the rocky cone of the Matterhorn. Railway communication was opened in 1890. The churchyard contains the graves of many of the victims of mountaineering. The Théodule Pass or Matterjoch (10,899 feet) leads to Aosta in Italy.
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