NEBAIOTH height. Dr. Robinson noticed several such precipices in the western hill around the village, and with very good reason concludes that one of these, probably the one just indicated, may well have been the spot whither the Jews led Jesus, unto the brow of the hill whereon the city was built, that they might cast him down headlong' (Luke iv. 28-30); and not the precipice, two miles from the village, overlooking the plain of Esdraelon, which monkish tradition indicates to the traveller as the Mount of Precipitation.' NEAPOLIS, a maritime city of Macedonia, near the borders of Thrace, now called Napoli. Paul landed here on his first journey into Europe (Acts xvi. 11). NEBAI'OTH, or NEBAJOTH, the first-born son of Ishmael (Gen. xxv. 13; 1 Chron. i. 29), and the prince or sheikh of one of the twelve Ishmaelitish tribes, which, as well as the territory they occupied, continued to bear his name in after times (Gen. xxv. 16; comp. ch. xvii. 20). One of Esau's wives, Mahalath, otherwise called Bashemath, is expressly designated as the sister of Nebaioth' (Gen. xxviii. 9; xxxvi. 3); and by a singular coincidence the land of Esau, or Edom, was ultimately possessed by the posterity of Nebaioth. In common with the other Ishmaelites, they first settled in the wilderness 'before' (i. e. to the east of) their brethren, the other descendants of Abraham; by which we are probably to understand the great desert lying to the east and south-east of Palestine (Gen. xxv. 18; xxi. 21; xvi. 12; and see the article ARABIA). From various references in Scripture it is evident that the tribe of Nebaioth for ages followed the nomadic life of shepherds. The successful invasion of Western Asia, first by the Assyrians and afterwards by the Chaldæans, could not but affect the condition of the tribes in Northern Arabia, though we possess no record of the special results. The prophet Isaiah, after his obscure oracle regarding Dumah (ch. xxi. 11, 12), introduces a 'judgment upon Arabia,' i. e. Desert Arabia, which some suppose to have been fulfilled by Sennacherib, while others think it refers to the later events that are foretold by Jeremiah (ch. xlix. 28-33) as befalling Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor,' in consequence of the ravages of Nebuchadnezzar. Be this as it may, we know that when the latter carried the Jews captive to Babylon, the Edomites made themselves masters of a great part of the south of Palestine [IDUMEA], while either then or at a later period they themselves were supplanted in the southern part of their own territory by the Nabathæans, though doubtless this general designation included a variety of Arab races who took their common name from the progenitor of the largest or most influential tribe, Nebaioth, the first-born of Ishmael. The territory occupied by the Nabathæans in its widest sense included the whole of Northern Arabia from the Euphrates to the Elanitic Gulf of the Red Sea; but more strictly taken it denoted (at least in later times) only a portion of the southern part of that vast region. We first hear of the Nabathæans in history in the reign of Antigonus, who succeeded Alexander the Great in Babylon, and died in the year B.C. 301. He sent two expeditions against them; but both were unsuccessful. The Nabathæans were as yet essen tially a pastoral people, though they were likewise engaged in commerce, which they afterwards prosecuted to a great extent, and thereby acquired great riches and renown. It was in this way that they gradually became more fixed in their habits; and living in towns and villages they were at length united under a regular monarchical government, constituting the kingdom of Arabia, or more strictly Arabia Petræa, the name being derived not, as some suppose, from the rocky nature of the country, but from the chief city Petra. The common, name of the kings of Arabia Petræa was either Aretas or Obodas. Even in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes (about B.C. 166), we read in 2 Macc. v. 8, of an Aretas, king of the Arabians; and from that period downwards they came frequently into contact both with the Jews and Romans, as may be seen in the books of the Maccabees and the writings of Josephus. Long before the kingdom of Arabia was actually conquered by the Romans, its sovereigns were dependent on the Roman power. An expedition was sent thither by Augustus, under Ælius Gallus, governor of Egypt, and a personal friend of the geographer Strabo, who has left us an account of it. After various obstacles, he at last reached Albus Pagus, the emporium of the Nabathæans, and the port of Petra, which was probably at or near Elath. Another friend of Strabo, the Stoic philosopher Athenodorus, had spent some time in Petra, and related to him with admiration how the inhabitants lived in entire harmony and union under excellent laws. The kingdom was hereditary; or at least the king was always one of the royal family, and had a prime minister or vizier, who was styled the king's brother. Another Arabian king of the name of Aretas is the one mentioned by St. Paul (2 Cor. ii. 32; comp. Acts vii. 24, 25; Joseph. Antiq. xviii. 5. 1). We find that a former Aretas had been invited to assume the sovereignty by the inhabitants of Damascus: and now, during the weak reign of Caligula, the same city is seized by another Aretas, and governed through an ethnarch, as related by Paul. The kingdom of Arabia Petræa maintained its nominal independence till about A.D. 105, in the reign of the Emperor Trajan, when it was subdued by Cornelius Palma, governor of Syria, and annexed to the vast empire of Rome. The Nabathæans had, as we have seen, early applied themselves to commerce, especially as carriers of the products of Arabia, India, and the far-distant East, which, as we learn from Strabo, were transported on camels from the above-mentioned Leuke Komé to Petra, and thence to Rhinocoloura (el-Arish) and elsewhere. But under the Roman dominion the trade of these regions appears to have widely extended itself, and to have flourished in still greater prosperity; probably from the circumstance that the lawless rapacity of the adjacent nomadic hordes was now kept in check by the Roman power, and particularly by the garrisons which were everywhere established for this specific purpose. The country, too, was now rendered more accessible, and the passage of merchants and caravans more practicable, by military ways. But as the power of Rome fell into decay, the Arabs of the desert would seem again to have acquired the ascend NEBUCHADNEZZAR From 2 Kings xxiii. 29, and 2 Chron. xxxv. 20, we gather that in the reign of Josiah (B.C. 610), Pharaoh-Necho, king of Egypt, having approached by sea the coast of Syria, made a friendly application to King Josiah to be allowed a passage through his territories to the dominions of the Assyrian monarch, with whom he was then at war (2 Chron. xxxv. 20, 21). The design of Pharaoh-Necho was to seize upon Carchemish (Circesium or Cercusium), a strong post on the Euphrates; but Josiah, who was tributary to the Babylonian monarch, opposed his progress at Megiddo, where he was defeated and mortally wounded [JOSIAH]. Necho marched upon Jeru of Egypt. Upon this, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (2 Kings xxiv. 1; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 6, where this monarch's name is for the first time introduced), invaded Judah, retook Carchemish, with the territory which had been wrested from In the course of the fourth century this region came to be included under the general name of 'Palestine.' It became the diocese of a metropolitan, whose seat was at Petra, and who was afterwards placed under the patriarch of Jerusalem, when the Jews became tributary to the king salem. With the Mohammedan conquest in the seventh century its commercial prosperity disappeared. Lying between the three rival empires of Arabia, Egypt, and Syria, it lost its ancient independence; the course of trade was diverted into new channels; its great routes were aban-him by Necho, seized upon Jehoiakim, the vassal doned; and at length the entire country was quietly yielded up to the Bedawees of the surrounding wilderness, whose descendants still claim it as their domain. During the twelfth century it was partially occupied by the Crusaders, who gave it the name of Arabia Tertia, or Syria Sobal. From that period it remained unvisited by Europeans, and had almost disappeared from their maps, until it was partially explored, first by Seetzen in 1807, and more fully by Burckhardt in 1812; and now the wonders of the Wady Mûsa are familiarly known to all. 1. NE BO, a Chaldæan idol mentioned in Isa. xlvi. 1, and supposed to have been the symbol of the planet Mercury, the celestial scribe and interpreter of the gods, answering to the Hermes and Anubis of the Egyptians. He was likewise worshipped by the Sabians in Arabia. The divine worship paid to this idol by the Chaldæans and Assyrians is attested by many compound proper names of which it forms part, as Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, Nebuhashban; besides others mentioned in classical writers, Nabonedus, Nabonassar, Naburianus, Nabonabus, Nabopolassar. 2. NEBO, the name of a mountain on the confines of Moab (Deut. xxxii. 49; xxxiv. 1), and of a town near it (Num. xxxii. 3, 38; Isa. xv. 2). Since the time of Seetzen and Burckhardt, Mount Nebo has been usually identified with Mount Attarus, east of the Dead Sea. 3. NEBO, a town in the tribe of Judah (Ezra ii. 29); or more fully, in order to distinguish it from the preceding, 'the other Nebo' (Neh. vii. 33). NEBUCHADNEZZAR (Kings, Chronicles, and Daniel; Jer. xxvii.; xxviii; xxxiv. 1; xxxix. 1; Ezek. xxvi. 7; and Ezra v. 12; written also Nebuchadrezzar, generally in Jeremiah, and in Ezek. xxx. 18) was the name of the Chaldæan monarch of Babylon by whom Judah was conquered, and the Jews led into their seventy years' captivity. The name of this monarch has been commonly explained to signify the treasure of Nebo, but according to some it signifies Nebo the prince of gods. The only notices which we have of this monarch in the canonical writings are found in the books of Kings, Chronicles, Daniel, and Ezra, and in the allusions of the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel. of Pharaoh-Necho, and reduced him to submission (B.C. 607). Jehoiachim was at first loaded with chains, in order to be led captive to Babylon. but was eventually restored by Nebuchadnezzar to his throne, on condition of paying an annual tribute. Nebuchadnezzar carried off part of the ornaments of the Temple, together with several hostages of distinguished rank, among whom were the youths Daniel and his three friends Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael (Dan. i.). These were educated at court in the language and sciences of the Chaldæans, where they subse quently filled offices of distinction. The sacred vessels were transferred by Nebuchadnezzar to his temple at Babylon (Isa. xxxix.; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 6, 7) [BABYLON]. After the conquest of Judæa, Nebuchadnezzar turned his attention towards the Egyptians, whom he drove out of Syria, taking possession of all the land between the Euphrates and the river (2 Kings xxiv. 7): which some suppose to mean the Nile, but others a small river in the desert, which was reckoned the boundary between Pales tine and Egypt. The fate of Jerusalem was now rapidly ap proaching its consummation. After three years of fidelity, Jehoiachim renounced his allegiance to Babylon, and renewed his alliance with Necho, when Nebuchadnezzar sent incursions of Ammonites, Moabites, and Syrians, together with Chaldæans, to harass him. At length, in the eleventh year of his reign, he was made prisoner, and slain (Jer. xxii.) [JEHOAKIM]. He was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin, who, after three months' reign, surrendered himself with his family to Nebuchadnezzar, who had come in person to be siege Jerusalem, in the eighth year of his reign (2 Kings xxiv. 10-12) [JEHOIACHIN]. Upon this occasion all the most distinguished inhabitants, including the artificers, were led captive [CAPTIVITIES]. Among the captives, who amounted to no less than 50,000, were Ezekiel (Ezek. i. 1) and Mordecai [ESTHER]. The golden vessels of Solomon were now removed, with the royal treasures, and Mattaniah, the brother of Jehoiachin, placed on the throne by Nebuchad nezzar, who gave him the name of Zedekiah, and bound him by an oath not to enter into an alliance with Egypt. Zedekiah, however, in the ninth year of his reign, formed an alliance with Pha |