THYINE WOOD

TIGLATH-PILESER

the closer relation which had been effected between the popular and the Imperial religion. It is probable that Seleucus i. had settled Jews in Thyatira, as he certainly did in some of the cities of Asia. Lydia of Thyatira (Ac 16") had come within the circle of the synagogue, possibly in her native place.

Little is known of the history of the city. It sur-rendered to the Romans in b.c. 190. It was occupied by Aristonicus during his revolt in b.o. 133-2. It must have suffered severely and repeatedly during the fighting between Arabs and Christians, and Turks and Christians, in the Middle Ages. Its situation demands that it be captured and re-fortified by every ruling power. In Roman times it had been a great trading city, dating its greatest period of prosperity from about the time when the Seven Letters were written. There is evidence of more trade-guilds there than in any other Asian city: wool-workers, linen-workers, makers of outer garments, dyers, leather-workers, tanners, bronze-smiths, etc. Lydia probably belonged to one of those guilds. The purple in which Lydia dealt must have been a product of the region of Thyatira, and the well-known Turkey- red must therefore be meant. It is obtained from madder-root, which grows abundantly in that region. The name 'purple' had a much wider meaning among the ancients than among us. The bronze work of Thyatira was also remarkably fine (cf. Rev 2'*).

The letter addressed to the Church at Thyatira (Rev 2i«-2») is the most obscure and difficult of all the seven, as we know so little of local conditions. It is remarkable that the. city, which was the least of all the seven (with perhaps the exception of Philadelphia), should be promised strength and power. The exact nature of the Nicolaitans with their prophetess cannot be precisely determined. The principles they repre-sented were regarded by the author as subversive of true Christianity. A. Soutek.

THYINE WOOD (Rev 18") is the citrus wood of the Romans, used for the manufacture of costly furniture. The tree Thuia articulata, in appearance like a cypress, about 25 feet high, was the source of this wood.

E. W. G. Mabterman.

TIBERIAS.— A town built by Herod (a.d. 16-22) on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee (called the 'Sea of Tiberias' in Jn 6' 21', and in modern Arabic), and named in honour of the Roman Emperor. That it was erected over the site of an ancient graveyard (Jos. Ant. xvjii. ii. 3) in itself proves that no city had previously existed here. This circumstance made it an unclean place to the Jews, and Herod was obliged to use force in order to people it with any but the lowest of the nation. It was designed entirely on Greek models, and the fact that it was in spirit and civilization entirely foreign is perhaps the reason why it is hardly alluded to in the Gospels — the sole reference being Jn 6". There is no evidence that it was ever visited by Christ. The city surrendered to Vespasian and by him was restored to Agrippa. After the fall of Jerusalem many of the Jews took up their abode in Tiberias, and by a strange reversal of fate this unclean city became a most important centre of Rabbinic teaching. Here lived Judah the Holy, editor of the Mishna. Here the 'Jerusalem Talmud' was compiled. In the neighbour-hood are the tombs of 'Aqiba and of Maimonides.

Constantine built a church and established a bishopric at Tiberias, but Christianity never flourished there. The Arabs seized it in a.d. 637; the Crusaders lost it to Saladin in 1187. The city was almost destroyed by a great earthquake in 1837. The principal objects of Interest are the ruins of alarge castle (possibly Herodian) , a very ancient synagogue, and — half an hour's journey to the south — the hot springs of Bmmaus (the Hammath of Jos 19^), mentioned by Josephus and Pliny. The city is dirty, and proverbial lor its vermin. There is a population of about 4000, more than half of whom are

Jews, principally refugees from Poland. There is here an important mission of the United Free Church of Scotland.

For the ' Sea o£ Tiberias,' see Galilee [Sea op].

R. A. S. Macalister. TIBERIUS, whose designation as Emperor was Tiberius CEsar Augustus, was the son of Tiberius Claudius Nero (a Roman noble) and Livia, whose second husband was the Emperor Augustus. He was born B.C. 42 and diedA.D.37. Augustus, as he grew old, appointed in succession four of his relatives as co-regents, or marked them out as his intended successors. It was clear that he did not desire the succession of his stepson Tiberius, who was reserved, morose, and unlovable. The successive deaths of his nominees compelled him to fall back upon Tiberius, who in A.D. 11 was made co-emperor. 'Three years later he succeeded to the purple. It is probable that the ' thirteenth year ' in Lk 3' runs from the first of these dates, and thus means a.d. 25-26. Tiberius was an able general and a competent Emperor, but the unhappy experiences of his early life made him suspicious and timorous, and he put many of his rivals or supposed rivals to death. In his later years he was much under the influence of a villainous schemer Sejanus. He spent these years in retirement at Capri. A. Souter.

TIBHATH.— A city of Hadarezer, king of Zobah (1 Ch 18'). In 2 S 88 the name of the town is Betah, but the original reading was probably Tebah, as in the Syriac version, and as a tribal name in Gn 222<. The site of Tibhath is unknown, but It was possibly on the eastern slopes of Anti-Lebanon.

TIBNI. — A rival who disputed the throne for four years (compare 1 K 16'* with v.^s) with Omri.

TIDAL.^A king of Goiim, or 'the nations,' who accompanied Amraphel of Shinar and Arioch of EUasar in the expedition made by Chedorlaomer of Elam against Sodom and the cities of the plain (Gn 14'). This name is probably the Tudhvl or Tudhvla of a British Museum tablet of late date, which mentions also Kudur-lahmal (?) (Chedorlaomer?) and Durmah-ilani son of Eri-Eaku (Arioch?). Tudhul is stated to have been son of Gazza[ni?]. Whether it was he who smote (shattered) his father's head 'with the weapon of his hands,' the mutilation of the text leaves uncertain.

T. G. Pinches.

TIGLATH-PILESER [in 1 Ch 56- » and 2 Ch 28" cor-ruptedtothe form Tilgath-Pilneser] . -This Assyrian ruler, the TukuUi-apil-esharra of the monuments, was the third of the name. He began to reign about B.C. 745 (13th of lyyar), and is supposed to have been a usurper. In the Babylonian chronological list he is called Pulu, the Pul of 2 K 15", and the Poros of the Canon of Ptolemy. His reign was a very active and important one. Five months after his accession he marched into Babylonia to overthrow the power of the Aramsean tribes. In B.C. 744 he went to Narari to punish the tribes who harassed the Assyrian border. In b.c. 743 he defeated the forces of Sarduris ii. of Ararat at Arpad. Among those who gave tribute on this occasion were Rezin of Damascus, Hiram of Tyre, and Plsiris of Carchemish. Arpad, however, revolted again, and was for three years the objective of Tiglath-pileser's expeditions (b.c. 742-740). In 739 he went to UUuba in Mesopotamia, and the presence of his armies there enabled him, in B.C. 738, to make head against Syrian and Phoenician re-sistance. On this occasion he subjected KuUani, supposed to be the Calno of Is 10'. Rest suggests that Azriau or Izriau (Azariah) of Judah played some part in this expedition, and among those who gave tribute was Menahera of Samaria (2 K 16"). In b.c. 737 his objective was the Medes, in many of whose cities he set up bas-reliefs with the royal image. After this (B.C. 736) his forces were again directed against Meso-potamia, and reached the mountain of Nal. This led the way to the conquest of Ararat in B.C. 735. In

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