IIAMAH, Epiphania, and the ./Ipamea of Strabo, is a town of Syria, situated in a narrow valley on the banks of the Orontes. It lies between Aleppo and Tripoli, and is about 30 leagues east of Tripoli, and 40 north of Damascus. It was founded by •Seleucus Nicanor, who supported no fewer than 500 elephants in its fertile territory ; and is fa mous for having been the place where the Romans, under Aurelius, defeated Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra. Harrah was destroyed in 1157 by a dreadful earthquake, but was afterwards rebitilt. This town is now celebrated for its water works, in which the water is raised from the river by wheels 32 feet in diameter. The water, falling into the buckets, is elevated to the height of 30 feet, and discharged into a reservoir, from which it is conveyed to the public and private baths. The gardens around are very agreea ble and fertile, and the surrounding country is well adapt ed for wheat and cotton. The Maronites built a chapel and a tomb here, from arose a convent which is cele brated in that part of Syria. There is here a strong castle. lIamah is the seat of a Jacobite bishop, and a pacha has the government of all the canton. Population, 4000. See M. De La Roque's Voyage de Syric. • is a free imperial city of the duchy of Holstein in Lower Saxony, and one of the largest, richest, and most populous cities in Germany. It is situated on the right or northern bank of the river Elbe, at the distance of about seventy miles from its discharge into the German Ocean. East Long. 9° 56', North Lat. 53° 46'. The num ber of inhabitants fluctuates from 110,000 to 120,000.
The city is divided by a canal into the old and new town. It is built partly on islands, and partly on the continent of the north side of the Elbe. Towards the east it is washed by the small river Bil, and towards the north by another small river called the Alster, which forms a very large ba sin just without the town, and another about 1000 feet square within the walls, after which it passes through different parts of the city, and then dischattes itself into the Elbe. The several islands formed by the rivers Elbe and Alster, on which the town is built, have a communication with each other by eighty-four bridges. The whole city is surround
ed by a lofty rampart and a broad ditch. The town, al though large and flourishing, is by no means elegant. The principal streets have long and broad canals, which are fill ed by the tide ; the others, especially in the old town, are mean, narrow, and ill paved. The houses are mostly built after the Dutch fashion, and very lofty, several of them be ing six or seven stories high. The warehouses of the merchants are generally it) the upper part of the building, to prevent damage from the frequent inundations occasion ed by high floods in the river, the back part of the houses being commonly so near the water, that their vessels come to unload at the very doors. The most beautiful parts of town are the Jungfernstoig, which is the fashionable prome nade, especially on Sundays, and the streets and alleys along the Alster. The principal public buildings in this city are, the churches of St Peter, St Nicholas, St Catharine, St James, St Michael, St John, and the cathedral. These are mostly Gothic structures, having lofty spires, beautiful altars, and large organs. From the spire of the church of St Michael, there is an extensive and charming view of the town and its environs. The exchange, the orphan-house, the several hospitals, the room-house, the house of Eim beck, and the obelisk in honour of Professor Busch, are al so worthy of notice.
Hamburgh was founded in the beginning of the 9th cen tury, by Charles, the eldest son of the Emperor Charle magne, who was commanded by his father to erect two forts on the Elbe, with the view of repelling the incursions of the Vcnedi, Selavonic nation inhabiting the southern coasts of the Baltic. The fort on the north side of the river was called Hammenburg, (whence, by abbreviation, Hamburgh,) or the castle near the wood, according to the etymology of the name given by Christopher Silvius, an ancient poet of Hamburgh ; Hamburgum silva cui notum nomen ab Hama, Inter Billa tuos, et olorifer Alstria ductus.