Absidiole. Diminutive of apse, and thus used to denote a small apse terminating a lateral nave, while the apse closes the central or chief nave. (See Absis.)
Absis or Apse, R. (ἁψὶς, a bow or vault). Any enclosure of semicircular form terminating a room, hall, &c. There was an absis in the Basilica (q.v.), or court of justice, and it was in the semicircular recess thus formed that the judges’ seats were placed. Many temples also had an absis attached to them, and there is one in particular of this description well known to all archæologists. This is the absis of the temple of Venus at Rome, which was built by the emperor architect Hadrian. (See Apse.)
Abutment, Arch. called also Impost. The solid part of a pier from which an arch immediately springs.
Abydos, Tablets of, Egyp. Under this term are designated two hieroglyphic inscriptions containing the names of Egyptian kings. These tablets were graven upon the walls of a cella in a small temple at Abydos, in Upper Egypt; hence their name. The first tablet, the beginning of which was destroyed at the time of its discovery, contains the names of the kings of the twelfth and eighteenth dynasties; this inscription was discovered in 1817 or 1818 by J. W. Bankes, and drawn by Caillund in 1832; it had been taken down from the wall of the temple by Mimaut, the French consul at Alexandria. It is now at the British Museum. The second tablet, which begins with Menes, who is generally supposed to have been one of the first kings of Egypt, contains a complete list of the two first dynasties, as well as a great number of names belonging to kings of the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh dynasties. This tablet was discovered in 1864 by M. Mariette. It is reproduced in De Rougé’s treatise on the six first dynasties.
Abyssus, Egyp. A Coptic word, read by some archæologists as Noun (q.v.), and which signifies the abyss, the immensity of the celestial waters upon which sails the solar bark.
Acacia, R. A term employed by some antiquaries to denote an object held in the hand of the statue of an emperor of the Lower Empire. It usually consists of a piece of cloth, which the emperor unfurled as a signal for the games to commence.
Academies of Italy. Literary societies established during the middle ages. The principal were the Accesi, Affidati, Amorevole of Verona, Animosi of Milan, Arcadi of Rome, Ardenti of Pisa, Ardenti of Naples, Ardenti of Viterbo, Catenati of Macerata, Chiave of Pavia, Crusca of Florence, Elevati of Ferrara, Eterea of Padua, Florimontana of Annecy, Granelleschi of Venice, Infiammati of Padua, Infocati, Insensati of Perugia, Intronati of Siena, Lincei of Rome, Occulti, Offuscati, Ostinati, Rinovati, Sonnachiosi of Bologna, Trasformati of Milan, Travagliati, Unanimi. Their devices are described under the respective headings.
Acæna, Gr. (ἀκαίνη), a measuring-rod; ten Greek feet in length.
Fig. 4. Architectural acanthus.