Elephanti´ne, the Greek name of a small island of Egypt, in the Nile, just below the First Cataract and opposite Assouan (Syene). It is partly covered with ruins of various origins—Egyptian, Roman, Saracen, and Arabic, the most important being a gateway of the time of Alexander, a small temple dedicated to Khnum and founded by Amenophis III, and the ancient Nilometer mentioned by Strabo. The latter was restored in 1870 by the Khedive Ismail Pasha. The northern part is low, the southern elevated and rocky.
Elephant Lore. The cult of the elephant is found among many nations in Asia and Africa. It exists in Indo-China, Cambodia, Abyssinia, Siam, and Sumatra. The Aryo-Indian god Indra rides on an elephant. Buddha had a white elephant form. One of the Sanskrit names for the elephant is Naga, which connects the animal with the sacred snake, possibly on account of its trunk; another name is Hastin, 'having a hand'. The Wambuwegs believe the elephant to be the abode of the souls of their ancestors. It is a bad omen, according to the Talmud, to dream of an elephant.
Elephant River, a river of Cape Colony, running into the Atlantic after a course of 140 miles,
Elephant-seal, the Proboscis Seal, or Sea-elephant, the largest of the seal family (Phocidæ). There are probably two species, one (Macrorhinus angustirostris) found only on the coast of California and Western Mexico, the other (Macrorhinus leoninus) found in Patagonia, Kerguelen Island, Heard's Island, and other parts of the Southern Seas. They vary in length from 12 to 30 feet, and in girth at the chest from 8 to 18 feet. The proboscis of the male is about a foot long when the creature is at rest, but elongates under excitement. The females have no proboscis and are considerably smaller than the male. Both species are becoming rare owing to the wholesale slaughter of them which takes place.
Elephant's-foot, the popular name of Testudinaria elephantipes, a plant of the nat. ord. Dioscoreaceæ (yams, &c.), distinguished by the shape of its rootstock, which forms a nearly hemispherical mass rising a little above the ground, covered with a thick corky bark. It has a slender climbing stem growing to a length of 30 or 40 feet, with small heart-shaped leaves and greenish-yellow flowers. It is known in the Cape Province as Hottentots' Bread.
Eleusi´ne, a genus of grasses, several of which, e.g. E. coracana, are cultivated as grain plants in India, Japan, and Tibet.
Eleusinian Mysteries, the sacred rites anciently observed in Greece at the annual festival of Dēmētēr or Ceres, so named from their original seat Eleusis. According to the Homeric hymn to Dēmētēr, the goddess, while wandering in search of Persephone, came to Eleusis, where she was hospitably received by King Celeus. He directed the establishment of a temple in her honour, and showed the use of grain to Triptolemus and other princes. As a preparation for the greater mysteries celebrated at Athens and Eleusis, lesser Eleusinia were celebrated at Agræ on the Ilissus. The greater Eleusinia were celebrated in the month Boedromion (September-October), beginning on the 15th of the month and lasting nine days. The celebrations, which were varied each day, consisted of processions between Athens and Eleusis, torch-bearing and mystic ceremonies attended with oaths of secrecy. They appear to have symbolized the old conceptions of death and reproduction, and to have been allied to the orgiastic worship of Dionysus (Bacchus). They are supposed to have continued down to the time of Theodosius I.
Eleu´sis, in ancient geography, a small city of Attica, about 14 miles from Athens, near the shore opposite the Island of Salamis. Its temple of Dēmētēr was one of the most beautiful buildings of Greece. The sacred buildings were destroyed by Alaric in A.D. 396. In 1882 the Greek Archæological Society undertook excavations, and numerous remains have been unearthed. There is now a large straggling village here.