a month of the Hebrews, answering to our March, and which sometimes takes from February or April, according to the course of the moon. It was made the first month of the sacred year, at the coming out of Egypt, Exod. xii, 2; and it was the seventh month of the civil year. By Moses it is called Abib. The name Nisan was introduced only since the time of Ezra, and the return from the captivity of Babylon.

NISH, Nisch, or Nissa, the ancient Naissus, a city of the Balkan peninsula, which at one time was the capital of Servia, and after being the chief town of a Turkish eyalet in the vilayet of the Danube, and (1877) of the new vilayet of Kossovo, was again in 1878 restored to Servia, where it is now the administrative centre of a circle containing a population of 117,000. The town is a thriving place of 12,800 inhabitants, the see of a Greek bishop, the headquarters of a militia corps, and an important centre in the Servian railway system. It is situated at the east end of a plain, and is traversed by the Nishava, a tributary of the Morava and sub-tributary of the Danube. Fortifications on the heights, buildings well massed together, numerous minarets, and abundant foliage in the suburbs render the outward appearance of the town both pleasant and imposing; but the interior, with its narrow and ill-kept streets, is utterly disappointing. About a quarter of an hour to the north of the citadel is the Voinik (war) hill, where the Turkish army encamped in 1689.

Naissus, best known as the birthplace of Constantine the Great, was destroyed by Attila, but restored by Justinian. The chief facts in the history of the modern town are its capture by the Turks in 1375 and by John Hunyady in 1443; the victory of Louis of Baden over the Turks in 1689; the recovery by the Turks in 1690; the capture by the Austrians and the subsequent surrender by General Dochat in 1737; and finally the siege by the Servians in 1809. On this last occasion Stephen Singelitch blew up his redoubt, to the destruction at once of his Turkish assailants and himself.

NISI PRIUS. For the history and meaning of this term in English law see Assize. As a rule actions only are tried at nisi prius, and a judge is said to sit at nisi ρrius when he sits alone, usually in the Queen’s Bench Division, for the trial of actions. The trial at nisi prius was formerly by jury, unless with consent of the parties, but since the rules of the Supreme Court of 1883 the ordinary trial at nisi prius is without a jury in all but some specially excepted cases, chiefly of torts where the damages are unliquidated. Besides actions, indictments or informations may be tried at nisi prius, but only before a jury, the change in the law above-mentioned not extending to such cases. The indictment or information is generally removed from the ordinary forum by certiorari, and the trial takes place in the Queen’s Bench Division or at assizes before a special or a common jury (see Jury). The removal may be at the instance of the crown, the prosecutor, or the accused. Misdemeanours are removed more often than felonies. The most usual grounds of removal are that difficult questions of law are likely to arise, that local prejudice has been excited, or that the case is quasi-civil, as non-repair of a bridge or obstruction of a highway. It is noticeable that criminal cases tried at nisi prius take their place in the nisi prius list and not with other criminal cases. Where the proceedings are by indictment at assizes, sentence may be passed either at the assizes or in the Queen’s Bench Division; where by information, only the latter course is available....

NISIBIS, a once famous city and fortress, situated in 37° N. lat. and 41° 20' 10" E. long., in the north of Mesopotamia, near the point where the Jaghjagha leaves the mountains by a narrow defile. The modern Nasibin consists of some two hundred wretched huts, mainly inhabited by Jews, who pay tribute to the Sham mar Bedouins. The neighbourhood, we are informed by Arab writers, was at one time richly wooded. The locality is at present somewhat marshy and unhealthy. The number of dangerous scorpions is specially noticeable. According to Yâkùt the legend is that Persian scorpions were thrown into the place when it was besieged by Anushirwan. The church of St James, belonging to a small community of Jacobite Christians, and a few pillars and blocks of masonry are the only remains of the former greatness of the town....

a god of the Assyrians. Sennacherib was killed by two of his sons, while he was paying his adorations in the temple of this deity, 2 Kings xix, 37; Isaiah xxxvii, 38. It is uncertain who this god was.

NISSA. See Nish.

NÍSHÁPÚR, or Néshápúr (Arabic, Naisábúr), the most important city of Khorâsân in the Middle Ages, but now much decayed. The second element of the name is that of the traditional founder Shahpuhr or Sapor. Some accounts name the first, others the second Sapor. The older name of the town or district was Abrashahr. The importance of the place under the Sasanians was in part religious; one of the three holiest fire-temples was in its neighbourhood. Nishâpùr under the Moslems contained a large Arab element; it became the capital of Khorâsân, and greatly increased in prosperity, under the almost independent princes of the house of Tahir (820-873 a.d.). Istakhri describes it as a well-fortified town, a league square, with a great export of cotton goods and raw silk. In the decline of the empire the city had much to suffer from the Turkomans, whose raids have in modern times destroyed the prosperity of this whole region. In 1153 it was utterly ruined by the Ghuzz Turkomans, but soon rose again, because, as Yâkùt remarks, its position gave it command of the entire caravan trade with the East. It was again taken and razed to the ground by the Mongols in 1221, but a century later Ibn Batιita found the city again flourishing, with four colleges, numerous students, and an export of silk-stuffs to India. Nishâpùr was famous for its fruits and gardens, which gave it the epithet of “little Damascus.”...