Isaac the Elder See Isaac ben Solomon Israeli
Isabela Island Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. It is the largest of the Galapagos Islands, located in the eastern Pacific Ocean west of main¬ land Ecuador. It has an area of 2,249 sq mi (5,825 sq km), and its north¬ ern tip, Albemarle, is crossed by the Equator. It has unique species of flightless cormorants and penguins as well as large numbers of iguanas and a flamingo colony.
Isabella I known as Isabella the Catholic Spanish Isabel la Catolica (b. April 22, 1451, Mad¬ rigal de las Altas Torres, Castile—d.
Nov. 26, 1504, Medina del Campo,
Spain) Queen of Castile (1474- 1504) and of Aragon (1479-1504).
Daughter of John II of Castile and Leon, she married Ferdinand V in 1469. Her reign began with civil war over her succession (1474-79), but in 1479 the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon came together in the persons of their rulers, though they remained separately governed. In a long cam¬ paign (1482-92), Isabella and Ferdi¬ nand succeeded in conquering Granada, the last Muslim stronghold in Spain. In 1492 Isabella approved support of Christopher Columbus’s journey to the New World. That same year she was involved in the expulsion of the Jews under the Inquisition. Along with her spiritual advisers, she reformed the Spanish churches.
Isabella II Spanish Isabel \e-sa-'bel\ (b. Oct. 10, 1830, Madrid, Spain—d. April 9, 1904, Paris, France) Queen of Spain (1833-68). She was the daughter of Ferdinand VII, and the issue of her succession to the throne precipitated the First Carlist War (see Carlism). During her minor¬ ity ( 1 833—43), her mother and Baldomero Espartero acted as regents; in 1843 Espartero was deposed by military officers, and Isabella was declared of age. Liberal opposition to the regime’s authoritarianism, scan-
Washington Irving, oil painting by J.W. Jarvis, 1809; in the Historic Hudson Valley collection.
COURTESY OF HISTORIC HUDSON VALLEY
Isabella I, portrait by an unknown art¬ ist; in the Real Academia de la Histo- ria, Madrid, Spain.
ARCHIVO MAS, BARCELONA
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
962 I Isabella Farnese ► Ishtar Gate
dalous reports about her private life, and her arbitrary political interfer¬ ence led to the Revolution of 1868, which drove her into exile. She abdicated in favour of her son, Alfonso XII.
Isabella Farnese \far-'na-za\ (b. Oct. 25, 1692, Parma, Duchy of Parma—d. July 11, 1766, Aranjuez, Spain) Queen consort of Philip V of Spain. A member of the ducal Farnese family of Parma, she became Phil¬ ip’s second wife in 1714 and quickly established ascendancy over her weak husband. Because his two sons by his first wife were in line to suc¬ ceed him, she sought to secure Italian possessions for her own children, including Charles III. This quest embroiled Spain in wars and intrigues for three decades. However, she chose able and devoted ministers, who intro¬ duced beneficial internal reforms and improved Spain’s economy. After Philip’s death in 1746, she ceased to exert any real influence.
Isaiah \I-'za-o\ (fl. 8th century bc, Jerusalem) Prophet of ancient Israel after whom the biblical book of Isaiah is named. He is believed to have written only some of the book’s first 39 chapters; the rest are by one or more unknown authors. Isaiah’s call to prophesy came c. 742 bc, when Assyria was beginning the westward expansion that later overran Israel. A contemporary of Amos, Isaiah denounced economic and social injus¬ tice among the Israelites and urged them to obey the Law or risk cancel¬ lation of God’s covenant. He correctly predicted the destruction of Samaria, or northern Israel, in 722 bc, and he declared the Assyrians to be the instrument of God’s wrath. The Christian Gospels lean more heavily on the book of Isaiah than on any other prophetic text, and its “swords-into-plowshares” passage has universal appeal.
ISBN See International Standard Book Number
Ischia \'is-ke-3\ Island, southern Italy. Located in the Tyrrhenian Sea between the Gulf of Gaeta and the Bay of Naples, it has a circumference of 21 mi (34 km) and an area of 18 sq mi (47 sq km) and consists almost entirely of volcanic rock. It rises to 2,585 ft (788 m) at Monte Epomeo, an extinct volcano, which gives its name to the island’s famous wine. Known for its mild climate and mineral springs, it is a popular resort area. The chief towns, including Ischia, are located in the north.
ISDN in full Integrated Services Digital Network Digital tele¬ communications network that operates over standard copper telephone wires or other media. ISDN connections are used to provide a variety of digital services to customers, including digital voice telephone, fax, e-mail, digital video, and access to the Internet. A wide range of data transfer rates are available, with speeds up to about 128 kilobits per second (kbps). ISDN is faster than an ordinary dial-up connection (at about 56 kbps), but much slower than cable modem or DSL connections (which typically exceed one megabit per second).
Ise Shrine in full Grand Shrine of Ise Japanese Ise-daijingu
Foremost Shinto shrine in Japan, at Ise, in southern Honshu. The Inner Shrine (traditionally founded 4 bc) is dedicated to the sun goddess Amat- erasu. The Outer Shrine (5th century),
4 mi (6 km) away, is dedicated to Toyuke Okami, god of food, cloth¬ ing, and housing. At both shrines the main building is a thatched hut built in the ancient Japanese style of unpainted Japanese cypress (hinoki).
A distinctive feature of Shinto archi¬ tecture is the chigi, a scissor-shaped finial at the front and rear of the roof.
Since the 7th century the buildings have been reconstructed every 20 or 21 years.
Iseo Ve-'za-oV, Lake Lake, north¬ ern Italy. Situated at the southern foot of the Alps, it is fed by the Oglio River, which enters the northern end near Lovere and leaves the southern end at Sarnico. It is 15.5 mi (25 km) long, with a surface area of 24 sq mi (62 sq km). Monte Isola, a large island in the centre of the lake, is crowned by a chapel.
Isere River \e-'zer\ River, southwestern France. Originating in the Savoy Alps on the Italian frontier, it flows 180 mi (290 km) southwest to its confluence with the Rhone River above Valence. It is unnavigable but used for hydroelectric power.
Isfahan See Esfahan
Isherwood, Christopher orig. Christopher William Brad¬ shaw (b. Aug. 26, 1904, High Lane, Cheshire, Eng.—d. Jan. 4, 1986, Santa Monica, Calif., U.S.) British-born U.S. writer. Educated at Cam¬ bridge University, he became close friends with W.H. Auden, with whom he traveled and collaborated on three verse dramas, including The Ascent ofF6 (1936). He lived in Berlin from 1929 to 1933; his two novels about this period, later published together as The Berlin Stories (1946), inspired the play I Am a Camera (1951; film, 1955) and the musical Cabaret (1966; film, 1972). A pacifist, he moved to southern California at the beginning of World War II, where he taught and wrote screenplays. His later fiction and memoirs reflect his homosexuality. A follower of Swami Prabha- vananda, he wrote and translated works on Indian Vedanta.
Ishikari \,e-she-'ka-re\ River River, Hokkaido, northern Japan. Rising near the centre of the Kitami Mountains, it flows southwest to empty into Ishikari Bay of the Sea of Japan (East Sea). It is 227 mi (365 km) long, the second longest river in Japan. Its name is derived from the Ainu term ishikaribetsu (“greatly meandering river”).
Ishim \i-'shim\ River Kazakh Esil \'es-il\ River, north-central Kazakh¬ stan and the Tyumen and Omsk provinces of south-central Russia. A tributary of the Irtysh River, it rises in the Niyaz Hills in the north of the Kazakh Uplands, flowing northwest before entering the Irtysh at Ust- Ishim. It is 1,522 mi (2,450 km) long.
Ishmael ben Elisha Vish-ma-sl-.ben-i-Ti-shaV (fl. 2nd century ad) Jewish scholar. Bom into a wealthy priestly family, he was taken captive by the Roman legions that sacked Jerusalem in ad 70, but he was ransomed by his former teacher and was sent back to Palestine to study. Ishmael founded a rabbinic school and wrote commentaries on the Torah, devel¬ oping 13 rules of exegesis based on the 7 rules of Hillel. Known for his simple, literal approach to biblical scholarship, he sought to relieve hard¬ ship for observant Jews in the interpretation of the Law. He is often por¬ trayed in dispute with Akiba ben Joseph for what he saw as the latter’s excessive interpretations of superficial biblical words or phrases.