The siege of Amisus by Lucullus was one of the important operations of the Third Mithridatic war. The city was on the coast of the Black Sea, between the rivers Halys and Lycus; it is represented in site by the modern town of Samsoon. Amisus, which was besieged in 73 B. C. held out until the following year. Tyrannio the grammarian was among the prisoners taken and sent to Rome. _G. Long, Decline of the Roman Republic, volume 3, chapter 1 and 2._ AMMANN. This is the title of the Mayor or President of the Swiss Communal Council or Gemeinderath. See SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1848-1890. AMMON, The Temple and Oracle of. The Ammonium or Oasis of Ammon, in the Libyan desert, which was visited by Alexander the Great, has been identified with the oasis now known as the Oasis of Siwah. "The Oasis of Siwah was first visited and described by Browne in 1792; and its identity with that of Ammon fully established by Major Rennell ('Geography of Herodotus,' pages 577-591). ... The site of the celebrated temple and oracle of Ammon was first discovered by Mr. Hamilton in 1853." "Its famous oracle was frequently visited by Greeks from Cyrene, as well as from other parts of the Hellenic world, and it vied in reputation with those of Delphi and Dodona." _E. H. Bunbury, History of Ancient Geography, chapter 8, section 1, and chapter 12, section 1, and note E._ An expedition of 50,000 men sent by Cambyses to Ammon, B. C. 525, is said to have perished in the desert, to the last man. See EGYPT: B. C. 525-332. {109} AMMONITES, The. According to the narrative in Genesis xix: 30-39, the Ammonites were descended from Ben-Ammi, son of Lot's second daughter, as the Moabites came from Moab, the eldest daughter's son. The two people are much associated in Biblical history. "It is hard to avoid the conclusion that, while Moab was the settled and civilized half of the nation of Lot, the Bene Ammon formed its predatory and Bedouin section." _G. Grove, Dictionary of the Bible._ See JEWS: THE EARLY HEBREW HISTORY; also, MOABITES. AMMONITI, OR AMMONIZIONI, The. See FLORENCE: A. D. 1358. AMNESTY PROCLAMATION. See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A.D. 1863 (DECEMBER). AMORIAN DYNASTY, The. See BYZANTINE EMPIRE: A. D. 820-1057. AMORIAN WAR, The.