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Persia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Persian Empire (c.500 b.c.) Persia pûrˈzhə, –shə [key], old alternate name for the Asian country Iran. The article Iran contains a description of the geography and economy of the modern ...

Ismailis

(Encyclopedia)Ismailis ĭsmäēlˈēz [key], Muslim Shiite sect that holds Ismail, the son of Jafar as-Sadiq, as its imam. On the death of the sixth imam of the Shiites, Jafar as-Sadiq (d. 765), the majority of Shi...

Silk Road

(Encyclopedia)Silk Road, ancient overland trade route linking Asia and Europe, consisting of a network of caravan routes running from China across central Asia to the shores of the Mediterranean. Its starting point...

Caucasian languages

(Encyclopedia)Caucasian languages, family of languages spoken by about 7 million people in the Caucasus region of SE European Russia. The Caucasian languages take their name from the Caucasus Mountains, on the slop...

Qatar

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Qatar or Katar both: kŭˈtər, gŭ–, kətärˈ [key], officially State of Qatar, independent emirate (2015 est. pop. 2,482,000), c.4,400 sq mi (11,400 sq km), E Arabia, coextensive with the ...

Elam

(Encyclopedia)Elam ēˈləm [key], ancient country of Asia, N of the Persian Gulf and E of the Tigris, now in W Iran. A civilization seems to have been established there very early, probably in the late 4th millenn...

Nestorian Church

(Encyclopedia)Nestorian Church, officially the Assyrian Church of the East, Christian community of Iraq, Iran, and SW India. It represents the ancient church of Persia and is sometimes also called the East Syrian C...

Mitchell, George John

(Encyclopedia)Mitchell, George John, 1933–, U.S. public official, b. Waterville, Maine. An attorney in private and government practice in the 1960s and 1970s, he was a protege of Senator Edmund Muskie. Generally ...

stringed instrument

(Encyclopedia)CE5 stringed instrument, any musical instrument whose tone is produced by vibrating strings. Those whose strings are plucked with the finger or a plectrum include the balalaika, banjo, guitar, harp...

sturgeon

(Encyclopedia)sturgeon, primitive fish of the northern regions of Europe, Asia, and North America. Unlike evolutionarily advanced fishes, it has a fine-grained hide, with very reduced scalation, a mostly cartilagin...