(Encyclopedia) haremharemhârˈəm [key] [Arabic], term applied to women's apartments in a Muslim household. In the ancient Arab world women enjoyed a certain amount of freedom. However, with the advent…
(Encyclopedia) SyriacSyriacsērˈēăkˌ [key], late dialect of Aramaic, which is a West Semitic language (see Afroasiatic languages). The early Christians of Mesopotamia and Syria gave the Greek name…
(Encyclopedia) Bulgars, EasternBulgars, Easternbŭlˈgärz, –gərz [key], Turkic-speaking people, who possessed a powerful state (10th–14th cent.) at the confluence of the Volga and the Kama, E European…
(Encyclopedia) Pirenne, HenriPirenne, HenriäNrēˈ pērĕnˈ [key], 1862–1935, Belgian historian. He was for many years a professor of history at the Univ. of Ghent. A leader of Belgian passive resistance…
(Encyclopedia) MeccaMeccamĕkˈə [key] or MakkahMakkahmăkˈə [key], city (1993 pop. 966,381), capital of the Hejaz, W Saudi Arabia. The birthplace c.a.d. 570 of Muhammad the Prophet, it is the holiest…
(Encyclopedia) caliphatecaliphatekălˈĭfātˌ, –fĭt [key], the rulership of Islam; caliphcaliphkălˈĭfˌ [key], the spiritual head and temporal ruler of the Islamic state. In principle, Islam is…
WHY HAS THERE BEEN FIGHTING IN ISRAEL? WHO CAME TO POWER IN IRAQ? FIND OUT MOREThe Middle East saw much conflict during the last century. Its deserts contain the world’s biggest oil fields, which…
