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Myra

(Encyclopedia)Myra mīˈrə [key], ancient city and seaport of Lycia, S Asia Minor (now S Turkey). The Acts of the Apostles reports that the city was visited by Paul. According to tradition, it was the see of St. N...

Karaman

(Encyclopedia)Karaman kärämänˈ [key], town (1990 pop. 76,682), S central Turkey, at the northern foot of the Taurus Mts. The ancient Laranda, Karaman was renamed after the chieftain of a Turkic tribe who conque...

Theodore I , Byzantine emperor of Nicaea

(Encyclopedia)Theodore I (Theodore Lascaris), d. 1222, Byzantine emperor of Nicaea (1204–22), son-in-law of the Byzantine emperor Alexius III. He escaped from Constantinople after it was captured (1204) by the La...

Aeolis

(Encyclopedia)Aeolis ēōˈlēə [key], ancient region of the west coast of Asia Minor (in present-day Turkey). Aeolis was not a geographic term but a collective term for the cities founded there by the Aeolians, a...

Galatians

(Encyclopedia)Galatians gəlāˈshənz [key], letter of the New Testament. It is ascribed to St. Paul and addressed to ethnic Gauls living in central Asia Minor, or to inhabitants of the Roman province of Galatia i...

Christopher, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Christopher, Saint krĭsˈtəfər [key] [Gr.,=Christ bearer], 3d cent.?, martyr of Asia Minor. His characteristic legend is that one day when he was carrying a little child over a river, he felt the c...

Bruce, James

(Encyclopedia)Bruce, James, 1730–94, Scottish explorer in Africa. He explored Roman ruins in N Africa (1755) from Tunis to Tripoli and visited Crete, Rhodes, and Asia Minor. In 1768 he traveled down the Red Sea a...

Xanthus

(Encyclopedia)Xanthus zănˈthəs [key], ancient city of Lycia, W Asia Minor, in present Turkey. On the Xanthus River, it was besieged and taken by the Persians (c.546 b.c.) and centuries later (c.42 b.c.) by the R...

Sivas

(Encyclopedia)Sivas sĭväsˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 219,122), capital of Sivas prov., central Turkey, on the Kizil Irmak. An important trade and manufacturing center, it has cement, textile, and rug factories. Iro...

Strabo

(Encyclopedia)Strabo strāˈbō [key], b. c.63 b.c., d. after a.d. 21, Greek geographer, historian, and philosopher, b. Amasya, Pontus. He studied in Asia Minor, Greece, Rome, and Alexandria and traveled in Europe,...