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Fertile Crescent

(Encyclopedia)Fertile Crescent, historic region of the Middle East. A well-watered and fertile area, it arcs across the northern part of the Syrian desert. It is flanked on the west by the Mediterranean and on the ...

Balaam

(Encyclopedia)Balaam bāˈləm [key], the central character in an amalgam of Israelite traditions found in the Book of Numbers. Hired by Balak, king of Moab, to curse the Hebrews encamped in the Jordan valley, Bala...

Kohn, Walter

(Encyclopedia)Kohn, Walter, 1923–2016, American physicist, b. Vienna, Austria, Ph.D. Harvard, 1948. The son of Austrian Jews, he was transported to England in a rescue convoy after Nazi Germany absorbed (1938) Au...

Kroemer, Herbert

(Encyclopedia)Kroemer, Herbert, 1928–, German physicist, Ph.D. Univ. of Göttingen, 1952. Kroemer was a researcher at RCA Laboratories in Princeton, N.J. (1954–57), and at Varian Associates in Palo Alto, Calif....

Frederick, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Frederick, city (2020 pop. 78,171), seat of Frederick co., NW Md.; settled 1745, inc. 1817. The processing center of a fertile farm and dairying area, i...

Kerioth

(Encyclopedia)Kerioth kĕrˈēŏth [key]. 1 Unidentified town, E of the Jordan in Moab. Called Kirioth in Amos 2.2. 2 Unidentifed town, S ancient Palestine. In AV what had been one name is given as two: Kerioth and...

Medeba

(Encyclopedia)Medeba mĕdˈĭbə, mēˈ– [key], town, Jordan, the modern Madaba, E of the Dead Sea. An ancient Moabite town, it changed hands between Moab and Israel several times. In early Christian times it was...

Gilgal

(Encyclopedia)Gilgal gĭlˈgăl [key], in the Bible. 1 First encampment of the Israelites near Jericho, W of the Jordan; Saul was made king there. It was also the scene of Saul's impetuous sacrifice before battle i...

Debir

(Encyclopedia)Debir dēˈbər [key], in the Bible. 1 King of Eglon. 2 City, ancient Palestine, WSW of Hebron, on the main caravan route to Egypt. Also called Kirjath-sannah and Kirjath-sepher. 3 Unidentified locati...

Syrian Desert

(Encyclopedia)Syrian Desert, Arabic Badiyat Ash Sham, arid wasteland, SW Asia, between the cultivated lands along the E Mediterranean coast and the fertile Euphrates River valley. It extends N from the Nafud Desert...