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Moorish art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)Moorish art and architecture, branch of Islamic art and architecture developed in the westernmost lands of the Muslims, known as the Maghreb: N Africa and Spain. The Great Mosque at Al Qayrawan in Tun...

church, building for Christian worship

(Encyclopedia)church [Gr. kuriakon=belonging to the Lord], in architecture, a building for Christian worship. The earliest churches date from the late 3d cent.; before then Christians, because of persecutions, wors...

catacombs

(Encyclopedia)catacombs katˈəkōmz [key], cemeteries of the early Christians and contemporary Jews, arranged in extensive subterranean vaults and galleries. Besides serving as places of burial, the catacombs were...

sin, in religion

(Encyclopedia)sin, in religion, unethical act. The term implies disobedience to a personal God, as in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and is not used so often in systems such as Buddhism where there is no persona...

Artemis

(Encyclopedia)Artemis ärˈtəmĭs [key], in Greek religion and mythology, Olympian goddess, daughter of Zeus and Leto and twin sister of Apollo. Artemis' early worship, especially at Ephesus, identified her as an ...

Kerala

(Encyclopedia)Kerala kĕrˈələ [key], state (2001 provisional pop. 31,838,619), 15,003 sq mi (38,858 sq km), SW India, on the Arabian Sea. Thiruvananthapuram is the capital. A wet tropical climate and coastal low...

Hawran

(Encyclopedia)Hawran or Hauran houränˈ [key] [Heb.,=hollow or cavernous land], region, SW Syria. It is a largely treeless area marked by conical volcanic peaks, barren lava fields, and rich lava soil. In the nort...

Hippolytus, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Hippolytus, Saint hĭpŏlˈĭtəs [key] [Gr.,=loosed horse], d. c.236, first antipope (c.217–235), theologian, and martyr. Probably a disciple of St. Irenaeus, he became the most astute theologian i...

Ignatius of Antioch, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Ignatius of Antioch, Saint ĭgnāˈshəs, ănˈtēŏk [key], d. c.107, bishop of Antioch and Christian martyr, called Theophorus [Gr.,= God-bearer]. He was probably a convert and a disciple of St. Joh...

Irenaeus, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Irenaeus, Saint īrĭnēˈəs [key], c.125–c.202, Greek theologian, bishop of Lyons, and one of the Fathers of the Church. Born in Asia Minor, he was a disciple of St. Polycarp. Irenaeus went to Rom...