Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Hypatia

(Encyclopedia)Hypatia hīpāˈshə [key], d.415, Alexandrian Neoplatonic philosopher and mathematician, a woman renowned for her learning, eloquence, and beauty. Little is known of her writings. Her fame is largely...

Hogarth, David George

(Encyclopedia)Hogarth, David George hōˈgärth [key], 1862–1927, English archaeologist, keeper (1909–27) of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. He explored and excavated (1887–1907) in Cyprus, Crete, Egypt, Syria,...

Levi

(Encyclopedia)Levi lēˈvī [key], in the Bible. 1 Son of Jacob and Leah and eponymous ancestor of the Levites. His name appears infrequently—at his birth, when he and Simeon massacred the Shechemites out of reve...

magic square

(Encyclopedia)magic square, a square divided into parts with letters or numbers inscribed therein that, whether combined vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, form the same sum or the same word. In ancient times...

Memnon

(Encyclopedia)Memnon mĕmˈnŏn [key], in Greek mythology, king of Ethiopia, son of Tithonus and Eos. In the Trojan War he fought against the Greeks, and after he had killed Antilochus, he himself was killed by Ach...

Warner, Rex

(Encyclopedia)Warner, Rex, 1905–86, English author, b. Birmingham, grad. Oxford, 1928. A classical scholar noted for his translations from Greek and Latin, Warner taught in England, Egypt, and the United States. ...

Berbera

(Encyclopedia)Berbera bûrˈbərə [key], city, Somaliland region, N Somalia, a port on the Gulf of Aden. The ...

Valle, Pietro della

(Encyclopedia)Valle, Pietro della pyĕˈtrō dĕlˈlä välˈlā [key], 1586–1652, Italian traveler in Asia. He sailed (1614) from Venice; spent a year in Constantinople, where he studied Turkish and Arabic; then...

Seti II

(Encyclopedia)Seti II sēˈtī, sāˈtē [key], d. 1205 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, of the XIX dynasty. He was one of the kings who reigned briefly after Merneptah, and seems to have ruled for about four years. Af...

Shafi'i, al-

(Encyclopedia)Shafi'i, al- (Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i), 767–820, Islamic jurist. Raised and educated in Mecca and Medina, he taught in Egypt and Baghdad. His teachings laid the groundwork for the...

Browse by Subject