Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Port Said

(Encyclopedia)Port Said bo͝or [key], city (1986 pop. 469,533), NE Egypt, a port on the Mediterranean Sea at the entrance to the Suez Canal. It is a fueling point for ships using the canal and is the site of the ma...

embalming

(Encyclopedia)embalming ĕmbäˈmĭng, ĭm– [key], practice of preserving the body after death by artificial means. The custom was prevalent among many ancient peoples and still survives in many cultures. It was ...

Bassiouni, M. Cherif

(Encyclopedia)Bassiouni, M. Cherif (Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni), 1937–2017, Egyptian-American international criminal law jurist and human-rights advocate, b. Cairo. Bassiouni fought for Egypt in the Suez conflict (...

Abd al-Aziz

(Encyclopedia)Abd al-Aziz Turk. äbdülˈäzēzˈ [key], 1830–76, Ottoman sultan (1861–76), brother and successor of Abd al-Majid. The economic and political reforms enacted under his rule could not outpace the...

Pan-Arabism

(Encyclopedia)Pan-Arabism, general term for the modern movement for political unification among the Arab nations of the Middle East. Since the Ottoman Turks rose to power in the 14th cent., there have been stirring...

Menes

(Encyclopedia)Menes mēˈnēz [key], fl. 3200 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, of the first dynasty, the first Egyptian ruler for whom there are historical records. According to tradition, he seems to have united the s...

Asyut

(Encyclopedia)Asyut äsyo͞otˈ [key], city (1986 pop. 272,986), E central Egypt, on the Nile. An industrial and trading center and also the seat of a university, it is famed for pottery, carved bone and wood, leat...

Abu Qir

(Encyclopedia)Abu Qir or Abukir both: ăˌbo͞okērˈ, əbo͞oˈkər [key], village, N Egypt, on a promontory in the Nile River delta. Admiral Horatio Nelson's victory over the French fleet off Abu Qir on Aug. 1–...

Ross, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Ross, Robert, 1766–1814, British general. He served against the French in the Netherlands, in Egypt, and in the Peninsular War. In the War of 1812 he defeated a U.S. force at Bladensburg, and on the...

Set, in Egyptian religion

(Encyclopedia)Set or Seth both: sĕt or sāt [key], in Egyptian religion, god of evil. Set was a sun god of predynastic Egypt, but he gradually degenerated from being a beneficent deity into being a god of evil and...

Browse by Subject