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Petra

(Encyclopedia)Petra pēˈtrə [key], ancient city, in present-day Jordan, known to the Arabs as Wadi Musa for the stream that flows through it. A narrow, winding pass between towering walls leads to the flat, open ...

Borges, Jorge Luis

(Encyclopedia)Borges, Jorge Luis hôrˈhā lo͞oēsˈ bôrˈhās [key], 1899–1986, Argentine poet, critic, and short-story writer, b. Buenos Aires. Borges has been widely hailed as the foremost contemporary Spani...

Nile

(Encyclopedia)Nile, longest river in the world, c.4,160 mi (6,695 km) long from its remotest headstream, the Luvironza River in Burundi, central Africa, to its delta on the Mediterranean Sea, NE Egypt. The Nile flo...

Montgomery, Bernard Law, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein

(Encyclopedia)Montgomery, Bernard Law, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein məntgŭmˈərē, ăləmānˈ [key], 1887–1976, British field marshal. Educated at Sandhurst, he entered the army in 1908 and served in Wo...

Sargent, John Singer

(Encyclopedia)Sargent, John Singer, 1856–1925, American painter, b. Florence, Italy, of American parents, educated in Italy, France, and Germany. In 1874 he went to Paris, where he studied under Carolus-Duran. He...

Ikhnaton

(Encyclopedia)Ikhnaton äˌkənäˈtən [key] [Egyptian,=Aton is satisfied], d. c.1354 b.c., king of ancient Egypt (c.1372–1354 b.c.), of the XVIII dynasty; son and successor of Amenhotep III. His name at his acc...

expressionism

(Encyclopedia)expressionism, term used to describe works of art and literature in which the representation of reality is distorted to communicate an inner vision. The expressionist transforms nature rather than imi...

Qaddafi, Muammar al-

(Encyclopedia)Qaddafi, Muammar al- mo͞oäm-märˈ äl-käd-däˈfē [key], 1942–2011, Libyan army officer and dictator. He graduated from the Univ. of Libya in 1963 and became an army officer in 1965. In 1969 he...

Guiana

(Encyclopedia)Guiana gēănˈə, –änˈ– [key], region, NE South America. It faces the Atlantic Ocean on the north and east and is enclosed on the west and south within a vast semicircle formed by the linked ri...

Brown, Trisha

(Encyclopedia)Brown, Trisha, 1936–2017, American dancer and choreographer acclaimed for having revolutionized modern dance in the late 20th cent., b. Aberdeen, Wash. After studying dance at Mills College (B.A., 1...