Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Pharisees

(Encyclopedia)Pharisees fârˈĭsēz [key], one of the two great Jewish religious and political parties of the second commonwealth. Their opponents were the Sadducees, and it appears that the Sadducees gave them th...

Ramses II

(Encyclopedia)Ramses II both: rămˈəsēzˌ [key], d. 1225 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, of the XIX dynasty. The son of Seti I, Ramses was not the heir to the throne but usurped it from his brother. He reigned for ...

Erechtheum

(Encyclopedia)Erechtheum ĭrĕkˈthēəm [key] [for Erechtheus], Gr. Erechtheion, temple in Pentelic marble, on the Acropolis at Athens. One of the masterpieces of Greek architecture, it was constructed between c.4...

Christian V

(Encyclopedia)Christian V, 1646–99, king of Denmark and Norway (1670–99), son and successor of Frederick III. His minister, Griffenfeld, who until his fall in 1676 dominated Christian's reign, made the monarchy...

Gregory IX

(Encyclopedia)Gregory IX, 1143?–1241, pope (1227–41), an Italian named Ugolino di Segni, b. Anagni; successor of Honorius III. As cardinal under his uncle, Innocent III, he became, at St. Francis' request, the ...

Karnak

(Encyclopedia)Karnak kärˈnăk [key], village (1986 pop. 20,842), central Egypt, on the Nile. It is 1 mi (1.6 km) NE of Luxor and occupies part of the site of Thebes. Remains of the pharaohs abound at Karnak. Most...

Phigalia

(Encyclopedia)Phigalia fĭgāˈlēə [key], ancient city of Greece, in SW Arcadia (now Arkadhía). It gives its name to the Phigalian Marbles, a frieze c.100 ft (30 m) long and 2 ft (61 cm) high, in high relief, re...

Monocacy

(Encyclopedia)Monocacy mənŏkˈəsē [key], river, c.60 mi (100 km) long, rising in S Pa., and flowing S across Md. to join the Potomac River near Frederick, Md. On its banks, just E of Frederick, the Civil War ba...

Vibo Valentia

(Encyclopedia)Vibo Valentia vēˈbō välānˈtyä [key], town (1991 pop. 34,836), Calabria, S Italy, near the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is an agricultural and commercial center. A flourishing Roman town, Vibo was destroy...

William I, king of Württemberg

(Encyclopedia)William I, 1781–1864, king of Württemberg (1816–64), son and successor of Frederick I. Before his accession he fought (1812) with the French emperor Napoleon I in Russia and later, when Frederick...