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Egyptian language

(Encyclopedia)Egyptian language, extinct language of ancient Egypt, a member of the Afroasiatic family of languages (see Afroasiatic languages). The development of ancient Egyptian is usually divided into four peri...

feldspar

(Encyclopedia)feldspar fĕlˈspär [key], an abundant group of rock-forming minerals which constitute 60% of the earth's crust. Chemically the feldspars are silicates of aluminum, containing sodium, potassium, iron...

sarcophagus

(Encyclopedia)sarcophagus särkŏfˈəgəs [key] [Gr.,=flesh-eater], name given by the Greeks to a special marble found in Asia Minor, near the territory of ancient Troy, and used in caskets. It was believed to hav...

Tuva Republic

(Encyclopedia)Tuva Republic or Tyva Republic both: to͞oˈvə, Rus. to͞oväˈ, Tuvan to͞owäˈ [key], constituent republic (1990 est. pop. 366,000), 65,830 sq mi (170,500 sq km), extreme S Siberian Russia, on the...

Thíra

(Encyclopedia)Thíra or Thera both: thērˈə [key], volcanic island (1991 pop. 9,360), c.30 sq mi (80 sq km), SE Greece, in the Aegean Sea. One of the Cyclades, Thíra is also known as Santorini, for St. Irene, th...

public relations

(Encyclopedia)public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving parti...

Teotihuacán

(Encyclopedia)Teotihuacán tāōtēwäkänˈ [key], ancient commercial and religious center in the central valley of Mexico, c.30 mi (48 km) NE of Mexico City. Once thought to be the great religious center of the T...

sundial

(Encyclopedia)sundial, instrument that indicates the time of day by the shadow, cast on a surface marked to show hours or fractions of hours, of an object on which the sun's rays fall. Although any object whose sha...

Zaragoza

(Encyclopedia)Zaragoza sârˌəgōˈsə [key], city (1990 pop. 592,686), capital of Zaragoza prov. and leading city of Aragón, NE Spain, on the Ebro River. An important commercial and communications center, it is ...

well

(Encyclopedia)well, aperture in the earth's surface through which substances in a natural underground reservoir, such as water, gas, oil, salt, and sulfur, can flow or be pumped to the surface. In the United States...