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Kasala

(Encyclopedia)Kasala or Kassala both: käsäˈlä, kăsˈəlä [key], city (1993 pop. 234,622), E Sudan. It is a market center and rail transport hub and has extensive fruit gardens. Founded in 1840 as a military c...

Champollion, Jean François

(Encyclopedia)Champollion, Jean François –fēzhäkˈ [key], 1778–1867, was an archaeologist and paleographer, a professor of Greek at Grenoble, and a curator of manuscripts at the Bibliothèque nationale. He a...

hieroglyphic

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Examples of hieroglyphics hieroglyphic hīˌrəglĭfˈĭk, hīˌərə– [key] [Gr.,=priestly carving], type of writing used in ancient Egypt. Similar pictographic styles of Crete, Asia Minor,...

fertility rites

(Encyclopedia)fertility rites, magico-religious ceremonies to insure an abundance of food and the birth of children. The rites, expressed through dances, prayers, incantations, and sacred dramas, seek to control th...

Oxfordshire

(Encyclopedia)Oxfordshire or Oxon, county (1991 pop. 553,800), 749 sq mi (1,940 sq km), S central England. The county seat is Oxford. The county comprises five administrative districts: Cherwell, South Oxfordshire,...

Great Mother Goddess

(Encyclopedia)Great Mother Goddess, in ancient Middle Eastern religions, mother goddess, the great symbol of the earth's fertility. She was worshiped under many names and attributes. Similar figures have been known...

Al Aswany, Alaa

(Encyclopedia)Al Aswany, Alaa, 1957–, Egyptian author, b. Cairo. The son of a novelist-lawyer, he was trained as a dentist at Cairo Univ. (grad. 1980) and the Univ. of Illinois at Chicago (M.S., 1987) and has com...

Harrison, Jane Ellen

(Encyclopedia)Harrison, Jane Ellen, 1850–1928, English classical scholar. She applied archaeological discoveries in the interpretation of Greek religion. Her works include Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religi...

Ismail Pasha

(Encyclopedia)Ismail Pasha ĭsˌmäēl päshäˈ [key], 1830–95, ruler of Egypt (1863–79), son of Ibrahim Pasha. He succeeded his uncle Said Pasha as ruler. Ismail used the Egyptian cotton crop, enormously enha...

Jarha

(Encyclopedia)Jarha järˈhə [key], in the Bible, Egyptian slave to whom Sheshan gave his daughter. ...