Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

377 results found

Rabin, Yitzhak

(Encyclopedia)Rabin, Yitzhak yĭtskhäkˈ räbēnˈ [key], 1922–95, Israeli general and statesman, b. Jerusalem, the first native-born prime minister of Israel (1974–77, 1992–95). His extensive military exper...

Darius I

(Encyclopedia)Darius I (Darius the Great) dərīˈəs [key], d. 486 b.c., king of ancient Persia (521–486 b.c.), called also Dariavaush and Darius Hystaspis (after his father, Hystaspes or Vishtaspa). A distant c...

Monotheletism

(Encyclopedia)Monotheletism or Monothelitism both: mənŏthˈə lĭtĭzˌəm [key] [Gr.,=one will], 7th-century opinion condemned as heretical by the Third Council of Constantinople in 680 (see Constantinople, Thir...

Fatimid

(Encyclopedia)Fatimid –ĭmīt [key], dynasty claiming to hold the caliphate on the basis of descent from Fatima, a daughter of Muhammad the Prophet. In doctrine the Fatimids were related to other Shiite sects. Th...

Anabaptists

(Encyclopedia)Anabaptists ănˌəbăpˈtĭsts [key] [Gr.,=rebaptizers], name applied, originally in scorn, to certain Protestant sects holding that infant baptism is not authorized in Scripture and that baptism sho...

oak

(Encyclopedia)oak, any tree or shrub of the genus Quercus of the family Fagaceae (beech family). This complex genus includes as many as 600, found chiefly in north temperate zones and also in Polynesia. The more so...

Turin

(Encyclopedia)Turin to͝orˈĭn, tyo͝orˈ–, tyo͝orĭnˈ [key], Ital. Torino, city (1991 pop. 962,507), capital of Piedmont and of Turin prov., NW Italy, at the confluence of the Po and Dora Riparia rivers. It i...

trusteeship, territorial

(Encyclopedia)trusteeship, territorial, system of UN control for territories that were not self-governing. It replaced the mandates of the League of Nations. Provided for under chapters 12 and 13 of the Charter of ...

Hebron, city, West Bank

(Encyclopedia)Hebron, Arab. Al-Khalil, city (2003 est. pop. 155,000), the West Bank. Hebron is situated at an altitude of 3,000 ft (910 m) in a region where grapes, cereal grains, and vegetables are grown. Tanning,...

Byzantine music

(Encyclopedia)Byzantine music, the music of the Byzantine Empire composed to Greek texts as ceremonial, festival, or church music. Long thought to be only a further development of ancient Greek music, Byzantine mus...

Browse by Subject