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Morocco, country, Africa

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Morocco mərŏkˈō [key], officially Kingdom of Morocco, kingdom (2015 est. pop. 34,803,000), 171,834 sq mi (445,050 sq km), NW Africa. Morocco is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea (N), the At...

Greek literature, ancient

(Encyclopedia)Greek literature, ancient, the writings of the ancient Greeks. The Greek Isles are recognized as the birthplace of Western intellectual life. The next period of Greek literature reached its zenith i...

Canopus, city, ancient Egypt

(Encyclopedia)Canopus kənōˈpəs [key], ancient city of N Egypt, 12 mi (19 km) E of Alexandria. Canopus, the pilot of Menelaus' ship, was said to have died there. In Hellenistic times Canopus was known as a pleas...

Ionia

(Encyclopedia)Ionia īōˈnēə [key], ancient region of Asia Minor. It occupied a narrow coastal strip on the E Mediterranean (in present-day W Turkey) as well as the neighboring Aegean Islands, which now mainly b...

Cyrus the Great

(Encyclopedia)Cyrus the Great sīˈrəs [key], d. 529 b.c., king of Persia, founder of the greatness of the Achaemenids and of the Persian Empire. According to Herodotus, he was the son of an Iranian noble, the eld...

Mycale

(Encyclopedia)Mycale mĭkˈəlē [key], promontory, W Asia Minor, opposite Samós island. The center of the Ionian League was there, in the temple of Poseidon. In 479 b.c. the Greeks destroyed the Persian fleet at ...

Gambia, The, country, Africa

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Gambia, The gămˈbēə, gämˈ– [key], officially Republic of The Gambia, republic (2015 est. pop. 1,978,000), 4,361 sq mi (11,295 sq km), W Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on t...

Kish, ancient city, Mesopotamia

(Encyclopedia)Kish kĭsh [key], ancient city of Mesopotamia, in the Euphrates valley, 8 mi (12.9 km) E of Babylon and 12 mi (19 km) east of the modern city of Hillah, Iraq. It was occupied from very ancient times, ...

Olympia, city, ancient Greece

(Encyclopedia)Olympia, ancient city, important center of the worship of Zeus in ancient Greece, in Elis near the Alpheus (now Alfiós) R. It was the scene of the Olympic games. The great temple of Zeus was especial...

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