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Mari, ancient city, Mesopotamia

(Encyclopedia)Mari mäˈrē [key], ancient city of Mesopotamia (modern Syria). It is on the middle Euphrates, south of its junction with the Habor (Khabur). The site was discovered by chance in the early 1930s by A...

cloister

(Encyclopedia)cloister, unroofed space forming part of a religious establishment and surrounded by the various buildings or by enclosing walls. Generally, it is provided on all sides with a vaulted passageway consi...

Malta

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Malta môlˈtə [key], officially Republic of Malta, republic (2015 est. pop. 428,000), 122 sq mi (316 sq km), in the Mediterranean Sea S of Sicily. It comprises the islands of Malta (95 sq mi/...

Ming

(Encyclopedia)Ming mĭng [key], dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644. The first Ming emperor, Chu Yüan-chang (ruled 1368–98), a former Buddhist monk, joined a rebellion in progress, gained control of it...

Torbay

(Encyclopedia)Torbay, borough and unitary authority (1991 pop. 54,430), SW England. The borough comprises the towns of Torquay, Paignton, and Brixham. On Tor Bay is a noted tourist resort area, known as the “Engl...

Toyokuni

(Encyclopedia)Toyokuni tōyōˈko͞onē [key], 1769–1825, Japanese color-print artist, whose name in full was Toyokuni Utagawa. He was one of the leading masters of the period of the popular ukiyo-e school. After...

Barker, Eugene Campbell

(Encyclopedia)Barker, Eugene Campbell, 1874–1956, American historian, b. Walker co., Tex. His distinguished teaching career, begun in 1899, was almost entirely at the Univ. of Texas. An outstanding social histori...

Senancour, Étienne Pivert de

(Encyclopedia)Senancour, Étienne Pivert de ātyĕnˈ pēvĕrˈ də sənäNco͞orˈ [key], 1770–1846, French writer. He is known principally for his autobiographical epistolary novel Obermann (1804, tr. 1903). Th...

Shakhmatov, Aleksey Aleksandrovich

(Encyclopedia)Shakhmatov, Aleksey Aleksandrovich əlĭksyāˈ əlĭksänˈdrəvĭch shôkmətôfˈ [key], 1864–1920, Russian philologist and historian. Shakhmatov's many books on the history of the Russian langua...

Shakhty

(Encyclopedia)Shakhty shäkhˈtē [key], city (1989 pop. 226,000), SW European Russia; a major anthracite-mining center of the Donets Basin. Industrial products include iron, clothing, brewed beverages, and footwea...