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Passover

(Encyclopedia)Passover, in Judaism, one of the most important and elaborate of religious festivals. Its celebration begins on the evening of the 14th of Nisan (first month of the religious calendar, corresponding t...

Hesiod

(Encyclopedia)Hesiod hēˈsēəd, hĕsˈ– [key], fl. 8th cent.? b.c., Greek poet. He is thought to have lived later than Homer, but there is no absolute certainty about the dates of his life. Hesiod portrays hims...

drought

(Encyclopedia)drought, abnormally long period of insufficient rainfall. Drought cannot be defined in terms of inches of rainfall or number of days without rain, since it is determined by such variable factors as th...

Celtic art

(Encyclopedia)Celtic art kĕlˈtĭk, sĕlˈ– [key]. The earliest clearly Celtic style in art was developed in S Germany and E France by tribal artisans of the mid- to late 5th cent. b.c. With the dispersal of Cel...

Van Gogh, Vincent

(Encyclopedia)Van Gogh, Vincent văn gō, Dutch vĭnsĕntˈ vän khôkh [key], 1853–90, postimpressionist painter, b. the Netherlands. Van Gogh's works are perhaps better known generally than those of any other p...

Mesopotamia

(Encyclopedia)Mesopotamia mĕsˌəpətāˈmēə [key] [Gr.,=between rivers], ancient region of Asia, the territory about the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, included in modern Iraq. The region extends from the Persian...

furniture

(Encyclopedia)furniture, properly such movables as chairs, tables, and beds; it is extended to include draperies, rugs, mirrors, lamps, and other furnishings. In its gradual evolution from periods of earliest civil...

Roman art

(Encyclopedia)Roman art, works of art produced in ancient Rome and its far-flung provinces. The continued striving after three-dimensional illusionist effects revealed in the various phases of painting was dup...

Chaucer, Geoffrey

(Encyclopedia)Chaucer, Geoffrey jĕfˈrē chôˈsər [key], c.1340–1400, English poet, one of the most important figures in English literature. To Chaucer's final period, in which he achieved his fullest artist...

Lurgan

(Encyclopedia)Lurgan lûrˈgən [key], town (1991 pop. 21,905), Co. Ulster, central Northern Ireland, near Lough Neagh. A textile center since the 17th cent., Lurgan is also a market hub with factories that produce...