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Punt

(Encyclopedia)Punt po͝ont [key], ancient land S of Egypt accessible by way of the Red Sea. Its exact location has not been identified, but it probably included the Somali coast. Temple reliefs at Deir el Bahari in...

Exodus

(Encyclopedia)Exodus ĕkˈsədəs [key], book of the Bible, 2d of the 5 books of the Law (the Pentateuch or Torah) ascribed by tradition to Moses. The book continues the story of the ancestors of Israel in Egypt, n...

Tonkin, Gulf of

(Encyclopedia)Tonkin, Gulf of, NW arm of the South China Sea, c.300 mi (480 km) long and 150 mi (240 km) wide, between Vietnam and China. The shallow gulf (less than 200 ft/60 m deep) receives the Red River. Haipho...

squill

(Encyclopedia)squill, common name for two genera of Old World bulbous plants of the family Liliaceae (lily family). The horticulturists' squill is any plant of the genus Scilla, mostly spring-blooming low herbs wit...

Kyzyl Kum

(Encyclopedia)Kyzyl Kum or Kizil Kum both: kəzŭlˈ ko͞om [key] [Turk.,=red sand], desert, c.115,000 sq mi (297,900 sq km), in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. This vast region SE of the Aral Sea between the Amu Darya ...

Aseb

(Encyclopedia)Aseb or Assab äˈsəb [key], town, Eritrea, on the Red Sea. Ethiopia's most important port before Eritrean independence (1993), it continued, through agreements with Erit...

Eckersberg, Christoffer Vilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Eckersberg, Christoffer Vilhelm krĭstôfˈər vĭlˈhĕlm ĕkˈərsbĕrkh [key], 1783–1853, Danish painter. He studied with J. L. David in Paris and in Rome became a friend of Thorvaldsen. After hi...

Perekop, Isthmus of

(Encyclopedia)Perekop, Isthmus of pĕrĭkôpˈ [key], c.19 mi (30 km) long and from 5 to 14 mi (8–23 km) wide, connecting Crimea with the Ukrainian mainland. The Crimean portion of the isthmus passed to Russian c...

Qina

(Encyclopedia)Qina kĕnˈə [key], town (1986 pop. 119,917), capital of Qina governorate, E central Egypt, on the Nile River. Sugarcane and grains are grown nearby, and pottery is made in the town. Qina was built o...

Bruce, James

(Encyclopedia)Bruce, James, 1730–94, Scottish explorer in Africa. He explored Roman ruins in N Africa (1755) from Tunis to Tripoli and visited Crete, Rhodes, and Asia Minor. In 1768 he traveled down the Red Sea a...