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Nabataea

(Encyclopedia)Nabataea năbˌətēˈə [key], ancient kingdom of Arabia, south of Edom, in present-day Jordan. It flourished from the 4th cent. b.c. to a.d. 106, when it was conquered by Rome. The history of Nabata...

Aretas

(Encyclopedia)Aretas ârˈĭtəs, –tăs [key], dynastic name of the Nabataean kings of Petra. The best-known Aretas was Aretas IV, 9 b.c.–a.d. 49, ruler of S Palestine, most of Jordan, N Arabia, and Damascus. H...

Beke, Charles Tilstone

(Encyclopedia)Beke, Charles Tilstone bēk [key], 1800–1874, English explorer and author. In Ethiopia in 1840–43 he mapped c.70,000 sq mi (181,300 sq km) of the country, determined the approximate course of the ...

Umm al-Qaiwain

(Encyclopedia)Umm al-Qaiwain o͞om äl-kīwīnˈ [key], sheikhdom (1995 pop. 35,157), c.300 sq mi (780 sq km), part of the federation of seven United Arab Emirates, SE Arabia, on the Persian Gulf. It is the least p...

Doughty, Charles Montagu

(Encyclopedia)Doughty, Charles Montagu dōˈtē, douˈtē [key], 1843–1926, English author and traveler. He is best known for his Travels in Arabia Deserta (1888), describing his life among the Bedouins. Now cons...

Aden

(Encyclopedia)Aden äˈdən, āˈdən [key], city, SW Yemen, on the Gulf of Aden near the southern entrance to the Red Sea. It is the chief port of Yemen. Aden consists of two peninsula...

oasis

(Encyclopedia)oasis ōāˈsĭs [key], an area within a desert where the water table reaches the surface, with enough moisture to permit the growth of vegetation. The water may come up to the surface in springs, or ...

Sargon, king of Akkad

(Encyclopedia)Sargon särˈgŏn [key], king of Akkad in Mesopotamia (reigned c.2340–c.2305 b.c.). By conquest he established a great empire that included the whole of Mesopotamia and extended over Syria and Elam,...

Malikshah

(Encyclopedia)Malikshah mälˈēkshäh [key], 1055–92, third sultan of the Seljuks (see Turks). In 1072 he succeeded his father to head an empire that controlled parts of Arabia, Mesopotamia, and areas near the P...

Shiites

(Encyclopedia)Shiites shēˈītz [key] [Arab., shiat Ali,=the party of Ali], the second largest branch of Islam, Shiites currently account for 10%–15% of all Muslims. Shiite Islam originated as a political moveme...