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Apis

(Encyclopedia)Apis āˈpĭs [key], in Egyptian religion, sacred bull of Memphis, said to be the incarnation of Osiris or of Ptah. His worship spread throughout the Mediterranean world and was particularly important...

Neith

(Encyclopedia)Neith nēt [key], in Egyptian religion, goddess of hunting and war. Her cult was very popular during the XXVI dynasty, particularly at Saïs. She also assumed the attributes of a mother goddess and wa...

Heliopolis, ancient city, Egypt

(Encyclopedia)Heliopolis hēlēŏpˈəlĭs [key] [Gr.,=city of the sun], ancient city, N Egypt, in the Nile delta, 6 mi (10 km) below modern Cairo. It was noted as the center of sun worship, and its god Ra or Re wa...

religion, freedom of

(Encyclopedia)religion, freedom of: see Constitution of the United States. ...

Religion, Wars of

(Encyclopedia)Religion, Wars of, 1562–98, series of civil wars in France, also known as the Huguenot Wars. The immediate issue was the French Protestants' struggle for freedom of worship and the right of establis...

Dodona

(Encyclopedia)Dodona dōdōˈnə [key], in Greek religion, the oldest oracle, in inland Epirus, near modern Janina, sacred to Zeus and Dione. According to Herodotus, an old oak tree there became an oracle when a bl...

Thoth

(Encyclopedia)Thoth thŏth, tōt [key], in Egyptian religion, god of wisdom and magic. A patron of learning and of the arts, he was credited with many inventions, including writing, geometry, and astronomy. Perhaps...

Frankfort, Henri

(Encyclopedia)Frankfort, Henri äNrēˈ [key], 1897–1954, American archaeologist, b. the Netherlands. He directed the excavations of the Egypt Exploration Society (1925–29) and the Iraq expeditions (1929–37) ...

Stanhope, Lady Hester Lucy

(Encyclopedia)Stanhope, Lady Hester Lucy, 1776–1839, English traveler. Leaving England in 1810, she traveled in the Levant, adopting Eastern male dress and a religion that was a composite of Christianity and Isla...

Al Aswany, Alaa

(Encyclopedia)Al Aswany, Alaa, 1957–, Egyptian author, b. Cairo. The son of a novelist-lawyer, he was trained as a dentist at Cairo Univ. (grad. 1980) and the Univ. of Illinois at Chicago (M.S., 1987) and has com...