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Hussein, Saddam

(Encyclopedia)Hussein, Saddam sädämˈ ho͞osānˈ [key], 1937–2006, Iraqi political leader. A member of the Ba'ath party, he fled Iraq after participating (1959) in an assassination attempt on the country's pri...

Saadia ben Joseph al-Fayumi

(Encyclopedia)Saadia ben Joseph al-Fayumi säˈdēä, äl-fīyo͞oˈmē [key], 882–942, Jewish scholar, b. Egypt. He was known as Saadia Gaon. He was the head of the great Jewish Academy at Sura, Babylonia, which...

Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud

(Encyclopedia)Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud: see Ibn Saud. ...

Kharga

(Encyclopedia)Kharga äl khärˈēnjä [key], large oasis (1986 pop. 38,544), S central Egypt, in the Libyan (Western) Desert. Populated chiefly by Arab Bedouins and Arab-speaking Berbers, the irrigated oasis produ...

Abadi, Haidar Jawad Kadhim al-

(Encyclopedia)Abadi, Haidar Jawad Kadhim al-, 1952–, Iraqi political leader. A Shiite, Abadi received a doctorate in electrical engineering from the Univ. of Manchester (1981), then lived and worked in exile in B...

Al-Biruni, Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad

(Encyclopedia)Al-Biruni or Al Beruni, Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad äbo͞oˈ rīhänˈ məhămˈĭd ĭbˈən äˈməd ăl-bēro͞oˈnē, ăl bĕro͞oˈnē [key], b. 973, d. after 1050, Central Asian scientist. His...

Al-Fasi, Isaac ben Jacob ha-Kohen

(Encyclopedia)Al-Fasi, Isaac ben Jacob ha-Kohen äl-fäˈsē [key], 1013–1103, prominent Jewish Talmudic scholar of the very late Gaonic period, b. near Fès, N Africa. He headed the rabbinical school at Fès unt...

Mansur, al-, 914–1002, Moorish regent of Córdoba

(Encyclopedia)Mansur, al- (Muhammad ibn Abi-Amir al-Mansur billah), 914–1002, Moorish regent of Córdoba, known in Spanish as Almanzor. He became steward to Princess Subh, wife of the caliph Hakim II, and under h...

Euphrates

(Encyclopedia)Euphrates yo͞ofrāˈtēz [key], Turkish Frat, Arabic Al Furat, river of SW Asia, c.1,700 mi (2,740 km) long, formed by the confluence of the Kara and the Murad rivers, E central Turkey, and flowing g...

Ba'ath party

(Encyclopedia)Ba'ath party bäˈäth [key], Arab political party, in Syria and in Iraq. Founded in Damascus in 1941 with an ideology of secularism, socialism, and pan-Arab unionism, it was reformed with the name Ba...