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Ibn Khalikan

(Encyclopedia)Ibn Khalikan ĭbn khăˈlēkăn [key] or Ahmad bin Muhammad al-Barmaki al-Irbili ash-Shafii, 1211–82, Arabic biographer, b. in Erbil, Iraq. Ibn Khallikan lived and served as a judge and scholar in M...

Syrian Desert

(Encyclopedia)Syrian Desert, Arabic Badiyat Ash Sham, arid wasteland, SW Asia, between the cultivated lands along the E Mediterranean coast and the fertile Euphrates River valley. It extends N from the Nafud Desert...

Ptolemy VI

(Encyclopedia)Ptolemy VI (Ptolemy Philometor) fĭləmēˈtər [key], d. 145 b.c., king of ancient Egypt (180–145 b.c.), of the Macedonian dynasty, son of Ptolemy V. He became king when an infant, and his mother, ...

Chamoun, Camille

(Encyclopedia)Chamoun, Camille kämēˈyə shämōnˈ [key], 1900–1987, Lebanese political leader. Chamoun held a variety of governmental posts before serving as president of Lebanon (1952–58). A Maronite Chris...

Romanus III

(Encyclopedia)Romanus III (Romanus Argyrus) ärˈjĭrəs [key], c.968–1034, Byzantine emperor (1028–34). An aged senator, he married Zoë and thus succeeded to the throne. A capricious ruler, he depleted his tr...

Trebonius, Caius

(Encyclopedia)Trebonius, Caius trēbōˈnēəs [key], d. 43 b.c., Roman politician. When tribune (55 b.c.) of the plebs he proposed the Lex Trebonia by which Pompey obtained Spain, Crassus obtained Syria, and Caesa...

Yarmuk

(Encyclopedia)Yarmuk yärmo͞okˈ [key], river, c.50 mi (80 km) long, rising near the Jordan-Syria border and flowing generally W to the Jordan River, S of the Sea of Galilee. One of the region's larger rivers, it ...

Kurds

(Encyclopedia)Kurds kûrds, ko͝ords [key], a non-Arab Middle Eastern minority population that inhabits the region known as Kurdistan, an extensive plateau and mountain area, c.74,000 sq mi (191,660 sq km), in SW A...

Maan

(Encyclopedia)Maan məänˈ [key], town (1996 est. pop. 18,000), S Jordan. It is the terminus of the country's main rail line (which extends to Damascus, Syria) and carries on trade in agricultural produce. Importa...

John I, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)John I (John Tzimisces) tsĭmĭsˈēz [key], c.925–976, Byzantine emperor (969–76). With the aid of Emperor Nicephorus II's wife, Theophano, John had Nicephorus murdered and himself proclaimed emp...