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Sevier

(Encyclopedia)Sevier, river, c.280 mi (450 km) long, formed in SW Utah by the junction of Panguitch Creek and Assay Creek. It flows northward through canyons, then leaves the mountains and flows SW through the Sevi...

Dasht-e Kavir

(Encyclopedia)Dasht-e Kavir däsht-ēkävērˈ [key], great salt desert, c.500 mi (800 km) long and c.200 mi (320 km) wide, SE of the Elburz Mts., N central Iran. It is a huge basin of interior drainage named after...

gerbil

(Encyclopedia)gerbil jûrˈbĭl [key], small desert rodent found throughout the hot arid regions of Africa and Asia. Also known as sand rats, gerbils have large eyes and powerful, elongated hind limbs upon which th...

sandstorm

(Encyclopedia)sandstorm, strong dry wind blowing over the desert that raises and carries along clouds of sand or dust often so dense as to obscure the sun and reduce visibility almost to zero; also known as a dusts...

Nestorian Church

(Encyclopedia)Nestorian Church, officially the Assyrian Church of the East, Christian community of Iraq, Iran, and SW India. It represents the ancient church of Persia and is sometimes also called the East Syrian C...

David, Félicien César

(Encyclopedia)David, Félicien César fālēsyăNˈ sāzärˈ dävēdˈ [key], 1810–76, French composer. His ode-symphony Le Desert (1844) and his opera Lalla-Roukh (1862) contain Eastern elements, presaging the ...

Demetrius II, king of ancient Syria

(Encyclopedia)Demetrius II (Demetrius Nicator) nīkāˈtər [key], d. c.125 b.c., king of ancient Syria, son of Demetrius I. He was aided against the usurper, Alexander Balas, by Ptolemy VI (Ptolemy Philometer). He...

Iamblichus

(Encyclopedia)Iamblichus īămˈblĭkəs [key], d. c.330, Syrian philosopher, a leading exponent of Neoplatonism. A pupil of Porphyry, he was deeply impressed by the doctrines of Plotinus. In his own teachings he c...

Jonathan

(Encyclopedia)Jonathan jŏnˈəthən [key] [short for Jehonathan, Heb.,=Yahweh has given]. 1 In the Bible, Saul's son and David's friend, killed at the battle of Mt. Gilboa. David showed kindness to his son Mephibo...

Syriac

(Encyclopedia)Syriac sērˈēăkˌ [key], late dialect of Aramaic, which is a West Semitic language (see Afroasiatic languages). The early Christians of Mesopotamia and Syria gave the Greek name Syriac to the Arama...