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Mantinea

(Encyclopedia)Mantinea mănˌtĭnēˈə [key], city of ancient Greece, in E central Arcadia (now Arkadhía). In the Peloponnesian War a coalition led by Mantinea and Argos and urged on by Athens was defeated (418 b...

Orchomenus

(Encyclopedia)Orchomenus ôrkŏmˈĭnəs [key], ancient city of Boeotia, central Greece, NW of Lake Copaïs. After 1600 b.c. it was an important center of the Mycenaean civilization. In later times the city was ecl...

Plataea

(Encyclopedia)Plataea plətēˈə [key], ancient city of Greece, in S Boeotia (now Voiotía), on the slope of Mt. Cithaeron (Kithairón). Plataea had voluntarily passed from Theban to Athenian protection before the...

Luxor

(Encyclopedia)Luxor lŭkˈsôr, lo͝okˈ– [key], city (1996 pop. 360,503), central Egypt, on the east bank of the Nile. It is 1 mi (1.6 km) SW of Karnak and occupies part of the site of Thebes. The temple of Luxo...

Debir

(Encyclopedia)Debir dēˈbər [key], in the Bible. 1 King of Eglon. 2 City, ancient Palestine, WSW of Hebron, on the main caravan route to Egypt. Also called Kirjath-sannah and Kirjath-sepher. 3 Unidentified locati...

Urgench , ancient city, present-day Turkmenistan

(Encyclopedia)Urgench o͝orgyĕnchˈ [key], ancient city of central Asia, on the site of present-day Kunya-Urgench (Köhne Ürgenç), in Turkmenistan. It lies c.85 mi (140 km) NW of modern Urganch, Uzbekistan. A ma...

Arcadia, region of ancient Greece

(Encyclopedia)Arcadia ärkāˈdēə [key], region of ancient Greece, in the middle of the Peloponnesus, without a seaboard, and surrounded and dissected by mountains. The Arcadians, relatively isolated from the res...

Milo, athlete of ancient Greece

(Encyclopedia)Milo mīˈlŏn [key], fl. 500 b.c., athlete of ancient Greece, b. Crotona. He won numerous victories in wrestling at the Olympic and Pythian games. He is said to have carried a heifer on his shoulders...

Abydos, ancient town of Phrygia

(Encyclopedia)Abydos, ancient town of Phrygia, Asia Minor, on the Asian side of the Hellespont opposite Sestos, in present-day Turkey. It was originally a Milesian colony. Near there Xerxes built his bridge of boat...

Pausanias, geographer of ancient Greece

(Encyclopedia)Pausanias, fl. a.d. 150, traveler and geographer, probably b. Lydia. His Description of Greece is an invaluable source for the topography, monuments, and legends of ancient Greece. There are translati...