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Tyana

(Encyclopedia)Tyana tīˈənə [key], town of ancient Cappadocia, at the northern foot of the Taurus range, in present S central Turkey. A powerful military fortress and a prosperous commercial center as early as t...

Prester John

(Encyclopedia)Prester John, legendary Christian priest and monarch of a vast, wealthy empire in Asia or in Africa. The legend first appeared in the latter part of the 12th cent. and persisted for several centuries....

Osroene

(Encyclopedia)Osroene ŏsrōēˈnē [key], ancient kingdom of NW Mesopotamia, in present-day SE Turkey and NE Syria. Edessa was its capital. It broke away (2d cent. b.c.) from the Seleucid empire and formed a separ...

Ipsus

(Encyclopedia)Ipsus ĭpˈsəs [key], small town, ancient Phrygia, Asia Minor. Antigonus I, who had summoned his son Demetrius to his aid, was defeated and slain there by his rivals Seleucus and Lysimachus in 301 b....

Harpocrates

(Encyclopedia)Harpocrates härpŏkˈrətēz [key], the Greek name for the Egyptian sky god Horus. He was represented as a small boy with his finger held to his lips and came to be considered the god of silence. His...

Adrianople, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Adrianople, Treaty of, also called Treaty of Edirne, 1829, peace treaty between Russia and the Ottoman Empire (see Russo-Turkish Wars). Turkey gave Russia access to the mouths of the Danube and additi...

Nineveh

(Encyclopedia)Nineveh nĭnˈəvə [key], ancient city, capital of the Assyrian Empire, on the Tigris River opposite the site of modern Mosul, Iraq. A shaft dug at Nineveh has yielded a pottery sequence that can be ...

Kuchuk Kainarji, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Kuchuk Kainarji, Treaty of ko͞ocho͞okˈ kīnärˈjē, Turk. küchükˈ kīˌnärjäˈ [key], 1774, peace treaty signed at the end of the first of the Russo-Turkish Wars undertaken by Catherine II of...

Trajan

(Encyclopedia)Trajan (Marcus Ulpius Trajanus) trāˈjən [key], c.a.d. 53–a.d. 117, Roman emperor (a.d. 98–a.d. 117). Born in Spain, he was the first non-Italian to become head of the empire. Trajan served in t...

Domitian

(Encyclopedia)Domitian (Titus Flavius Domitianus) dōmĭshˈən [key], a.d. 51–a.d. 96, Roman emperor (a.d. 81–a.d. 96), son of Vespasian. Although intended as the heir to his older brother, Titus, he was given...