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Bika, El

(Encyclopedia)Bika, El: see Biqa, Al.

Litani

(Encyclopedia)Litani, river, Lebanon: see Biqa, Al. ...

Murad V

(Encyclopedia)Murad V, 1840–1904, Ottoman sultan (1876), son of Abd al-Majid. He came to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) when his uncle, Abd al-Aziz, was deposed, but he was soon declared insane and was...

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...

Qattara Depression

(Encyclopedia)Qattara Depression mo͝ongkhäfädˈ äl-kät-täräˈ [key], desert basin, c.7,000 sq mi (18,130 sq km), NW Egypt, NE Africa, in the Libyan Desert. It was long believed to be the lowest point (436 ft...

Idrisi

(Encyclopedia)Idrisi ĕ– [key], in full Abu Abdallah Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Abdallah Ibn Idris Al-Hammudi Al-Hasani Al-Idrisi, b. 1099?, d. after 1154, Arab geographer, b. Ceuta. He traveled in Europe, Asia Mi...

Midhat Pasha

(Encyclopedia)Midhat Pasha mĭdhätˈ päshäˈ [key], 1822–83, Turkish politician. As governor of Bulgaria he succeeded within the few years of his tenure (1864–69) in raising the country from misery to relati...

Faiyum, El

(Encyclopedia)Faiyum, El fīyo͞omˈ [key], region, coextensive with El Faiyum governorate, N Egypt, W of the Nile River, a depression (entirely below sea level) in the Libyan (or Western) Desert. It is an irrigat...

amphoterism

(Encyclopedia)amphoterism ămˌfətĕrˈĭzm [key], in chemistry, the property of certain substances of acting either as acids or as bases depending on the reaction in which they are involved. Many hydroxide compou...

Druze

(Encyclopedia)Druze or Druse dro͞oz [key], religious community of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, with important overseas branches in the Americas and Australia. The religious leadership prefers the name Muwah...