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Al Kufah

(Encyclopedia)Al Kufah äl ko͞oˈfä [key], town, S central Iraq. Founded (638) by Caliph Umar I, it was one of the two Muslim centers (the other was Basra) of the early Ummayad caliphs. ...

Fertile Crescent

(Encyclopedia)Fertile Crescent, historic region of the Middle East. A well-watered and fertile area, it arcs across the northern part of the Syrian desert. It is flanked on the west by the Mediterranean and on the ...

Arbela

(Encyclopedia)Arbela ärbēˈlə [key], town of ancient Assyria. Its name is sometimes given to the battle fought at Gaugamela, some 60 mi (100 km) away, in which Alexander the Great defeated (331 b.c.) Darius III....

London School of Economics and Political Science

(Encyclopedia)London School of Economics and Political Science, at London, England; founded 1895, recognized as a school of the Univ. of London (see London, Univ. of) in 1900. It publishes many periodicals, includi...

Richardson, Ernest Cushing

(Encyclopedia)Richardson, Ernest Cushing, 1860–1939, American librarian and bibliographer, b. Woburn, Mass. He was assistant librarian at Amherst (1879–80), librarian and professor of bibliology at Hartford The...

Jesuit Relations

(Encyclopedia)Jesuit Relations, annual reports and narratives written by French Jesuit missionaries at their stations in New France (America) between 1632 and 1673. They are invaluable as historical sources for Fre...

muslin

(Encyclopedia)muslin, general name for plain woven fine white cottons for domestic use. It is believed that muslins were first made at Mosul (now a city of Iraq). They were widely made in India, from where they wer...

Faisal II

(Encyclopedia)Faisal II or Feisal II both: fīˈsəl [key], 1935–58, king of Iraq (1939–58). He ascended to the throne on the death of his father, King Ghazi. After a long regency, Faisal attained his majority ...

Yaqut al-Hamawi

(Encyclopedia)Yaqut al-Hamawi yäko͞otˈ äl-hämäwēˈ [key], 1179–1229, Arab geographer. Born in Byzantium, he was bought as a slave by a merchant, al-Hamawi. He was freed on the death of his master and trave...

Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah

(Encyclopedia)Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah khōmāˈnē [key], 1900–1989, Iranian Shiite religious leader. Educated in Islam at home and in theological schools, in the 1950s he was designated ayatollah, a supreme...