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Semite

(Encyclopedia)Semite sĕmˈīt, sēˈmīt [key], originally one of a people believed to be descended from Shem, son of Noah. Later the term came to include the following peoples: Arabs; the Akkadians of ancient Bab...

Bet Shean

(Encyclopedia)Bet Shean bāt shĭänˈ [key], town, NE Israel, in the Jordan River valley, c.300 ft (90 m) below ...

Zhenjiang

(Encyclopedia)Zhenjiang chĭnˈkyăngˈ, jĭnˈjyängˈ [key], city (1994 est. pop. 405,700), S Jiangsu prov., China, a port at the junction of the Grand Canal with the Chang River. It is also on the Shanghai-Nanji...

autonomy

(Encyclopedia)autonomy ôtŏnˈəmē [key] [Gr.,=self-rule], in a political sense, limited self-government, short of independence, of a political state or, more frequently, of a subdivision. The term is also used f...

Layard, Sir Austen Henry

(Encyclopedia)Layard, Sir Austen Henry lāˈərd [key], 1817–94, English archaeologist and diplomat. Between 1842 and 1851 he explored and excavated in Mesopotamia, especially at Nineveh. In the period from 1852 ...

Malikshah

(Encyclopedia)Malikshah mälˈēkshäh [key], 1055–92, third sultan of the Seljuks (see Turks). In 1072 he succeeded his father to head an empire that controlled parts of Arabia, Mesopotamia, and areas near the P...

Goltz, Colmar, Freiherr von der

(Encyclopedia)Goltz, Colmar, Freiherr von der kôlˈmär frīˈhĕr fən dər gôlts [key], 1843–1916, Prussian field marshal and military historian. A soldier, he served in the Austro-Prussian War (1866) and the...

Aviz

(Encyclopedia)Aviz ävēzhˈ [key], village, Portalegre dist., central Portugal, in Alto Alentejo. The Castilian order of the Knights of Calatrava assisted in driving the Moors from Portugal and in 1166 settled at ...

Larsa

(Encyclopedia)Larsa lärˈsə [key], ancient city of S Babylonia, in modern Iraq, 30 mi (48 km) NW of An Nasiriyah. It was the biblical Ellasar (Gen. 14.1). When the last king of the third dynasty of Ur was overthr...

Mitanni

(Encyclopedia)Mitanni mĭtănˈē [key], ancient kingdom established in the 2d millennium b.c. in NW Mesopotamia. It was founded by Aryans but was later made up predominantly of Hurrians. Washshukanni was its capit...