Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Shekinah shēkīˈnə [key] [Heb.,=dwelling, presence], in Judaism, term used in the Targum (Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible) and elsewhere to indicate the manifestation of the presence of God...

(Encyclopedia) White Huns or Hephthalites hĕfˈthəlītsˌ [key], people of obscure origins, possibly of Tibetan or Turkish stock. They were called Ephthalites by the Greeks, and Hunas by the Indians. There is no d...

(Encyclopedia) Lautaro loutäˈrō [key], c.1533–57, leader of the Araucanians in their nearly successful attempt to reconquer S central Chile from the Spanish. He was captured by the Spanish conquistador, Pedro d...

(Encyclopedia) Hendrick, c.1680–1755, chief of the Mohawks. He was known also as Tiyanoga. He became a Christian and was an ally of the British. He represented his people at the Albany Congress (1754). The next ye...

(Encyclopedia) Barabbas bərăbˈəs [key] [Aram.,=son of the father], bandit held in jail at the time of Jesus' arrest. Pontius Pilate, who, according to the Gospels, annually released a prisoner at Passover, offer...

(Encyclopedia) Eric IX (Eric the Saint), d. 1160, king of Sweden. He led (1157?) a Christian crusade to Finland, where he left the bishop of Uppsala in charge of missionary work. While attending mass he was killed b...

(Encyclopedia) Gomer gōˈmər [key], in the Bible. 1 Wife of the prophet Hosea. 2 Son of Japheth and eponym of a people, probably the Cimmerians. ...

(Encyclopedia) sweetener, artificial, substance used as a low-calorie sugar substitute. Saccharin, cyclamates, and aspartame have been the most commonly used artificial sweeteners. Saccharin, a coal-tar derivative t...

(Encyclopedia) Kananga lo͞olwäbo͞orˈ [key], city (1984 pop. 298,693), capital of Kasai-Central prov., S central Congo (Kinshasa), on the Lulua River. It is the commercial and transportation center of a region wh...

(Encyclopedia) Lions International, organization of business and professional people, founded (1917) by Melvin Jones. The International Association of Lions Clubs (popularly known as Lions International) is devoted ...