Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Asyut äsyo͞otˈ [key], city (1986 pop. 272,986), E central Egypt, on the Nile. An industrial and trading center and also the seat of a university, it is famed for pottery, carved bone and wood, leat...

(Encyclopedia) Ashdown Forest, area of heathland and forest, c.10 sq mi (2,500 ha), East Sussex, SE England, famous as the setting for the Winnie the Pooh books by A. A. Milne. E. H. Shepard's evocative illustration...

(Encyclopedia) Asherah -rŏth [key], Canaanite fertility goddess and the wooden cult symbol that represented her. She is the consort of El in the Ugaritic texts. Several passages in the Bible may refer to the planti...

(Encyclopedia) Mandan mănˈdăn, –dən [key], city (1990 pop. 15,177), seat of Morton co., S N.Dak., on the Missouri River opposite Bismarck; inc. 1881. A railroad division point, it is the distribution center fo...

(Encyclopedia) Martinsburg, industrial city (1990 pop. 14,073), seat of Berkeley co., NE W.Va., in the Eastern Panhandle; settled 1732, inc. as a city 1859. It is a railroad center in a region that grows apples and ...

(Encyclopedia) Moroni mōrōˈnē [key], town (1990 pop. 23,432), capital of Comoros, on Njazidja (formerly Grande Comore) island, at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, an arm of the Indian Ocean. Moroni is...

(Encyclopedia) castanets kăsˌtənĕtsˈ [key], percussion instruments known to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, possibly of Middle Eastern origin, now used primarily in Spanish dance music or imitations of it. Th...

(Encyclopedia) algum ălˈməg, ôlˈ– [key], precious wood mentioned in the Bible (2 Chron. 2.8; 9.10,11), used in the Temple of Solomon and in his palace, brought from Ophir and Lebanon. It is perhaps a red sand...

(Encyclopedia) Dove dŭv [key], river, c.40 mi (60 km) long, rising in the Pennines, Derbyshire, central England, and flowing S and SE to the River Trent near Burton upon Trent. It forms much of the Derbyshire-Staff...

(Encyclopedia) Cîmpulung kəmpo͝olo͞ongˈ [key], town, S central Romania, in Walachia, on the southern slope of the ...