Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Cairo geniza kōˈrō gənˈēzə [key], archive of ancient Jewish manuscripts found in the synagogue of Fostat-Cairo, Egypt (built 882). In the 1890s western scholars visited the synagogue and remove...

(Encyclopedia) Jullian, Camille kämēˈyə zhülyäNˈ [key], 1859–1933, French historian. His monumental Histoire de la Gaule (8 vol., 1908–26) combines scholarly erudition with colorful style and remains the ...

(Encyclopedia) Vivarais vēvärāˈ [key], region, roughly coextensive with Ardèche dept., SE France. Its mountainous terrain rises to 5,753 ft (1,754 m) in the Mézenc. Cattle raising is the chief occupation. Silk...

(Encyclopedia) Rab räb [key], Ital. Arbe, island, 40 sq mi (104 sq km) off Croatia, in the Adriatic Sea. One of the Dalmatian islands, it is a popular seaside resort. Fishing and agriculture are the main occupation...

(Encyclopedia) Round Table, in Arthurian legend, the table at which King Arthur and his knights held court. It was allegedly fashioned at the behest of Arthur to prevent quarrels among the knights over precedence. A...

(Encyclopedia) Odenwald ōˈdənvält [key], hilly, forested region, S central Germany, bordering on the Neckar and Main rivers and the Rhine plain. Its highest point (2,055 ft/626 m) is the Katzenbuckel. Fruit and ...

(Encyclopedia) Aubry de Montdidier ōbrēˈ də môNdēdyāˈ [key], in French legend, a French courtier of King Charles V, murdered c.1371 near Montargis by one Macaire. The animosity of Aubry's dog toward Macaire ...

(Encyclopedia) Wellesley College, at Wellesley, Mass.; for women; chartered 1870, opened 1875. Long a leader in women's education, it was the first woman's college to have scientific laboratories. With Lake Waban an...

(Encyclopedia) Renart, Jean zhäN rənärˈ [key], fl. 1212, French poet. He is believed to be the author of two charming romans courtois, or metrical romances—Guillaume de Dole and L'Escoufle [the hawk] as well a...

(Encyclopedia) Ciudad Real thyo͞oᵺäᵺˈ rāälˈ [key], city, capital of Ciudad Real prov., cen...