Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Debir dēˈbər [key], in the Bible. 1 King of Eglon. 2 City, ancient Palestine, WSW of Hebron, on the main caravan route to Egypt. Also called Kirjath-sannah and Kirjath-sepher. 3 Unidentified locati...

(Encyclopedia) Mesopotamia mĕsˌəpətāˈmēə [key] [Gr.,=between rivers], ancient region of Asia, the territory about the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, included in modern Iraq. The region extends from the Persian...

(Encyclopedia) Berenice bĕrənīˈsē [key], b. c.340 b.c., d. 281 or 271 b.c., consort and half-sister of Ptolemy I, king of ancient Egypt. A Macedonian, she was the widow of Philip, one of the officers of Alexand...

(Encyclopedia) Badakhshan bädäkhshänˈ, bədəkhshänˈ [key], province (1979 est. pop. 497,000), 17,011 sq mi (44,059 sq km), extreme NE Afghanistan, between the Hindu Kush Mts. and the Amu Darya River. The capi...

(Encyclopedia) phallic worship fălˈĭk [key], worship of the reproductive powers of nature as symbolized by the male generative organ. Phallic symbols have been found by archaeological expeditions all over the wor...

(Encyclopedia) Westminster Palace or Houses of Parliament, in Westminster, London. The present enormous structure, of Neo-Gothic design, was built (1840–60) by Sir Charles Barry to replace an aggregation of ancien...

(Encyclopedia) Chengdu chŭng-do͞o [key] or Chengtu, city (2021 est. metro. area pop. 9,305,116), capital o...

(Encyclopedia) horseshoe pitching, game played by two or more persons using horseshoes, the object being to throw the shoes so as to encircle a vertical iron peg that is 14 in. (35.6 cm) high. Regulation courts are ...

(Encyclopedia) inoculation, in medicine, introduction of a preparation into the tissues or fluids of the body for the purpose of preventing or curing certain diseases. The preparation is usually a weakened culture o...

(Encyclopedia) Feodosiya fāˌədôˈsēə [key], city, E Crimea. From 1954 part of Ukraine (then the Ukrainian SSR), ...