Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Cnidus or Cnidos both: nīˈdəs [key], ancient Greek city of Caria, SW Asia Minor, on Cape Krio, in present SW Asian Turkey. It was partly on the peninsula and partly on an island that had been creat...

(Encyclopedia) wake, watch kept over a dead body, usually during the night preceding burial. Ancient peoples in various parts of the world observed the custom. As an ancient ritual, it was rooted in a concern that n...

(Encyclopedia) Diamond Head, peak, 761 ft (232 m) high, along the rim of an extinct volcano, SE Oahu island, Hawaii. A prominent point in the Honolulu skyline, Diamond Head was designated a national natural landmark...

(Encyclopedia) Ezion-geber –gāˈ– [key] [both: Heb.,=giant's backbone], ancient port, on the Gulf of Aqaba. The site, near Aqaba, is now some distance from the shore, which is advancing. The Bible reveals the e...

(Encyclopedia) Tiy tē [key], fl. 1385 b.c., queen of ancient Egypt, wife of Amenhotep III. Of humble origin, she was remarkable for her influence in state affairs in the reigns of her husband and of Ikhnaton, her s...

(Encyclopedia) Biarritz byärētsˈ [key], town, Pyrénées-Atlantiques dept., SW France, on the Bay of Bisc...

(Encyclopedia) Hippodamus hĭpŏdˈəməs [key], fl. 5th cent. b.c., Greek architect, b. Miletus. He was the first to plan cities according to geometric layouts. For Pericles he remodeled Piraeus (the port of Athens...

(Encyclopedia) manuscript, a handwritten work as distinguished from printing. The oldest manuscripts, those found in Egyptian tombs, were written on papyrus; the earliest dates from c.3500 b.c. parchment, which succ...

(Encyclopedia) Rzhev ərzhĕfˈ [key], city (1989 est. pop. 70,000), NW European Russia, on the Volga River and on a major rail line to Moscow. It has textile plants and repair shops for railroad equipment. Rzhev, a...

(Encyclopedia) Berenice, c.280–46 b.c., queen-consort of ancient Syria; wife of Antiochus II. She was called Berenice Syra. She was the daughter of Ptolemy II, and her marriage (252) to Antiochus II marked a tempo...