Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

368 results found

Maurya

(Encyclopedia)Maurya mouˈəryə [key], ancient Indian dynasty, c.325–c.183 b.c., founded by Chandragupta (Chandragupta Maurya). He conquered the Magadha kingdom and established his capital at Pataliputra (now Pa...

Cyclopean

(Encyclopedia)Cyclopean sīkləpēˈən [key], name often applied to a primitive method of prehistoric masonry construction, found throughout Greece, Italy, and the Middle East. The term is derived from Cyclopes, t...

Eggleston, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Eggleston, Edward, 1837–1902, American author, Methodist clergyman, b. Vevay, Ind., educated in frontier schools. Before 1870 he was a Bible agent, a farm worker, a circuit rider in Minnesota and In...

Kish, ancient city, Mesopotamia

(Encyclopedia)Kish kĭsh [key], ancient city of Mesopotamia, in the Euphrates valley, 8 mi (12.9 km) E of Babylon and 12 mi (19 km) east of the modern city of Hillah, Iraq. It was occupied from very ancient times, ...

Boğazköy

(Encyclopedia)Boğazköy or Boghazkeui bōäzˈköy [key], village, N central Turkey. Boğazköy (or Hattusas as it was called) was the chief center of the Hittite empire (1400–1200 b.c.), which was consolidated ...

Caere

(Encyclopedia)Caere sēˈrē [key], ancient city of Etruria, c.30 mi (50 km) N of Rome, Italy, at the site of the modern Cerveteri. Although a few miles from the sea, it had ports at Alsium (near modern Palo) and P...

Ward, Lester Frank

(Encyclopedia)Ward, Lester Frank, 1841–1913, American sociologist and paleontologist, b. Joliet, Ill. Largely self-educated, he eventually took degrees in medicine and law. He worked as a government geologist and...

Sigerist, Henry Ernest

(Encyclopedia)Sigerist, Henry Ernest sĭgˈərĭst [key], 1891–1957, American medical historian and writer, b. Paris, M.D. Univ. of Zürich, 1917. He taught history of medicine at the universities of Zürich (192...

Whitehead, Alfred North

(Encyclopedia)Whitehead, Alfred North, 1861–1947, English mathematician and philosopher, grad. Trinity College, Cambridge, 1884. There he was a lecturer in mathematics until 1911. At the Univ. of London he was a ...

Schliemann, Heinrich

(Encyclopedia)Schliemann, Heinrich hīnˈrĭkh shlēˈmän [key], 1822–90, German archaeologist, discoverer of the ruins of Troy. He accumulated a fortune in the indigo trade and as a military contractor and reti...
 

Browse by Subject