Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

democracy

(Encyclopedia)democracy [Gr.,=rule of the people], term originating in ancient Greece to designate a government where the people share in directing the activities of the state, as distinct from governments controll...

fishing

(Encyclopedia)fishing, act of catching fish for consumption or display. Fishing—usually by hand, club, spear, net, and (at least as early as 23,000 years ago) by hook—was known to prehistoric people. It was pra...

relief

(Encyclopedia)relief, in sculpture, three-dimensional projection from a flat background. In alto-relievo, or high relief, the protrusion is great; basso-relievo, or bas-relief, protrudes only slightly; and mezzo-re...

Arabs

(Encyclopedia)Arabs, name originally applied to the Semitic peoples of the Arabian Peninsula. It now refers to those persons whose primary language is Arabic. They constitute most of the population of Algeria, Bahr...

Iconium

(Encyclopedia)Iconium īkōˈnēəm [key], ancient city of Asia Minor, the modern Konya, Turkey. In ancient days it was at various times in Phrygia, Lycaonia, Cappadocia, and the Roman province of Galatia. It was v...

Riblah

(Encyclopedia)Riblah rĭbˈlə [key]. 1 In the Bible, unidentified boundary landmark, N ancient Palestine. 2 City of ancient Syria, used by the Egyptians and later by the Neo-Babylonians as a headquarters in the we...

Haverfield, Francis John

(Encyclopedia)Haverfield, Francis John hăvˈərfēld [key], 1860–1919, English historian and archaeologist. Educated at Oxford, he also worked under Theodor Mommsen. In 1907 he became Camden professor of ancient...

Tell el Amarna

(Encyclopedia)Tell el Amarna or Tel el Amarna both: tĕl ĕl ämärˈnä [key], ancient locality, Egypt, near the Nile and c.60 mi (100 km) N of Asyut. Ikhnaton's capital, Akhetaton, was in Tell el Amarna. About 40...

Mommsen, Theodor

(Encyclopedia)Mommsen, Theodor tāˈōdōr mômˈsən [key], 1817–1903, German historian. Appointed (1848) professor of civil law at the Univ. of Leipzig, he supported the Revolution of 1848 and lost his chair be...

Arabia

(Encyclopedia)Arabia ərāˈbēə [key], peninsula (1991 est. pop. 35,000,000), c.1,000,000 sq mi (2,590,000 sq km), SW Asia. It is bordered on the W by the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea, on the S by the Gulf of Ad...
 

Browse by Subject