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Sinai

(Encyclopedia)Sinai sīˈnī [key], triangular peninsula, c.23,000 sq mi (59,570 sq km), NE Egypt. It is c.230 mi (370 km) long and 150 mi (240 km) wide and extends north into a broad isthmus linking Africa and Asi...

Lannes, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Lannes, Jean zhäN län [key], 1769–1809, marshal of France. He fought under Napoleon Bonaparte (later Napoleon I) in the Italian and Egyptian campaigns, supported his coup of 18 Brumaire, and disti...

Menes

(Encyclopedia)Menes mēˈnēz [key], fl. 3200 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, of the first dynasty, the first Egyptian ruler for whom there are historical records. According to tradition, he seems to have united the s...

asp

(Encyclopedia)asp, popular name for several species of viper, one of which, the European asp (Vipera aspis), is native to S Europe. It is also a name for the Egyptian cobra (Naja haja). It is believed that the asp ...

Muhammad Abduh

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad Abduh 1849–1905, Egyptian Muslim religious reformer. His encounter in 1872 with Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani, in the Cairo mosque-university of al-Azhar, led to his transition from asceticism to...

Aphek

(Encyclopedia)Aphek āˈfĕk [key], in the Bible. 1 Canaanite royal town, the modern Ras el-Ain or Rosh Hayim (Israel). Herod called it Antipatris. It is mentioned in Egyptian documents dating from the 19th cent. b...

Desaix de Veygoux, Louis Charles Antoine

(Encyclopedia)Desaix de Veygoux, Louis Charles Antoine lwē shärl äNtwänˈ dəsāˈ də vāgo͞oˈ [key], 1768–1800, French general in the French Revolutionary Wars. He served under J. B. Jourdan and J. V. Mor...

Codrington, Sir Edward

(Encyclopedia)Codrington, Sir Edward kŏdˈrĭngtən [key], 1770–1851, British admiral. He held various commands in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, taking part in the battle of Trafalgar (1805) and ...

Bacchylides

(Encyclopedia)Bacchylides băkĭlˈĭdēz [key], fl. c.470 b.c., Greek lyric poet, b. Ceos; nephew of Simonides of Ceos. A contemporary of Pindar, he was patronized by Hiero I. His poetry is noted for its narrative...

Neopaganism

(Encyclopedia)Neopaganism, polytheistic religious movement, practiced in small groups by partisans of pre-Christian religious traditions such as Egyptian, Greek, Norse, and Celtic. Neopagans fall into two broad cat...