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Tantawi, Hussein

(Encyclopedia)Tantawi, Hussein (Mohamed Hussein Tantawi Soliman), 1935–, Egyptian field marshal. Joining the army in 1956, he became defense minister (1991) and commander-in-chief of the armed forces (1995). He s...

Shenouda III

(Encyclopedia)Shenouda III, 1923–2012, pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church (see Copts), 1971–2012; successor of Cyril VI. Born Nazeer Gayed, he attended Cairo Univ. (B.A. 1947) and the Coptic Orthodox Theologica...

Dionysus

(Encyclopedia)Dionysus dīənīˈsəs [key], in Greek religion and mythology, god of fertility and wine. Legends concerning him are profuse and contradictory. However, he was one of the most important gods of the G...

Athena

(Encyclopedia)Athena pălˈəs [key], in Greek religion and mythology, one of the most important Olympian deities. According to myth, after Zeus seduced Metis he learned that any son she bore would overthrow him, s...

Babylon, ancient city, Mesopotamia

(Encyclopedia)Babylon băbˈəlŏn [key], ancient city of Mesopotamia. One of the most important cities of the ancient Middle East, it was on the Euphrates River and was north of the cities that flourished in S Mes...

Mahfouz, Naguib

(Encyclopedia)Mahfouz, Naguib nəgēbˈ mäkhfo͞osˈ [key], 1911–2006, Egyptian novelist and short-story writer, b. Cairo. After his graduation (1934) from Cairo Univ., he worked in various government ministries...

Ugarit

(Encyclopedia)Ugarit o͞ogərētˈ [key], ancient city, capital of the Ugarit kingdom, W Syria, on the Mediterranean coast N of modern Latakia. Although the name of this city was known from Egyptian and Hittite sou...

moon worship

(Encyclopedia)moon worship. Although the moon has not had great prominence in the history of religion, the worship of it has been known since earliest recorded time—in the oldest literatures of Egypt, Babylonia, ...

Omdurman

(Encyclopedia)Omdurman ŏmdərmänˈ [key], Arab. Umm Durman, city (1993 pop. 1,271,403), E central Sudan, on the White Nile opposite Khartoum. It is the largest city and chief commercial center of Sudan and part o...

nave

(Encyclopedia)nave nāv [key], in general, all that part of a church that extends from the atrium to the altar and is intended exclusively for the laity. In a strictly architectural sense, however, the term indicat...