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Tashkent

(Encyclopedia)Tashkent tŏsh– [key], city (1992 pop. 2,133,000), capital of Tashkent region and of Uzbekistan, in the foothills of the Tian Shan mts.; the name is also spelled Dashkent. The largest and one of the...

shrew

(Encyclopedia)shrew, common name for the small, insectivorous mammals of the family Soricidae, related to the moles. Shrews include the smallest mammals; the smallest shrews are under 2 in. (5.1 cm) long, excluding...

isthmus

(Encyclopedia)isthmus ĭsˈməs [key], narrow neck of land connecting two larger land areas. Since it commands the only land route between two large areas and is on two seas, an isthmus has great strategical and co...

Hierapolis

(Encyclopedia)Hierapolis hīərăpˈəlĭs [key], ancient city of Phrygia, W Asia Minor, 7 mi (11.3 km) N of Laodicea and on a plateau 500 ft (152 m) above the Lycus valley (in present-day Turkey). Devoted to the w...

Jones, Brian

(Encyclopedia)Jones, Brian, 1947–, British balloonist, b. Bristol. A former Royal Air Force pilot, he entered the world of ballooning in the 1980s, and in 1997 became an organizer for the attempt of the British-b...

Avars

(Encyclopedia)Avars äˈvärz [key], mounted nomad people who in the 4th and 5th cent. dominated the steppes of central Asia. Dislodged by stronger tribes, the Avars pushed west, increasing their formidable army by...

Manzikert

(Encyclopedia)Manzikert mănˈzĭkərt [key], Turk. Malazgirt, village, E Turkey, SE of Erzurum. It was an important town of ancient Armenia. A council held there in a.d. 726 reasserted the independence of the Arme...

lake dwelling

(Encyclopedia)lake dwelling, prehistoric habitation built over the shallow waters of a lake shore or a marsh, usually erected on pile-supported platforms, but sometimes on artificial islands or mounds. Such a site ...

Callisthenes

(Encyclopedia)Callisthenes kəlĭsˈthənēz [key], c.360–c.327 b.c., Greek historian of Olynthus; nephew of Aristotle. He accompanied Alexander the Great into Asia as the historian of the expedition. At first he...

Tahmasp

(Encyclopedia)Tahmasp täˈmäsp [key], 1514–76, shah of Persia (1524–76), son and successor of Ismail and the second of the Safavid dynasty. He successfully repulsed persistent invasions by the Uzbeks. Sulayma...