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Lydia, ancient country, Asia

(Encyclopedia)Lydia, ancient country, W Asia Minor, N of Caria and S of Mysia (now NW Turkey). The tyrant Gyges was the founder of the Mermnadae dynasty, which lasted from c.700 b.c. to 550 b.c. The little kingdom ...

Mansa Musa

(Encyclopedia)Mansa Musa (Musa I) mänˈsä mo͞oˈsä [key], c.1280–1337, ruler of the Mali empire (1312–37). A devout Muslim, he brought the Mali empire to its greatest height, encompassing what is now Niger ...

Kanauj

(Encyclopedia)Kanauj or Kannauj both: kənoujˈ [key], town (1991 pop. 58,932), Uttar Pradesh state, N central India, on the Ganges River. It is a market center for tobacco, perfume, and rose water. A very ancient ...

Babylonia

(Encyclopedia)Babylonia băbĭlōˈnēə [key], ancient empire of Mesopotamia. The name is sometimes given to the whole civilization of S Mesopotamia, including the states established by the city rulers of Lagash, ...

Leo III, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)Leo III (Leo the Isaurian or Leo the Syrian), c.680–741, Byzantine emperor (717–41). He was probably born in N Syria (rather than in Isauria, as once thought). He held diplomatic and military post...

Khazars

(Encyclopedia)Khazars khäˈzärz [key], ancient Turkic people who appeared in Transcaucasia in the 2d cent. a.d. and subsequently settled in the lower Volga region. They emerged as a force in the 7th cent. and ros...

Cilicia

(Encyclopedia)Cilicia sĭlĭshˈə [key], ancient region of SE Asia Minor, in present S Turkey, between the Mediterranean and the Taurus range. It included a high and barren plateau, Cilicia Trachia or Cilicia Trac...

Trabzon

(Encyclopedia)Trabzon trĕbˈĭzŏndˌ [key], city (1990 pop. 144,805), capital of Trabzon prov., NE Turkey, a port on the Black Sea. A commercial and transportation center with renovated port facilities, it export...

Iron Age

(Encyclopedia)Iron Age, period in the development of industry that begins with the general use of iron and continues into modern times. In Asia, Egypt, and Europe it was preceded by the Bronze Age. It did not begin...

Laurier, Sir Wilfrid

(Encyclopedia)Laurier, Sir Wilfrid lôˈrēā, Fr. lōryāˈ [key], 1841–1919, Canadian prime minister. He studied law at McGill Univ. His premiership of Canada (1896–1911), the first to be held by a French Can...