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Carnarvon, George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Carnarvon, George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th earl of kärnärˈvən [key], 1866–1923, English Egyptologist. With Howard Carter he excavated in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt, fro...

Qattara Depression

(Encyclopedia)Qattara Depression mo͝ongkhäfädˈ äl-kät-täräˈ [key], desert basin, c.7,000 sq mi (18,130 sq km), NW Egypt, NE Africa, in the Libyan Desert. It was long believed to be the lowest point (436 ft...

Pelusium

(Encyclopedia)Pelusium pĭlo͞oˈshēəm [key], ancient city of Egypt, on the easternmost branch of the Nile (long since silted up) and c.20 mi (30 km) E of modern Port Said. It was especially important as a fronti...

Cyrus the Great

(Encyclopedia)Cyrus the Great sīˈrəs [key], d. 529 b.c., king of Persia, founder of the greatness of the Achaemenids and of the Persian Empire. According to Herodotus, he was the son of an Iranian noble, the eld...

Cleopatra's Needles

(Encyclopedia)Cleopatra's Needles, name in popular use for two obelisks of red granite from Egypt. Originally erected at Heliopolis (c.1475 b.c.) by Thutmose III, they were transported to Alexandria (c.14 b.c.) und...

Amenemhet III

(Encyclopedia)Amenemhet III äˌmĕnĕmˈhĕt, āˌ– [key], d. 1801 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, of the XII dynasty. He was the son and successor of Sesostris III, with whom he had been coregent. He extended the ...

Jabal Awliya

(Encyclopedia)Jabal Awliya jĕbˈəlˈ ouˈlēə [key], village, E central Sudan, S of Khartoum. Nearby is a large dam (completed 1937) that is used to control the flow of the Nile to aid the Aswan Dam (see Aswan) ...

Hypatia

(Encyclopedia)Hypatia hīpāˈshə [key], d.415, Alexandrian Neoplatonic philosopher and mathematician, a woman renowned for her learning, eloquence, and beauty. Little is known of her writings. Her fame is largely...

Hogarth, David George

(Encyclopedia)Hogarth, David George hōˈgärth [key], 1862–1927, English archaeologist, keeper (1909–27) of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. He explored and excavated (1887–1907) in Cyprus, Crete, Egypt, Syria,...

Levi

(Encyclopedia)Levi lēˈvī [key], in the Bible. 1 Son of Jacob and Leah and eponymous ancestor of the Levites. His name appears infrequently—at his birth, when he and Simeon massacred the Shechemites out of reve...