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magic square

(Encyclopedia)magic square, a square divided into parts with letters or numbers inscribed therein that, whether combined vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, form the same sum or the same word. In ancient times...

Manetho

(Encyclopedia)Manetho mănˈĭthō [key], fl. 300 b.c., Egyptian historian, a priest at Heliopolis, under Ptolemy I and Ptolemy II. His work, covering the history of Egypt from legendary times to 323 b.c., is writt...

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...

Candace

(Encyclopedia)Candace kănˈdəsē, kăndāˈsē [key], title for queens in ancient Cush (Kush). The Latinized form of kandake, it was mistakenly treated in some sources as a name. One of them made war (c.22 b.c.) ...

Valle, Pietro della

(Encyclopedia)Valle, Pietro della pyĕˈtrō dĕlˈlä välˈlā [key], 1586–1652, Italian traveler in Asia. He sailed (1614) from Venice; spent a year in Constantinople, where he studied Turkish and Arabic; then...

Warner, Rex

(Encyclopedia)Warner, Rex, 1905–86, English author, b. Birmingham, grad. Oxford, 1928. A classical scholar noted for his translations from Greek and Latin, Warner taught in England, Egypt, and the United States. ...

Runge, Philipp Otto

(Encyclopedia)Runge, Philipp Otto fēˈlĭp ôtˈō ro͝ongˈə [key], 1777–1810, German painter. Immersed in the mysticism of the romantic movement in Germany, Runge became a central figure of romantic painting....

Berbera

(Encyclopedia)Berbera bûrˈbərə [key], city, Somaliland region, N Somalia, a port on the Gulf of Aden. The ...

Shafi'i, al-

(Encyclopedia)Shafi'i, al- (Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i), 767–820, Islamic jurist. Raised and educated in Mecca and Medina, he taught in Egypt and Baghdad. His teachings laid the groundwork for the...

Seti II

(Encyclopedia)Seti II sēˈtī, sāˈtē [key], d. 1205 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, of the XIX dynasty. He was one of the kings who reigned briefly after Merneptah, and seems to have ruled for about four years. Af...