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Pepi II

(Encyclopedia)Pepi II pāˈpē [key], d. c.2185 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, of the VI dynasty. His reign (c.2275–c.2185 b.c.) is the longest recorded in history. It was successful because the powerful southern l...

Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen

(Encyclopedia)Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen skōˈĭn [key], 1840–1922, English poet and political writer. After retiring c.1872 from the diplomatic service, he began a career of travel and political crusading. He wrote ...

Kircher, Athanasius

(Encyclopedia)Kircher, Athanasius ätänäˈzēo͝os kĭrkhˈər [key], 1601?–1680, German Jesuit archaeologist, mathematician, biologist, philologist, astronomer, musicologist, and physicist. One of the world's ...

Boutros-Ghali, Boutros

(Encyclopedia)Boutros-Ghali, Boutros bo͞oˈtrōs, gäˈlē [key], 1922–2016, Egyptian statesman, secretary-general of the United Nations (1992–96). Born into a politically connected Coptic Christian family, he...

Sisi, Abdul Fattah El-

(Encyclopedia)Sisi or Sissi, Abdul Fattah El- äbˈdəl fätˈtä ĕ-sēˈsē [key], 1954–, Egyptian military officer and government official, b. Cairo, grad. Egyptian Military Academy (1977), U.S. Army War Colle...

Johnson, Philip Cortelyou

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Philip Cortelyou, 1906–2005, American architect, museum curator, and historian, b. Cleveland, grad. Harvard Univ. (B.A., 1927). One of the first Americans to study modern European architect...

Pevsner, Sir Nikolaus

(Encyclopedia)Pevsner, Sir Nikolaus pĕvzˈnər [key], 1902–83, English architectural historian, b. Germany. Influenced by Heinrich Wölfflin, Pevsner contended in his many works that art must be considered withi...

Semper, Gottfried

(Encyclopedia)Semper, Gottfried gôtˈfrēt zĕmˈpər [key], 1803–79, German architect. Semper was among the most influential architects of the 19th cent. In his book Der Stil in den technischen und tektonischen...

squinch

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Squinch squinch, in architecture, a piece of construction used for filling in the upper angles of a square room so as to form a proper base to receive an octagonal or spherical dome. It was th...

Sinai

(Encyclopedia)Sinai sīˈnī [key], triangular peninsula, c.23,000 sq mi (59,570 sq km), NE Egypt. It is c.230 mi (370 km) long and 150 mi (240 km) wide and extends north into a broad isthmus linking Africa and Asi...