Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Mitanni

(Encyclopedia)Mitanni mĭtănˈē [key], ancient kingdom established in the 2d millennium b.c. in NW Mesopotamia. It was founded by Aryans but was later made up predominantly of Hurrians. Washshukanni was its capit...

Sesostris II

(Encyclopedia)Sesostris II sĭsŏsˈtrĭs [key], d. 1878 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, of the XII dynasty. He was the son of Amenemhet II, first his coregent (1900 b.c.), then his successor (1897–1878). His son Se...

Uni

(Encyclopedia)Uni o͞oˈnē [key], fl. c.2300 b.c., Egyptian official of the VI dynasty. His career is known through his private inscription. After rising from an obscure court position to a position of command, he...

Sudd

(Encyclopedia)Sudd so͝od [key], swampy region, c.200 mi (320 km) long, and c.150 mi (240 km) wide, central South Sudan, E central Africa. It is fed by the Bahr el Jebel, the Bahr el Ghazal, and the Bahr el Arab, h...

Taylor, Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Taylor, Isaac, 1829–1901, English clergyman, antiquarian, and author, chiefly noted for researches in philology. In 1885, Taylor became canon of York. His inclination toward controversy led to the w...

Stanhope, Lady Hester Lucy

(Encyclopedia)Stanhope, Lady Hester Lucy, 1776–1839, English traveler. Leaving England in 1810, she traveled in the Levant, adopting Eastern male dress and a religion that was a composite of Christianity and Isla...

Brooklyn Museum of Art

(Encyclopedia)Brooklyn Museum of Art, museum in the borough of Brooklyn, N.Y. Its predecessors were the Brooklyn Apprentices' Library (1823), the Brooklyn Institute (1843), and the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sc...

fire escape

(Encyclopedia)fire escape, in architecture, device, either fixed or movable, to facilitate escape from a burning building. In the United States the term usually is applied to the common iron balconies and stairways...

Bard College

(Encyclopedia)Bard College, at Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.; founded 1860 as St. Stephen's College for men; rechartered 1935 as Bard College; became coeducational in 1944; affiliated with Columbia Univ. 1928–44. A s...

atrium

(Encyclopedia)atrium āˈtrēəm [key], term for an interior court in Roman domestic architecture and also for a type of entrance court in early Christian churches. The Roman atrium was an unroofed or partially roo...

Browse by Subject