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Abydos, ancient city of Egypt

(Encyclopedia)Abydos əbīˈdəs [key], ancient city of Egypt, c.50 mi (80 km) NW of Thebes, near modern El Balyana. Associated in religion with Osiris, Abydos became the most venerated place in Egypt. It was the f...

polytheism

(Encyclopedia)polytheism pŏlˈēthēĭzəm [key], belief in a plurality of gods in which each deity is distinguished by special functions. The gods are particularly synonymous with function in the Vedic religion (...

Qutb, Sayyid

(Encyclopedia)Qutb, Sayyid sīˈyĭd kŭˈtəb [key], 1906–66, Egyptian Islamist whose critique of modern civilization and Islam provides the theoretical underpinnings for many contemporary Islamic militants. Edu...

Cromer, Evelyn Baring, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Cromer, Evelyn Baring, 1st earl of ēvˈlĭn bârˈĭng krōˈmər [key], 1841–1917, British administrator in Egypt. Appointed (1877) first British commissioner of the Egyptian public debt office, h...

Suppiluliumas

(Encyclopedia)Suppiluliumas, fl. 14th cent. b.c., Hittite king (1390–54 b.c.). The greatest statesman-warrior in Hittite history, he left on his death an empire that was stronger, though not richer, than Egypt. H...

Zaghlul Pasha, Saad

(Encyclopedia)Zaghlul Pasha, Saad säd zäglo͞olˈ päshäˈ [key], c.1850–1927, Egyptian nationalist leader, founder of the Wafd party. He suffered both arrest (1882) and exile (1919) for his attempts to end fo...

Zawahiri, Ayman al-

(Encyclopedia)Zawahiri or Zawahri, Ayman al- both: īˈmän äl-zäwäˈrē [key], 1951–, militant Egyptian Islamist. A surgeon by education and training, he became involved with the Muslim Brotherhood and joined...

Arish, Al

(Encyclopedia)Arish, Al äl ärēshˈ [key], town (1986 pop. 67,337), NE Egypt, in the Sinai peninsula, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is a fishing port and a military and administrative center; since the 1980s it ha...

Mariette, Auguste Édouard

(Encyclopedia)Mariette, Auguste Édouard ōgüstˈ ādwärˈ märyĕtˈ [key], 1821–81, French Egyptologist. On a visit (1850–54) to Egypt to collect Coptic manuscripts for the Louvre, he excavated (1851) the r...

Belzoni, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Belzoni, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēsˈtä bĕltsôˈnē [key], 1778–1823, Italian adventurer and antiquities dealer. He began as a Capuchin monk and later sold religious goods and worke...