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Josiah

(Encyclopedia)Josiah jōsīˈəs [key], in the Bible. 1 King of Judah, son and successor of Amon. The great event of his reign came in its 18th year, when the book of the law, apparently Deuteronomy, was found in t...

Bel and the Dragon

(Encyclopedia)Bel and the Dragon, customary name for chapter 14 of the Book of Daniel, a passage included in the Septuagint and the Apocrypha. It was written possibly in the 1st cent. b.c. as a response to Gentile ...

Ibn Khalikan

(Encyclopedia)Ibn Khalikan ĭbn khăˈlēkăn [key] or Ahmad bin Muhammad al-Barmaki al-Irbili ash-Shafii, 1211–82, Arabic biographer, b. in Erbil, Iraq. Ibn Khallikan lived and served as a judge and scholar in M...

National Museum of African American History and Culture

(Encyclopedia)National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C., a division of the Smithsonian Institution. Devoted to the collection, presentation, and preservation of the culture of Africa...

Karim Khan

(Encyclopedia)Karim Khan kärēmˈ khän [key], d. 1779, ruler of Persia (1750–79), founder of the Zand dynasty. He emerged victorious from a contest for power and ruled under the title Vakil [representative]. Hi...

Constantine XI, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)Constantine XI (Constantine Palaeologus), d. 1453, last Byzantine emperor (1449–53), brother and successor of John VIII. To secure Western aid against the Turkish assault on what remained of the emp...

Hariri

(Encyclopedia)Hariri (Abu Muhammad al-Kasim al-Hariri) härēˈrē [key], 1054–1122, Arab writer of Basra. His principal work is one of the most popular of Arabic books. It is called Makamat [literary assemblies]...

Ghor

(Encyclopedia)Ghor, Ghowr go͝or [key], mountainous region and province (1979 est. pop. 341,000), 14,085 sq mi (36,479 sq km), W central Afghanistan, including a ruined medieval city of the same name. Chagcharan i...

Kasala

(Encyclopedia)Kasala or Kassala both: käsäˈlä, kăsˈəlä [key], city (1993 pop. 234,622), E Sudan. It is a market center and rail transport hub and has extensive fruit gardens. Founded in 1840 as a military c...

angel

(Encyclopedia)angel ānˈjəl [key], [Gr.,=messenger], bodiless, immortal spirit, limited in knowledge and power, accepted in the traditional belief of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and other religions. Angels a...