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Amu Darya

(Encyclopedia)Amu Darya or Amudarya both: ämo͞oˈ däryäˈ, äˈmo͞o därˈyə [key], river, c.1,600 mi (2,580 km) long, formed by the junction of the Vakhsh and Pandj rivers, which rise in the Pamir Mts. of ce...

Commagene

(Encyclopedia)Commagene kŏməjēˈnē [key], ancient district of N Syria, on the Euphrates River and S of the Taurus range, now in SE Asian Turkey. Its metropolis, Samosata, was founded by Samos, the king of Comma...

peach

(Encyclopedia)peach, fruit tree (Prunus persica) of the family Rosaceae (rose family) having decorative pink blossoms and a juicy, sweet drupe fruit. The peach appears to have originated in China, where it was ment...

Samanid

(Encyclopedia)Samanid sämäˈnĭd [key], Muslim Persian dynasty that ruled (819–1005) in Khorasan and Transoxiana as vassals of the Abbasids; founded by Saman-Khuda, of old Persian aristocracy. The Samanids were...

Trabzon

(Encyclopedia)Trabzon trĕbˈĭzŏndˌ [key], city (1990 pop. 144,805), capital of Trabzon prov., NE Turkey, a port on the Black Sea. A commercial and transportation center with renovated port facilities, it export...

Thousand and One Nights

(Encyclopedia)Thousand and One Nights or Arabian Nights, series of anonymous stories in Arabic, considered as an entity to be among the classics of world literature. The cohesive plot device concerns the efforts of...

Buyid

(Encyclopedia)Buyid bo͞oˈyĭd [key], Shiite Islamic dynasty of N Persian descent that controlled Iraq and Persia from c.945 to 1060; founded by the sons of Buyeh. In the 930s, Buyeh's sons (Ali, Hasan, and Ahmad)...

Caracalla

(Encyclopedia)Caracalla kărəkălˈə [key], 188–217, Roman emperor (211–17); son of Septimius Severus. His real name was Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, and he received his nickname from the caracalla, a Gallic tu...

velvet

(Encyclopedia)velvet, fabric having a soft, thick, short pile, usually of silk, and a plain twill or satin weave ground. The pile surface is formed by weaving an extra set of warp threads that are looped over wires...

Belisarius

(Encyclopedia)Belisarius bĕlĭsârˈēəs [key], c.505–565, Byzantine general under Justinian I. After helping to suppress (532) the dangerous Nika riot (see Blues and Greens), he defeated (533–34) the Vandals...