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Abu Nuwas

(Encyclopedia)Abu Nuwas äˈbo͞o no͞owäsˈ [key], c.750–c.810, Arab poet, b. Ahvaz, Persia. He spent most of his life in Baghdad. High in favor with the caliphs Harun ar-Rashid and Amin, he lived a courtier's ...

Abu Tammam Habib ibn Aus

(Encyclopedia)Abu Tammam Habib ibn Aus täm-mämˈ häbēbˈ ĭˈbən ous [key], c.805–c.845, Arab poet, compiler of the Hamasa. His poems of valor, often describing historical events, are important as source mat...

amphoterism

(Encyclopedia)amphoterism ămˌfətĕrˈĭzm [key], in chemistry, the property of certain substances of acting either as acids or as bases depending on the reaction in which they are involved. Many hydroxide compou...

Mutesa I

(Encyclopedia)Mutesa I mo͞otāˈsə [key], d. 1884, kabaka, or king, of Buganda (now in Uganda), c.1857–84. He brought Buganda to its height by increasing the autocratic powers of the kabaka, strengthening the a...

nadir

(Encyclopedia)nadir nāˈdər [key] [Arab.,=opposite], in astronomy, the point on the celestial sphere directly opposite the zenith, i.e., directly beneath the observer. ...

Druze

(Encyclopedia)Druze or Druse dro͞oz [key], religious community of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, with important overseas branches in the Americas and Australia. The religious leadership prefers the name Muwah...

rebec

(Encyclopedia)rebec rēˈbĕk [key], one of the earliest forms of the violin. It was pear-shaped, had from three to five strings, and possessed a strident tone. Its use, which began in the 13th cent., was to play m...

Weizman, Ezer

(Encyclopedia)Weizman, Ezer āˈzər vītˈsmän [key], 1924–2005, Israeli military officer and politician, president of Israel (1993–2000), b. Tel Aviv. A nephew of Chaim Weizmann, he helped found the Israeli ...

Qur'an

(Encyclopedia)Qur'an or Koran kōrănˈ, –ränˈ [key] [Arab.,=reading, recitation], the sacred book of Islam. Revealed by God to the Prophet Muhammad in separate revelations over the major portion of the Prophet...

Marshall, Kerry James

(Encyclopedia)Marshall, Kerry James, 1955–, American painter, b. Birmingham, Ala., B.F.A. Otis Art Institute (now Otis College of Art and Design), Los Angeles, 1978. A figurative and narrative artist whose subjec...