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Pactolus

(Encyclopedia)Pactolus păktōˈləs [key], small river of ancient Lydia, W central Asia Minor (now Turkey), joining the Hermus (modern Gediz) after passing Sardis. It was famous for the gold washed from its sands,...

Lystra

(Encyclopedia)Lystra lĭsˈtrə [key], ancient city of Lycaonia, S Asia Minor, in present Turkey. The Acts of the Apostles reports that it was visited by Paul and Barnabas. An ancient altar found there mentioned th...

Hedin, Sven Anders

(Encyclopedia)Hedin, Sven Anders svĕn änˈdərs hĕdēnˈ [key], 1865–1952, Swedish explorer in central Asia. Following soon after Przhevalsky, Hedin explored Tibet, Xinjiang, and the Kunlun and Trans-Himalaya ...

Karakorum, mountain range, Kashmir

(Encyclopedia)Karakorum or Karakoram, mountain range, extending c.300 mi (480 km), between the Indus and Yarkant rivers, N Kashmir, S central Asia; SE extension of the Hindu Kush. It covers disputed territory, held...

goat

(Encyclopedia)goat, ruminant mammal with hollow horns and coarse hair belonging to the genus Capra of the cattle family and closely related to the sheep. True wild goats, all of Old World origin, include the Persia...

gamboge

(Encyclopedia)gamboge gămbōjˈ [key] [Fr.,=Cambodia], an intensely yellow pigment obtained from the sap of Garcinia morella, a tree of SE Asia and Sri Lanka. ...

Norris, Edwin

(Encyclopedia)Norris, Edwin, 1795–1872, English philologist. Norris wrote a number of articles on little-known languages of Asia and Africa. His most important work was his uncompleted Assyrian Dictionary (3 vol....

Nyssa

(Encyclopedia)Nyssa nĭsˈə [key], name of several ancient cities devoted to the worship of Dionysus. The best known of them is a town of Cappadocia, Asia Minor, near the Halys (now the Kizil Irmak) River. It was ...

Cape Dezhnev

(Encyclopedia)Cape Dezhnev dĕzhˈnəf, Russ. dyāshˈnyəf [key] or East Cape, northeasternmost point of Asia, Russian Far East, on Chukchi Peninsula and on the Bering Strait. It is named after Semyon Dezhnev, the...

spice

(Encyclopedia)spice, aromatic vegetable product used as a flavoring or condiment. The term was formerly applied also to pungent or aromatic foods (e.g., gingerbread and currants), to ingredients of incense or perfu...