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incense

(Encyclopedia)incense, perfume diffused by the burning of aromatic gums or spices. Incense was used in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome and is mentioned in the Old and the New Testaments. It is also found in the maj...

Chalcedon

(Encyclopedia)Chalcedon kălˈsĭdŏn, –dən, kălsēˈdən [key], ancient Greek city of Asia Minor, on the Bosporus. It was founded by Megara on the shore opposite Byzantium in 685 b.c. Taken by the Persians and...

pith

(Encyclopedia)pith, in botany, core of the stem of most plants. Pith is composed of large, loosely packed food-storage cells. As the stem grows older the pith usually dries out, and in some it disintegrates and the...

Phocaea

(Encyclopedia)Phocaea fōsēˈə [key], ancient city, W Asia Minor, N of Smyrna (Izmir), in present Turkey. It was northernmost of the Greek Ionian cities. In the 7th cent. b.c. it grew into a maritime state; its c...

Patara

(Encyclopedia)Patara pătˈərə [key], ancient Mediterranean port of Lycia, S Asia Minor (now Turkey). It was a Dorian colony, and became the seat of the Lycian League (167 b.c.–a.d. 43). According to the Acts o...

Saint-Denis, city, Réunion

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Denis, city (1990 pop. 122,875), capital of the French overseas department of Réunion. It is a port on the Indian Ocean at the mouth of the St.-Denis River and exports sugar and rum. St.-Denis ...

Pamphylia

(Encyclopedia)Pamphylia pămfĭlˈēə [key], ancient region of S Asia Minor, on the coast between Lycia and Cilicia, in present S Turkey. Its chief cities were Attalia, Side, and Perga. Pamphylia was not a politic...

Syrian Desert

(Encyclopedia)Syrian Desert, Arabic Badiyat Ash Sham, arid wasteland, SW Asia, between the cultivated lands along the E Mediterranean coast and the fertile Euphrates River valley. It extends N from the Nafud Desert...

Caesarea Mazaca

(Encyclopedia)Caesarea Mazaca sĕsərēˈə măˈzəkə [key], ancient city of Asia Minor, also called Caesarea of Cappadocia. As Mazaca it was the residence of the Cappadocian kings. The city was renamed (c.10 b.c...

Zela

(Encyclopedia)Zela zēˈlə [key], ancient city of Pontus, NE Asia Minor. There Mithradates VI defeated Triarius c.67 b.c., and in 47 b.c. Julius Caesar defeated Pharnaces, king of Pontus, recording the victory in ...