Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

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...

Mannaeans

(Encyclopedia)Mannaeans mănēˈənz [key], ancient people of Asia Minor, occupying the region E of Assyria and SE of Urartu, in present-day NW Iran. Their kingdom, which flourished in the 9th and 8th cent. b.c., s...

Arnold, Sir Edwin

(Encyclopedia)Arnold, Sir Edwin, 1832–1904, English author. After serving as principal of the government college in Pune, India, he joined (1861) the staff of the London Daily Telegraph. He won fame for his blank...

Kálimnos

(Encyclopedia)Kálimnos käˈlēmnôs [key], mountainous island (1991 pop. 15,706), 41 sq mi (106 sq km), SE Greece, one of the Dodecanese, 11 mi (18 km) off the coast of Asia Minor. A sponge-fishing center, it als...

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...

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...

CARE

(Encyclopedia)CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere), nonprofit, nonsectarian federation of agencies devoted to channeling relief and self-help materials to needy people in foreign countries. Organ...

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...

Ustyurt

(Encyclopedia)Ustyurt o͝ostˌyo͞ortˈ [key], desert plateau, c.62,000 sq mi (160,600 sq km), Central Asia, between the Caspian and Aral seas. It rises to between c.490 and 980 ft (150–300 m). It occupies the so...