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Phraates

(Encyclopedia)Phraates frā–āˈtēz [key], kings of Parthia of the dynasty of Arsaces. Phraates II, fl. 130 b.c., decisively defeated (129 b.c.) Antiochus VII of Syria, permanently annexing E Mesopotamia to his ...

Barada

(Encyclopedia)Barada ăbˈənə [key], river, 52 mi (84 km) long, rising in the Anti-Lebanon Mts. and flowing S to marshy Lake Al Utaybah, SE Syria; forms the Ghouta oasis, site of the city of Damascus. The Barada'...

Sargon, king of Akkad

(Encyclopedia)Sargon särˈgŏn [key], king of Akkad in Mesopotamia (reigned c.2340–c.2305 b.c.). By conquest he established a great empire that included the whole of Mesopotamia and extended over Syria and Elam,...

Baldwin II, Latin king of Jerusalem

(Encyclopedia)Baldwin II (Baldwin of Le Bourg), d. 1131, Latin king of Jerusalem (1118–31), count of Edessa (1100–1131); cousin and successor of Baldwin I. He accompanied Godfrey of Bouillon on the First Crusad...

Posidonius

(Encyclopedia)Posidonius pōsēdōˈnēəs [key], c.135–c.51 b.c., Greek Stoic philosopher, b. Apamea, Syria. He settled in Rhodes after extensive travels. Noted for his learning, Posidonius gave new life to Stoi...

Jordan, river, Asia

(Encyclopedia)Jordan, river, c.200 mi (320 km) long, formed in the Hula basin, N Israel, by the confluence of three headwater streams and meandering S through the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea; the region of Pales...

Assassin

(Encyclopedia)Assassin əsăsˈĭn [key], European name for the member of a secret order of the Ismaili sect of Islam. They are known as Nizaris after Nizar ibn al-Mustansir, whom they supported as caliph; the Euro...

Paulicians

(Encyclopedia)Paulicians pôlĭshˈənz [key], Christian heretical sect. The sect developed in Armenia from obscure origins and is first mentioned in the middle of the 6th cent., where it is associated with Nestori...

Thutmose III

(Encyclopedia)Thutmose III thŏthˈmēz, tōtˈmĕs [key], d. 1436 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, of the XVIII dynasty; the successor of Thutmose II. After the death of Thutmose II, his wife Hatshepsut became regent ...

Seleucus I

(Encyclopedia)Seleucus I (Seleucus Nicator) səlyo͞oˈkəs [key], d. 280 b.c., king of ancient Syria. An able general of Alexander the Great, he played a leading part in the wars of the Diadochi. In the new partit...