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Lucian

(Encyclopedia)Lucian lo͞oˈshən [key], b. c.120, d. after 180, Greek writer, also called Lucianus, b. Samosata, Syria. In late life he held a government position in Egypt. Lucian wrote an easy, masterly Attic pro...

Volney, Constantin François de Chassebœuf, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Volney, Constantin François de Chassebœuf, comte de kôNstäNtăNˈ fräNswäˈ də shäsböfˈ kôNt də vôlnāˈ [key], 1757–1820, French scholar. He traveled in Egypt and Syria in the 1780s an...

Syriac

(Encyclopedia)Syriac sērˈēăkˌ [key], late dialect of Aramaic, which is a West Semitic language (see Afroasiatic languages). The early Christians of Mesopotamia and Syria gave the Greek name Syriac to the Arama...

Ter-Petrossian, Levon

(Encyclopedia)Ter-Petrossian, Levon, 1945–, Armenian political leader, president of Armenia (1991–98), b. Aleppo, Syria, grad. Yerevan State Univ. (1971), Leningrad Oriental Studies Institute (Ph.D., 1987). A s...

Varus

(Encyclopedia)Varus (Publius Quinctilius Varus) vârˈəs [key], d. a.d. 9, Roman general. In 13 b.c. he was consul with Tiberius Claudius Nero (later emperor as Tiberius) and later was governor of Syria. Although ...

Seleucus II

(Encyclopedia)Seleucus II (Seleucus Callinicus), d. 226 b.c., king of ancient Syria (247–226 b.c.), son of Antiochus II. On his father's death there was a struggle for the throne between Seleucus and his stepmoth...

Phoenician art

(Encyclopedia)Phoenician art. The Phoenician region developed as a major trade center of the ancient world; consequently Phoenician art clearly reflects the influences of Egypt, Syria, and Greece. Phoenician deitie...

Sadi

(Encyclopedia)Sadi or Saadi both: säˈdē [key], Persian poet, 1184–1291. b. Shiraz. Orphaned at an early age, Sadi studied in Baghdad, where he met Suhrawardi, a major Sufi figure. Having to flee Baghdad becaus...

Ptolemy IX

(Encyclopedia)Ptolemy IX (Ptolemy Lathyrus) ləthīˈrəs [key], d. 81 b.c., king of ancient Egypt (116–107 b.c., 88–81 b.c.) of the Macedonian dynasty, son of Ptolemy VIII and the younger Cleopatra. He is also...

Baghdad Railway

(Encyclopedia)Baghdad Railway, railroad of international importance linking Europe with Asia Minor and the Middle East. The line runs from İstanbul, Turkey, to Basra, Iraq; it connected what were distant regions o...