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Albion, ancient and literary name of Britain

(Encyclopedia)Albion ălˈbēən [key], ancient and literary name of Britain. It is usually restricted to England and is perhaps derived from the Latin albus meaning “white,” referring to the chalk cliffs of S ...

Albany, ancient and literary name of Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Albany, ancient and literary name of Scotland, N of the Firth of Forth and Firth of Clyde. Variants are Alban and Albin.

Egyptian language

(Encyclopedia)Egyptian language, extinct language of ancient Egypt, a member of the Afroasiatic family of languages (see Afroasiatic languages). The development of ancient Egyptian is usually divided into four peri...

Karnak

(Encyclopedia)Karnak kärˈnăk [key], village (1986 pop. 20,842), central Egypt, on the Nile. It is 1 mi (1.6 km) NE of Luxor and occupies part of the site of Thebes. Remains of the pharaohs abound at Karnak. Most...

Arabian Desert

(Encyclopedia)Arabian Desert or Eastern Desert, c.86,000 sq mi (222,740 sq km), E Egypt, bordered by the Nile valley in the west and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez in the east. It extends along most of Egypt's ea...

city

(Encyclopedia)city, densely populated urban center, larger than a village or a town, whose inhabitants are engaged primarily in commerce and industry. In the United States a city is legally an incorporated municipa...

Aswan

(Encyclopedia)Aswan or Assuan both: äswänˈ, ăswănˈ [key], city (1986 pop. 190,579), capital of Aswan governorate, S Egypt, on the Nile River at the First Cataract. It is one of the driest cities in the world....

Amenemhet I

(Encyclopedia)Amenemhet I äˌmĕnĕmˈhĕt, āˌ– [key], d. 1970 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, founder of the XII dynasty. The son of a powerful Theban family, he seized the kingship c.2000 b.c. The XII dynasty u...

Middle Kingdom

(Encyclopedia)Middle Kingdom or Middle Country, Mandarin Zhongguo, Chinese name for China. It dates from c.1000 b.c., when it designated the Chou empire situated on the North China Plain. The Chou people, unaware o...

Ugarit

(Encyclopedia)Ugarit o͞ogərētˈ [key], ancient city, capital of the Ugarit kingdom, W Syria, on the Mediterranean coast N of modern Latakia. Although the name of this city was known from Egyptian and Hittite sou...