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Gaonim

(Encyclopedia)Gaonim gāōˈnĭm [key] [Heb.,=excellencies], title given to the heads of the Jewish academies at Sura and Pumbedita in Babylonia immediately following the period of the Saboraim until the middle of ...

Jamnia

(Encyclopedia)Jamnia jăbˈnə, –nē [key] [Heb.,=God causes to build], ancient city, central Israel. Its modern name is Yavne. A central city of Philistia, the Bible refers to its walls being destroyed by Uzziah...

Faisal I

(Encyclopedia)Faisal I or Faysal I both: fīˈsəl [key], 1885–1933, king of Iraq (1921–33). The third son of Husayn ibn Ali, sherif of Mecca, he is also called Faisal ibn Husayn. Faisal was educated in Constan...

Ellesmere, Thomas Egerton, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Ellesmere, Thomas Egerton, Baron, 1540?–1617, jurist and statesman. A distinguished early career at law brought him appointment (1581) as solicitor general, and he became a favorite and adviser of Q...

Snead, Sam

(Encyclopedia)Snead, Sam (Samuel Jackson Snead) snēd [key], 1912–2002, American golfer, b. Ashwood, Va. An outstanding high school athlete, he turned to golf after injuring a hand as a football player. He attrac...

Bakhtiari

(Encyclopedia)Bakhtiari bäkhˌtēäˈrē, –ärēˈ, băkhˌ– [key], tribal group, numbering around 850,000, living in SW Iran, in a mountainous region (c.25,000 sq mi/64,750 sq km) in Khuzestan and Esfahan pro...

Baghdadi, Abu Bakr al-

(Encyclopedia)Baghdadi, Abu Bakr al-, nom de guerre of Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai, 1971–2019, Iraqi jihadist leader. Following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, he helped found a Sunni militia. Arres...

Oz, Amos

(Encyclopedia)Oz, Amos, 1939–2018, Israeli writer, b. Jerusalem as Amos Klausner. As a teenager he changed his name to Oz [Heb.,=strength]. A former kibbutz member, Israeli soldier, and schoolteacher, he became o...

Teagarden, Jack

(Encyclopedia)Teagarden, Jack (Weldon Leo Teagarden), 1905–64, American jazz trombonist and singer, b. Vernon, Tex. One of the earliest white bluesmen, he came from a jazz-playing family and was mainly self-taugh...

Rafsanjani, Hashemi

(Encyclopedia)Rafsanjani, Hashemi (Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani) älēˈ äkˈbär häshˈəmē räfˌsänjänˈē [key], 1934–2017, Iranian religious and political leader, president of Iran (1989–97). A Shiite...