Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Khafre

(Encyclopedia)Khafre kĕfˈrĕn [key], fl. 2565 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, of the IV dynasty, and builder of the second pyramid at Giza. His face is perhaps that represented on the Great Sphinx. An obscure king, ...

ecology

(Encyclopedia)ecology, study of the relationships of organisms to their physical environment and to one another. The study of an individual organism or a single species is termed autecology; the study of groups of ...

Uni

(Encyclopedia)Uni o͞oˈnē [key], fl. c.2300 b.c., Egyptian official of the VI dynasty. His career is known through his private inscription. After rising from an obscure court position to a position of command, he...

Giza

(Encyclopedia)Giza, Gizeh äl jēˈzö [key], city (1990 est. pop. 2,680,500), capital of Giza governorate, N Egypt, surburb of Cairo. It is a manufacturing and agricultural trade center. Products include textiles...

metronome

(Encyclopedia)metronome mĕˈtrənōmˌ [key], in music, originally pyramid-shaped clockwork mechanism to indicate the exact tempo in which a work is to be performed. It has a double pendulum whose pace can be alte...

Berisha, Sali

(Encyclopedia)Berisha, Sali sälēˈ bərĭˈshä [key], 1944–, Albanian political leader, b. Tropoja. A cardiologist and former Communist, he became involved in politics in the early 1990s, speaking publicly aga...

Uxmal

(Encyclopedia)Uxmal o͞oshmälˈ, o͞oz– [key], ancient city, northern Yucatán peninsula, Mexico. A Late Classic period Maya center situated in the Puuc hills, Uxmal flourished between 600 and 900. It is one of ...

Book of the Dead

(Encyclopedia)Book of the Dead, term used to describe Egyptian funerary literature. The texts consist of charms, spells, and formulas for use by the deceased in the afterworld and contain many of the basic ideas of...

Egyptian architecture

(Encyclopedia)Egyptian architecture, the architecture of the ancient Egyptians, formulated prior to 3000 b.c. and lasting through the Ptolemaic period (323–30 b.c.). Egyptian architectural development parallel...

tomb

(Encyclopedia)tomb, vault or chamber constructed either partly or entirely above ground as a place of interment. Although it is often used as a synonym for grave, the word is derived from the Greek tymbos [burial g...