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Avites

(Encyclopedia)Avites āˈvīts [key], in the Bible. 1 People of SW ancient Palestine, probably assimilated by the Philistines. They appear as Avims in Deuteronomy. 2 People of Ava. ...

Bromsgrove

(Encyclopedia)Bromsgrove brŏmzˈgrōv [key], town and district, Worcestershire, central England. An ancient ...

Brünig Pass

(Encyclopedia)Brünig Pass brüˈnĭkh [key], 3,396 ft (1,035 m) high, ancient route between the Forest Cantons and the Bernese Alps, central Switzerland. It is crossed by a highway and a railroad. ...

Cana

(Encyclopedia)Cana kāˈnə [key], ancient town of Galilee. According to the Gospel of St. John it was here that Jesus performed his first miracle by turning water into wine at a wedding. ...

Maine, Sir Henry James Sumner

(Encyclopedia)Maine, Sir Henry James Sumner, 1822–88, English jurist and historian, educated at Cambridge. A pioneer in the historical and comparative study of institutions, he viewed the history of laws as the m...

Lop Nur

(Encyclopedia)Lop Nur lôp nûr [key], salt basin, SE Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, in the Tarim River basin. Since 1964, Lop Nur has been used by the China for its nuclear test explosions. Once a large ...

Hatra

(Encyclopedia)Hatra hăˈtrə [key], Arab. Al Hadr, ancient city and fortress, in modern-day Iraq, 68 mi (110 km) SW of Mosul. It flourished from the 1st cent. b.c. to the 2nd cent. a.d. under the Parthian Empire (...

Hermon, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Hermon, Mount hûrˈmən [key], Arabic Jabal Ash Shaykh [mountain of the chief] and Jebel-eth-Thelj [snowy mountain], on the Syria-Lebanon border. The highest of its three peaks (all of which are snow...

chariot

(Encyclopedia)chariot, earliest and simplest type of carriage and the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. The chariot was known among the Babylonians before the introduction of horses c.2000 b.c. and was first d...

Behistun Inscription

(Encyclopedia)Behistun Inscription bēso͞oto͞onˈ, bēsə– [key], cuneiform text, the decipherment of which was the key to all cuneiform script and opened to scholars the study of the written works of ancient M...