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Leo VI, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)Leo VI (Leo the Wise or Leo the Philosopher), 862?–912, Byzantine emperor (886–912), son and successor of Basil I. He added to the work of his father by the publication (887–93) of the Basilica,...

Heraclius

(Encyclopedia)Heraclius hĕrəklīˈəs, hĭrăkˈlēəs [key], c.575–641, Byzantine emperor (610–41). The son of a governor of Africa, he succeeded the tyrant Phocas, whom he deposed and had executed. In the e...

Galle

(Encyclopedia)Galle gäl [key], city (1995 est. pop. 87,000), capital of Southern prov., extreme S Sri Lanka, on the Indian Ocean. An agricultural market center, it exports tea, rubber, coconut oil, cloves, and oth...

United Arab Republic

(Encyclopedia)United Arab Republic, political union (1958–61) of Egypt and Syria. The capital was Cairo. The two countries were merged (1958) into a single unit comprising the Southern (Egypt) and the Northern (S...

Abraham

(Encyclopedia)Abraham [according to the Book of Genesis, Heb.,=father of many nations] or Abram āˈbrəm [key] [Heb.,=exalted father], in the Bible, progenitor of the Hebrews; in the Qur'an, ancestor of the Arabs....

Swahili language

(Encyclopedia)Swahili language, member of the Bantu group of African languages (see African languages and Bantu languages). Swahili is spoken by 30 million people, chiefly in Tanzania, Kenya, Congo (Kinshasa), Buru...

Edessa

(Encyclopedia)Edessa ĭdĕsˈə [key], ancient city of Mesopotamia, on the site of modern Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It emerged in the 4th cent. b.c. as Orrhoe, or Arrhoe, and was later named Edessa by Seleucus I of Syri...

Pemba

(Encyclopedia)Pemba pāmˈbə [key], island (2012 pop. 223,033), c.380 sq mi (980 sq km), NE Tanzania, in the Indian Ocean just off the E African mainland. Pemba is part of the semiautonomous archipelago of Zanziba...

Khudjand

(Encyclopedia)Khudjand, Khujand, or Khudzhand kho͞odˈjänd [key], city (1991 pop. 164,500), capital of Leninobod region, in Tajikistan, on the Syr Darya River at its exit from the Fergana Valley. It is a major c...

Bugeaud de la Piconnerie, Thomas Robert

(Encyclopedia)Bugeaud de la Piconnerie, Thomas Robert tōmäˈ rōbĕrˈ büzhōˈ də lä pēkōnərēˈ [key], 1784–1849, marshal of France, duc d'Isly, general and administrator in Algeria. He served in the ar...