Muḥammad al-Idrīsī: …of descriptive geography, known as Kitāb nuzhat al-mushtāq fī ikhtirāq al-āfāq and also as Kitā Rujār, or Al-Kitāb al-Rujārī (“The Book of Roger”). In compiling it, al-Idrīsī combined material from Arabic and Greek geographic works with information obtained through firsthand observation and eyewitness reports. The king and his Muslim geographer…

Daitō Islands: North Daitō (Kita-Daitō) and South Daitō (Minami-Daitō) islands are the largest of the group and lie close to one another, while the smaller Oki-Daitō Island lies about 93 miles (150 km) south of them. North and South Daitō have a combined area of 15.7 square…

Kitaibaraki, city, northeastern Ibaraki ken (prefecture), northeast-central Honshu, Japan. It lies on the Pacific Ocean, about 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Hitachi. The western part of the city occupies hills that slope toward the rest of the city on the coast. Agriculture (rice) and fishing

Northern Kantō, industrial region, east-central Japan, occupying portions of Gumma, Saitama, and Tochigi ken (prefectures). Situated just north of, and adjacent to, the Keihin (Tokyo-Yokohama) Industrial Zone, the area consists mostly of plains, interrupted by the Kantō Range and Echigo Range.

Kitakyūshū, city, northern Fukuoka ken (prefecture), northern Kyushu, Japan. It is situated on the Tsushima and Kanmon (Shimonoseki) straits (west and north, respectively) and the Inland Sea (east), the narrow Kanmon strait linking the two larger marine features. The city was created in 1963 by the

Northern Kyūshū, industrial region of southwestern Japan, centring on the city and port of Kita-Kyūshū and bounded by the Gen Sea to the northwest and the Inland Sea to the east. The region is drained by the Onga, Chikugo, and Yamakuni rivers and is composed of portions of Fukuoka, Saga, Ōita, and

Arabic literature: The concept of adab: …composed a manual for secretaries, Kitāb ādāb al-kabīr (“The Major Work on Secretarial Etiquette”). At a later date, another translation movement, much encouraged by the Abbasid caliph al-Maʾmūn, rendered much of the Hellenistic heritage from Greek, often via Syriac, into Arabic, the products of which were stored in the great…

Ibn Qutaybah: …to Ibn Qutaybah include the Kitāb adab al-kātib (“Secretary’s Guide”), a compendium of Arabic usage and vocabulary; Kitāb al-ʿArab (“Book of the Arabs”), a defense of Arab rather than Iranian cultural preeminence; Kitāb al-maʿārif (“Book of Knowledge”), a handbook of history; Kitāb al-shiʿr wa al-shuʿarāʾ (“Book of Poetry and Poets”),…

Abu al-Qāsim Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar al-Zamakhsharī: Of al-Zamakhsharī’s grammatical works, Al-Mufaṣṣal fī ʿilm al-ʿArabīyah (“Detailed Treatise on Arabic Linguistics,” written 1119–21, published 1859; it is sometimes titled Kitāb al Mufaṣṣal fī al-Naḥw ["Detailed Treatise on Grammar"]) is celebrated for its concise but exhaustive exposition. He was also the author of a collection of old proverbs;…

Muḥammad al-Idrīsī: …matters as well, and his Kitāb al-adwiyah al-mufradah (“Book of Simple Drugs”), in which he lists the names of drugs in as many as 12 languages, demonstrates the range of his linguistic abilities. Al-Idrīsī seems to have had a good knowledge of Arabic literature, and—judging by some of his verse…

Abū al-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī: Kitāb al-aghānī (“The Book of Songs”), his major work, contains songs, biographical information, and much information concerning the life and customs of the early Arabs and of the Muslim Arabs of the Umayyad and ʿAbbāsid periods.

Judaism: Saʿadia ben Joseph: …Kitāb al-amānāt wa al-iʿtiqādāt (Beliefs and Opinions), is modeled on similar Muʿtazilite treatises and on the Muʿtazilite classification of theological subject matter known as the Five Principles.

Hishām ibn al-Kalbī: …Arabs; and Kitāb al-aṣnām (The Book of Idols), in which he discusses the gods of the pre-Islamic Arabs. The discussions in Kitāb al-aṣnām are supplemented by relevant excerpts from pre-Islamic poetry. His writings are of particular importance for having preserved valuable information on Arabian antiquities and tribal customs and…

Salwa Al Neimi: Salwa’s collection of short stories, Kitāb al-asrār (2nd ed., 2010; “The Book of Secrets”), reflected both her dislike of hypocrisy and her belief in the liberating power of the written word. In it she explored such matters as sexual experiences outside marriage, difficulties in the relationship of a married couple,…

al-Masʿūdī: Al-Masʿūdī followed it with Kitāb al-awsaṭ (“Book of the Middle”), variously described as a supplement to or an abridgment of the Akhbār al-zamān. The Kitāb is undoubtedly a chronological history. A manuscript in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, may possibly be one volume of it.

Arabic literature: Emerging poetics: …for his Kitāb al-badīʿ (The Book of Tropes), in which he provides a list of five major poetic devices (including metaphor and simile) and then lists a further group of “discourse embellishments.” While his goal was to demonstrate that these devices were present in Arabic writing from the outset…

Arabic literature: Al-Jāḥiẓ and Abū Ḥayyān al-Tawḥīdī: …influential work of early criticism, Kitāb al-bayān wa al-tabyīn (“Book of Clarity and Clarification”). Apart from sheer erudition and a delight in controversy, what sets al-Jāḥiẓ’s works apart is, first, his total mastery of a clear and concise Arabic style that reflected the new influences on the Muslim community and,…

al-Yaʿqūbī: …Wāḍiḥ”), and a general geography, Kitāb al-buldān (“Book of the Countries”).

Mosul school: …of Galen’s medical treatise the Kitāb al-diryāq (“Book of Antidotes”) is a good example of the earlier work of the Mosul school. It depicts four figures surrounding a central seated figure who holds a crescent-shaped halo. By the 13th century the Baghdad school, which combined the styles of the Syrian…

Ibn al-ʿAwwām: …the Arabic treatise on agriculture, Kitāb al-filā-ḥah, the outstanding medieval work on the subject. The Spanish translation, published in the early 1800s, consists of 35 chapters dealing with agronomy, cattle and poultry raising, and beekeeping. It deals with 585 plants; explains the cultivation of more than 50 fruit trees; and…

Spain: Literature: …output of Ibn Ḥazm includes Kitāb al-Fiṣal, a history of religions that was not surpassed by Western scholars until well into the 19th century. He also was a leading exponent of the Ẓāhirī school of jurisprudence, which stressed thorough knowledge of the Qurʾān and the Hadith. He applied the principles…

ʿAbd al-Qādir Badāʾūnī: …most highly regarded were the Kitāb al-Ḥadīth (“Book of Ḥadīth”), the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, no longer extant; a section of the Tārīkh-e alfī (“History of the Millennium”), commissioned by Akbar to celebrate the millenary of the Hijrah (Hegira) in 1591/92, on which more than 10 authors collaborated; and…

al-Rāzī: …Cremona’s 12th-century Latin translation, and Kitāb al-ḥāwī, the “Comprehensive Book,” in which he surveyed Greek, Syrian, and early Arabic medicine as well as some Indian medical knowledge. Throughout his works he added his own considered judgment and his own medical experience as commentary. Among his numerous minor medical treatises is…

biology: Arab domination of biology: Among his biological writings is Kitāb al-ḥayawān (“Book of Animals”), which, although revealing some Greek influence, is primarily an Arabic work. In it the author emphasized the unity of nature and recognized relationships between different groups of organisms. Because al-Jāḥiẓ believed that earth contained both male and female elements, he…

Isaac ben Solomon Israeli: Of his philosophical writings, Kitāb al-ḥudūd (Hebrew: Sefer ha-gevulim, “The Book of Definitions”) is best known. Beginning with a discussion of Aristotle’s four types of inquiry, Israeli goes on to present 56 definitions, including definitions of wisdom, intellect, soul, nature, reason, love, locomotion, and time. Others of his philosophical…

biblical literature: Collations of the Masoretic materials: …Mishael ben Uzziel in his Kitāb al-Ḥulaf (before 1050). A vast amount of Masoretic information, drawn chiefly from Spanish manuscripts, is to be found in the text-critical commentary known as Minhath Shai, by Solomon Jedidiah Norzi, completed in 1626 and printed in the Mantua Bible of 1742. Benjamin Kennicott collected…

Arabic literature: Al-Jāḥiẓ and Abū Ḥayyān al-Tawḥīdī: …his renowned anthology of anecdotes, Kitāb al-imtāʾ wa al-muʾānasah (“Book of Enjoyment and Bonhomie”), and his often scurrilous commentary on cultural and political infighting, Kitāb mathālib al-wazīrayn (“Book on the Foibles of the Two Ministers”), provide ample justification for his reputation as one of Arabic’s greatest stylists.

Ibn Durayd: …Ibn Durayd’s other works are Kitāb al-ishtiqāq (“Book of Derivation”), on the etymology of Arab names, and al-Malāḥin (“Ambiguities of Speech”), a book of ambivalent words for the use of persons forced to swear. Ibn Durayd was also a gifted poet.

Islamic world: Effect of the Crusades in Syria: …can be found in the Kitāb al-Iʿtibār (“Book of Reflection”), the memoirs of Usāmah ibn Munqidh (1095–1188). Born in Syria, he was a small boy when the first generation of Franks controlled Jerusalem. As an adult, he fought with Saladin (Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb) and lived to see him…

Islamic world: The ʿAbbāsids: …title of his major work, Kitāb al-jabr wa al-muqābalah (“The Book of Integration and Equation”). Movements such as falsafah (a combination of the positive sciences with logic and metaphysics) and kalām (systematic theological discourse) applied Hellenistic thought to new questions. The translation of Indo-Persian lore promoted the development of adab,…

Isaac ben Solomon Israeli: …a larger exegetical effort, and Kitāb al-jawāhir (“Book of Substances”).

Yazīdī: Two short books, Kitāb al-jilwah (“Book of Revelation”) and Maṣḥafrash (“Black Book”), form the sacred scriptures of the Yazīdīs. It is now widely suspected that both volumes were compiled by non-Yazīdīs in the 19th century and then were passed off as ancient manuscripts but that their contents do…

Muhammad: Biographical sources: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq’s (died 767–768) Kitāb al-maghāzī (“Book of [the Prophet’s] Military Expeditions”). However, this work is extant only in later reworkings and abridgements, of which the best known is ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Hishām’s (died 833–834) Sīrat Muḥammad rasūl Allāh (“Life of Muhammad, the Messenger of God”). Ibn Isḥāq’s original…

al-Wāqidī: …Arab historian, author of the Kitāb al-maghāzī, a well-known work on the military campaigns (al-maghāzī) of the Prophet Muhammad.

Ibn al-Haytham: Major works: …al-Haytham’s most important work is Kitāb al-manāẓir (“Optics”). Although it shows some influence from Ptolemy’s 2nd century ad Optics, it contains the correct model of vision: the passive reception by the eyes of light rays reflected from objects, not an active emanation of light rays from the eyes. It combines…

al-Rāzī: …significant medical works are the Kitāb al-Manṣūrī, which he composed for the Rayy ruler Manṣūr ibn Isḥaq and which became well known in the West in Gerard of Cremona’s 12th-century Latin translation, and Kitāb al-ḥāwī, the “Comprehensive Book,” in which he surveyed Greek, Syrian, and early Arabic medicine as well…

Ibn Qutaybah: …rather than Iranian cultural preeminence; Kitāb al-maʿārif (“Book of Knowledge”), a handbook of history; Kitāb al-shiʿr wa al-shuʿarāʾ (“Book of Poetry and Poets”), a chronological anthology of early Arabic poetry, with an introduction that presented Ibn Qutaybah’s canons of literary criticism; and Kitāb ʿuyūn al-akhbar (“Book of Choice Narratives”), a…

Moses ibn Ezra: …treatise on the poetic art, Kitāb al-muḥāḍarah wa al-mudhākarah (“Conversations and Recollections”; translated into Hebrew as Shirat Yisraʾel, or “Song of Israel,” in 1924 by B. Halper). Dealing with Arabic, Castilian, and Jewish poetry, the work is an important Spanish literary history.

Islamic world: The ʿAbbāsids: …title of his major work, Kitāb al-jabr wa al-muqābalah (“The Book of Integration and Equation”). Movements such as falsafah (a combination of the positive sciences with logic and metaphysics) and kalām (systematic theological discourse) applied Hellenistic thought to new questions. The translation of Indo-Persian lore promoted the development of adab,…

Judaism: Other Jewish thinkers, c. 1050–c. 1150: His chief philosophical work, Kitāb al-muʿtabar (“The Book of That Which Has Been Established by Personal Reflection”), contains very few references to Jewish texts or topics. Abū al-Barakāt rejected Aristotelian physics completely. According to him, time is the measure of being and not, as Aristotle taught, the measure of…

Avicenna: Life and education: …Knowledge) and Kitāb al-najāt (Book of Salvation), and compiled new and more-accurate astronomical tables.

death: Islām: According to the Kitāb al-rūh, wicked souls are instructed “to depart to the wrath of God.” Fearing what awaits them, they seek refuge throughout the body and have to be extracted “like the dragging of an iron skewer through moist wool, tearing the veins and sinews.” Angels place…

Kitāb al-shifāʾ, a voluminous philosophical and scientific encyclopaedia by the Muslim philosopher and physician Avicenna. It treats logic, the natural sciences, psychology, the quadrivium (geometry, astronomy, mathematics, and music), and metaphysics and is a major work of medieval Muslim

Ibn Qutaybah: …Knowledge”), a handbook of history; Kitāb al-shiʿr wa al-shuʿarāʾ (“Book of Poetry and Poets”), a chronological anthology of early Arabic poetry, with an introduction that presented Ibn Qutaybah’s canons of literary criticism; and Kitāb ʿuyūn al-akhbar (“Book of Choice Narratives”), a collection of adab studies dealing with the authority of…

Arabic literature: Compilations and manuals: …was Abū Hilāl al-ʿAskarī’s 10th-century Kitāb al-ṣināʿatayn, al-kitābah wa al-shiʿr (“The Book of the Two Skills, Scribal Arts and Poetry”), the title of which notes what was for al-ʿAskarī the relatively recent placement of textual analysis devoted to artistic prose alongside the traditionally prestigious genre of poetry. While al-ʿAskarī joined…

Moses Maimonides: Works: …his commentary on the Mishna, Kitāb al-sirāj, also written in Arabic. The Mishna is a compendium of decisions in Jewish law that dates from earliest times to the 3rd century. Maimonides’ commentary clarified individual words and phrases, frequently citing relevant information in archaeology, theology, or science. Possibly the work’s most…

al-Masʿūdī: …his life, that he wrote Kitāb al-tanbīh wa al-ishrāf (“The Book of Notification and Verification”), in which he summarized, corrected, and brought up to date the contents of his former writings, especially the three historical works.

Ibn Qutaybah: …of Arabic usage and vocabulary; Kitāb al-ʿArab (“Book of the Arabs”), a defense of Arab rather than Iranian cultural preeminence; Kitāb al-maʿārif (“Book of Knowledge”), a handbook of history; Kitāb al-shiʿr wa al-shuʿarāʾ (“Book of Poetry and Poets”), a chronological anthology of early Arabic poetry, with an introduction that presented…

al-Khalīl ibn Aḥmad: Khalīl’s dictionary, Kitāb al-ʿayn (“Book of the [Letter] ʿAyn”), may have been written in part by his student al-Layth ibn al-Muẓaffar of Khorāsān, who was at one time secretary to the Barmakid viziers of the ʿAbbāsid court. It is arranged according to a novel alphabetical order based…

Islamic arts: Historiography: Ibn Khaldūn: …to a projected general history, Kitāb al-ʿibar, sought to explain the basic factors in the historical development of the Islamic countries. His own experiences, gained on a variety of political missions in North Africa, proved useful in establishing general principles that he could apply to the manifestations of Islamic civilization.…

al-Dīnawarī: …the preserved fragments of his Kitāb al-nabāt (“Book of Plants”), one of the most famous early Muslim works on botany. Of lexicographical character, it includes oral and written Arabic botanical traditions as well as much Persian material. Written in beautiful prose, it was the standard work in the field for…

Muḥammad al-Idrīsī: …of descriptive geography, known as Kitāb nuzhat al-mushtāq fī ikhtirāq al-āfāq and also as Kitā Rujār, or Al-Kitāb al-Rujārī (“The Book of Roger”). In compiling it, al-Idrīsī combined material from Arabic and Greek geographic works with information obtained through firsthand observation and eyewitness reports. The king and his Muslim geographer…

Kitāb al-shifāʾ, a voluminous philosophical and scientific encyclopaedia by the Muslim philosopher and physician Avicenna. It treats logic, the natural sciences, psychology, the quadrivium (geometry, astronomy, mathematics, and music), and metaphysics and is a major work of medieval Muslim

Fakhr ad-Dīn ar-Rāzī: …attested by such works as Mafāṭīḥ al-ghayb or Kitāb at-tafsīr al-kabīr (“The Keys to the Unknown” or “The Great Commentary”) and Muḥaṣṣal afkār al-mutaqaddimīn wa-al-mutaʾakhkhirīn (“Collection of the Opinions of Ancients and Moderns”).

Ibn Janāḥ: …preserved in his principal work, Kitāb at-tanqiḥ (“Book of Exact Investigation”). In the first of its two parts, Kitāb al-luma (“Book of the Many-Coloured Flower Beds”), Ibn Janāḥ dealt in large measure with grammar proper and included discussions of parts of speech and prefixes and provided a detailed outline of…

Sībawayh: His monumental work is al-Kitāb fī an-naḥw (“The Book on Grammar”) or, more simply, al-Kitāb (“The Book”). The work was frequently used by later scholars.

Arabic literature: Al-Jāḥiẓ and Abū Ḥayyān al-Tawḥīdī: …on cultural and political infighting, Kitāb mathālib al-wazīrayn (“Book on the Foibles of the Two Ministers”), provide ample justification for his reputation as one of Arabic’s greatest stylists.

Muḥammad al-Idrīsī: …of descriptive geography, known as Kitāb nuzhat al-mushtāq fī ikhtirāq al-āfāq and also as Kitā Rujār, or Al-Kitāb al-Rujārī (“The Book of Roger”). In compiling it, al-Idrīsī combined material from Arabic and Greek geographic works with information obtained through firsthand observation and eyewitness reports. The king and his Muslim geographer…

al-Khwārizmī: …of the Earth”; translated as Geography), which presented the coordinates of localities in the known world based, ultimately, on those in the Geography of Ptolemy (flourished 127–145 ce) but with improved values for the length of the Mediterranean Sea and the location of cities in Asia and Africa. He also…

Saʿadia ben Joseph: Saʿadia’s works.: …(“Refutation of Ibn Sākawayhī”) and Kitāb taḥṣīl ash-sharāʾiʿ as-samāʿīyah (“Book Concerning the Sources of the Irrational Laws”). In the latter work the Gaon contends that matters pertaining to the irrational commandments of the Mosaic Law may never be decided by means of analogy but only by the regulations transmitted through…

Ibn Miskawayh: Margoliouth, The Eclipse of the Abbasid Caliphate, 1921), was noted for its use of all available sources and greatly stimulated the development of Islamic historiography.

encyclopaedia: The Arab world: …arrangement and contents of his Kitāb ʿuyūn al-akhbār (“The Book of Choice Narratives”) set the pattern for many later encyclopaedias. The 10 books were arranged in the following order: power, war, nobility, character, learning and eloquence, asceticism, friendship, prayers, food, women. Ibn ʿAbd Rabbih of Córdoba improved on Ibn Qutaybah’s…

Sībawayh: His monumental work is al-Kitāb fī an-naḥw (“The Book on Grammar”) or, more simply, al-Kitāb (“The Book”). The work was frequently used by later scholars.

Turkish literature: Epic and the emergence of the âşik: The Book of Dede Korkut), which has survived in two 16th-century manuscripts. The actual date of the work is unknown. At least one of the tales was already circulating in written form in the early 14th century, and Central Asian sources suggest that the shaman-bard…

Kitabatake Chikafusa was a Japanese warrior, statesman, and author of the influential politico-historical treatise Jinnō shōtōki (“Record of the Legitimate Succession of the Divine Emperors”), which set forth the mystic and nationalist doctrine that Japan had a unique superiority among nations

Utamaro was a Japanese printmaker and painter who was one of the greatest artists of the ukiyo-e (“pictures of the floating world”) movement; he is known especially for his masterfully composed portraits of sensuous female beauties. Probably born in a provincial town, he went to Edo (now Tokyo)

Utamaro was a Japanese printmaker and painter who was one of the greatest artists of the ukiyo-e (“pictures of the floating world”) movement; he is known especially for his masterfully composed portraits of sensuous female beauties. Probably born in a provincial town, he went to Edo (now Tokyo)

Kitahara Hakushū was a Japanese poet who was a major influence in modern Japanese poetry with his aesthetic and symbolic style. In 1906 he joined the Shinshisha (New Poetry Association) and published poems in its magazine Myōjō (“Bright Star”) that brought him instant fame as a rising young poet.

Kitahara Hakushū was a Japanese poet who was a major influence in modern Japanese poetry with his aesthetic and symbolic style. In 1906 he joined the Shinshisha (New Poetry Association) and published poems in its magazine Myōjō (“Bright Star”) that brought him instant fame as a rising young poet.

Cathay, name by which North China was known in medieval Europe. The word is derived from Khitay (or Khitan), the name of a seminomadic people who left southeastern Mongolia in the 10th century ce to conquer part of Manchuria and northern China, which they held for about 200 years. By the time of

Kitaibaraki, city, northeastern Ibaraki ken (prefecture), northeast-central Honshu, Japan. It lies on the Pacific Ocean, about 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Hitachi. The western part of the city occupies hills that slope toward the rest of the city on the coast. Agriculture (rice) and fishing

R.B. Kitaj was an American-born painter noted for his eclectic and original contributions to Pop art. Kitaj studied art at the Cooper Union in New York City and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. After working as a merchant seaman and serving in the U.S. Army (1955–57), he settled in England

R.B. Kitaj was an American-born painter noted for his eclectic and original contributions to Pop art. Kitaj studied art at the Cooper Union in New York City and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. After working as a merchant seaman and serving in the U.S. Army (1955–57), he settled in England

Kitakami Mountains, range in northeastern Honshu, Japan, in the Tōhoku region. It parallels the Pacific Ocean coast and extends southward for about 155 miles (250 km) from southern Aomori prefecture, through Iwate and Miyagi prefectures, to terminate in the Oshika Peninsula. The range has a maximum

Kitakami Mountains, range in northeastern Honshu, Japan, in the Tōhoku region. It parallels the Pacific Ocean coast and extends southward for about 155 miles (250 km) from southern Aomori prefecture, through Iwate and Miyagi prefectures, to terminate in the Oshika Peninsula. The range has a maximum

Kitakami Mountains, range in northeastern Honshu, Japan, in the Tōhoku region. It parallels the Pacific Ocean coast and extends southward for about 155 miles (250 km) from southern Aomori prefecture, through Iwate and Miyagi prefectures, to terminate in the Oshika Peninsula. The range has a maximum

Kitakyūshū, city, northern Fukuoka ken (prefecture), northern Kyushu, Japan. It is situated on the Tsushima and Kanmon (Shimonoseki) straits (west and north, respectively) and the Inland Sea (east), the narrow Kanmon strait linking the two larger marine features. The city was created in 1963 by the

Kitami, city, northeastern Hokkaido, northern Japan. It occupies a long corridor of land that stretches roughly southwest-northeast from the Kitami Mountains to the Sea of Okhotsk. The city centre is at the confluence of the Muka River with the Tokoro River. Originally, there was an Ainu settlement

Kitami Mountains, mountain range in northeastern Hokkaido, northern Japan. It extends generally northwest-southeast along the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk before broadening southward into the rugged Daisetsu volcanic group in the interior of the island. The total length of the range is about 180

Kitami Mountains, mountain range in northeastern Hokkaido, northern Japan. It extends generally northwest-southeast along the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk before broadening southward into the rugged Daisetsu volcanic group in the interior of the island. The total length of the range is about 180

Tenshō Kōtai Jingū-kyō: It was founded by Kitamura Sayo (1900–67), a peasant of Yamaguchi Prefecture, whose charismatic preaching took the form of rhythmic singing and dancing. She had a revelation in 1945 that she was possessed by a Shintō deity, Tenshō-Kōtaijin (another name for the Shintō sun goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami). She traveled…

Serrano: One band, the Kitanemuk, lived in the Kern and San Joaquin river basins; another band, the Vanyume, resided along the Mojave River; and a third, the Serrano proper, held the San Bernardino Mountains, adjacent valleys, and a portion of the Mojave Desert.

Kitano Takeshi is a Japanese actor, director, writer, and television personality who is known for his dexterity with both comedic and dramatic material. Kitano was born into a working-class family in Tokyo. He planned to become an engineer but dropped out of college to enter show business in 1972.

Japanese art: Ceramics: Kitaōji Rosanjin was the major exponent of highly decorated work in the Kutani and later kyōyaki traditions. His role was largely as designer and production manager. Long associated with a well-known restaurant in Tokyo, he was most conscious of the choreography of a total sensory…

Nyoro, an Interlacustrine Bantu people living just east of Lake Albert (also called Lake Mobutu Sese Seko), west of the Victoria Nile, in west central Uganda. In precolonial times, the Nyoro formed one of the most powerful of a number of kingdoms in the area. Until the 18th century the Bunyoro

Kitasato Shibasaburo was a Japanese physician and bacteriologist who helped discover a method to prevent tetanus and diphtheria and, in the same year as Alexandre Yersin, discovered the infectious agent responsible for the bubonic plague. Kitasato began his study of medicine at Igakusho Hospital

Kitay-gorod, rayon (sector) of the city of Moscow, bordering the Kremlin on the east, Staraya and Novaya squares on the west, and the Moskva River on the south and including the area known as Red Square. Settlement in Kitay-gorod began in the 11th century. As a suburb of Moscow, it became a center

Battle of ʿAyn Jālūt: …led by the Christian Turk Kitbuga, moved into Syria, took Damascus and Aleppo, and reached the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The Mongols then sent an envoy to Cairo in 1260 to demand the submission of al-Muẓaffar Sayf al-Dīn Qutuz, the Mamluk sultan, whose reply was the execution of the…

Carolee Schneemann: …her relationship with Tenney, and Kitch’s Last Meal (1973–78), chronicling the day-to-day life of her cat, Kitch, until he died.

Eritrea: Cultural life: …wheat, or sorghum flour, and kitcha, an unleavened bread. Meals typically are served on a communal platter, and diners use bread, rather than utensils, to serve themselves portions of such dishes as zigni (a stew made of fish, vegetables, and meat), ful (baked beans), dorho (roasted chicken), ga’at (porridge), and…

Banana Yoshimoto: …wrote the novella Kitchin (Kitchen), published in 1988. Two more books—Kanashii yokan (“Sad Foreboding”) and Utakata/Sankuchuari (“Bubble/Sanctuary”)—were published in Japan that year. Kitchin was translated into Chinese in 1989. A translation of Tsugumi (1989; Goodbye, Tsugumi) appeared the following year in South Korea. Her first book published in English…

Thomas Demand: Kitchen (2004) reconstructs the kitchen in the hideout of Ṣaddām Ḥussein, former president of Iraq, before his 2003 capture.

construction: Interior finishes: In wet areas such as kitchens and bathrooms, water-resistant gypsum board is used, sometimes with the addition of adhesive-applied ceramic tile.

tactical weapons system: Air-to-surface systems: The Soviet AS-4 missile is more than 36 feet (11 m) long and is launched by a Tupolev bomber. It is presumed to be inertially guided until it approaches its selected target, when it homes in on the target. The French Belouga system is a cluster of…

Anthony Bourdain: Kitchen Confidential: …article into the popular memoir Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (2000), which contained not only additional accounts of the inner workings of restaurant kitchens but intimate details of Bourdain’s personal life as well, including his long battle with heroin addiction.

purslane: oleracea sativa, known as kitchen garden pusley, is grown to some extent as a potherb, mostly in Europe. Rose moss (P. grandiflora), a trailing fleshy species, is cultivated as a garden ornamental for its brightly coloured, sometimes doubled flowers. All plants of the genus are known for their persistence;…

Kailyard school, late 19th-century movement in Scottish fiction characterized by a sentimental idealization of humble village life. Its name derives from the Scottish “kail-yard,” a small cabbage patch usually adjacent to a cottage. The Kailyard novels of prominent writers such as Sir James Barrie,

Zao Shen, in Chinese religion, the Kitchen God (literally, “god of the hearth”), who is believed to report to the celestial gods on family conduct and to have it within his power to bestow poverty or riches on individual families. Because he is also a protector of the home from evil spirits, his

Amy Tan: Other novels: Her second novel, The Kitchen God’s Wife (1991), was inspired by her mother’s history; it concerns a Chinese mother who accepts American ways clumsily and her relationship to her thoroughly Americanized daughter. In The Hundred Secret Senses (1995), an American woman gradually learns to appreciate her Chinese half…

construction: Plumbing: …widely used plumbing fixtures include kitchen sinks, usually of cast iron or pressed steel with a ceramic porcelain coating, or of stainless steel; automatic dishwashing machines; and automatic washing machines for laundry. Kitchen sinks can be fitted with garbage disposals, which grind solid waste into a fluid slurry that is…