Merodach-Baladan II was the king of Babylonia 721–710 and for nine months in 703, who maintained Babylonian independence in the face of Assyrian military supremacy for more than a decade. Commencing in 728 the king of Assyria also officially held the title of king of Babylonia. During that time

Robert Campin: …of his masterpieces is the Mérode Altarpiece (c. 1428), a triptych of the Annunciation with the donors and St. Joseph on the wings. The Virgin is portrayed in a setting of bourgeois realism in which interior furnishings are rendered with the frank and loving attention to detail that was to…

enamelwork: 15th century to the present: European: …loveliest pieces is the silver-gilt Merode beaker of Flemish or Burgundian origin, probably c. 1430–40, decorated with two bands of enamels set in tiny windows with Gothic tracery (Victoria and Albert Museum, London). Employing another technique, encrusted enamelling, they created both large-scale, three-dimensional compositions and miniature work to be worn…

Meroe, city of ancient Cush (Kush) the ruins of which are located on the east bank of the Nile about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Kabūshīyah in present-day Sudan; Meroe is also the name of the area surrounding the city. The 25th, or “Ethiopian,” dynasty of ancient Egypt is believed to have retired to

gregarine: …form of asexual reproduction called merogony (nuclear division followed by cytoplasmic division) precedes sexual union and spore formation; in the order Eugregarinida merogony is absent; and in the order Neogregarinida merogony occurs in the asexual phase, and each gametocyte produces one spore. The Neogregarinida are sometimes classified with the Schizogregarinida.

Meroitic language, extinct language used in the ancient city known to the Greeks as Meroe and the area surrounding the city (now in Sudan). The language was used from about 200 bce until about the 4th century ce. It was written with two scripts: linear, or demotic, script, which was adapted to

agenesis: …also may occur, called variously meromelia (absence of one or both hands or feet), phocomelia (normal hands and feet but absence of the long bones), and amelia (complete absence of one or more limbs).

Alpine lakes: …henceforth characterized as being of meromictic type. The currents caused by the Rhine’s flow through Lake Constance were investigated in 1926. The increasing pollution of Lake Zürich brought attention to chemical and biological changes, and, by the late 20th century, a number of institutes were studying the pollution of the…

Alpine lakes: …henceforth characterized as being of meromictic type. The currents caused by the Rhine’s flow through Lake Constance were investigated in 1926. The increasing pollution of Lake Zürich brought attention to chemical and biological changes, and, by the late 20th century, a number of institutes were studying the pollution of the…

zeta function: …isolated singularities, is known as meromorphic.) For z = 1 and w = 0, the zeta function reduces to the harmonic series, or sum of the harmonic sequence (1,12,13,14,…), which has been studied since at least the 6th century bce, when Greek philosopher and mathematician

Meron, town originally founded as a noncollective agricultural settlement (moshava) and name of a nearby mountain, Upper Galilee, northern Israel, northwest of Safed. Nearby is a perennial spring, the likeliest location of the “waters of Merom,” site of Joshua’s victory over the pagan kings of

Meron: Mount Meron (3,963 feet [1,208 metres]), Israel’s highest point in its pre-1967 boundaries, is 2 miles (3 km) northwest.

Pleiades: Alcyone, Sterope, and Merope. They all had children by gods (except Merope, who married Sisyphus).

Voltaire: Life with Mme du Châtelet: His tragedy Mérope, about the mythical Greek queen, won public acclaim on the first night (1743). The performance of Mahomet, in which Voltaire presented the founder of Islam as an imposter, was forbidden, however, after its successful production in 1742. He amassed a vast fortune through the…

Francesco Scipione, marchese di Maffei: …who, in his verse tragedy Merope, attempted to introduce Greek and French classical simplicity into Italian drama and thus prepared the way for the dramatic tragedies of Vittorio Alfieri and the librettos of Pietro Metastasio later in the 18th century.

Pleiades: Maia, Electra, Merope, Taygete, Celaeno, and Sterope, names now assigned to individual stars), daughters of Atlas and Pleione, were changed into the stars. The heliacal (near dawn) rising of the Pleiades in spring of the Northern Hemisphere has marked from ancient times the opening of seafaring and…

bee-eater, any of about 25 species of brightly coloured birds of the family Meropidea (order Coraciiformes). Found throughout tropical and subtropical Eurasia, Africa, and Australasia (one species, Merops apiaster, occasionally reaches the British Isles), bee-eaters range in length from 15 to 35 cm

marine ecosystem: Seasonal cycles of production: …and, as a result, the meroplanktonic component of the plankton is higher at these times. General patterns of plankton abundance may be further influenced by local conditions. Heavy rainfall in coastal regions (especially areas in which monsoons prevail) can result in nutrient-rich turbid plumes (i.e., estuarine or riverine plumes) that…

bee-eater: Africa, and Australasia (one species, Merops apiaster, occasionally reaches the British Isles), bee-eaters range in length from 15 to 35 cm (6 to 14 inches).

arthropod: Annotated classification: Class Merostomata Large marine chelicerates with book gills on the underside of the opisthosoma; prosoma covered by a dorsal carapace; opisthosoma bears a long terminal spine; 2 orders, Xiphosura (horseshoe crabs, 4 species) and Eurypterida (Gigantostraca), which is extinct and includes 200 fossil species from the…

thrips: Annotated classification: Family Merothripidae Oligocene (Baltic amber) to present. Worldwide. Antennae 8- or 9-segmented; ovipositor downturned, often weakly developed; forewings narrow, surface smooth; antennal sensors on intermediate segments disclike. Family Heterothripidae Cretaceous (Cedar Lake amber) to present. Western Hemisphere and India. Antennae nine-segmented; ovipositor

John Ireland: …theologian, and diplomatist, whose treatise The Meroure of Wyssdome is the earliest extant example of original Scots prose.

Merovech was the king of the Salian Franks from whom Frankish tradition held the Merovingian dynasty to have taken its name. He was the father of Childeric I (d. 481/482) and grandfather of Clovis I (c. 466–511). Nothing definite is known of Merovech’s life, but an early myth made him the son of a

Merovech was the king of the Salian Franks from whom Frankish tradition held the Merovingian dynasty to have taken its name. He was the father of Childeric I (d. 481/482) and grandfather of Clovis I (c. 466–511). Nothing definite is known of Merovech’s life, but an early myth made him the son of a

Merovech was the king of the Salian Franks from whom Frankish tradition held the Merovingian dynasty to have taken its name. He was the father of Childeric I (d. 481/482) and grandfather of Clovis I (c. 466–511). Nothing definite is known of Merovech’s life, but an early myth made him the son of a

Merovech was the king of the Salian Franks from whom Frankish tradition held the Merovingian dynasty to have taken its name. He was the father of Childeric I (d. 481/482) and grandfather of Clovis I (c. 466–511). Nothing definite is known of Merovech’s life, but an early myth made him the son of a

Merovingian art, visual arts produced under the Merovingian kings of the 5th to the 8th century ad, who consolidated power and brought Christianity to the Frankish kingdom (modern France and the Rhineland) after the fall of the Roman Empire in Gaul and laid the political and artistic foundation for

Merovingian dynasty, Frankish dynasty (ad 476–750) traditionally reckoned as the “first race” of the kings of France. A brief treatment of the Merovingians follows. For full treatment, see France: The Merovingians. The name Merovingian derives from that of Merovech, of whom nothing is known except

Merovingian script, in calligraphy, the writing of the pre-Carolingian hands of France that were derived from Latin cursive script. Luxeuil, in Burgundy, was a particularly important centre in the development of a Merovingian cursive style during the 7th and 8th centuries. The style of script that

Merovech was the king of the Salian Franks from whom Frankish tradition held the Merovingian dynasty to have taken its name. He was the father of Childeric I (d. 481/482) and grandfather of Clovis I (c. 466–511). Nothing definite is known of Merovech’s life, but an early myth made him the son of a

Plasmodium: stages—gametocytes, sporozoites, and merozoites. Gametocytes within a mosquito develop into sporozoites. The sporozoites are transmitted via the saliva of a feeding mosquito to the human bloodstream. From there they enter liver parenchyma cells, where they divide and form merozoites. The merozoites are released into the bloodstream and infect…

Robert Lynd and Helen Lynd: …September 3, 1921, he and Helen Merrell were married. Helen Lynd taught at Sarah Lawrence College (Bronxville, New York) from 1929 to 1964, and her independent writings include On Shame and the Search for Identity (1958) and Toward Discovery (1965).

political science: Developments in the United States: …figure in this movement was Charles E. Merriam, whose New Aspects of Politics (1925) argued for a reconstruction of method in political analysis, urged the greater use of statistics in the aid of empirical observation and measurement, and postulated that “intelligent social control”—a concept reminiscent of the old Comtean positivism—might…

Clinton Hart Merriam was an American biologist and ethnologist, who helped found the National Geographic Society (1888) and what is now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Merriam studied at the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University and at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia

Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey was an American ornithologist and author of popular field guides. Florence Merriam was a younger sister of Clinton Hart Merriam, later first chief of the U.S. Biological Survey. She attended private school in Utica, New York, and during 1882–86 she was a student at

Merriam-Webster dictionary, any of various lexicographic works published by the G. & C. Merriam Co.—renamed Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, in 1982—which is located in Springfield, Massachusetts, and which since 1964 has been a subsidiary of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Among the dictionaries are

Merriam-Webster dictionary: —renamed Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, in 1982—which is located in Springfield, Massachusetts, and which since 1964 has been a subsidiary of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Among the dictionaries are Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language (1961), which contains more than 476,000

Kirkcudbrightshire: …northwest to the hill of Merrick, with an elevation of 2,765 feet (843 metres).

Anne Rice: The Vampire Chronicles: … (1995), The Vampire Armand (1998), Merrick (2000), Blood and Gold (2001), Blackwood Farm (2002), Blood Canticle (2003), Prince Lestat (2014), Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis (2016), and Blood Communion (2018). The novels focus largely on the ageless vampire

David Merrick was a prolific American theatrical producer who staged many of the most successful plays in American theatre during the 1960s. Though he earned a law degree from St. Louis University in Missouri, Merrick abandoned the practice of law after 1949 and became a full-time theatrical

Coral Gables: George E. Merrick developed the site (beginning about 1920) from a nucleus of his family’s 160 acres (65 hectares) of citrus and farmland and named it for the family’s house of coral rock walls and gables. It is a well-planned residential area, noted for its…

Joseph Merrick was a disfigured man who, after a brief career as a professional “freak,” became a patient of London Hospital from 1886 until his death. Displays of the “Elephant Man” were part of the “human curiosities” movement of the 19th century that saw the exploitation of African slave Sarah

Joseph Merrick was a disfigured man who, after a brief career as a professional “freak,” became a patient of London Hospital from 1886 until his death. Displays of the “Elephant Man” were part of the “human curiosities” movement of the 19th century that saw the exploitation of African slave Sarah

Friz Freleng: …for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies film series at Warner Bros.

Bruce Merrifield was an American biochemist and educator, who in 1984 received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his development of a simple and ingenious method for synthesizing chains of amino acids, or polypeptides, in any predetermined order. Merrifield graduated from the University of

Bruce Merrifield was an American biochemist and educator, who in 1984 received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his development of a simple and ingenious method for synthesizing chains of amino acids, or polypeptides, in any predetermined order. Merrifield graduated from the University of

dating: Potassium–argon methods: …was introduced by American geochronologist Craig M. Merrihue and English geochronologist Grenville Turner in 1966. In this technique, known as the argon-40–argon-39 method, both parent and daughter can be determined in the mass spectrometer as some of the potassium atoms in the sample are first converted to argon-39 in a…

Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., American financial-services holding company whose principal subsidiary, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., is the largest retail brokerage house in the United States. Headquarters are in New York City. In 1914 Charles E. Merrill, a bond dealer, founded a small

Charles E. Merrill: …of the brokerage firm of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., the largest in the United States. Merrill was also the father of James Merrill, one of the most distinguished American poets of the late 20th century.

Samuel Fuller: Films of the 1960s and ’70s: Merrill’s Marauders (1962) was a hard-boiled World War II adventure about American soldiers in Burma (Myanmar) who stop the Japanese from invading India.

World War II: The Burmese frontier and China, November 1943–summer 1944: …three Chinese divisions and “Merrill’s Marauders” (U.S. troops trained by Wingate on Chindit lines), were to advance against Mogaung and Myitkyina; while Slim’s 14th Army was to launch its XV Corps southeastward into Arakan and its IV Corps eastward to the Chindwin. Because the Japanese had habitually got the…

Charles E. Merrill was an American investment banker who guided his company through a series of mergers that resulted in the creation of the brokerage firm of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., the largest in the United States. Merrill was also the father of James Merrill, one of the most

Charles E. Merrill was an American investment banker who guided his company through a series of mergers that resulted in the creation of the brokerage firm of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., the largest in the United States. Merrill was also the father of James Merrill, one of the most

Desk Set: Cast: Assorted Referencesdiscussed in biographyrole of Tracy

Frank Dow Merrill was a U.S. Army officer during World War II who led specially trained jungle fighters called “Merrill’s Marauders” in successful operations against Japanese positions in Burma (1944). Graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 1929, Merrill was

James Merrill was an American poet especially known for the fine craftsmanship and wit of his lyric and epic poems. Merrill was the son of Charles E. Merrill, a founder of Merrill Lynch, an investment-banking firm. He attended private schools and Amherst College (B.A., 1947), and inherited wealth

James Merrill was an American poet especially known for the fine craftsmanship and wit of his lyric and epic poems. Merrill was the son of Charles E. Merrill, a founder of Merrill Lynch, an investment-banking firm. He attended private schools and Amherst College (B.A., 1947), and inherited wealth

Merrill Ashley is an American ballerina who served as principal dancer for New York City Ballet (NYCB) in the last quarter of the 20th century. Ashley was raised in Rutland, Vermont, and began studying ballet at age seven. In 1964, when she was 13, she received a Ford Foundation scholarship and

Symbolism: Symbolist literature: and Francis Viélé-Griffin and Stuart Merrill, who were American by birth. Rémy de Gourmont was the principal Symbolist critic, while Symbolist criteria were applied most successfully to the novel by Joris-Karl Huysmans and to the theatre by the Belgian Maurice Maeterlinck. The French poets Paul Valéry and Paul Claudel

gold processing: Cyanidation: …steel wool or by the Merrill-Crowe process. In the latter process, the gold-bearing solution is deoxygenated and passed through a filter-press, where the gold is displaced from solution by reduction with zinc metal powder.

Dorothy Arzner: Films of the 1930s and ’40s: …final picture at Paramount was Merrily We Go to Hell (1932), with March and Sylvia Sidney. The drama centers on an heiress who marries an alcoholic playwright; they separate, but pregnancy reunites them in time to save their marriage.

Norman Z. McLeod: Middle years: Merrily We Live (1938) may have been a blatant reworking of Gregory La Cava’s My Man Godfrey (1936), but the entertaining comedy was a box-office hit; Bennett gave another notable performance, portraying a spoiled socialite who learns about life’s true values from a new butler…

Stephen Sondheim: … theater for stylized effects, and Merrily We Roll Along (1981), adapted from a 1934 play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart.

Merrimack, county, central New Hampshire, U.S. It consists of a hilly upland region, bisected north-south by the Merrimack River, that becomes more mountainous in the western portion of the county. Notable peaks include Mount Kearsarge and the Summit and Ragged Mountains. Other streams include the

monitor: …Monitor engaged the Confederate ironclad Virginia (originally named Merrimack) in a dramatic, though inconclusive, battle that attracted international attention and resulted in construction of many similar vessels for the U.S. Navy. The original Monitor, however, was never seaworthy. En route from New York to Chesapeake Bay for the famous battle,…

Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack, (March 9, 1862), in the American Civil War, naval engagement at Hampton Roads, Virginia, a harbour at the mouth of the James River, notable as history’s first duel between ironclad warships and the beginning of a new era of naval warfare. The Northern-built

Merrimack River, stream in the northeastern United States, rising in the White Mountains of central New Hampshire at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers and flowing southward into Massachusetts, then northeastward to its mouth on the Atlantic Ocean. Of its total length of

John X. Merriman was a statesman who served as prime minister of the Cape Colony from 1908 to 1910. In 1849 Merriman moved with his family to Cape Colony. He was educated at the diocesan college, Rondebosch, and at Radley College in England. He returned to the Cape in 1861, engaged in land

John X. Merriman was a statesman who served as prime minister of the Cape Colony from 1908 to 1910. In 1849 Merriman moved with his family to Cape Colony. He was educated at the diocesan college, Rondebosch, and at Radley College in England. He returned to the Cape in 1861, engaged in land

Abraham Lincoln Battalion: …perhaps most noted commander was Robert Hale Merriman (1912?–38)—the son of a lumberjack, a graduate of the University of Nevada, and a former graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley—who rose to the rank of major and became chief of staff of the 14th International Brigade (which included…

Cape Canaveral: …space centre is included in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which occupies 219 square miles (567 square km) of estuaries, marshes, coastal dunes, scrub oaks, palm and oak hammocks, and pine flatwoods; it was established in 1963 as a buffer zone for NASA activities. The refuge includes the central and…

Merritt Parkway, innovative and widely copied American automobile highway built between Greenwich and Stratford, Connecticut, in the 1930s. The Merritt Parkway, a limited-access highway with two traffic lanes in each direction, was contemporary with the German autobahn system, the Pennsylvania

Anna Lea Merritt was an American artist whose skills as an etcher and painter found expression most often in portraiture and narrative subjects. Merritt displayed artistic talent from an early age. After studying with William H. Furness in Philadelphia for several years, she went to Europe, where

Oakland: The contemporary city: Lake Merritt, a saltwater lagoon near the central business district, is a wildfowl refuge surrounded by parkland. To the east is Morcom Rose Garden, a popular venue for weddings. Knowland Park, in the far south, contains Oakland Zoo, and a series of regional parks stretches…

Battle of Manila Bay: The return of Aguinaldo and the capture of Manila: Wesley Merritt, who was given command of the ground operation, initially requested a force of about 14,000 men but later increased this to 20,000. On May 25 Brig. Gen. T.M. Anderson and the 2,491 U.S. troops under his command sailed in three transports from San…

Saint Catharines: …annexed the neighbouring towns of Merritton and Port Dalhousie, more than doubling its population and stretching its boundaries from the Niagara Escarpment (south) to Lake Ontario (north) and eastward to the canal. In the late 19th century it was famed for its mineral springs. St. Catharines is now known as…

Danny Kaye: …perhaps Kaye’s most-renowned film; and Merry Andrew (1958), in which Kaye portrayed a mild-mannered archeology professor who becomes a circus performer.

Johnny Mathis: …released hit singles—and the holiday-themed Merry Christmas (1958), both of which sold steadily for years after their release. In the late 1950s he also recorded songs for several movies.

Kitano Takeshi: …in his first English-language film, Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence.

opera: Early opera in Germany and Austria: …Pay (1731) and its sequel, The Merry Cobbler (1735), both English ballad operas with texts by Charles Coffey. These had pasticcio (“assembled” from preexisting works) scores capitalizing, not very successfully, on the great popularity of The Beggar’s Opera (1728), the score of which was similarly assembled by John Christopher Pepusch.…

Alice Meynell: …and in 1883 they launched Merry England (1883–95), a monthly magazine for which she wrote many essays. Francis Thompson became known through their magazine, after they had aided and befriended the destitute poet. Her numerous volumes of prose include biographies of William Holman Hunt and John Ruskin, collections of essays…

Charles II was the king of Great Britain and Ireland (1660–85), who was restored to the throne after years of exile during the Puritan Commonwealth. The years of his reign are known in English history as the Restoration period. His political adaptability and his knowledge of men enabled him to

Quincy, city, Norfolk county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S., on Boston Harbor, just southeast of Boston. In 1625 the site, which was settled by Captain Wollaston, was given the name Mount Wollaston, and a short time afterward, under the leadership of Thomas Morton, it was renamed Merry Mount; in 1627

Frans Hals: Early life and works: 1627) clutching his beer mug, The Merry Toper, and two later portraits—a picture titled Malle Babbe (c. 1630–33), which portrays an old madwoman laughing, with an owl perched on her shoulder, and a joyful picture in the Louvre Museum of a laughing, suggestively dressed young Gypsy woman (1628–30).

The Merry Widow, comic operetta in three acts by Hungarian composer Franz Lehár (libretto in German by Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based upon L’Attaché d’ambassade, a comic play from 1861 by Henri Meilhac, best known as the librettist for Georges Bizet’s Carmen) that premiered at the Theater an der

Ernst Lubitsch: Transition to sound: The Merry Widow (1934) brought Chevalier and MacDonald together again under the auspices of producer Irving Thalberg and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in a sparkling version of the Franz Lehár operetta, with new lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, among others.

The Merry Wives of Windsor, comedy in five acts by William Shakespeare, written sometime between 1597 and 1601 (probably near the earlier of these dates), that centres on the comic romantic misadventures of Falstaff. The Merry Wives of Windsor was published in a quarto edition in 1602 from a

Otto Nicolai: …lustigen Weiber von Windsor (The Merry Wives of Windsor), based on William Shakespeare’s comedy.

Ann Brunton Merry was an Anglo-American actress, the leading tragedienne of her day. Ann Brunton grew up in London and in Norwich, where her father later managed the Theatre Royal. Under his management she made her stage debut in Bath in The Grecian Daughter (1785). Her subsequent highly successful

Arthur Schnitzler: Schnitzler’s Reigen (1897; Merry-Go-Round), a cycle of 10 dramatic dialogues, depicts the heartlessness of men and women in the grip of lust. Though it gave rise to scandal even in 1920, when it was finally performed, the play inspired numerous stage and screen adaptations, including the French film…

Randolph Stow: …terrifying novel, and in 1965 The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea was published. In the latter novel the heritage of a land built on its contrasting traditions of convict settlement and South Pacific paradise clashes with the values of a new Australia emerging from the impact of World War II. Other…

Frans Hals: Early life and works: …portrait of Hans Wurst in Merrymakers at Shrovetide (c. 1615) shows the sitter in a tall wide-brimmed hat, wearing a necklace made of pig’s feet, herrings, and eggs. The portrait of Mr. Verdonck (c. 1627) shows the subject joyfully brandishing the jawbone of a horse. Similar in spirit are the…

Ex Parte Merryman, (1861), in U.S. legal history, American Civil War case contesting the president’s power to suspend the writ of habeas corpus during a national emergency. On May 25, 1861, a secessionist named John Merryman was imprisoned by military order at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Md., for his

Daniel Berkeley Updike: …in 1893 of the distinguished Merrymount Press in Boston.

MERS, acute viral respiratory illness that is characterized primarily by cough, fever, and shortness of breath and is sometimes associated with severe and potentially fatal complications such as pneumonia and kidney failure. The illness was first observed in June 2012 in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, and

coronavirus: The novel MERS coronavirus was similar to other coronaviruses known to have originated in bats and was thought to be passed from bats to other animals before being transmitted to humans. Camels were identified as one possible reservoir for the MERS virus.

Mers el-Kebir, town and port, northwestern Algeria, situated on the Mediterranean Sea at the western end of the Gulf of Oran. The town was an Almohad naval arsenal in the 12th century. It was under the rulers of Tlemcen in the 15th century and fell to corsairs in 1492. The town was later contested

coronavirus: The novel MERS coronavirus was similar to other coronaviruses known to have originated in bats and was thought to be passed from bats to other animals before being transmitted to humans. Camels were identified as one possible reservoir for the MERS virus.

Marsā Maṭrūḥ, town and capital of Maṭrūḥ muḥāfaẓah (governorate), on the Mediterranean coast, Libyan (Western) Desert, in northwestern Egypt. The town serves as a market and distribution centre for the surrounding agricultural region. Olives, barley, and fruits are grown, and there are vineyards as

Merseburg, city, Saxony-Anhalt Land (state), eastern Germany. It lies on the left bank of the Saale River, just south of Halle. Founded about 800 as a frontier fortress against the Slavs, it was a favourite residence of the German kings Henry I the Fowler (d. 936), Otto I, and Henry II. It was the