Agulhas Current, surface oceanic current that forms the western boundary current of the southern Indian Ocean. It flows southward along the southeast coast of Mozambique and the coast of South Africa before turning eastward to join the flow from Africa to Australia. A small part of Agulhas water

Mantiqueira Mountains: …in the Pico (peak) das Agulhas Negras.

Mantiqueira Mountains: …in the Pico (peak) das Agulhas Negras.

conservation: Habitat protection: The Agulhas Plain at the southern tip of Africa is one of the world’s “hottest” spots for concentrations of vulnerable plant species. An area only some 1,500 square km (600 square miles) in size was found to house 1,751 plant species, 99 of them endemic. Whereas…

Cape Agulhas, cape that is the southernmost point of the African continent, located 109 miles (176 km) southeast of Cape Town, South Africa. Its name, Portuguese for “needles,” may refer to the jagged rocks and reefs there that have wrecked many ships. Another explanation attributes the name to

history of Mesopotamia: The Kassites in Babylonia: A king called Agum II ruled over a state that stretched from western Iran to the middle part of the Euphrates valley; 24 years after the Hittites had carried off the statue of the Babylonian god Marduk, he regained possession of the statue, brought it back to Babylon,…

agunah, in Orthodox and Conservative Judaism, a woman who is presumed to be widowed but who cannot remarry because evidence of her husband’s death does not satisfy legal requirements. The plight of the agunah has generated voluminous and complex treatment in Halakhic literature. Although religious

agunah, in Orthodox and Conservative Judaism, a woman who is presumed to be widowed but who cannot remarry because evidence of her husband’s death does not satisfy legal requirements. The plight of the agunah has generated voluminous and complex treatment in Halakhic literature. Although religious

Chaim Grade: Grade’s novel Di agune (1961; The Agunah) concerns an Orthodox woman whose husband is missing in action in wartime and who, according to Orthodox Jewish law, is forbidden to remarry, lest she enter into an adulterous union. In the ambitious two-volume Tsemakh Atlas (1967–68; The Yeshiva), Grade reveals Jewish life…

Chaim Grade: Grade’s novel Di agune (1961; The Agunah) concerns an Orthodox woman whose husband is missing in action in wartime and who, according to Orthodox Jewish law, is forbidden to remarry, lest she enter into an adulterous union. In the ambitious two-volume Tsemakh Atlas (1967–68; The Yeshiva), Grade reveals Jewish life…

Agung was the third sultan of the Mataram dynasty of central Java who brought his domain to its greatest territorial and military power. In the early years of Sultan Agung’s reign, he consolidated the sultanate by subduing the autonomous trade-based coastal states of Padang and Tuban in 1619;

Abulfatah Agung was the ruler of the powerful Javanese sultanate of Bantam from 1651 to 1683. Agung encouraged English and French trade but successfully opposed Dutch expansion into the area in the early part of his reign. In the 1670s, however, when he attempted to change the succession to his

Mount Agung, volcano, northeastern Bali, Indonesia. The highest point in Bali and the object of traditional veneration, it rises to a height of 9,888 feet (3,014 meters). In 1963 it erupted after being dormant for 120 years; some 1,600 people were killed and 86,000 left homeless. According to one

Mount Agung, volcano, northeastern Bali, Indonesia. The highest point in Bali and the object of traditional veneration, it rises to a height of 9,888 feet (3,014 meters). In 1963 it erupted after being dormant for 120 years; some 1,600 people were killed and 86,000 left homeless. According to one

agunah, in Orthodox and Conservative Judaism, a woman who is presumed to be widowed but who cannot remarry because evidence of her husband’s death does not satisfy legal requirements. The plight of the agunah has generated voluminous and complex treatment in Halakhic literature. Although religious

agunah, in Orthodox and Conservative Judaism, a woman who is presumed to be widowed but who cannot remarry because evidence of her husband’s death does not satisfy legal requirements. The plight of the agunah has generated voluminous and complex treatment in Halakhic literature. Although religious

biblical literature: Proverbs: The “words of Agur” (30:1–14) differs sharply in spirit and substance from the rest of Proverbs; it has much closer affinities with the Book of Job, stressing the inaccessibility of wisdom. There is no internal evidence, such as a continuous theme, to show that these 14 verses are…

Hadji Agus Salim was an Indonesian nationalist and religious leader from an upper class Minangkabau family, who played a key role during the 1920s in moderating the messianic and communist element in the Muslim nationalist movement in the Dutch East Indies. Agus Salim received a Dutch education

Agusan River, longest river in Mindanao, Philippines. It rises in the southeast and flows northward for 240 miles (390 km) to enter Butuan Bay of the Bohol Sea. The river forms a fertile valley 40 to 50 miles (65–80 km) wide between the Central Mindanao Highlands (west) and the Pacific Cordillera

Agustín de Iturbide was a Mexican caudillo (military chieftain) who became the leader of the conservative factions in the Mexican independence movement and, as Agustín I, briefly emperor of Mexico. Like many young men of the upper classes in Spanish America, Iturbide entered the royalist army,

José Agustín was a Mexican novelist whose prolific writings, reflecting an urban sensibility and the modern culture of youth, highlight urban violence and decay. Agustín was educated at National Autonomous University of Mexico and at Centro Mexicano de Escritores. He was a leader of Onda, a youth

José Agustín was a Mexican novelist whose prolific writings, reflecting an urban sensibility and the modern culture of youth, highlight urban violence and decay. Agustín was educated at National Autonomous University of Mexico and at Centro Mexicano de Escritores. He was a leader of Onda, a youth

Delmira Agustini was one of the most important poets of South America. Agustini was the first woman in Latin-American literature to deal boldly with the themes of sensuality and passion, and her poems have a force lacking from most Modernist poetry of the period. Her life ended tragically when she

robot: Industrial robots: Such machines, dubbed AGVs (Automatic Guided Vehicles), commonly navigate by following signal-emitting wires entrenched in concrete floors. In the 1980s AGVs acquired microprocessor controllers that allowed more complex behaviors than those afforded by simple electronic controls. In the 1990s a new navigation method became popular for use in…

climate change: Human activities: …to the climatic impact of human activities. Most of this attention has focused on carbon dioxide emission via fossil-fuel combustion and deforestation. Human activities also yield releases of other greenhouse gases, such as methane (from rice cultivation, livestock, landfills, and other sources) and chlorofluorocarbons (from

New Museum: It houses the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection (Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung), the Museum of Prehistory and Early History (Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte), and parts of the Collection of Classical Antiquities (Antikensammlung). It is especially noted for exhibiting one of the world’s leading collections of artifacts and…

fungus: Annotated classification: Order Agyriales Forms lichens; thallus may be nonlobate; includes bullseye lichen and disk lichen; included in subclass Ostropomycetidae; examples of genera include Agyrium, Placopsis, Trapelia, and Trapeliopsis. Order Baeomycetales Forms lichens; stalked or sessile ascomata; includes cap lichen; included in subclass

coleopteran: Annotated classification: Family Agyrtidae (primitive carrion beetles) Scavengers of decaying organic material; inhabit damp, cool environments; dark-coloured. Family Hydraenidae (minute moss beetles) Small, 1.2–2.5 mm; found in brackish or intertidal pools and along streams. Family

chronology: Muslim: …done in ah 17 (anno Hegirae, “in the year of the Hijrah”).

Ah Kin, (Mayan: “He of the Sun”), the regular clergy of the Yucatec Maya in pre-Columbian times. The Ah Kin are best known historically for their performance in the ritual sacrifice of victims, whose hearts were offered to the Mayan gods. The chief priest (Ah Kin Mai) served in the various

pre-Columbian civilizations: The gods: …such gods as the young corn god, whose gracious statue is to be seen at Copán, the sun god shown at Palenque under the form of the solar disk engraved with anthropomorphic features, the nine gods of darkness (also at Palenque), and a snake god especially prominent at Yaxchilán. Another…

pre-Columbian civilizations: The gods: …combat with the death god, Ah Puch, a skeleton-like being, patron of the sixth day-sign Cimi (“Death”) and lord of the ninth hell. Several other deities were associated with death—e.g., Ek Chuah, a war god and god of merchants and cacao growers, and Ixtab, patron goddess of the suicides.

Chinese literature: May Fourth period: His “A-Q zhengzhuan” (1921; “The True Story of Ah Q”), a damning critique of early 20th-century conservatism in China, is the representative work of the May Fourth period and has become an international classic.

Lars Wivallius: …1632 and translates as “Ah, Liberty, Thou Noble Thing”) and love of nature (most notably the majestic “Klagovisa över denna torra och kalla vår” [1642; “Dirge over This Dry and Cold Spring”], in which the poet laments the season that he encountered upon his release from Kajaneborg).

Twelve Variations on Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman, K 265: …the French folk song “Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman” (English: “Ah, Mother, if I could tell you”), with the same melody as that of the English-language nursery song “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”

Clarence Brown: The 1930s: Ah, Wilderness! (1935) was a well-cast staging of O’Neill’s slice-of-life play set in a turn-of-the-century small town, with Eric Linden, Frank Albertson, Mickey Rooney, Wallace Beery, and Lionel Barrymore as the Miller family.

Ah, Wilderness!, comedy in four acts by Eugene O’Neill, published and first performed in 1933. Perhaps the most atypical of the author’s works, the play presents a sentimental tale of youthful indiscretion in a turn-of-the-century New England town. Richard, adolescent son of the local newspaper

military aircraft: Assault and attack helicopters: …assault operations, led to the AH-1G HueyCobra, deployed in 1967 as the first purpose-built helicopter gunship. With its pilot seated behind and above the gunner, the HueyCobra pioneered the tandem stepped-up cockpit configuration of future attack helicopters.

military aircraft: Assault and attack helicopters: …HueyCobra was the McDonnell Douglas AH-64 Apache, a heavily armoured antiarmour helicopter with less speed and range than the Hind but with sophisticated navigation, ECM, and fire-control systems. The Apache became operational in 1986 and proved highly effective in the Persian Gulf War (1990–91).

historiography: Economic history: The American Historical Association and the American Economic Association were founded together and did not separate for several years; it was common in American colleges for historians and economists to be in the same department. From the turn of the 20th century, however, the two disciplines…

Menes was the legendary first king of unified Egypt, who, according to tradition, joined Upper and Lower Egypt in a single centralized monarchy and established ancient Egypt’s 1st dynasty. Manetho, a 3rd-century-bce Egyptian historian, called him Menes, the 5th-century-bce Greek historian Herodotus

Aḥa Of Shabḥa was a prominent Babylonian Talmudist who is the first rabbinical writer known to history after the close of the Talmud. Aḥa’s Sheʾeltot (“Questions,” or “Theses”), published in Venice in 1546, was an attempt to codify and explicate materials contained in the Babylonian Talmud. Written

Ahab was the seventh king of the northern kingdom of Israel (reigned 874–c. 853 bce), according to the Bible, and son of King Omri. Omri left to Ahab an empire that comprised not only territory east of the Jordan River, in Gilead and probably Bashan, but also the land of Moab, whose king was

Captain Ahab, fictional character, a one-legged captain of the whaling vessel Pequod in the novel Moby Dick (1851), by Herman Melville. From the time that his leg is bitten off by the huge white whale called Moby Dick, Captain Ahab monomaniacally pursues his elusive nemesis. Ahab’s obsession with

ice hockey: Early organization: …first national hockey organization, the Amateur Hockey Association (AHA) of Canada (which limited players to seven a side), was formed in Montreal in 1885, and the first league was formed in Kingston during the same year, with four teams: the Kingston Hockey Club, Queen’s University, the Kingston Athletics, and the…

Aḥad Haʿam was a Zionist leader whose concepts of Hebrew culture had a definitive influence on the objectives of the early Jewish settlement in Palestine. Reared in Russia in a rigidly Orthodox Jewish family, he mastered rabbinic literature but soon was attracted to the rationalist school of

Aḥad Haʿam: …his memoirs were published in Aḥad Haʿam: Pirqe zikhronot we-iggerot (1931; “Collected Memoirs and Letters”). His essays comprise four volumes (1895, 1903, 1904, and 1913).

vine snake: …to the genera Ahaetulla (Asian vine snakes), Oxybelis (New World vine snakes), and Thelotornis (African vine snakes); however, some authorities also place the genera Imantodes and Langaha in this group. African vine snakes, which inhabit sub-Saharan regions, are most diverse in East Africa. The five species of New World…

Ahaggar, large plateau in the north center of the Sahara, on the Tropic of Cancer, North Africa. Its height is above 3,000 feet (900 meters), culminating in Mount Tahat (9,573 feet [2,918 meters]) in southeastern Algeria. The plateau, about 965 miles (1,550 km) north to south and 1,300 miles (2,100

Aḥa Of Shabḥa was a prominent Babylonian Talmudist who is the first rabbinical writer known to history after the close of the Talmud. Aḥa’s Sheʾeltot (“Questions,” or “Theses”), published in Venice in 1546, was an attempt to codify and explicate materials contained in the Babylonian Talmud. Written

Ahilyabai Holkar was a ruler of the Malwa territory, a part of the Maratha Confederacy, from 1767 to 1795. She is one of the few women to have led an Indian polity during the era. She served first as regent and then as ruler of the Holkar dynasty with its seats at Maheshwar and Indore in central

Ahilyabai Holkar was a ruler of the Malwa territory, a part of the Maratha Confederacy, from 1767 to 1795. She is one of the few women to have led an Indian polity during the era. She served first as regent and then as ruler of the Holkar dynasty with its seats at Maheshwar and Indore in central

ahamkara, in Samkhya, one of the six orthodox systems (darshans) of Indian philosophy, the second stage of development of the prakriti, the original stuff of material nature, which evolves into the manifest world. In Hinduism the term also refers to excessive self-regard, or egoism. Ahamkara

Ahasuerus, a royal Persian name occurring throughout the Old Testament. Immediately preceding Artaxerxes I in the line of Persian kings, Ahasuerus is evidently to be identified with Xerxes. In Ezra 4:6 Ahasuerus is mentioned as a king of Persia, to whom the enemies of the Jews sent representations

Xerxes I was a Persian king (486–465 bce), the son and successor of Darius I. He is best known for his massive invasion of Greece from across the Hellespont (480 bce), a campaign marked by the battles of Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataea. His ultimate defeat spelled the beginning of the decline of

Robert Hamerling: …works are his epic poems: Ahasver in Rom (1866; “Ahasuerus in Rome”), a grandiosely romantic retelling of the myth of the wandering Jew, which, in spite of its brilliant descriptions, suffers from theatricality; and Der König von Sion (1869; “The King of Zion”), a narrative of the Anabaptist movement of…

Edgar Quinet: …of his epic prose poem Ahasvérus (1833), in which the legend of the Wandering Jew is used to symbolize the progress of humanity through the years. In Le Génie des religions (1842; “The Genius of Religions”) he expressed sympathy for all religions while committing himself to none, but shortly afterward…

Olympic Games: St. Moritz, Switzerland, 1948: …Committee, another supported by the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States (AHAUS). While the IOC declared both teams ineligible, the Swiss Olympic Committee ruled that the AHAUS team could compete; the U.S. national team could participate only in the opening ceremonies. The IOC refused to sanction the competition, claiming…

Abraham Mapu: …of the first Hebrew novel, Ahavat Ziyyon (1853; Annou: Prince and Peasant), an idyllic historical romance set in the days of the prophet Isaiah. Couched in florid biblical language, it artfully depicts pastoral life in ancient Israel. The book attained immediate popularity and was later translated into several languages.

Ahaz was a king of Judah (c. 735–720 bc) who became an Assyrian vassal (2 Kings 16; Isaiah 7–8). Ahaz assumed the throne of Judah at the age of 20 or 25. Sometime later his kingdom was invaded by Pekah, king of Israel, and Rezin, king of Syria, in an effort to force him into an alliance with them

biblical literature: The significance of Elijah: …was succeeded by his son Ahaziah, who reigned for only two years.

Islam: The Qurʾān and non-Islamic influences: For example, the Jewish convert Kaʿb al-Aḥbār brought much of the Isrāʾīliyyāt—narratives said to originate from Jewish sources—into Islamic tradition. Later on, the mystics’ commentaries expressed some gnostic (a dualistic viewpoint in which spirit is viewed as good and matter as evil) and Hellenistic concepts, of which the Hellenistic idea…

Donald Trump: Health care: …the House of Representatives the American Health Care Act (AHCA), proved contentious even within his own party. Because Trump had not worked out a specific plan of his own, he was forced to rely on Republicans in the House to draft a substantive bill that would reduce government involvement in…

North Africa: Advent of European colonialism: …with the Ahd al-Amān, or Fundamental Pact, in 1856 and the short-lived constitution of 1860, the first in the Arab world. The Fundamental Pact guaranteed the equality before the law of all subjects—Muslim, Christian, and Jew—while the constitution provided for a consultative assembly and the administration of justice. The constitution…

Israel Labour Party: Predecessors and ideological orientation: …the Israel Labour Party was Aḥdut ha-ʿAvoda–Poʿale Tziyyon (“Unity of Labour–Workers of Zion”), founded in 1944 by a group of dissident Mapai members who broke away from the party to protest its alleged reformist tendencies. It attracted significant support from those living in Israel’s kibbutzim, or collective settlements. It rejoined…

Jacques d’Amboise was an American dancer and choreographer of the New York City Ballet (1949–84), admired for his athletic interpretations of both character and classical roles. Trained principally by George Balanchine’s School of American Ballet, he made his professional debut at the age of 12

Tano: …health, including the drinking of aheho-t’ang, an herb tea that, according to legend, would make one less affected by the heat if consumed every day during the summer. Men and women also washed their hair in water that was boiled with various flowers, a practice that was thought to repel…

Western sculpture: The last century of the Republic: …frieze decoration from the so-called Altar of Ahenobarbus, which has been shown to have no sure connection either with an altar or with any of the Ahenobarbi. In these, prosaic documentation of Roman census procedure is juxtaposed with depictions of Greek sea nymphs, a conjunction of literalism and borrowed poetry…

Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus was a Roman general who became one of the chief partisans of Mark Antony after Antony defeated the assassins of Julius Caesar. With his father, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, he had been a member of the group that in 49 bc made an unsuccessful attempt to prevent Caesar

Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus was a leader of the Optimates (conservative senatorial aristocracy) in the last years of the Roman Republic. Ahenobarbus repeatedly resisted the designs of the powerful politicians and generals Julius Caesar, Pompey the Great, and Marcus Crassus, who in 60 bc combined to

Nero was the fifth Roman emperor (54–68 ce), stepson and heir of the emperor Claudius. He became infamous for his personal debaucheries and extravagances and, on doubtful evidence, for his burning of Rome and persecutions of Christians. Nero’s father, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, died about 40 ce,

Elisha ben Abuyah was a Jewish scholar who renounced his faith and who came to be regarded in later ages as a prototype of the heretic whose intellectual pride leads him to infidelity to Jewish laws and morals. In the Talmud, Elisha is not mentioned by name but is usually referred to as Aḥer (“the

Bertie Ahern was the taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland from 1997 to 2008. Ahern was educated at St. Aidan’s Christian Brothers secondary school, Rathmines College of Commerce, University College in Dublin, and the London School of Economics, obtaining degrees in taxation, business

Bertie Ahern was the taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland from 1997 to 2008. Ahern was educated at St. Aidan’s Christian Brothers secondary school, Rathmines College of Commerce, University College in Dublin, and the London School of Economics, obtaining degrees in taxation, business

James A. Herne was an American playwright who helped bridge the gap between 19th-century melodrama and the 20th-century drama of ideas. After several years as a traveling actor, Herne scored an impressive success with his first play, Hearts of Oak (1879), written with the young David Belasco.

hemophilia: …A, the missing substance is factor VIII. The increased tendency to bleeding usually becomes noticeable early in life and may lead to severe anemia or even death. Large bruises of the skin and soft tissue are often seen, usually following injury so trivial as to be unnoticed. There may also…

Ahhiyawā, ancient kingdom lying to the west of the Hittite empire. The exact location of Ahhiyawā is not definitely known but may have been western Anatolia or one of the islands in the Aegean Sea. The most commonly held theory is that the people of Ahhiyawā were the Achaeans of Homer, early

Ahhiyawā, ancient kingdom lying to the west of the Hittite empire. The exact location of Ahhiyawā is not definitely known but may have been western Anatolia or one of the islands in the Aegean Sea. The most commonly held theory is that the people of Ahhiyawā were the Achaeans of Homer, early

Kırşehir: …the stronghold of the influential Ahi brotherhood, a religious fraternity developed by the 14th-century leader Ahi Avran out of a medieval craftsmen’s guild. The Cacabey Cami, a 12th-century Seljuq observatory converted into a mosque, the Alâeddin Cami (13th century), and the mausoleum of the poet Aşık Paşa are all standing.…

José Agustín: …Classical Music”); and the novels Ahí viene la plaga (“Here Comes the Plague”) and Furor matutino (“Morning Fury”). The novel Cerca del fuego (1986; “Near the Fire”) is a mordantly humorous indictment of life in Mexico City, told by an amnesiac after six years’ absence from the city. In 1994…

Guittone d’Arezzo: Guittone’s “Ahi, lasso! o e stagion di doler tanto” (“Ah, alas! How long does so much misery last?”), written after the Florentine Guelf defeat at Montaperti in 1260, is a noble poem. His later work includes sonnets and moral lyrics. He is also known as the…

Bareilly: The ancient fortress city of Ahicchattra near Bareilly is believed to have been visited by the Buddha. Pop. (2001) 718,395; (2011) 903,668.

Ahmadou Ahidjo was the first president of the United Republic of Cameroon, who served from 1960 to 1982. He presided over one of the few successful attempts at supraterritorial African unity: the joining of the southern half of the former British Cameroons with the larger, French-speaking Cameroon.

biblical literature: The Story of Ahikar: …to the book of Tobit, Ahikar, the cupbearer of the Assyrian king Esarhaddon, was Tobit’s nephew; he is a secondary personage in the plot, and his own story is mentioned. Ahikar is the hero of a Near Eastern non-Jewish work, The Story of Ahikar. The book exists in medieval translations,…

The Story of Ahikar, folktale of Babylonian or Persian origin, about a wise and moral man who supposedly served as one of the chief counselors of Sennacherib, king of Assyria (704–681 bc). Like the biblical Job, Ahikar was a prototype of the just man whose righteousness was sorely tested and

Ahilyabai Holkar was a ruler of the Malwa territory, a part of the Maratha Confederacy, from 1767 to 1795. She is one of the few women to have led an Indian polity during the era. She served first as regent and then as ruler of the Holkar dynasty with its seats at Maheshwar and Indore in central

biblical literature: Theological and political biases: …the shrine of Shiloh), or Ahimaaz, a son of Zadok (who originally may have been a priest of the Jebusite city of Jerusalem that David made his capital). The chapters in I Samuel are sometimes called the “Saul” source because it is in them that Saul’s charismatic leadership is legitimized…

ahimsa, in the Indian religions of Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism, the ethical principle of not causing harm to other living things. In Jainism, ahimsa is the standard by which all actions are judged. For a householder observing the small vows (anuvrata), the practice of ahimsa requires that one

ahimsa, in the Indian religions of Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism, the ethical principle of not causing harm to other living things. In Jainism, ahimsa is the standard by which all actions are judged. For a householder observing the small vows (anuvrata), the practice of ahimsa requires that one

Dnieper River: …Bug, and Vistula rivers; the Ahinski Canal by way of the Pripet and the Neman; and the Byarezina water system by way of the Byarezina and the Western Dvina. These canals later became obsolete.

Ahīr, cattle-tending caste widespread in northern and central India. Considerable historical interest attaches to this caste, because its members are thought to be identical with the Ābhīras of Sanskrit literature, who are mentioned repeatedly in the great epic the Mahābhārata. Some scholars

Phoenicia: …was the limestone sarcophagus of Ahiram, king of Byblos at the end of the 11th century.

Hiram, Phoenician king of Tyre (reigned 969–936 bc), who appears in the Bible as an ally of the Israelite kings David and Solomon. Hiram maintained friendly relations with Israel, supplying Solomon with men and materials for the construction of the Temple at Jerusalem and cooperating with him in

Ahithophel, in the Old Testament, one of King David’s most trusted advisers. He took a leading part in the revolt of David’s son Absalom, and Ahithophel’s defection was a severe blow to David. Having consulted Ahithophel about his plans to proceed against David, Absalom then sought advice from

Alaskan mountains: Physiography of the central ranges: …are now present, but the Ahklun Mountains at the sector’s southwestern extremity are the largest formerly glaciated area in central Alaska; the Wood River–Tikchik region along the east side of the range has beautiful parallel glacial lakes and is considered one of the most-scenic areas in the state.

Ahl al-Bayt, designation in Islam for the holy family of the Prophet Muhammad, particularly his daughter Fāṭimah, her husband ʿAlī (who was also Muhammad’s cousin), their sons al-Ḥusayn and Ḥasan, and their descendants. The Shiʿah closely identify this family with the imams, whom they regard as the

Sufism, mystical Islamic belief and practice in which Muslims seek to find the truth of divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of God. It consists of a variety of mystical paths that are designed to ascertain the nature of humanity and of God and to facilitate the experience

Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm: …fame as a dramatist with Ahl al-kahf (1933; “The People of the Cave”), which was ostensibly based on the story of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus but which was actually a study of the human struggle against time. This introduced his series of “dramas of ideas,” or of “symbolism.” They…

Ahl al-Kitāb, in Islamic thought, those religionists—Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians, as well as the imprecisely defined group referred to as Sabians—who are possessors of divine books (i.e., the Torah, the Gospel, and the Avesta), as distinguished from those whose religions are not based on

Sunni, member of one of the two major branches of Islam, the branch that consists of the majority of that religion’s adherents. Sunni Muslims regard their denomination as the mainstream and traditionalist branch of Islam—as distinguished from the minority denomination, the Shiʿah. The Sunnis