Monday, April 04, 2005

Oman, Flag Of

The ruling sultan was deposed on July 23, 1970, and the new sultan, Qabus ibn Sa'id, began to modernize the nation: he changed its name to Sultanate of Oman and, on December 17, 1970, introduced the new national flag. White symbolizes peace and prosperity, red

Forbes, Steve

Forbes graduated from Princeton University in 1970 with a B.A. degree in American history. He then went to work as a researcher for Forbes magazine, which was headed by his father, Malcolm S. Forbes, Sr. In 1973 he began writing a column for the

Sunday, April 03, 2005

Duricrust

Surface or near-surface of the Earth consisting of a hardened accumulation of silica (SiO2), alumina (Al2O3), and iron oxide (Fe2O3), in varying proportions. Admixtures of other substances commonly are present and duricrusts may be enriched with oxides of manganese or titanium within restricted areas. Thus, siliceous, ferruginous, and aluminous crusts constitute duricrusts

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Cbs Corporation

Formerly (1928–74)  Columbia Broadcasting System,  or  (1974–97)  CBS Inc.,   major American broadcasting company and operator of the CBS national radio and television networks. The company was incorporated in 1927 as United Independent Broadcasters, Inc. Its name was changed a year later to Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., and in 1974 it adopted the name CBS Inc. In 1995 CBS Inc. was bought by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, which changed its name

Biblical Literature, Eastern Orthodoxy

The first Christians were Jews, and they worshipped along with other Jews in the synagogue. The earliest Gentile converts also attended the synagogue. When Christians met outside the synagogue, they still used its liturgy, read its Bible, and preserved the main characteristics of synagogue worship. Every historic liturgy is divided into (1) a Christian revision of

Friday, April 01, 2005

Girdle-tailed Lizard

Their name is derived from the rings of spiny scales that encircle the tail, and sometimes the body, in a series of whorls. In some species the armoured girdles serve effectively as protection

Thursday, March 31, 2005

Biblical Literature, Uncials

A, Codex Alexandrinus, is an early-5th-century manuscript containing most of the New Testament but with lacunae (gaps) in Matthew, John, and II Corinthians, plus the inclusion of the extracanonical I and II Clement. In the Gospels, the text is of the Byzantine type, but, in the rest of the New Testament, it is Alexandrian.

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Ulama

Also spelled  ulema , Arabic  'ulama'  the learned of Islam, those who possess the quality of 'ilm, “learning,” in its widest sense. From the 'ulama', who are versed theoretically and practically in the Muslim sciences, come the religious teachers of the Islamic community—theologians (mutakallimun), canon lawyers (muftis), judges (qadis), professors—and high state religious officials like the shaikh al-Islam. In a narrower

Cacus And Caca

In Roman religion, brother and sister, respectively, originally fire deities of the early Roman settlement on the Palatine Hill, where “Cacus' stairs” were later situated. The Roman poet Virgil described Cacus as the son of the flame god Vulcan and as a monstrous fire-breathing brigand who terrorized the countryside. He stole some of the giant Geryon's cattle from the

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Fa-hsiang

School of Chinese Buddhism derived from the Indian Yogacara school. See Yogacara.