“Babylon An ancient city in Mesopotamia, first prominent under Hammurabi who made it capital of the kingdom of Babylonia. The city (now in ruins) lay on the Euphrates 55 miles south of present-day Baghdad and was noted for its luxury, its fortifications, and particularly for the ‘Hanging Gardens,’ which were one the Seven Wonders of the World.”
Excerpted from: Wright, Edmund, Ed. The Oxford Desk Encyclopedia of World History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
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“Adana: City (population 2019: 1,769,000) south central Turkey, on the Seyhan River. An agricultural and industrial center and one of Turkey’s largest cities, it probably overlies a Hittite settlement that dates from c.1400 BC. Conquered by Alexander the Great in 335-334 BC, it was later a Roman military station. It came under the rule of the Abbasid Arabs at the end of the 7th century AD and changed hands intermittently until the establishment of the Turkmen dynasty in 1378. Adana’s prosperity has long derived from the fertile valleys behind it and its position as a bridgehead on the Anatolian-Arabian trade routes.”
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
“9 Rasa: Sengaram * Hasyam * Raudram * Karunyam * Bibhatsam * Bhayanakam * Viram * Abduhtam * Santam
The Nine Rasa are a culture refrain underlying Indian popular art, music, theater, comics, and cinema. They are noisy, plebeian, and fun-loving.
Sengaram (love, attractiveness, and the erotic) is presided over by Lord Vishnu and colored light green. Hasyam (laughter, mirth, and comedy) is presided over by Pramata and colored white. Raudram (fury) is presided over by Rudra and colored red. Karunyam (compassion and tragedy) has Yama as its presiding deity and is colored grey. Bibhatsam (disgust, aversion, and the pathetic) is presided over by Shiva and colored blue. Bhayanakam (horror) is presided over by Kali and colored black. Viram (heroic endeavor) has as its presiding deity Indra, and is colored yellow. Abdhutam (wonder and amazement) has Lord Brahma and is colored bright yellow. Santam (peace and tranquility) has the presiding deity of Vishnu and is colored blue.”
Excerpted from: Rogerson, Barnaby. Rogerson’s Book of Numbers: The Culture of Numbers–from 1,001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World. New York: Picador, 2013.
“Yamazaki Ansai: (1619-1682) Japanese exponent of the philosophy of the Chinese Neo-Confucianist Zhu Xi. Early in life he was a Buddhist monk, but he gradually rejected Buddhism in favor of Confucianism, which he began to teach to thousands of students. He reduced Neo-Confucianism to a simple moral code, which he then blended with native Shinto religious doctrines. He equated Neo-Confucian principles and theories with Shinto legends and divinity, creating a philosophical system that took on greater authority that its sources possessed alone. His thought was one of the sources of the extreme nationalism and emperor worship that developed later in Japan.”
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
“Buddha A title given to successive teachers (past and future) of Buddhism, although it usually denotes the founder of Buddhism, Siddartha Gautama (c. 563 BC-c. 489 BC). Although born an Indian prince (in what is now Nepal), he renounced his kingdom, wife, and child to become an ascetic, taking religious instruction until he attained enlightenment (nirvana) through meditation beneath a bo tree in the village of Bodhgaya. He then taught all who wanted to learn, regardless of sex, class or caste, until his death. ‘Buddha’ means ‘enlightened’ in Sanskrit.”
Excerpted from: Wright, Edmund, Ed. The Oxford Desk Encyclopedia of World History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
“bhiksu: In Buddhism, a member of the sangha, the ordained order of men established by the Buddha. (Female orders exist in some Mahayana Buddhist traditions). Originally they were mendicant followers of the Buddha who taught Buddhist ways in exchange for food. Today children may enter monastic life as novices, but candidates for ordination must be 21 years old. There are more than 200 rules; sexual relations, taking of life, stealing, or boasting of spiritual attainment will lead to expulsion. A bhiksu shaves his head and face, owns a few essential items, and begs daily for his food. Theravada Buddhism forbids monks to handle money and perform labor. Chan (Zen) Buddhism requires monks to work. See also Vinaya Pitaka.”
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
“Arena, n. In politics, an imaginary rat-pit in which the statesman wrestles with his record.”
Excerpted from: Bierce, Ambrose. David E. Schultz and S.J. Joshi, eds. The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary. Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 2000.
“acme: [L16th] In Greek akme meant ‘point’ or ‘pinnacle, highest point.’ Its use dates from the late 15th century, although for the next hundred years or so it was consciously used as a Greek word and written in Greek letters. For many people their first exposure to the word comes from the ‘Looney Tunes’ cartoons featuring the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote, where the characters buy products from the Acme company. ‘Acme’ was a real brand name for various US firms in the last two decades of the 19th century, chosen in part because the word comes near the top of any alphabetical list of suppliers. Acne [M19th] the skin condition, has a similar root. The idea is that all those red pimples are little points sticking up from someone’s face.
Excerpted from: Creswell, Julia. Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
“Neil Young: (b. 1945) Canadian singer and songwriter. Born in Toronto, he began his career as a folksinger in Winnipeg and later moved to Los Angeles, where he formed the rock group Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills. In 1968 he released a solo album; in 1969 he joined Stills, David Crosby, and Graham Nash to form Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. With a new band, Crazy Horse, he had great success with albums such as Harvest (1972) and Comes a Time (1978). In the 1980s he experimented with rockabilly and electronic music.”
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
“Rayonism: A Russian movement, a short-lived offshoot of Cubism and a parallel to Futurism, started in 1913 by Mikhail Larionov and Natalia Goncharova. Their emphasis on rendering parallel and crossed beams of light to suggest the fourth dimension was important to the development of Suprematism.”
Excerpted from: Diamond, David G. The Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms. Boston: Little Brown, 1992.
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