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Scythia
Scythia , ancient region of Eurasia, extending from the Danube on the west to the borders of China on the east. The Scythians flourished from the 8th to the 4th cent. BC They spoke an Indo-Iranian language but had no system of writing. They were nomadic conquerors and skilled horsemen. They seem t...
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Uruk
Uruk or Erech , ancient Sumerian city of Mesopotamia , on the Euphrates and NW of Ur (in present-day S Iraq). It is the modern Tall al Warka. Uruk, dating from the 5th millennium BC, was the largest city in S Mesopotamia and an important religious center. The sanctuaries of the goddess Inanna (...
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Susa
Susa , ancient city, capital of Elam . The site is 15 mi (23 km) SW of modern Dizful, Iran. It is the biblical Shushan, and its inhabitants were called Susanchites. From the 4th millennium BC, Elam was under the cultural influence of Mesopotamia. Excavations at Susa uncovered the stele of Naram-sin...
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cuneiform
cuneiform [Lat.,=wedge-shaped], system of writing developed before the last centuries of the 4th millennium BC in the lower Tigris and Euphrates valley, probably by the Sumerians. The characters consist of arrangements of wedgelike strokes generally impressed with a stylus on wet clay tablets, wh...
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Anatolian languages
Anatolian languages , subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see The Indo-European Family of Languages , table); the term "Anatolian languages" is also used to refer to all languages, Indo-European and non-Indo-European, that were spoken in Anatolia in ancient times. The progress m...
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Elam
Elam , ancient country of Asia, N of the Persian Gulf and E of the Tigris, now in W Iran. A civilization seems to have been established there very early, probably in the late 4th millennium BC The capital was Susa , and the country is sometimes called Susiana. The land included a hot, rich plain an...
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Cephisodotus
Cephisodotus , Gr. Kephisodotos, fl. 4th cent. BC, two Greek sculptors. The elder, the master and probably the father or the brother of Praxiteles, is noted for the statue Irene and Plutus [Peace and Wealth]. The original was erected on the Areopagus at Athens c.372 BC to celebrate the victory o...
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Ugarit
Ugarit , ancient city, capital of the Ugarit kingdom, W Syria, on the Mediterranean coast N of modern Latakia. Although the name of this city was known from Egyptian and Hittite sources, its location and history were a mystery until the accidental discovery (1928) of an ancient tomb at the small Ara...
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Samnites
Samnites , people of ancient Italy. Their country was Samnium . The Samnites were Oscan-speaking and therefore should be included among the Sabelli. The Tabula Agnonensis, a bronze tablet that carries an inscription engraved in the full Oscan alphabet, is an important record of the language. The ...
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Achaean League
Achaean League , confederation of cities on the Gulf of Corinth. The First Achaean League, about which little is known, was formed presumably before the 5th cent. BC and lasted through the 4th cent. BC Its purpose was mutual protection against pirates. The Achaeans remained aloof from the wars in Gr...
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