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John Leland
John Leland c.1506-1552, English antiquary. He was successively chaplain and librarian to Henry VIII. In 1533 he was appointed king's antiquarian, and in this capacity traveled through England, collecting a great mass of historical and geographical data for a proposed book to be entitled History a...
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Ezra Stiles
Ezra Stiles 1727-95, American theologian and educator, b. North Haven, Conn., grad. Yale, 1746. He studied theology, was ordained in 1749, and tutored (1749-55) at Yale. Resigning from the ministry, he studied law and practiced in New Haven from 1753 to 1755, when he returned to the ministry for 22...
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pilgrim
pilgrim one who travels to a shrine or other sacred place out of religious motives. Pilgrimages are a feature of many religions and cultures. Examples in ancient Greece were the pilgrimages to Eleusis and Delphi. Pilgrimages are well established in India (e.g., to Varanasi, or Benares, on the sacre...
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Arafat
Arafat or Arafa , granite hill, Saudi Arabia, near Mecca . The hill was an ancient pagan sanctuary and is shrouded in many legends. It is a site for prayers during the hajj , the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. Atop the hill is a minaret, reached by broad stone steps. On the 60th step is a ...
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Edmund Dulac
Edmund Dulac , 1882-1953, French illustrator of English books. He is known for his imaginative, colorful illustrations of the Arabian Nights (1907), Shakespeare's Tempest (1908), and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (1909).
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Croagh Patrick
Croagh Patrick , mountain, 2,510 ft (765 m) high, Co. Mayo, W Republic of Ireland, near Westport Bay. Legend connects it with St. Patrick, and its summit has long been a place of pilgrimage.
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An Najaf
An Najaf , city (1987 pop. 309,010), S central Iraq, on a lake near the Euphrates River. The city, one of Shi'a Islam's holiest, is also called Mashad Ali, after the tomb (in a mosque) of Ali , son-in-law of Muhammad the Prophet. The tomb is an object of pilgrimage by Shiite Muslims and a starting ...
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hajj
hajj , the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, one of the five basic requirements ( arkan or "pillars" ) of Islam. Its annual observance corresponds to the major holy day id al-adha, itself a commemoration of Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son on Divine orders. While the hajj is a relig...
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gargoyle
gargoyle , waterspout used in medieval Europe to draw rainwater from church and cathedral roofs. Gargoyles were fashioned imaginatively in the form of human grotesques, beasts, and demonic spirits. This form of sculpture reached its peak in the Gothic period and declined with the introduction of lea...
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Avellino
Avellino , city (1991 pop. 55,662), capital of Avellino prov., Campania, S Italy. It is an agricultural and light manufacturing center. Although damaged by earthquakes in 1930 and 1980, the city has retained much of its medieval aspect. Of note are the 12th-century cathedral and the ruins of a castl...
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