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Middle Kingdom
Middle Kingdom or Middle Country, Mandarin Zhongguo, Chinese name for China. It dates from c.1000 BC, when it designated the Chou empire situated on the North China Plain. The Chou people, unaware of high civilizations in the West, believed their empire occupied the middle of the earth, surro...
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Amalekites
Amalekites , in the Bible, aboriginal people of Canaan and the Sinai peninsula. They waged constant warfare against the Hebrews until dispersed by Saul. Their ancestor, Amalek, for whom they were named, was a duke of Edom and Esau's descendant.
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plebs
plebs or plebeians [Lat. plebs =people], general body of Roman citizens, as distinct from the patrician class. They lacked, at first, most of the patrician rights, but with the establishment of the tribune of the people in the 5th cent. BC, they gradually achieved political equality with the...
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Cathay
Cathay , name for North China used by medieval Europeans, derived from the Khitan (or Khitai), a Manchurian people who conquered S Manchuria and N China and founded the Liao dynasty (937-1125). S China was referred to as Mangi. Long after the end of the Liao, the Russians and some central Asian peop...
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Peculiar People
Peculiar People an alternate rendering for the biblical phrase "chosen people" (of Israel), applied to numerous Protestant dissenting sects such as the Plumstead peculiars. This group, founded in London in 1838 by John Banyard, refused medical treatment as an article of faith.
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Aenon
Aenon , in the New Testament, unidentified place, where John the Baptist baptized people.
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Gomer
Gomer , in the Bible. 1 Wife of the prophet Hosea . 2 Son of Japheth and eponym of a people, probably the Cimmerians.
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Harpy
Harpy in Greek mythology, winged women with sharp claws who snatched food, objects, or people.
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Hyperboreans
Hyperboreans , in Greek mythology, people dwelling in a state of perfect bliss in the Far North who were Apollo worshipers.
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Lud
Lud in the Bible, eponym of an Asian people, probably the Lydians. There is probably textual confusion at some points with the Lubim .
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