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Kothar ... kraal

Kothar ancient West Semitic god of crafts, equivalent of the Greek god Hephaestus. Kothar was responsible for supplying the gods with weapons and for building and furnishing their palaces. During the earlier part of the 2nd millennium BC, Kothar's forge was believed to be on the biblical Caphtor (probably Crete), though ... Kothen city, Saxony-Anhalt Land (state), east-central Germany, north of Halle. First mentioned in 1115 and known as a market town in 1194, it was a medieval seat of the counts of the Ascanian Dynasties of Ballenstedt; from 1603 until 1847 it was the capital of the princes and dukes of Anhalt-Kothen. Kotka city, southeastern Finland, on two islands, Hovinsaari and Kotkansaari, at the mouth of the Kymi River on the Gulf of Finland, east-northeast of Helsinki. Kotkansaari was fortified by the Russians between 1790 and 1800, and its main fort was destroyed by a British fleet in 1855 during secondary operations of ... Kotlas city, Arkhangelsk oblast (region), northwestern Russia, at the confluence of the Northern Dvina and Vychegda rivers. It is a major focus of river and rail communications and a transshipment point, handling chiefly coal and timber. The city, chartered in 1917, has large sawmilling, shipbuilding, papermaking, pulp-making, and timber-working industries. Pop. ... Kotlyarevsky, Ivan author whose burlesque-travesty of Virgil's Aeneid was the first work written wholly in the Ukrainian language; it distinguished him as the father of modern Ukrainian literature. The Eneida (1798) transmutes Aeneas and the Trojans into dispossessed Cossacks of the period after the suppression of the Zaporizhska Sich (Cossack territory) in ... koto long Japanese board zither having 13 silk strings and movable bridges. The body of the instrument is made of paulownia wood and is about 190 cm (74 inches) long. When the performer is kneeling or seated on the floor, the koto is held off the floor by two legs or ... Kotoku Shusui Socialist leader, one of the first proponents of radical political action in Japan. His execution resulted in the temporary abatement of the growing Socialist movement in Japan. Kotor walled town, seaport, and resort at the south end of Kotor Bay, one of four bays of the Gulf of Kotor (Boka Kotorska), on the Adriatic coastline of Montenegro. The town, situated about 30 miles (50 km) south of Niksic, lies at the foot of the sheer Lovcen massif, which ... Kotor, Gulf of winding, fjordlike inlet of the Adriatic coast, Montenegro. A fine natural harbour, it comprises four bays linked by narrow straits. The stark mountains around the bay slope steeply to a narrow shoreline on which citrus fruits and subtropical plants grow and tourist facilities have been developed. Kotosh pre-Columbian site, near the modern city of Huanuco in present-day central highland Peru, known for its early temple structures. These earliest buildings, some of which have interior wall niches and mud-relief decorative friezes, date to the end of the Late Preceramic Period (c. 2000-1800 BC). The site also contains remains ... Kotri town, south-central Sindh province, southeastern Pakistan, on the west bank of the Indus River. An important railway junction, Kotri is connected by bridge with Hyderabad on the opposite bank. Incorporated as a municipality in 1854, it has jute mills and factories that produce telephone and telegraph equipment. The Ghulam Muhammad ... Kotromanic Dynasty royal house that ruled Bosnia from the late 13th to the mid-15th century. The dynasty was founded by Stephen Kotroman, a vassal of the Hungarian king and the ruler of a portion of Bosnia from 1287 to 1316. His son Stephen Kotromanic became the independent lord of all Bosnia in ... Kotsyubinsky, Mikhaylo novelist and short-story writer whose work was one of the highest achievements of Ukrainian modernism. Kottayam town, southern Kerala state, southwestern India, near Vembanad Lake at the mouth of the Minachil River south-southeast of Kochi (Cochin). The town is a centre of the Syrian Christian community, which traces its origin to the apostle St. Thomas, who is believed to have visited Kerala in 53 CE and ... Kotte Sinhalese kingdom that flourished in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) during the 15th century. Its king, Parakramabahu VI (1412-67), was the last native sovereign to unify all of Ceylon under one rule. By 1450, Parakramabahu VI had, with his conquest of the kingdom of Jaffna in northern Ceylon, unified all of Ceylon. ... Kotto River river rising on the border between the Central African Republic and the Sudan in north-central Africa. It flows 400 miles (640 km) south, southwest, and south again past Bria, C.A.R., to join the Ubangi River 60 miles (100 km) east of Mobaye. The river separates the Tondou Massif from the ... Kotzebue city, northwestern Alaska, U.S. Lying 550 miles (885 km) northwest of Anchorage, it is situated at the northwestern end of Baldwin Peninsula, on Kotzebue Sound. The area, which was a trading centre for a number of widely scattered Arctic villages, has long been inhabited by Inupiat Eskimos. The sound was ... Kotzebue, August von German playwright widely influential in popularizing poetic drama, into which he instilled melodramatic sensationalism and sentimental philosophizing. Kotzebue, Otto von Russian naval officer who completed three circumnavigations of the Earth, charted much of the Alaskan coast, and discovered and named Kotzebue Sound, off western Alaska, as well as several islands in the Society and Marshall groups in the Pacific. Kou Qianzhi Daoist religious leader who organized many of the ceremonies and rites of the Tianshidao ("Way of the Celestial Masters") movement and reformulated its theology. His influence was such that he had Daoism established as the official state religion of the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534/535); this act, however, embroiled Daoism in ... Koudougou town, central Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta), western Africa. It lies on the railway between Ouagadougou and Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, which gives landlocked Burkina Faso access to the coast. There is some peanut (groundnut), tobacco, and cotton production in the area, and the town has a large textile mill. Pop. ... Koufax, Sandy American professional baseball player who, despite his early retirement due to arthritis, was ranked among the sport's greatest pitchers. A left-hander, he pitched for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the National League (NL) from 1955 to 1957, continuing, after they became the Los Angeles Dodgers, from 1958 to 1966. Kouilou River stream in western Congo (Brazzaville), formed at Makabana by the confluence of the Niari and Louesse rivers and flowing west to empty into the Atlantic Ocean near Kayes, northwest of Pointe-Noire. It is navigable for about 40 miles (65 km) below Kakamoeka and is also used to float logs from ... Koulikoro town, southwestern Mali. Situated about 35 miles (55 km) northeast of Bamako, the national capital, the town serves as a centre of transportation. It is the upper river terminus for large boats on the 1,000-mile (1,600-km) navigable section of the middle Niger River and the last stop on the rail ... Koulountou River chief tributary of the Gambia River, rising in the Fouta Djallon region of Guinea. It flows 140 miles (225 km) northward to join the Gambia above Barra Kunda Falls and the Gambia border. Koumoundhouros, Alexandros politician who was nine times prime minister of Greece between 1865 and 1882. He was known for his strong anti-Turkish policies. Koundara town, northwestern Guinea, on the road from Labe to Senegal and at the intersection of roads from Youkounkoun and Guinea-Bissau. It has replaced Youkounkoun, 15 miles (24 km) northeast, as the chief trading centre for cattle, chickens, rice, peanuts (groundnuts), millet, and corn (maize). A government hospital serves the town. ... kouprey elusive wild ox (tribe Bovini, family Bovidae) of Indochina and one of the world's most endangered large mammals, if it is not already extinct. kouros archaic Greek statue representing a young standing male. Although the influence of many nations can be discerned in particular elements of these figures, the first appearance of such monumental stone figures seems to coincide with the reopening of Greek trade with Egypt (c. 672 BC). The kouros remained a popular ... Kourou coastal town, north-central French Guiana, on the Kourou River. From 1854 to 1944 it served as a French penal colony. In the 19th century about 15,000 French settlers, imagining the town to be the legendary El Dorado, arrived there, but within two years all had died, either from disease or ... Kourouma, Ahmadou Ivorian novelist and playwright who wrote in a form of French that scandalized the establishment and affected French colonial policies. Kouroussa town and river port, east-central Guinea. It lies at the head of navigation of the upper Niger River and along the railroad and road from Conakry to Kankan. Kouroussa is the chief trading centre for the rice, onions, millet, peanuts (groundnuts), sesame, cotton, and cattle raised in the surrounding area. ... Koussevitzky, Serge Russian-born American conductor and publisher, a champion of modern music who commissioned and performed many important new works. Koussi, Mount highest summit (11,204 feet [3,415 m]) in the Sahara, situated 109 miles (176 km) north-northwest of Faya in the Tibesti massif, northwestern Chad. It is an extinct volcano with a crater approximately 12 miles (19 km) wide and 4,000 feet (1,200 m) deep. Kovacs, Ernie American television comedian. Kovacs created the television comedy variety show The Ernie Kovacs Show (1952-53, 1956) and became noted for his zany slapstick sketches. He later hosted the quiz show Take a Good Look (1959-61) and acted in such films as Operation Mad Ball (1957) and Our Man in Havana ... Kovalevskaya, Sofya Vasilyevna mathematician and writer who made a valuable contribution to the theory of partial differential equations. She was the first woman in modern Europe to gain a doctorate in mathematics, the first to join the editorial board of a scientific journal, and the first to be appointed professor of mathematics. Kovalevsky, Aleksandr Onufriyevich Russian founder of comparative embryology and experimental histology, who established for the first time the existence of a common pattern in the embryological development of all multicellular animals. Kovrov city, Vladimir oblast (region), western Russia. It lies along the right bank of the Klyazma River just above the latter's confluence with the Uvod. The city has been a centre of the textile industry since the 18th century, specializing in cotton cloth, but the most important industry now is heavy ... kovsh Russian drinking vessel with a boat-shaped body and a single handle. It is thought that many of the earliest examples, which date from the 16th century, were presented by the tsars to loyal supporters; they are sometimes engraved with the royal double-headed eagle and are inscribed around the rim with ... Kowalski, Stanley fictional character, the brutish husband of Stella and brother-in-law of Blanche DuBois in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) by Tennessee Williams. Actor Marlon Brando delivered a powerful performance in the role, both on Broadway and in the 1951 motion picture adaptation. Kowloon Peninsula part of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, southeastern China. It constitutes the Chinese mainland portion of the Hong Kong region and is located north of Hong Kong Island and east of the mouth of the Pearl (Zhu) River Delta. Geographically, it consists of two portions: the hillier, more rural, ... kowtow in traditional China, the act of supplication made by an inferior to his superior by kneeling and knocking his head to the floor. This prostration ceremony was most commonly used in religious worship, by commoners who came to make a request of the local district magistrate, and by officials and ... Koya, Mount sacred Japanese mountain, most notable for its association with Kukai (774-835), the founder of the Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism. Located in the present Wakayama Prefecture, it was traditionally said to be several days' journey on foot from Kyoto. After studying Tantric Buddhism in China for two years (804-806), Kukai ... Koyukuk River river in central Alaska, U.S. A major tributary of the Yukon River, it rises from several headstreams on the southern slopes of the Endicott Mountains in the central Brooks Range and flows southwestward through Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve and Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge for about 550 ... Kozani town, capital of the nomos (department) of Kozani, western Greek Macedonia (Modern Greek: Makedonia). The town is situated on the edge of a fertile basin between the Vermio (also spelled Vermion) and Vourinos mountains and has tobacco, cereal, potato, and vegetable cultivation, as well as cattle and dairy production. Founded ... Kozeluch, Leopold Czech composer of ballets, operas, and symphonies. Kozhikode city, northern Kerala state, southwestern India. It is situated on the Malabar Coast, 414 miles (666 km) west-southwest of Chennai (Madras) by rail. Once a famous cotton-weaving centre, it is remembered as the place of origin of calico, to which it gave its name (i.e., Calicut). The place was an ... Kozyrev, Nikolay Aleksandrovich Russian astronomer, who claimed to have discovered volcano-like activity on the Moon. His sightings of apparent gaseous emissions from the lunar surface challenged the long-held theory that the Moon is a dead and inert celestial body. Kpelle people occupying much of central Liberia and extending into Guinea, where they are sometimes called the Guerze; they speak a language of the Mande branch of the Niger-Congo family. Kra, Isthmus of narrow neck of southern Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand, connecting the Malay Peninsula to the Asian mainland. The isthmus lies between the Gulf of Thailand to the east and the Andaman Sea to the west. It is 25-30 miles (40-48 km) wide at its narrowest point, between Chumphon and Kra Buri ... kraal enclosure or group of houses surrounding an enclosure for livestock, or the social unit that inhabits these structures. The term has been more broadly used to describe the way of life associated with the kraal that is found among some African, especially South African, peoples. Among certain peoples of KwaZulu/Natal, ...