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Possible definitions for baaed

Baal
God worshiped in many ancient Middle Eastern communities, especially among Canaanites, for whom he was a fertility deity. In the mythology of Canaan, he was locked in combat with Mot, the god of death and sterility; depending on the outcome of their struggles, seven-year cycles of fertility or famine would ensue. Baal was also king of gods, having seized the kingship from the sea god, Yamm. Baal worship was popular in Egypt from the later New Kingdom to its end (1400-1075 BC). The Aramaeans used the Babylonian pronunciation Bel; Bel became the Greek Belos, identified with Zeus. The Old Testament often refers to a specific local Baal or multiple Baalim.


Babel
Russian short-story writer. Born Jewish in Ukraine, Babel grew up in an atmosphere of persecution that is reflected in his stories. M. Gorky encouraged him to travel abroad to expand his horizons. Out of his experience as a soldier in the war with Poland came the stories in Red Cavalry (1926). His Odessa Tales (1931) include realistic and humorous sketches of the Jewish ghetto outside Odessa. Initially well regarded in the Soviet Union, in the late 1930s Babel's writing was found incompatible with official literary doctrine. He was arrested in 1939 and died in a Siberian prison camp. He is often thought of as Russia's greatest writer of short stories after A. Chekhov.

In the Old Testament, a high tower built in Shinar (Babylonia). According to Genesis 11:1-9, the Babylonians wanted to build a tower "with its top in the heavens." Angry at their presumption, God disrupted the enterprise by confusing the languages of the workers so that they could no longer understand each other. The tower was left unfinished and the people dispersed over the face of the earth. The myth may have been inspired by a tower temple located north of the Marduk temple and known as Bab-ilu ("Gate of God").


Babeuf
French political journalist and agitator. During the era of the French Revolution he advocated an equal distribution of land and income. For his part in a conspiracy to overthrow the Directory and institute a return to the Constitution of 1793, he was guillotined. His tactical strategies provided a model for left-wing movements of the 19th cent.


Baden
Former German state, S Germany. The name (meaning "baths") refers to the warm mineral springs, particularly in the town of Baden-Baden (pop., 1989: 51,000), valued since Roman times. Baden first became a political unit when Frederick, son of the margrave of Verona, took the title of Margrave of Baden in 1112. Subsequently split up many times, the territory was finally reunited under Margrave Charles Frederick in 1771. A center of 19th-cent. liberalism, it was active in the revolutions of 1848-50. It joined the German empire in 1871, and it became part of the Weimar Republic in 1919. The S part became a state of W. Germany in 1949, while the N part was incorporated into the W. German ...

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