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Possible definitions for maa

Maat
In ancient Egyptian religion, the personification of truth, justice, and the cosmic order. Maat was the daughter of Re, the sun god, and she stood at the head of his bark as it traveled through the sky and the underworld. She was also associated with Thoth, god of wisdom. The judgment of the dead was believed to be determined by the weighing of the heart of the deceased in a scale she balanced. In its abstract sense, maat was the divine order established at creation and reaffirmed at the accession of each new king of Egypt.


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.


Daaz
Soldier and president of Mexico (1877-80, 1884-1911). After training for the priesthood, he pursued a military career instead. When peace was restored to Mexico under B. Ju\u00e1 rez, D\u00ed az resigned his command, but he soon became dissatisfied with the government. After leading two revolts, he was elected president in 1877. He succeeded in bolstering the export economy through foreign investment, while leading in the spirit of a caudillo, suppressing opposition, rigging elections, and using patronage to win the cooperation of various groups. The Mexican Revolution was launched in 1910 to end his dictatorship and reverse his policies. See also F. Madero, La Reforma.


Haas
U.S. linguist. Born in Richmond, Ind., she studied with E. Sapir at Yale Univ. Her dissertation was on Tunica, a moribund Amer. Indian language, and she continued her fieldwork on and comparative studies of Amer. Indian languages, especially of the SE U.S., incl. Natchez and Muskogean languages, for the rest of her life. She directed the Survey of California Indian Languages while on the UC-Berkeley faculty (1945-77). Her many students have done invaluable descriptive work on languages heading rapidly for extinction.


Mach
Austrian physicist and philosopher. After earning a doctorate in physics in 1860, he taught at the Univs. of Vienna and Graz as well as Charles Univ. in Prague. Interested in the psychology and physiology of sensation, in the 1860s he discovered the physiological phenomenon known as Mach's bands, the tendency of the human eye to see bright or dark bands near the boundaries between areas of sharply differing illumination. He later studied movement and acceleration and developed ...

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