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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.


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.


Maes
Dutch painter. A native of Dordrecht, he went to Amsterdam c.1650 to study with Rembrandt. Before his return to Dordrecht in 1653 he painted a few life-size Rembrandtesque genre scenes. From 1655 to 1660 he painted smaller domestic scenes, usually of women spinning, eavesdropping, reading the Bible, or cooking. In 1673 he moved permanently to Amsterdam and devoted himself to portraiture, abandoning intimacy and the deep glowing colors characteristic of Rembrandt for elegance and cooler tones reminiscent of A. Van Dyck. He was a prolific painter and his portraits enjoyed great success.


Mars
Ancient Roman god of war and protector of Rome, second only to Jupiter in importance. His festivals occurred in the spring (March) and fall (October). Until the time of Augustus, Mars had only two temples in Rome. His sacred spears were kept in a sanctuary; on the outbreak of war, the consul had to shake the spears, saying "Mars vigila!" ("Mars, awake!") Under Augustus, Mars became not only the guardian of Rome in its military affairs but the emperor's personal guardian. He was identified with the Greek god Ares.

Fourth planet from the sun, named after the Roman god of war. Its mean distance from the sun is 141 million mi (228 million km); its day is 24.6 earth hours and its year about 687 earth days. It has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos. Mars's mean diameter is 4,244 mi (6,790 km), about half that of earth, and it is less dense than earth. Its mass is about one-tenth of earth's and its surface gravity is about one-third as strong as earth's. No magnetic field has been detected on Mars, suggesting, as does its low density, the absence of a substantial metallic core. Like earth, it has seasons and an atmosphere, but its mean surface temperature is only -9\u00b0 F (-23\u00b0 C). Mars's thin atmosphere is mainly carbon dioxide, with ...

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