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Ansar
(Arabic: "Helper") Term originally applied to some of the Companions of the Prophet. When Muhammad left Mecca for Medina, the Ansar were the Medinese who aided him and who became his devoted followers, serving in his army. The term was revived in the 19th cent. to refer to the followers of al-Mahdi, al-Mahdi's successor, or his descendants.


Assad
President of Syria (1971-2000). He joined the Baath Party in 1946 and in 1955 became an air-force pilot. He became air-force commander (1963) after helping the Baathists gain power. After participating in a military coup in 1966, he became minister of defense. He led a coup in 1970 to replace his political mentor, Salah al-Jadid, as Syria's leader. He joined Egypt in a surprise attack on Israel (1973), but nearly 20 years later (1991) joined peace negotiations with Israel in an effort to regain the Golan Heights, taken by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967. A longtime foe of Saddam Hussein, he supported the Western Alliance against Iraq in the Persian Gulf War. He was succeeded by his son Bashar.


Assal
Saline lake, central Djibouti. Situated at 515 ft (157 m) below sea level, it is the lowest point in Africa. It has been used for quarrying salt.


Assam
State (pop., 1994 est.: 24,200,000), NE India. With an area of 30,318 sq mi (78,524 sq km), Assam borders Bhutan and Bangladesh; its capital is Dispur. A strong independent kingdom was founded there in the 13th cent. by invaders from Myanmar (Burma) and China; it reached its zenith in the early 18th cent. The British took control in the early 19th cent. In the division of India (1947), Assam lost some territory to Pakistan. Beginning in the 1960s, four new states--Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh--were created from land within Assam. The Brahmaputra River valley is its dominant physical feature. The population consists of Indo-Iranian and Asian peoples; the most widely spoken language is Assamese.


Bassano
Italian painter. He was the most celebrated member of a family of artists from the small town of Bassano, near Venice, where he worked for most of his life. He trained with Bonifacio de' Pitati in Venice and was influenced by other Venetian painters. He became known for his biblical themes, lush landscapes, and rustic scenes. Four painter sons continued the Bassano workshop tradition: Francesco (1549-1592), Leandro (1557-1622) (both of whom worked in the workshop's Venetian branch), Giovanni Battista (1553-1613), and Gerolamo (1566-1621). Many products of the workshop were collaborative efforts.


Caesarea
Ancient seaport, Palestine. Located on the coast of present-day Israel south of Haifa, it was originally a Phoenician settlement. Taken by the Romans and rebuilt in the 1st cent BC by Herod the Great, it was renamed for his patron Augustus. The capital of the Roman province of Judaea in AD 6, it was the site of an early ...

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