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Shiloh ... Shishakli, Adib ash-

Shiloh: Canaanite town that became the central sanctuary site of the Israelite confederacy during the period of the judges (12th-11th century BC). After the Israelite conquest of Canaan, the Tabernacle and ...
Shiloh, Battle of: (April 6-7, 1862), second great engagement of the American Civil War, fought in southwestern Tennessee, resulting in a victory for the North and in large casualties for both sides. In ...
Shimabara: port city, Nagasaki ken (prefecture), Kyushu, Japan, on the eastern coast of the Shimabara Peninsula, some 40 miles (65 km) east of Nagasaki. The city, which was a castle town ...
Shimabara Rebellion: (1637-38), uprising of Japanese Roman Catholics, the failure of which virtually ended the Christian movement in 17th-century Japan and furthered government determination to isolate Japan from foreign influences.
Shimada: city, Shizuoka ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, on the lower Oi River. During the Tokugawa era (1603-1867) it was an important post town on the Tokaido (Eastern Sea Highway) because fording ...
Shimane: ken (prefecture), southwestern Honshu, Japan, facing the Sea of Japan. It includes the Oki Archipelago. The interior is composed chiefly of a volcanic mountain chain, and the coast is dotted ...
Shimazaki Toson: Japanese poet and novelist, whose fiction illuminated the clash of old and new values in a Japan feverishly modernizing itself during the period of the Meiji Restoration (1868-1912).
Shimazu Family: powerful warrior clan that controlled the southern tip of the Japanese island of Kyushu from the 12th to the 19th century. Ensconced in their isolated stronghold on the frontier of ...
Shimazu Hisamitsu: noted Japanese lord who in 1867-68 led his clan in the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate, the military dictatorship that had dominated Japan since the early 17th century. He then ...
Shimazu Nariakira: mid-19th century Japanese daimyo (lord) of the Satsuma han, or feudal fief, whose adoption of Western military techniques and armaments helped make Satsuma one of the strongest fiefs in the ...
Shimazu Shigehide: Japanese lord of the great han, or feudal fief, of Satsuma. Shimazu's strong leadership and his interest in Western studies put Satsuma in a position to play a leading role ...
Shimizu: city, Shizuoka ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, situated on the northwest coast of Suruga Bay. During the Tokugawa era (1603-1867) Shimizu was a post town on the Tokaido (Eastern Sea Highway). ...
Shimodate: city, Ibaraki ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, situated on a tributary of the Kokai River. Shimodate was a cotton textile centre during the Tokugawa era (1603-1867). The construction of railways during ...
Shimoga: town, western Karnataka (formerly Mysore) state, southern India. Situated on the Tunga River (a headstream of the Tungabhadra), it is a road and rail junction, reexporting areca nuts, rice, coffee, ...
Shimomura Kanzan: Japanese artist who contributed to the modernization of traditional Japanese painting.
Shimonoseki: largest city, Yamaguchi ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, occupying a strategic position on the Shimonoseki-kaikyo (Shimonoseki Strait) between Honshu and Kyushu. The city was formerly called Akamaga-seki and Bakan. Its modern ...
Shimonoseki, Treaty of: (April 17, 1895), agreement that concluded the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), which ended in China's defeat. By the terms of the treaty, China was obliged to recognize the independence of ...
Shin: (Japanese: "True Pure Land sect"), the largest of the popular Japanese Buddhist Pure Land sects. See Pure Land Buddhism.
Shinano River: river, the longest in Japan, draining most of Nagano and Niigata prefectures. It rises at the foot of Mount Kobushi, in the Japanese Alps of Honshu, and flows north-northeast for ...
Shinbutsu shugo: in Japan, amalgamation of Buddhism with the indigenous religion Shinto. The precedents for this amalgamation were laid down almost as soon as Buddhism entered Japan in the mid-6th century, and ...
shinden-zukuri: Japanese architectural style for mansion-estates constructed in the Heian period (794-1185) and consisting of a shinden, or chief central building, to which subsidiary structures were connected by corridors.
shiner: any of several small North American fishes of the minnow (q.v.) group.
Shingaku: religious and ethical movement in Japan founded by Ishida Baigan (AD 1685-1744). It pays particular devotion to the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu and to the uji-gami, or Shinto tutelary deities, ...
Shingei: also called Geiami Japanese artist who represents the second generation of an extraordinary family of painters and art connoisseurs and who served the Ashikaga shoguns (a family of military dictators ...
shingle: thin piece of building material, usually with a butt end thicker than the other. Shingles are widely used as roof covering on residential buildings and sometimes for siding. They are ...
Shingle style: uniquely American architectural style that flourished between 1879 and 1890 in which the entire building was covered with shingles. In a period when revivals of historical styles had overpowered architectural ...
Shingon: esoteric Buddhist sect that has had a considerable following in Japan since its introduction from China in the 9th century. Shingon may be considered an attempt to reach the eternal ...
shining leaf chafer: any member of the insect subfamily Rutelinae of the scarab family Scarabaeidae (order Coleoptera), including some of the most beautifully coloured and most destructive beetles. The iridescent and metallic colours ...
Shining Path: Peruvian revolutionary organization that endorsed Maoism and employed guerrilla tactics and violent terrorism.
Shinkansen: pioneer Japanese high-speed passenger rail system, with lines on the islands of Honshu and Kyushu. Originally built and operated by the government-owned Japanese National Railways, it has been part of ...
Shino ware: glazed Japanese ceramic ware produced in Mino Province (in modern Gifu Prefecture), and perhaps the most typical variety of pottery produced during the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1574-1600). The name shino may ...
Shinran: Buddhist philosopher and religious reformer whose concern for the salvation of the masses apart from those endowed with self-enlightenment led him to establish (1224) the Jodo Shinshu (True Pure Land ...
shinsen: in the Shinto religion of Japan, food offerings presented to the kami (god or sacred power). The dishes may vary according to the shrine, the deity honoured, and the occasion ...
shinshoku: priest in the Shinto religion of Japan. The main function of the shinshoku is to officiate at all shrine ceremonies on behalf of and at the request of worshippers. He ...
shintai: (Japanese: "god-body"), in the Shinto religion of Japan, manifestation of the deity (kami), its symbol, or an object of worship in which it resides; also referred to as mitama-shiro ("the ...
shinten: collectively, sacred texts of the Shinto religion of Japan. Although there is no single text that is accepted as authoritative by all schools of Shinto thought, some books are considered ...
Shinto: indigenous religious beliefs and practices of Japan. The word Shinto, which literally means "the way of kami" (kami means "mystical," "superior," or "divine," generally sacred or divine power, specifically the ...
Shintoho Motion Picture Company: leading Japanese motion-picture studio, known for its production of war films and action pictures appealing to mass audiences. Formed in 1947, it was originally financed by the Toho Motion Picture ...
shinty: game played outdoors with sticks and a small, hard ball in which two opposing teams attempt to hit the ball through their opponents' goal (hail); it is similar to the ...
Shinwell, Emanuel, Baron Shinwell of Easington: Labour politician who served in the British Parliament for over half a century, battling both Conservatives and his own party for socialist principles.
shinzo: in the Shinto religion of Japan, a representation either in painting or sculpture of a kami (god or sacred power). The Shinto religion did not have a tradition of iconic ...
Shiogama: city, Miyagi ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, facing Matsushima Bay. Long known for its production of salt, Shiogama became a prosperous temple town during the Tokugawa period (1603-1867). The Shiogama Line ...
ship: any large floating vessel capable of crossing open waters, as opposed to a boat, which is generally a smaller craft. The term formerly was applied to sailing vessels having three ...
ship construction: complex of activities concerned with the design and fabrication of all marine vehicles.
ship money: in British history, a nonparliamentary tax first levied in medieval times by the English crown on coastal cities and counties for naval defense in time of war. It required those ...
ship of the line: type of sailing warship that formed the backbone of the Western world's great navies from the mid-17th century through the mid-19th century, when it gave way to the steam-powered battleship.
ship's bell: bell used as early as the 15th century to sound the time on board ship by striking each half hour of a watch. The mariner's day is divided into six ...
Shipibo: Panoan-speaking Indian group living on the upper Ucayali River near the headwaters of the Amazon, on the eastern slopes of the Peruvian high Andes Mountains.
Shipka Pass: pass in the Balkan Mountains, Bulgaria. Situated on the main road from Ruse on the Danube River through Stara Zagora to Edirne (Adrianople) in Turkey, it was a strategically important ...
Shipley, Jennifer: New Zealand politician who was New Zealand's first female prime minister (1997-99).
Shippard, Sir Sidney Godolphin Alexander: British colonial official in South Africa who served as administrator in the Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana) from 1885 to 1895 and was closely associated with the empire builder Cecil Rhodes.
Shippen, William, Jr.: first systematic teacher of anatomy, surgery, and obstetrics in the United States. He was also one of the first to use dissected human bodies in the teaching of anatomy in ...
shipping route: any of the lines of travel followed by merchant sea vessels. Early routes usually kept within sight of coastal landmarks, but, as navigators learned to determine latitude from the heavenly ...
Shiprock: town, San Juan county, northwestern New Mexico, U.S. Lying on the vast Navajo reservation, the town, originally called Needles, was founded in 1903 as a centre of tribal government. It ...
shipworm: any of the approximately 65 species of marine bivalve mollusks of the family Teredidae (Teredinidae). Shipworms are common in most oceans and seas and are important because of the destruction ...
shipyard: shore establishment for building and repairing ships. The shipbuilding facilities of the ancient and medieval worlds reached a culmination in the arsenal of Venice, a shipyard in which a high ...
Shir 'Ali Khan: emir of Afghanistan from 1863 to 1879 who tried with only limited success to maintain his nation's equilibrium in the great power struggles between Russia in the north and British ...
Shirakawa: 72nd emperor of Japan who abdicated the throne and then established a cloister government (insei) through which he could maintain his power unburdened by the exacting ceremonial and family duty ...
Shirakawa Hideki: Japanese chemist who, with Alan G. MacDiarmid and Alan J. Heeger, won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2000 for their discovery that certain plastics can be chemically altered to ...
Shirakawa, Go-: 77th emperor of Japan, during whose reign political power was transferred from the imperial court to the provincial warrior class.
Shiras, George, Jr.: associate justice of the United States Supreme Court (1892-1903).
Shiraz rug: handwoven floor covering made in the district around the city of Shiraz in southern Iran. The best known are the Qashqa'i rugs, products of nomadic peoples. A group of tribes-some ...
Shiraz school: in Persian miniature painting, styles of a group of artists centered at Shiraz, in southwestern Iran near the ancient city of Persepolis. The school, founded by the Mongol Il-Khans (1256-1353) ...
Shire: draft horse breed native to the middle section of England. The breed descended from the English "great horse," which carried men in full battle armour that often weighed as much ...
shire: in Great Britain, a county. The Anglo-Saxon shire (Old English scir) was an administrative division next above the hundred and seems to have existed in the south in the time ...
Shire Highlands: plateau in southern Malawi, with an area of about 2,800 square miles (7,300 square km). Roughly diamond-shaped, it is bounded by the Shire River valley (northwest and southwest), the Ruo ...
Shire River: most important river in Malawi. The Shire River is 250 miles (402 km) long and issues from the southern shore of Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi), of which it is the ...
Shirelles, the: American vocal group popular in the late 1950s and early '60s, one of the first and most successful so-called "girl groups." The original members were Addie ("Micki") Harris (b. January ...
Shirer, William L.: American journalist, historian, and novelist, best known for his massive study The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany (1960).
shirk: (Arabic: "making a partner [of someone]"), in Islam, idolatry, polytheism, and the association of God with other deities.
Shirley, James: English poet and dramatist, one of the leading playwrights in the decade before the closing of the theatres by Parliament in 1642.
Shirley, William: colonial governor of Massachusetts who played an important role in Britain's struggle against France for control of North America.
shirt: any of a variety of cloth garments having sleeves and worn on the upper part of the body, often under a coat, jacket, or other garment. Shirts were worn as ...
Shirvan rug: floor covering handmade in the Shirvan region of Azerbaijan in the southeastern Caucasus. With the exception of a group of rugs woven in the vicinity of Baku, most Shirvans are ...
shish kebab: dish of small pieces of lamb threaded on a skewer and cooked over an open fire. The name of the dish is derived from the Turkish sis, a spit or ...
Shishakli, Adib ash-: Syrian army officer who overthrew the Syrian government in December 1949 and dominated Syrian politics until his own overthrow in 1954.