In Arabic: Khalifa.The title of the supreme religious and political office among Suni Muslims, meaning the successor (literally: replacement) of the prophet Muhammad on Earth. In the Umayyad and Abbasid periods the caliph was the political and military ruler, but beginning in the Mamluk period, the post of caliph was divested of its secular functions, which were transferred to the sultan, and the caliph retained his religious title only.

The name of the Land of Israel prior to its conquest and settlement by the People of Israel.

A general name for different peoples (e.g. the Jebusites), who dwelt in Canaan in the second and third millennia BCE.

The upper member of a column, designed to carry the roofing (beams, arches); generally decorated.

A partition in a church, made of stone or marble slabs, separating the area of the altar, where only clergy are permitted, from the rest of the hall (see basilica).

A separate prayer chamber in a large church, containing an apse and an altar; or a small church that is not the main church of its locality.

A tomb hewn or built of vertical stone slabs between which the deceased was laid and then covered with stone slabs.

In Latin: clausus = closed place. A quadrangular courtyard surrounded by porticoes, generally in monasteries and churches.

In Latin: columba = dove. A dovecote for breeding doves or a burial installation resembling a dovecote, with small niches in which the ashes of cremated corpses were kept. This burial method was common in the Roman world, particularly for the burial of soldiers.

One of the scrolls discovered in the caves near Khirbet Qumran in the Judean Desert (the ‘Dead Sea Scrolls’). This scroll is exceptional both in being incised on a thin copper plate, and in its content: it contains lists concerning the hiding place of more than sixty hoards of gold, silver and other valuables. Some regard it to be genuine, whereas others consider it imaginary.

The upper part of the roofing of a building, resting on columns, above the frieze and architrave (see illustration). The cornice projects slightly outward in order to keep rainwater, running down from the roof, away from the walls.

A horizontal row of stones or bricks in a wall, laid adjacent to one another on the same level.