Sappho \'sa-fo\ (fl. 610-c. 570 bc, Lesbos, Asia Minor) Greek lyric poet. Although legends about her abound, little is known of her life. She was born on the island of Lesbos and became the leader of a thiasos, an informal female community, whose purpose was the education of young women, especially for marriage. The principal themes of her poetry are personal and reflect the activities and atmosphere of the thiasos. Her writ¬ ing, mostly vernacular and not formally literary, is concise, direct, pic¬ turesque, and various. It includes nuptial songs and an expression of her love for other women, which produced the word lesbian (from the island’s name). Though she was much admired in antiquity, most of her work was lost by the early Middle Ages; only an ode to Aphrodite—28 lines long—is complete.
Sapporo \sa-'p6-ro\ City (pop., 2000 prelim.: 1,822,300), Hokkaido, Japan. Located on the Ishikari River, the city was laid out in 1871 with wide, tree-lined streets; it became the capital in 1886. It is a major com-
Sapodilla ( Manilkara, or Achras, zapota)
WALTER DAWN
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
sapsucker ► Sarazen I 1685
mercial centre, with Otaru, on the Sea of Japan (East Sea), as its port. Chief industries are lumbering, printing, and publishing. A popular cen¬ tre for skiing and winter sports, it was the site of the 1972 Winter Olym¬ pic Games. The annual Snow Festival features giant sculptures carved from packed snow. It is the site of two universities.
sapsucker Either of two species of North American woodpeckers that drill holes in neat, close rows to obtain sap and insects. The yellow- bellied sapsucker ( Sphyrapicus var- ius), about 8 in. (20 cm) long, is one of the few migratory species of woodpecker, breeding in northern regions and southern mountains and migrating as far as the West Indies and Central America. Both sexes have bold head markings. William¬ son’s sapsucker ( S. thyroideus), which lives in high pine forests of the western U.S., is uncommon throughout its range.
Saqqarah or Sakkara
\s3-'kar-o\ Site of ancient ruins.
Lower Egypt. Part of the necropolis of the ancient city of Memphis, it is located southwest of Cairo and west of the modem village of Saqqarah.
The earliest remains are from the Archaic Period, in a cemetery at the northern end of the site, where large mud-brick tombs, or mastabas, have been found dating to the beginning of Egyptian history. South of the Archaic cemetery lies the Step Pyra¬ mid, the oldest pyramid in Egypt. It was built by Djoser, second king of the 3rd dynasty, who ruled c. 2650-c. 2575 bc.
sarabande \'sar-3-,band\ Stately processional dance in triple metre popular in the French court and throughout Europe in the 17 th—18th cen¬ tury. Of Spanish or Mexican origin, it began as a vigorous dance, set to lively music and castanets, for a double line of couples. At first consid¬ ered improper, it was forbidden in Spain in 1583. In the early 17th cen¬ tury it was modified to its slow, dignified court version in France and Italy. The slow sarabande, usually with an accented dotted note on the second beat, became a standard movement of the baroque suite.
Saracen Vsar-o-sonV In the Middle Ages, any person—Arab, Turk, or other—who professed the religion of Islam. The name spread into west¬ ern Europe through the Byzantines and the Crusaders. It was also applied to nomadic people of the deserts between Syria and Arabia.
Saragossa See Zaragoza
Sarah (fi. early 2nd millennium bc) In the Hebrew scriptures, the wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac. She was childless until age 90. In Gen¬ esis, God promised Abraham that she would be “a mother of nations,” but Sarah refused to believe and had already given her maidservant Hagar to Abraham, with whom he fathered Ishmael. Nevertheless, Sarah did con¬ ceive in her old age and give birth to Abraham’s son Isaac.
Sarajevo Vsa-ra-ye-,v6,\ English \,sar-3-'ya-vo\ City (pop., 1997 est.: 360,000), capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the Turks invaded in the late 15th century, it developed as a trading centre and stronghold of Muslim culture. From 1878 it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (see Austria-Hungary). In 1914 Archduke Francis Ferdinand was assassi¬ nated by a Serbian nationalist, which action precipitated World War I. After Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1992, it became a focal point of fierce civil war as Serb militias drove thousands of Bosnian Muslims from the countryside to take refuge in the city (see Bosnian conflict). Its pre-civil war industries included a brew¬ ery, furniture factory, tobacco factory, and automobile plant. It was the host of the 1984 Winter Olympic Games and is the centre of a road net¬ work. A rail connection to the Adriatic Sea was damaged during fighting in the 1990s but is now operational. Sarajevo retains a Muslim character, with many mosques and an ancient marketplace.
Saramago V.sa-ra-'ma-giiV Jose (b. Nov. 16, 1922, Azinhaga, Port.) Portuguese novelist. From a poor family, Saramago studied part-time while working in a welder’s shop. Later he began working as a journalist and translator. He published his first novel, Country of Sin, in 1947. His breakthrough work, Baltasar and Blimunda (1982), alternates allegorical fantasy with grimly realistic descriptions of the construction of a convent by thousands of labourers pressed into service. Saramago’s later novels, in which magic realism is mixed with outspoken political commentary, include The Stone Raft (1986), perhaps his best-known work, and Blind¬ ness (1995). He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998.
Saranac \'sar-3-,nak\ Lakes Three lakes, northeastern New York, U.S. Located in the Adirondack Mountains region, they are Upper, Middle, and Lower Saranac Lakes. Their elevation is 1,540 ft (469 m) above sea level. The village of Saranac Lake (pop., 2000: 5,041) is a summer and winter sports resort. Tourism and wood-based industries are the chief sources of income.
Sarandon \s9-'ran-d3n\, Susan orig. Susan Abigail Tomalin (b.
Oct. 4, 1946, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. film actress. After reading with her husband, Chris Sarandon (divorced 1979), at one of his auditions, she was cast as the female lead in Joe (1970). After winning fans in the campy Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), she proved her talent in films such as Pretty Baby (1978), Atlantic City (1981), and The Witches ofEastwick (1987). Her later films include Bull Durham (1988), Thelma and Louise (1991), Lorenzo’s Oil (1992), Dead Man Walking (1995, Academy Award), Cradle Will Rock (1999), and Igby Goes Down (2002).
Sarapeum X.ser-s-'pe-sirA Either of two temples of ancient Egypt that were dedicated to the worship of the Greco-Egyptian god Sarapis. The original temple was built on the western bank of the Nile, near Saqqara, during the reign of Ramses II on a site originally dedicated to the worship of Osiris. The other Sarapeum was at Alexandria and was built during the reign of Ptolemy I Soter. In Roman times, other Sarapeums were con¬ structed throughout the empire.
Sarasate \,sa-ra-'sa-ta\ (y Navascuez), Pablo (Martin Mel- iton) de (b. March 10, 1844, Pamplona, Spain—d. Sept. 20, 1908, Biar¬ ritz, France) Spanish violinist. After his debut at age eight, he was sent to study in Madrid, where the queen gave him the Stradivarius that he would play his whole life. After finishing his studies in Paris, he toured the world. He had many pieces written for him (by Max Bruch, Camille Saint-Saens, etc.) and wrote scores of brilliant virtuoso works himself, including Zigeunerweisen (1878) and the Carmen Fantasy (1883).