Esagila Va-sa-'ge-laV Temple complex in ancient Babylon dedicated to Marduk. The huge edifice was 660 ft (202 m) long, with three vast court¬ yards surrounded by many chambers. It took centuries to construct; most of the work being done in the 6th century bc during the reign of Neb¬
uchadnezzar II. Its wealth was famous in antiquity, but by the time Baby¬ lon was excavated in 1899-1917 it had been thoroughly plundered.
Esaki, Leo orig. Esaki Reiona (b. March 12, 1925, Osaka, Japan) Japanese physicist. In 1956 he became chief physicist of the Sony Corp., and in 1960 he was awarded an IBM fellowship for further research in the U.S., subsequently joining IBM’s research laboratories in Yorktown, N.Y. He worked intensively on tunneling in semiconductors and con¬ structed the tunnel diode, which found broad applications in computers and other devices. He shared a 1973 Nobel Prize with Ivar Giaever (b. 1929) and Brian Josephson.
escalator Moving staircase used as transportation between floors or levels in stores, airports, subways, and other mass pedestrian areas. The name was first applied to a moving stairway shown at the Paris Exposi¬ tion of 1900. Modern escalators are electrically powered, driven by chain and sprocket, and held in place by two tracks. As the treads approach a landing, they pass through a comb device; a switch cuts off power if an object becomes jammed between comb and treads.
escape velocity Speed sufficient for a body to escape from a gravi¬ tational centre of attraction without accelerating further. It decreases with altitude and equals the square root of 2 (about 1.414) times the speed needed to maintain a circular orbit at the same altitude. At the surface of Earth, disregarding atmospheric resistance, escape velocity is about 6.96 mi/second (11.2 km/second). Escape velocity from the surface of the Moon is about one-third of this.
eschatology \,es-k3-'ta-b-je\ Theological doctrine of the “last things,” or the end of the world. Mythological eschatologies depict an eternal struggle between order and chaos and celebrate the eternity of order and the repeatability of the origin of the world. The most notable expression of mythological eschatology is in Hinduism, which maintains belief in great cycles of the destruction and creation of the universe. Historical escha¬ tologies are grounded in datable events that are perceived as fundamen¬ tal to the progress of history. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have historical eschatologies. Eschatology in the Hebrew Scriptures sees the catastrophes that beset the people of Israel as due to their disobedience to the laws and will of God and holds that conformity to God’s plan will result in renewal and the fulfillment of God’s purpose. In Christianity, the end times are thought to have begun with the life and ministry of Jesus, the Messiah who will return to establish the Kingdom of God. Millennialism focuses especially on Christ’s second coming and the reign of the righ¬ teous on earth. In ShCite Islam it is believed that the mahdi, or restorer of the faith, will come to inaugurate the last judgment, in which the good will enter heaven and the evil will fall into hell. In Buddhism, eschatolog¬ ical traditions are associated with the Buddha Maitreya and with Pure Land Buddhism, as well as with individual efforts to achieve nirvana.
Escher Ve-shorV, M(aurits) C(ornelis) (b. June 17, 1898, Leeuwar- den, Neth.—d. March 27, 1972, Laren) Dutch graphic artist. He became
Encounter, lithograph printed in black by M.C. Escher, 1944; in the Museum of Modern Art, New York City.
COLLECTION, THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, NEW VORK CITY; GIF OF THE INTERNATIONAL GRAPHIC ARTS SOCIETY
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
634 i Escoffier ► espalier
well-known for prints in which he used realistic detail to achieve bizarre optical illusions, such as staircases that appear to lead both up and down from the same level. His work assumed a Surrealist flavour as he began depicting unexpected metamorphoses of mundane objects. His works were of interest to mathematicians, cognitive psychologists, and the gen¬ eral public and were widely reproduced throughout the 20th century.
Escoffier \es-kof-'ya\, (Georges-) Auguste (b. Oct. 28, 1846, Villeneuve-Loubet, Fr.—d. Feb. 12, 1935, Monte Carlo, Monaco) French chef known for his innovations in haute cuisine. He earned a worldwide reputation as director of the kitchens at the Grand Hotel at Monte Carlo and at Cesar Ritz’s Savoy (1890-99) and Carlton (1899-1922) hotels in London. He helped reform grande cuisine by simplifying and refining it and making its preparation more efficient. He wrote Guide culinaire (1903), Ma Cuisine (1934), and other classic works. He is often called the greatest chef of all time.
Escorial, El See El Escorial
escrow \'es-,kr6\ Instrument, such as a deed, money, or property, that constitutes evidence of obligations between two or more parties and is held by a third party. It is delivered by the third party only upon fulfill¬ ment of some condition. In commercial usage, this condition is most often the performance of an act (e.g., payment) by the party who is to receive the instrument. Escrow is also used in family transactions (e.g., when a death in the family results in an instrument being delivered to another family member).
Esdraelon \,ez-dr3-'e-bn\, Plain of Hebrew Emeq Yizre'el
Ve-mek-.yez-ra-'eH Plain, northern Israel. About 25 mi (40 km) long, it divides the hilly areas of Galilee in the north and Samaria in the south. Part of the ancient passage between Egypt and the Fertile Crescent, it was an avenue of commerce and a scene of conflict from earliest antiquity. To the northwest is the site of ancient Megiddo. Owing to poor natural drainage, it was swampy and sparsely inhabited for many centuries, but since 1920 the land has been reclaimed, and dozens of settlements, combining inten¬ sive agriculture with light industry, have been set up. c Afula is the prin¬ cipal urban centre.
Esenin, Sergey See Sergey Yesenin
Esfahan \,es-fa-'han\ or Isfahan \,is-fa-'han\ City (pop., 1996: 1,266,072), west-central Iran. An ancient Median town, it was known as Aspadana. It was a major city in the 11th—12th centuries under the SeuGq Turks and during the Safavid dynasty of Iran (16th—18th centuries). Its golden age began in 1598 when Shah 'Abbas I made it his capital and rebuilt it into one of the 17th century’s greatest cities. At its centre he created the immense Maydan-e Shah, or “Royal Square” (now Maydan-e Emam; “Imam’s Square”), a great rectangular garden enclosing the Masjid-e Shah (“Royal Mosque”; now Masjid-e Emam). In 1722 Afghans took the city, and it went into decline. Recovery began in the 20th cen¬ tury, and it is now a major textile centre, whose other industries include steelmaking and petroleum refining. The square was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.
Eshnunna \esh-'n3n-3\ or Tell Asmar V.tel-'as-morN Ancient city ruins, eastern Iraq. Occupied before 3000 bc, it was, during the 3rd dynasty of Ur, the seat of an ensi (governor). After the collapse of Ur, it became independent but was later conquered by Hammurabi. Stone tablets found near Babylon, called the “Laws of Eshnunna,” predate the Code of Hammurabi by about two generations and help show the development of ancient law. After Hammurabi’s time it fell into decline. Sumerian arti¬ facts from the site include stone statuettes dating from the 3rd millennium bc. See photo opposite.
Eskimo or Inuit Vi-nu-W9t\ Group of peoples who, with the closely related Aleut, constitute the native population of the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Alaska (U.S.), Canada, and far eastern Siberia (Rus¬ sia). Self-designations include such names as Inuit, Inupiat, Yupik, and Alutiit, each being a more or less local variant meaning “the people.” The name Eskimo, first applied by Europeans, may derive from a Montagnais word for snowshoes; it is favoured by Arctic peoples in Alaska, while those in Canada and Greenland prefer Inuit. The Eskimo are of Asian ori¬ gin, like the American Indians, but they are distinguishable from the latter by their climatic adaptations, the presence of the B blood type, and their languages (Eskimo-Aleut), all of which suggest that they are of distinctive origin. Traditional Eskimo culture was totally adapted to an extremely cold, snow- and ice-bound environment in which vegetable foods were