labyrinth

labyrinth (lăb'urinth) [key], intricate building of chambers and passages, often constructed so as to perplex and confuse a person inside. In Egypt, Amenemhet III of the XII dynasty built himself a funeral temple in the form of a great labyrinth near Lake Moeris. More celebrated was a labyrinth in Crete built, according to Greek myth, by Daedalus to house the Minotaur (see Minos).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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