Listed 16 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "TARTOUS Town SYRIA" .
ANTARADOS (Ancient city) SYRIA
Antaradus (Antarados, Ptol. v. 15. § 16; Hierocles, p. 716: Tartus),
a town of Phoenicia, situated at its northern extremity, and on the mainland over
against the island of Aradus, whence its name. According to the Antonine Itinerary
and Peutinger Table, it was 24 M. P. from Balanea, and 50 M. P. from Tripolis.
The writer in Ersch and Groer's Encyclopadie (s. v.) places Antaradus on the coast
about 2 miles to the N. of Aradus, and identifies it with Carne (Steph. B. s.
v.) or Carnos, the port of Aradus, according to Strabo (xvi. p. 753; comp. Plin.
v. 18). It was rebuilt by the emperor Constantius, A.D. 346, who gave it the name
of Constantia. (Cedren. Hist. Comp. p. 246.) It retained, however, its former
name, as we find its bishops under both titles in some councils after the reign
of Constantius. In the crusades it was a populous and well fortified town (Guil.
Tyr. vii. 15), and was known under the name of Tortosa (Tasso, Gerusalem. Liberata,
i. 6; Wilken, Die Kreuzz, vol. i. p. 255, ii. p. 200, vii. p. 340, 713). By Maundrell
and others the modern Tartus has been confounded with Arethusa, but incorrectly.
It is now a mean village of 241 taxable Moslems and 44 Greeks, according to the
American missionaries. (Bibliotheca Sacra, vol. v. p. 247.) The walls, built of
heavy bevelled stones, are still remaining the most imposing specimen of Phoenician
fortification in Syria. (Memoires sur les Pheniciens par l' Abbe Mignot, Acad.
des Belles Lettres, vol. xxxiv. p. 239; Edrisi, par Jaulert, p. 129, 130.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ARADOS (Island) SYRIA
Aradus (he Arados: Eth. Aradios, Aradius: O. T. Arvad, Arvadite,
Gen. x. 18, 1 Chron. i. 16; Aradioi LXX.: Ruad), an island off the N. coast
of Phoenicia, at a distance of 20 stadia from the mainland. (Strab. p. 753.)
Pliny (v. 17), in estimating this distance at only 200 paces, falls short of
the true measurement (perhaps we should read 2,200 paces; see Tzschucke, ad
Pomp. Mel. ii. 7. § 6). Strabo describes it as a rock rising from the midst
of the waves, 7 stadia in circumference. Modern travellers state that it is
of oblong shape, with a slight rise towards the centre and steep on every side.
Though a rock rather than an island, it was extremely populous, and, contrary
to Oriental custom, the houses had many stories. According to Strabo, it owed
its foundation to Sidonian exiles. (Comp. Joseph. Ant. i. 6. § 2.) The city
of Aradus was next in importance after Tyre and Sidon. Like other Phoenician
cities, it was at first independent, and had its own kings; and it would seem
that the strip of land extending from Paltus to Simyra was dependent upon it.
In the time of the prophet Ezekiel (xxvii. 8, 11) it supplied Tyre with soldiers
and sailors. Along with the rest of Phoenicia, it became subject to Persia.
Afterwards, during the campaign of Alexander, Gerostratus, king of Aradus, was
serving in the Persian fleet under Autophradates, when his son Straton submitted
to the conqueror. Gerostratus assisted the Macedonians at the siege of Tyre.
(Arrian, Anab. i. 13, 20.) It fell into the hands; of the family of the Lagidae,
when Ptolemy Soter, B.C. 320, seized on Phoenicia and Coele Syria. Its wealth
and importance was greatly increased by the rights of asylum they obtained from
Seleucus Callinicus, B.C. 242, whom they had supported against Antiochus Hierax;
so much so that it was enabled to enter into an alliance with Antiochus the
Great. (Pol. v. 68.) Whence it may be inferred that it had previously become
independent, probably in the war between Ptolemy Philadelphus and Antiochus
Theos. The fact of its autonomy is certain from coins. (See Eckhel, vol. iii.
p. 393.) All these. advantages were lost under Antiochus Epiphanes, who, on
his return from Aegypt, took possession of the town and district. (Hieronym.
in Dan. xi.) In the war between Antiochus Grypus and Antiochus Cyzicenus it
declared itself in favour of the, latter; and when he was slain by Seleucus,
Antiochus Eusebes, his son, found shelter there, and by its aid, in concert
with other cities, maintained himself with varying success, till Syria submitted
to: Tigranes king of Armenia, and finally came under; the dominion of Rome.
In common with the rest of the province, it was mixed up in the Civil Wars.
(Appian, B.C. iv. 69, v. 1.) Coins of Aradus, ranging from Domitian to Elagabalus,
are enumerated in Eckhel. Under Constans, Mu awiyah, the lieutenant of the khalif
Omar, destroyed the city, and expelled the inhabitants. (Cedren. Hist. p. 355;
Theophan. p. 227.) As the town was. never rebuilt, it is only the island which
is mentioned by the historians of the Crusades. Tarsus was said to be a colony
from Aradus. (Dion Chrys. Orat. Tarsen. ii. p. 20, ed. Reiske.) A maritime population
of about 3,000 souls occupies the seat of this once busy and industrious hive.
Portions of the old double Phoenician walls are still found on the NE. and SE.
of the island, and the rock is perforated by the cisterns of which Strabo speaks.
The same author (see Groskurd's note, p. 754) minutely describes the contrivance
by which the inhabitants drew their water from a submarine source. Though the
tradition has been lost, the boatmen of Ruad still draw fresh water from the
spring Ain Ibrahim in the sea, a few rods from the shore of the opposite coast.
Mr. Walpole (The Ansayrii, vol. iii. p. 391): found two of these springs. A
few Greek inscriptions, taken from columns of black basalt, which, as there
is no trap rock in the island, must have been, brought over from the mainland,
are given (in the. Bibliotheca Sacra, New York, vol. v. p. 252) by the Rev.
W. Thomson. (Mignot, Mem. de l' Acad. des Inscript. vol. xxxiv. p. 229; Winer,
Real Wort. Buch. s. v. Arvad; Rosenmuller, Hand. Bib. Alt. vol. ii. pt. i. p.
7, with the Extracts from Maundrell, Shaw, Pococke, and Volney; Chesney, Exped.
Euphrat. vol. i. p. 451.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
MARATHOS (Ancient city) SYRIA
Marathus (Marathos: Eth. Marathenaios al. Marathenos), a city on the
coast of Syria, north of Aradus, placed by Ptolemy in the district of Cassiotis,
which extended as far north as Antioch. It is joined with Enydra, and was a ruin
in Strabo's time. It was on the confines of Phoenice, and the district was then
under the dominion of the Aradians (Strab. xvi. p. 753; comp. Plin. v. 20), who
had been foiled in a former attempt to reduce it to their power. The story, as
given in a fragment of Diodorus (lib. xxxii. vol.x. p.76-78, ed. Bipont; vol.
ii. p. 593, ed. Wess.), is as follows. The people of Aradus having seized what
they considered a favourable opportunity for the destruction of the people of
Marathus, sent privately to Ammonius, prime minister of Alexander Balas, the king
of Syria, and bribed him with the offer of 300 talents to deliver up Marathus
to them. The unfortunate inhabitants of the devoted city attempted in vain to
appease their enemies. The Aradians violated the common laws of suppliants, broke
the very ancient images of the local deities,- which the Maratheni had brought
to add solemnity to their embassy, - stoned the ambassadors, and cast them into
prison: according to another account, they murdered some, and forged letters in
their names, which they sealed with their seals, promising succour to Marathus,
with a view of introducing their troops into the city under this pretence. But
discovering that the citizens of Marathus were informed of their design, they
desisted from the attempt. The facts of its final subjugation to Aradus are not
preserved. Pliny (v. 20) places Marathus opposite to the island of Aradus, which
he says was 200 passus (=1000 Roman feet) from the coast. Diodorus (l. c.) states
the distance between Aradus and Marathus to be 8 stadia; which need not be inconsistent
with the statement of Pliny, as the latter may be supposed to measure to the point
on the mainland nearest to Aradus, the former the distance between that island
and the town of Marathus. The fact, however, is, that even the statement of Diodorus
is too short for the nearest point on the coast; for this island is, according
to Maundrell (March 7, p. 19), about a league distant from the shore. And Pococke,
who crossed the strait, says it is reckoned to be about two miles from the continent.
(Observations on Syria, p. 201.) The 20 stadia of Strabo is therefore much more
correct than either of the other authorities. He says that the island lay off
an exposed coast (rhachiodous kai alimenou), between its port (Caranus lege Carnos)
and Marathus: and what was the respective situation of these towns he intimates
in another passage, where, reckoning from the north, he enumerates Balanaea, Carnos,
Enydra, Marathus. Pococke takes Tortosa to be without doubt Caranus (Carnos) the
port of Aradus on the continent; and as this is two miles north of Aradus, he
properly looks for Marathus to the south,--identifying Enydra with Ein-el-Hye
(the Serpent's Fountain), directly opposite to Aradus (p. 203), and suggesting
that some ruins which he observed on a raised ground, at the northern extremity
of a plain, about 7 miles south of Tortosa, might possibly be Marathus (p. 204).
These conjectures may be admitted with some slight modifications. Thus, e. g.,
instead of identifying Tortosa with Carnos, this naval arsenal of the Arvadites
must be placed about 2 1/2 miles north of Tortosa, where a late traveller has
discovered extensive ruins, called by the Arab peasants Carnoon,- the site, doubtless,
of the Carnos or Caranus of the ancients. The people from Arvad still quarry stones
from these ruins; and below it, on the north, is a small harbour, which appears
to have been fortified like that of Tortosa. (Thompson, in Bibliotheca Sacra,
vol. v. p. 254.) A fresh-water spring in the sea, is mentioned by Strabo; and
a mile to the south, between Carnoos and Tortosa, a few rods from the shore, an
immense fountain, called ‘Ain Ibrahim (Abraham's fountain), boils up from the
bottom. Tortosa, then, will be, as many mediaeval writers maintained, Antaradus,
which Arabic geographers write Antartus and Antarsus; whence the common Arabic
name Tartus, in Italian Tortosa (l.c. p.247, n. 1). ‘Ain-el-Hiyeh, written by
Pococke Ein-el-Hye, is certainly the Enydra of Strabo; the geographer, or his
informant, having in this, as in so many other instances, retained the first half
of the native name, and translated the latter half,- En being the usual Greek
and Latin equivalent for the Semetic ‘Ayn =fountain, and the hydra a sufficiently
close representative of the Semetic Hiyeh = serpent. South of this fountain are
very extensive quarries, five or six miles to the south of Tortosa. This neighbourhood
is called by the Arabs Amreed or Maabed Amreet ` the fane of Amreet.' This name
the Greeks probably changed into Marathus, and the old vaults, foundations, sarcophagi,
&c., near ‘Ain-el-Hiyeh (Serpent's Fountain), may mark the precise locality of
ancient Marathus. (Thompson, l. c. p. 250.) Pococke describes here a rock-hewn
temple, and monolithic house and chambers; besides a kind of semicircle, which
he thinks might serve for some sports to divert the people of Aradus and Antaradus,
or of the ancient Marathus, if that was near. It was probably a circus (p. 203).
It was the more necessary to identify these sites, as D'Anville placed
the ancient Marathus at the modern Marakiah, which is, doubtless, the representative
of Mutatio Maraccas of the Jerusalem Itinerary, on the confines of Syria and Phoenice,
13 M. P. south of Balaneas (now Baneas), and 10 M. P. north of Antaradus: and
this error is perpetuated in Arrowsmith's map.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ARADOS (Island) SYRIA
An island off the coast of Phoenicia, with a flourishing city, reputed to have been founded by exiles from Sidon. Its harbour, on the mainland, was called Antaradus.
MARATHOS (Ancient city) SYRIA
(Marathos). An important city on the coast of Phoenicia, opposite to Aradus and near Antaradus.
An island 3 km SW of Tartus, which was the Antaradus of antiquity.
A powerful Phoenician city that led a federation of mainland cities extending
as far as the Orontes valley, Aradus submitted to Alexander, was granted autonomy
by the Seleucids, and declined in the Roman era, while Antaradus flourished. After
a long period of resistance, it was conquered in A.D. 641 by Moawiya, who laid
waste the city.
The island has a perimeter of 1.5 km. According to Strabo, the houses
had several stories; Chariton mentions a temple of Aphrodite and a vast agora
lined with porticos, but no trace of these has been found. The main ruins are
those of a sturdy rampart that encircled the island. A few sections of it, consisting
of four or five courses of huge blocks of stone, are still standing on the side
of the island facing the open sea. The methods of stone-cutting and joining range
from the Persian to the Roman periods. The base of the rampart consists of a berm
cut in the living rock. Excavation has uncovered an esplanade, wider to N and
S and today partly buried: it had a regular floor and the foundations of huge
buildings. The port, which faces the mainland, consists of two coves separated
by a natural dike which was raised in antiquity by adding a layer of enormous
blocks to make a jetty. There is no trace of quays.
J.P. Rey-Coquais, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
BAETOCECE (Ancient city) SYRIA
About 30 km E of Tartus in the heart of the Alaouite mountains at
an altitude of close to 1000 m, Baetocece was the federal sanctuary of the Phoenicians
of Arados. A long inscription tells of its importance, both religious and commercial,
from the beginning of the Hellenistic period to the Late Empire.
The site, which has never been excavated, contains two groups of monuments:
to the N, some improperly identified remains and to the S, the principal sanctuary
dedicated to a local god identified with Zeus.
The sanctuary has a rectangular surrounding wall with a door in the
middle of each side. The wall, remarkably well preserved, is built of large stones
laid edgewise. The main entrance, to the N, is a triple gateway with a triangular
pediment over it; the propylaea portico has disappeared. The molding and carved
ornamentation are austere. From inscriptions and from similarities in religious
iconography to Arados coins it is possible to date the complex to the 3d c. A.D.
The cella stood on a podium in the center of the enclosure; its facade, to the
N, consisted of a four-columned portico, and its walls were decorated on the outside
with engaged columns with ionic capitals. To the E of the cella stood a bronze
altar, dedicated in A.D. 185-86.
J. P. Rey-Coquais, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
MARATHOS (Ancient city) SYRIA
Site on the coast, 5 km S of Tartus, the ancient Antaradus. In the
time of Alexander the Great Marathos was the principal mainland city of the Phoenician
confederation of Arados. Captured by Arados at the end of the Hellenistic period,
it declined during Roman times.
The ruins show Phoenician traditions combined with Egyptian, Persian,
and Greek influences. Near the tell is a rock-cut sanctuary, the maabed. A small
cubic chapel, open on one side only, stands in the middle of a pool fed by a spring;
it served as a canopy for the cult image. Porticos, supported by monolithic limestone
pillars, encircled the basin on three sides. The monument dates from the 4th c.
B.C.
To the N the stadium, dating from the 3d c. B.C., is likewise cut
in the rock, and to the S the necropolis has many rock-cut tombs. Some of them
are topped by towers, placed along the axis of the stairs which descend to the
sepulchral vaults. The towers are round or square and sometimes capped by domes
or pyramids. The most remarkable of these funerary monuments (which date from
the 4th c. B.C.) are the two high meghazil (spindles), and the borj el-bezzak
(the snail tower), farther SE. One of the spindles has a cubic base, the other
a cylindrical base cantoned by the foreparts of four lions. The snail tower is
a cube without a top.
J. P. Rey-Coquais, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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