Listed 4 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "ARADOS Island SYRIA" .
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
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.
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.
Receive our daily Newsletter with all the latest updates on the Greek Travel industry.
Subscribe now!
