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[German version] (Ὀσροηνή/ Osroēnḗ). Territory in northern Mesopotamia, perhaps also a Parthian administrative district, also called Osdroene, Orrhoene (Ὀσδροηνή/ Osdroēnḗ, Ὀρροηνή/ Orrhoēnḗ) among others; possibly derived from the Iranian personal name Osroes. O. included the region around Edessa [2] and at times eastern territories up to the Euphrates, which bordered on the region of Adiabene. Plin. HN 6,9,25; 31,129 described its inhabitants as Arabs. Inscriptions for AD 195 and 212 attest to the procurator Augusti of a Roman province of Osrhoena that bordered the …

[German version] Tributary of the Tigris rising in the Iranian uplands, mentioned in Plin. HN 6,132, modern Diyālā. Its name is recorded from the 2nd millennium BC, Akkadian Turan/ Turnat, and as late as in mediaeval Arabic sources as Tāmarrā. The main route to Babylonia from the eastern Tigris region and the Iranian uplands ran along the lower reaches of the T. From the lower T. numerous canals branched off towards the southeast to the Tigris; these may have been identical with rivers mentioned in Graeco-Roman sources, such as Phy…

[German version] (Γύνδης; Gýndēs). According to Herodotus (1,189; 202; 5,52) a Mesopotamian river name. The Persian king Cyrus is said, before the capture of Babylon in 539 BC, to have diverted the water of the G. into 360 canals. Herodotus describes the  Araxes that was geographically untenable as the source area of the G. as well as describing the Persian region  Matiane. Because of the direction in which Cyrus marched, a link with the Diyālā (Babylonian Turan/ Turnat; Latin Tornadotus, Plin. HN 6,132) and the canal system between Diyālā and  Tigris is the most probable. Kessler, Karlhe…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient Some Mesopotamian texts come very close to later travel accounts. An Old Babylonian text describes in detail a 38-day journey from Babylonian Dūr-Apil-Sîn to North Syrian Emar [1], two Old Babylonian tablets a journey of more than 6 months from Babylonian Larsa to North Syria and back [2]. The Neo-Assyrian ‘Zamua Itinerary’ [5] includes the description of a 4-day trip through the  Zagrus mountains indicating exact travel distances. Especially Neo-Assyrian reports of military campaigns from the 9th/8th cents. BC often contain longer …

[German version] (Greek forms i.a. Σημεία /Sēmeía, Σημέα /Sēméa, Σίμα /Síma, Aramaic smy), in the past often interpreted as a Syrian goddess, is the deified divine standard of ancient Oriental origin, usually with a crescent moon at the top, often assimilated to Roman signa. The etymology could be Aramaic [1] but the word was linked to Greek σημεῖον/ sēmeîon (sign, standard) early on. Lucianus (De Syria Dea 33) describes the Sēmḗion of Hierapolis [2]/Bambyce, where it is placed, as in Dura-Europus, between Atargatis (Syria Dea) and Hadad (relief, coins). S. is identified ( i.a.) with …

(Λύκος; Lýkos). Mythology and religion: L. [1-9], historical persons: L. [10-13], rivers: L. [14-19]. [German version] [1] Son of Poseidon and the Pleiad Celaeno Son of Poseidon and the Pleiad Celaeno [1] (Ps.-Eratosth. Katasterismoi 23), only Apollod. 3,111 mentions his translation to the Islands of the Blessed, possibly to differentiate him from L. [6], with whom he is connected by Hyg. Fab. 31, 76 and 157 in spite of the descent from Poseidon. Scherf, Johannes (Tübingen) [German version] [2] Son of Prometheus and Celaeno Son of Prometheus and Celaeno [1], on whose tomb in th…

[German version] Name of an Aramaic river or canal in central Babylonia, corresponding to Akkadian nār šarri, Greek Naarsárēs (Νααρσάρης, Ptol. 5,19,2; 6) and Latin Marses (Amm. Marc. 23,6,25) and glossed in Greek ( basíleios potamós etc., see Str. 16,1,27; Ptol. 5,17,5; Zos. 3,19,3) and Latin translation ( regium flumen etc., see Plin HN 5,21,90; Amm. Marc. 24,2,7) as ‘Royal River’. Several canals of this name are known from Assyriological sources. The various names are often confused by ancient authors. It is doubtful whether the N. mentione…

[German version] Only Curtius Rufus (5,1,16) reports that Alexander [4] the Great reached the city M. after four days on the road from Arbela [1] to Babylon. A strong spring of naphtha was said to gush forth from a cave nearby. The city wall of Babylon was said to have been built of asphalt from M., which was probably located in the petroleum region of Kirkūk. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliography F. H. Weissbach, s.v. Mennis, RE 15, 896.

[German version] (Ἴχναι; Ichnai). Fortified settlement on the Balissus (Balīḫ̣); according to  Isidorus of Charax, situated between Alagma and  Nicephorium (Isidorus of Charax 1 Schoff; Plut. Crassus 25,17; Cass. Dio 40,12,2). Supposedly a Macedonian foundation; despite a similarity to Greek place names, the name may be identical with the old Babylonian Aḫūnā [1. 6].  Licinius Crassus won a skirmish near I. in 54 BC against the Parthian satrap Silaces. Publius, the son of Crassus, was advised to fl…

[German version] (Καλαχηνή; Kalachēnḗ). Region bordered by the  Tigris and the Great Zab around the earlier Neo-Assyrian capital  Kalḫu (now Nimrūd), east of the Tigris, north of the  Adiabene (Str. 11,4,8; 11,14,12; 16,1,1; Ptol. 6,1,2) Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliography F. H. Weissbach, s.v. K., RE 10, 1530.

(Νεοκαισάρεια/ Neokaisáreia, Lat. Neocaesarea). [German version] [1] Town in Pontos This item can be found on the following maps: Sassanids | Syria | Byzantium | Christianity | Asia Minor | Asia Minor | Limes | Rome | Rome A town in Pontus at the southern foot of the Paryadres near present-day Niksar, at the junction of the east-west route from the Amnias valley and up the Lycus valley via the Comana Pontica [2]-Polemonium road [4; 5; 6.Vol. 1, 17-57]; it is mentioned for the first time in Plin. HN. 6,8. N.'s history is traceable vi…

[German version] (Κεντρίτης, Kentrítēs, Xen. An. 4,3,1; Diod. Sic. 14,27,7); according to the route description in Xenophon, the same as the eastern confluent of the Tigris Bohtan Su (province of Siirt), Byzantine Zirmas, Arabic Zarm. Accordingly, the C. formed the boundary between the region of the  Carduchi and Armenia, or rather the Armenian satrapy of  Tiribazus. In the winter of 401/400 BC the Greeks crossed the C. at a widening of the valley with settlements on river terraces, possibly c. 15 km north of the confluence with the Tigris, near the mouth of the Zorova Su. Kessler, Karlhe…

[German version] From the 9th century BC, RR are recorded in the Neo-Assyrian Empire. They constituted clearly defined links between the royal residence and provincial governors, which were paved only in cities to some extent. They were secured by road stations, which accommodated travellers by order of the king, supplied teams of mules and were responsible for the conveyance of mail (for Palestine cf. also Nm. 20:17; 21:22; Dt. 2:27). In the Babylonian Chaldean Empire new RR were built. The similarly structured Achaemenid RR, admired by the Greeks as a purportedly perfect…

[German version] [1] Ruins of Nineveh This item can be found on the following maps: Xenophon (Μέσπιλα; Méspila). In 401 BC, M. is mentioned in Xen. An. 3,4,10 as an abandoned city of ruins, surrounded by a shell stone wall, 50 feet high and just as wide, 6 parasangs in length, on top of which was a brick wall 100 feet high. Xenophon was told that M. had been inhabited by Medes who had fled the Persians, among them the wife of the Medean king. The city - allegedly almost impregnable to the Persian king - is said …

[German version] (Κοίλη Συρία; Koílē Syría). Originally, the geographical term Coele Syria (CS), often used vaguely by authors in antiquity (the ‘hollow’ Syria; Aramaic kōl ‘whole’?), may have referred to the entire part of  Syria west of the Euphrates; others, based on Strabo 16,15,4, see it in a more limited fashion as the area of Biqa* between Lebanon and Antilebanon. First mentioned by Ps.-Scyl. (GGM I 15-96, especially p. 78 c. 104), CS more often only includes South Syria, sometimes incorporating parts or the whole of Phoenicia. Usually excluded is the land east of the Jordan. CS and…

[German version] Assyrian king (680-669 BC). Assyrian Aššur-aḫu-iddina, biblical Asarhaddon, younger son of  Sanherib and Zakûtu (Aramaic Naqia), father of  Assurbanipal and Šamaš-šumu-ukīn. The murder of his father by a brother and the circumstances of his seizing power are mentioned in the Bible (2 Kg 19.37; Jes 37.38). Under A. Egypt was conquered. Even Cypriot minor states recognized Assyrian rulership. In the Iranian highlands Medes and  Cimmerian or  Scythian incursions constituted the great…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Limes (Νικηφόριον/ Nikēphórion). Town at the point where the Baliḥ flows into the Euphrates. As a settlement, it succeeded Tuttul (Tall Bīa) and preceded the Arabic ar-Raqqa. Its founder is variously said to have been Seleucus I (App. Syr. 298), Alexander the Great (Plin. HN 6,119; Isidorus of Charax, Mansiones parthicae 1 GGM 1, 248) and, in Syrian sources, Seleucus II. In the middle of the 3rd cent. AD it was renamed Callinicum (or, in Greek, Καλλίνικος/ Kallínikos). It was also briefly called Constantina and Leontop…

[German version] (Sumerian Idigna, Assyrian/Babylonian Idiqlat, Greek Τίγρης/ Tígrēs (Hdt. 1,189; 1,193; 2,150; 5,52; 6,20), Latin Tigris (Plin. HN 6,129 f. et passim), Arabic Diǧla, Turkish Dicle), at about 1850 km the second longest river of the Near East. The Euphrates [2] and the T. enclose the 'land between two rivers' called Mesopotamia. In Antiquity unclear ideas on the sources of the T. circulated. Assyrian inscriptions at the source cave of the Sebene locate its origin there. Plin. HN 6,127 f., who cites the etymology from Iranian tigri-, 'arrow', mentions a partly su…

[German version] (Μάσκας; Máskas). Xen. An. 1,5,4 locates the River M. south of the confluence of the Chabora ( Ḫabur) and the Euphrates and describes it as encircling the city of Corsote in the desert. It may well have been only a canal. Etymologically, it is perhaps connected with the Akkadian mašqû, ‘watering hole/place’. There was a Neo-Assyrian town called Mašqite in the north of Anatolia. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliography R. D. Barnett, Xenophon and the Wall of Media, in: JHS 73, 1963, 4f. F. H. Weissbach, s.v. M., RE 14, 2069f.

[German version] Founder of a Babylonian family enterprise, often characterised as a firm. M.'s activities began under Darius [1] I. Evidence is provided by more than 830 cuneiform tablets from an archive in Nippur, which are dated between 454 and 404 BC. Most of them concern the enterprises of Ellil-šum-iddin und Rīmūt-Inurta, son and grandson of M. The family was involved in agriculture in the region of Nippur, e.g., in tenancy and subletting of land plots, leasing, tax collection, short-term mo…

[German version] [1] Stoic philosopher from Syrian Tyre Stoic philosopher from Syrian Tyre (born c. AD 40). He married into the family of Pompeius Iulianus, moved to Rome and was perhaps under the patronage of the emperor. Under Hadrian he committed suicide in 118 BC. The skilful protreptic orator ( Protreptics) did not allow himself to be infected by the Cynic fashion and supported moderation and rationalism in philosophical as well as political matters. His resistance to Neo-Pythagorean and Chaldaean tenden…

[German version] A. Concept Semipelagianism is a modern term (probably first used toward the end of the 16th cent. [2]) for a movement in theological thought that emerged in the 5th/6th cents. in the monasteries of southern Gaul, rejecting the teachings of Augustinus (cf. [7]) on grace and predestination. The term Semipelagianism remains academically useful, if one takes account of the following reservations: 1) There is no evidence of direct historical links to the Pelagius [4] who was convicted in…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Xenophon (Κορσωτή, Korsōtḗ). Xen. An. 1,5,4 mentions C. as a large city situated in the desert south of the confluence of the Chaboras ( Habur) and the Euphrates. He describes it as being surrounded by the river  Mascas, probably more of a canal. Attempts to locate it near Bāġūẓ or Hirbat ad-Dīnīya are dubious. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliography R. D. Barnett, Xenophon and the Wall of Media, in: JHS 73, 1963, 3-5.

(Κάπρος; Kápros). [German version] [1] River is eastern Caria River in the upper catchment area of the  Maeander in eastern Caria, modern Başlı Çay; it passes  Laodicea [4] closely to the east (Plin. HN 5,105) and discharges perennially into the Lycus, which runs about 1.5 km below the town in a north-westerly direction towards the Maeander (Str. 12,8,16; Plin. HN 2,225). Coins of the town depict a river god with the C. legend. Kaletsch, Hans (Regensburg) Bibliography G. E. Bean, Kleinasien 3, 1974, 259, 263 Magie 2, 785; 986 Miller, 726 Ramsay 1, 35. [German version] [2] Eastern tributar…

[German version] In Neo-Assyrian sources from the 9th cent. BC onwards, I. is a centre of viticulture, the mountainous area between  Ḥarran,  Amida (modern Diyarbakır) and Mardin in north-eastern Mesopotamia. In Babylonian the toponym is also still used later. Darius I defeated (Old Persian Izalā, Elamite Izzila) the Armenians in I. (TUAT 1, 433 § 29,53). In AD 359, the mons Izala (Amm. Marc. 18,6,12; 19,9,4) was the scene of Roman battles against the Persians. In Syrian and Byzantine texts (Bar Hebraeus; Theophylaktes Simocatta: Ἰζάλας/ Izáles) I. can also include the Mardin…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt The oldest sources for the geography of Mesopotamia consist of topographical lists (3rd millennium BC), of which one lists a total of 289 eastern and central Mesopotamian places. Clay plates from the 3rd to the 1st millennium BC occasionally show schematised city maps with labels (Babylon, Nippur, Uruk, Sippar) as well as regional area maps (Nuzi, Tellō, Nippur, Euphratis region, Sippar). These were probably created in the context of land surveying. A world map exists which is unique in its central orientation towards Babylon ( c. 5th cent.…

[German version] (Κοσσαῖοι; Kossaîoi). A mountain people of the Zagros that was divided into tribes, approximately in the area of modern  Luristan, cf. Latin Cossiaei (Plin. HN 6,134); Cossaei (Curt. 4,12,10). Kossaía as the name of a region is found in Diod. Sic. 17,111,5. The relationship to the Kíssioi and the Kissía region (Hdt. 5,49; 5,52; Diod. Sic.11,7,2) remains uncertain. The C. were probably identical to the Cassites ( Kaššu) whose clans infiltrated  Mesopotamia after the 17th cent. BC. Subsequently, a durable Cassitic dynasty, which retained certain Ca…

[German version] (Νήραβος/ Nḗrabos). Town in Syria (Nicolaus of Damascus FGrH 2,341 Fr. 17), modern Nairab south of Aleppo, Arama ic nrb, Neo-Assyrian Nirabu/ Nērebu, part of the province of Arpad. During archaeological investigations two steles with Aramaic funereal inscriptions of priests of the moon god Šahr (moon deity) were uncovered, as well as Babylonian cuneiform texts ( c. 560-500 BC) which attest to the business of a local family that lived temporarily (in exile) in a town in Babylonia that was also called N. Not to be confused with this N. …

[German version] [1] City in eastern Assyria This item can be found on the following maps: Sassanids | Syria | Xenophon | Zenobia | Commerce | Limes | Pompeius City in eastern Assyria on the road leading to the Iranian highlands; settled since the end of the 3rd millennium BC (Urbilum), Assyrian Arbail(u), Greek Ἄρβηλα ( Árbēla) and the Ἀρβηλῖτις ( Arbēlîtis) region (Ptol. 6,1, 2; Plin. HN 6, 41), today Erbīl. A. was the centre of a cult of Ištar and the seat of the governor in both Middle and New Assyria. The temple in A. was particularly favoured under …

[German version] (Τόπαζος; Tópazos). Island, of which Pliny gives a detailed account, allegedly the place of origin of the name of the precious stone topaz. According to Plin.  HN 37,24;108 it was 300 stadia from the Arabian coast in the Red Sea, and  in the language of the Trogodytae T. means 'seek', since the fog-enshrouded island often had to be looked for by seafarers. It appears as an Indian island in Steph. Byz. s.v. Τοπάζιος. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen)

[German version] (Μάρδη/ Márdē, Μάρδις/ Márdis, Lat. Maride). Fortress on the southern edge of the Izala mountain range (Ṭūr Abdīn), modern Mardin. Apart from a dubious identification with the ancient Oriental settlement of Mardaman, there are no indications that M. was of major significance prior to late antiquity. In Amm. Marc. 19,9,4, M. is one of the castella praesidiaria against the Persians. Under Iustinianus (AD 527-565) M. was refortified (Procop. Aed. 2,4,14) and according to Byzantine, Syrian and Armenian sources, it continued to be an impor…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Christianity | Coloniae | Mesopotamia Settlement 40 km south-east of Edessa, old Oriental Ḫarrān(u), Greek Κάρραι; Kárrai, Latin Carrhae, Aramaic Ḥrn, modern Harran, important commercial centre and important cult centre of the moon god  Sin; documented since the 3rd millennium BC, Assyrian provincial capital and, from 611-610 BC, residence of the last Neo-Assyrian king; new temple construction under  Nabonid (finds of steles). In the biblical tradition, H. wa…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Sassanids | Syria | Xenophon | Zenobia | Commerce | India, trade with | Asia Minor | Limes | Pompeius | Rome (Νίσιβις/ Nísibis, Byz. Νισίβιν/ Nisíbin). Town in Mesopotamia, also Nesibis, Assyrian Naṣībīna, Arabian Naṣībīn, present-day Nusaibīn, probably ‘the pillars’ in Aramaic folk etymology. N. was situated in a strategically important position on the Ǧaġǧaġa river (Mygdonius), at the foot of the mountains of Mardin (Mons Izala, Ṭūr Abdīn). In Assyrian sources N. is mentioned f…

[German version] (Νυμφαῖος/ Nymphaîos). Nowadays called Kahta Cayi, it is a tributary of the Euphrates in Commagene. The ancient name is known only through the citing of the name of the town, Arsameia on the N., on an inscription of Antiochus [2] I of Commagene found at Arsameia (now Eski Kâhta) [2]. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliography F.K. Dörner, Arsameia am Nymphaios (IstForsch 23), 1963, 40.

[English version] Aramäische Fluß- bzw. Kanalbezeichnung im zentralen Babylonien, die akkad. nār šarri, griech. Naarsárēs (Νααρσάρης, Ptol. 5,19,2; 6) und lat. Marses (Amm. 23,6,25) entspricht und in griech. ( basíleios potamós u.ä., s. Strab. 16,1,27; Ptol. 5,17,5; Zos. 3,19,3) und lat. Übersetzung ( regium flumen u.ä., s. Plin. nat. 5,21,90; Amm. 24,2,7) als “Königsfluß” wiedergegeben wird. Altoriental. Quellen kennen mehrere Kanäle dieses Namens. Bei den ant. Autoren sind oft Verwechslungen der verschiedenen Bezeichnungen zu konstatier…

[English version] [1] Runinen von Ninive Dieser Ort ist auf folgenden Karten verzeichnet: Xenophon (Μέσπιλα). M. ist 401 v.Chr. bei Xen. an. 3,4,10 als verlassene Ruinenstadt genannt, die von einer 50 Fuß hohen und ebenso breiten Mauer aus Muschelstein von 6 Parasangen Länge umgeben war, auf der sich noch ein Ziegelwall von 100 Fuß Höhe befand. Xenophon wurde berichtet, daß M. von Medern besiedelt gewesen sei, die vor den Persern geflohen waren, darunter die Gemahlin des Mederkönigs. Die angeblich für den Per…

[English version] (Κεντρίτης, Xen. an. 4,3,1; Diod. 14,27,7); nach der Wegbeschreibung bei Xenophon identisch mit dem östl. Tigrisnebenfluß Bohtan Su (Provinz Siirt), byz. Zirmas, arab. Zarm. Der K. bildete danach die Grenze zw. dem Gebiet der Karduchoi und Armenien bzw. der armen. Satrapie des Tiribazos. Die Griechen überschritten im Winter 401/400 v.Chr. den K. bei einer Talweitung mit Siedlungen auf Flußterrassen, evtl. ca. 15 km nördl. des Zusammenflusses mit dem Tigris, nahe der Mündung des Zorova Su. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliography F.H. Weissbach, s.v. K.,…

[English version] I. Alter Orient und Ägypten Die ältesten Quellen zur G. Mesopotamiens sind top. Listen (3. Jt. v.Chr.), darunter eine, die 289 ost- und zentralmesopot. Orte aufführt. Vom 3. bis 1. Jt. v.Chr. finden sich auf Tontafeln vereinzelt schematisierte, beschriftete Stadtpläne (Babylon, Nippur, Uruk, Sippar) und regionale Landkarten (Nuzi, Tellō, Nippur, Euphratregion, Sippar). Ein Zusammenhang mit Feldvermessungen ist wahrscheinlich. Singulär wegen ihrer auf Babylon zentrierten Ausrichtung is…

(Νεοκαισάρεια, lat. Neocaesarea). [English version] [1] Stadt in Pontos Dieser Ort ist auf folgenden Karten verzeichnet: Byzantion, Byzanz | Christentum | Kleinasien | Kleinasien | Limes | Roma | Roma | Sāsāniden | Syrien Stadt in Pontos am Südfuß des Paryadres beim h. Niksar, an der Kreuzung der West-Ost-Route vom Amnias-Tal das Lykos-Tal aufwärts mit der Straße Komana Pontika [2] - Polemonion [4; 5; 6. Bd. 1, 17-57]; erstmals erwähnt bei Plin. nat. 6,8. Ihre Gesch. ist über die Namensfolge N./Sebaste/Diospolis/Kabeira bis in d…

[English version] (Μάρδη, Μάρδις, lat. Maride). Festung am Südrand des Izala-Gebirges (Ṭūr Abdīn), h. Mardin. Abgesehen von einer zweifelhaften Gleichsetzung mit der altoriental. Siedlung Mardaman existieren keine Hinweise auf eine größere Bedeutung von M. vor der Spätant. Bei Amm. 19,9,4 ist M. eins der castella praesidiaria gegen die Perser. Unter Iustinianus (527-565 n.Chr.) wurde M. erneut befestigt (Prok. aed. 2,4,14) und war nach byz., syr. und und armen. Quellen weiterhin ein wichtiger Stützpunkt gegen die Perser. Syrien Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliography L…

[English version] (Νυμφαῖος). Nebenfluß des Euphrat in der Kommagene, h. Kahtaçai. Die ant. Bezeichnung ist nur durch die Nennung des Stadtnamens Arsameia am N., h. Eski Kâhta, aus einer bei Arsameia [2] gefundenen Inschrift des Antiochos [2] I. von Kommagene bekannt. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliography F.K. Dörner, Arsameia am N. (IstForsch 23), 1963, 40.

[English version] Begründer eines babylonischen Familienunternehmens, oft charakterisiert als Geschäftshaus. Die Aktivitäten des M. beginnen unter Dareios [1] I. Als Quellen liegen mehr als 830 Keilschrifttafeln eines Archivs aus Nippur vor, datiert zwischen 454 und 404 v.Chr. Die Mehrzahl betrifft die Unternehmungen von Ellil-šum-iddin und Rīmūt-Inurta, Sohn und Enkel des M. Die Familie war auf dem landwirtschaftl. Sektor in der Region Nippur aktiv, so im Bereich von Miete und Untervermietung von…

(Λύκος). Mythologie und Religion: L. [1-9], Historische Personen: L. [10-13], Flüsse: L. [14-19]. [English version] [1] Sohn des Poseidon und der Pleiade Kelaino Sohn des Poseidon und der Pleiade Kelaino [1] (Ps.-Eratosth. katasterismoi 23), nur Apollod. 3,111 erwähnt seine Entrückung auf die Inseln der Seligen, vielleicht, um ihn von L. [6], mit dem er von Hyg. fab. 31, 76 und 157 trotz der Abstammung von Poseidon zusammengebracht wird, zu differenzieren. Scherf, Johannes (Tübingen) [English version] [2] Sohn des Prometheus und der Kelaino Sohn des Prometheus und der Kelaino…

[English version] Dieser Ort ist auf folgenden Karten verzeichnet: Limes (Νικηφόριον). Stadt an der Mündung des Baliḥ in den Euphrat, Nachfolgesiedlung des altoriental. Tuttul (Tall Bīa) und Vorläufer des arab. ar-Raqqa. Als Gründer werden Seleukos I. (App. Syr. 298), Alexander d.Gr. (Plin. nat. 6,119; Isidoros von Charax, Mansiones parthicae 1 GGM 1, 248) und in syr. Quellen auch Seleukos II. genannt. Ab der Mitte des 3. Jh.n.Chr. in Kallinikos (Καλλίνικος, lat. Callinicum), kurze Zeit auch in Constantina und Leontopolis umbenannt, wurde die bed. Handelsstadt …

(Κάπρος). [English version] [1] Fluß in Ost-Karia Fluß im oberen Einzugsbereich des Maiandros in Ost-Karia, h. Başlı C̦ayı; fließt östl. nahe an Laodikeia [4] vorbei (Plin. nat. 5,105) und ergießt sich perennierend in den ca. 1,5 km unterhalb der Stadt nach NW zum Maiandros ziehenden Lykos (Strab. 12,8,16; Plin. nat. 2,225). Mz. der Stadt zeigen einen Flußgott mit Legende K. Kaletsch, Hans (Regensburg) Bibliography G.E. Bean, Kleinasien 3, 1974, 259, 263  Magie 2, 785; 986  Miller, 726  Ramsay 1, 35. [English version] [2] Östl. Nebenfluß des Tigris Östl. Nebenfluß des Tigris (Pol…

[English version] (Γύνδης). Nach Herodot (1,189; 202; 5,52) mesopot. Flußname. Der Perserkönig Kyros soll vor der Einnahme Babylons 539 v.Chr. das Wasser des G. in 360 Kanäle abgeleitet haben. Herodot bezeichnet, geogr. unhaltbar, als Quellgebiet des G. den Araxes und die pers. Region Matiane. Wegen der Anmarschrichtung des Kyros ist eine Verknüpfung mit der Diyālā (babylon. Turan/ Turnat; lat. Tornadotus, Plin. nat. 6,132) bzw. dem Kanalsystem zw. Diyālā und Tigris am wahrscheinlichsten. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliography M. Streck, s.v. G., RE 6, 2091f.

[English version] Dieser Ort ist auf folgenden Karten verzeichnet: Xenophon (Καιναί). Siedlung am westl. Tigrisufer, nahe der Einmündung des Unteren Zab; nach Xen. an. 2,4,28 eine große und blühende Polis; vgl. auch Κάναι bei Steph. Byz.; zweifelhaft ist die Identität mit neuassyr. Kannu nahe Assur, s. [1]. Biblisch ist der Ort als Kannē(h) belegt (Ez 27,23), ebenso eine Lokalisierung bei Tekrit [2]. Die Etymologie ist unklar, vielleicht zu aram. gannā, “Einfriedung”. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliography 1 F.R. Weissbach, s.v. Καιναί, RE 10, 1508 2 R.D. Barnett, Xenoph…

[English version] Dieser Ort ist auf folgenden Karten verzeichnet: Handel | Indienhandel | Kleinasien | Limes | Pompeius | Roma | Sāsāniden | Syrien | Xenophon | Zenobia (Νίσιβις, byz. Νισίβιν). Stadt in Mesopotamien, auch Nesibis, assyr. Naṣībīna, arab. Naṣībīn, h. Nusaibīn, wohl aram. volksetym. “die Säulen”. N. lag in einer strategisch wichtigen Position am Ǧaġǧaġa-Fluß (Mygdonios), am Fuß der Berge von Mardin (Mons Izala, Ṭūr Abdīn). In assyr. Quellen wird N. erstmals 901/0 v.Chr. als Zentrum des aram. Stammes der Teman unter dem …

[English version] Dieser Ort ist auf folgenden Karten verzeichnet: Xenophon (Κορσωτή). Xen. an. 1,5,4 erwähnt K. als große, in der Wüste gelegene Stadt südl. der Einmündung des Chaboras (Ḫabur) in den Euphrat. Sie sei umgeben von dem Fluß Maskas, wohl eher ein Kanal. Lokalisierungsansätze bei Bāġūẓ oder Ḫirbat ad-Dīnīya sind zweifelhaft. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliography R.D. Barnett, Xenophon and the Wall of Media, in: JHS 73, 1963, 3-5.

[English version] (Ὀσροηνή). Nordmesopotamische Landschaft, vielleicht auch parthischer Verwaltungsbezirk, auch Osdroene, Orrhoene (Ὀσδροηνή, Ὀρροηνή) u.a; evtl. abgeleitet vom iran. PN Osroes. Zur O. wurden neben der Region um Edessa [2] auch zeitweise östl. Territorien bis zum Euphrat gerechnet, angrenzend an die Adiabene. Plin. nat. 6,9,25; 31,129 beschreibt ihre Bewohner als Araber. Inschr. belegen für 195 und 212 n.Chr. den procurator Augusti einer röm. Prov. Osrhoena, die an das noch selbständige Territorium der Vasallenkönige von Edessa grenzte, d…