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[German version] Fortified location in the hills on the road from Mardin to Amida (Diyarbakır). Amm. Marc. 18,6,6 describes the location of M. in a forested region with winegrowing and orchards. According to Amm. Marc. 18,10,1 Šābuhr moved before the siege of Amida in AD 359 from Horre (Horren) via M. to Carcha (Kerh). Not. Dign. Or. 36,36 names the Cohors XIV Valeria Zabdenorum as occupation force. The name M. means ‘cold water in Aramaic. M. can not be localized exactly yet, but should probably be searched for near modern Ceyhan. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliograp…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Xenophon (Καιναί; Kainaí). Settlement on the western bank of the Tigris close to the confluence of the Lower Zab; according to Xen. An. 2,4,28 a large, flourishing polis; cf. also Κάναι in Steph. Byz.; its identity with the Neo-Assyrian Kannu near Assur is doubtful, see [1]. In the Bible it is attested as Kannē(h) (Ez 27,23) and located near Tekrit [2]. Its etymology is unclear; perhaps it is related to Aramaic gannā, ‘wall’. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliography 1 F. R. Weissbach, s.v. Καιναί, RE 10, 1508 2 R. D. Barne…

[German version] (Νάαρδα/ Náarda, also Νέερδα/ Néerda). Mesopotamian town on the Euphrates close to Sippar, exact location as yet unknown (Arr. FGrH 2,861 fr. 42; Ptol. Geog. 5,17,10); mainly inhabited by Jews, the Nehardea of the Talmud. The brothers Anilaeus and Asinaeus established their own Jewish rule in Mesopotamia from N. c. AD 20-35 (Jos. Ant. Iud. 18,9,1ff.). In the 2nd/3rd cents., N. was the seat of an important Jewish academy, whose most important representative was Samuel. N. was destroyed (by Odaenathus?) in AD 260, and gradually dwindled in im…

[German version] (Σωφηνή/ Sōphēnḗ; Byzantine also Τζοφηνή/ Tzophēnḗ…

[German version] The name Assyria goes back to Assyrian māt-Aššur ‘land (of the city of)  Assur’. In the narrower sense, understood as the heartland of the Assyrian empire to the west and, above all, to the east of the Tigris (today approximately northern Iraq); in post-Assyrian times the term is often used in a wider sense. The Medes may have already taken over A. as the name of the conquered non-Babylonian regions of the former Assy…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Sassanids | Syria | Byzantium | Urarṭu | Christianity | Xenophon | Zenobia | | Commerce | Ḫattusa | Asia Minor | Asia Minor | Legio | Limes | Limes | Mesopotamia | Pompeius (Μελιτηνή/ Melitēnḗ; Lat. Melitene). Name of a town and region in eastern Cappadocia. M. controlled the access to Elbistan and the near-by Euphrates crossing at Tomisa. Remains of the ancient town are found in the ruin field of Eski Malatya, while the Ancient Oriental settlement (inhabited from the Chalcolithic…

(Τηλεβόας; Tēlebóas). [German version] [1] Mythical people in western Acarnania See Teleboae. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) [German version] [2] Greek name of a …

[German version] (Μυλίσσα/ Mylíssa, Μυλίττα/ Mylítta). Hdt. 1,131 reports on prostitution in Babylon in conjunction with the cult of M., the Babylonian Aphrodite, in which every unmarried Babylonian…

[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 E…

[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.…

[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/ Turna…

[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 sign…

[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 e…

[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.

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[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,…

[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…

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[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 Phoenicia form a Persian satrapy (2 Makk 3,5; 4,4 and passim). The Ptolemaic areas up to the Eleutherus are also referred to as CS. After the reorganization of Syria by Pompey, which had no specific consequences for its administration, the term is encountered even more often. For Josephus (Ios. Ant. Iud. 13,13,2 and passim), it expands to include the  Decapolis where those cities are thus designated in inscriptions and on coins of the 1st-3rd cent. AD. Under Septimius Severus ( c. AD 200), a large north Syrian province CS including the  Commagene was established alongside Syría Phoiníke.  Damascus Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliography G. Beer, s.v. K.S., RE 11, 1050-1051 …

[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/ …

[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 bet…

[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 Rīmū…

[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.…

[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: Ἰζάλα…

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[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 ( …

[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 …

[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 for the first time 901/0 BC as the centre of the Aramaic tribe of the Teman under sheikh Nūr-Adad. In 896 BC, N. was taken by Adad-narārī II.; it was an important Assyrian governorship on the royal road that lead to the West; a branch road…

[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.

[German version] A. Concept Semipelagianism is a modern term (probably first used toward the end of the 16th cent. [2]) for a movement in …

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Xenophon (Μυρίανδρος; Myríandros). Settlement on the shores of the Gulf of Issus (Str. 14,5,19). Its exact localization is not yet established, possibly 80 stades ( c. 15 km) south of Alexandria [3] (Stadiasmus maris magni 1…

[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] [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 f…

[German version] [1] Stoic philosopher from Syrian Tyre Stoic philosopher from Syrian Tyre (born c.…

(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 …

(Νεοκαισάρεια/ Neokaisáreia, Lat. Neo…

[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 millen…

[German version] [1] Roman cognomen Roman cognomen ('calf bone'), recorded for L. Cornelius [I 56] Lentulus S. etc. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography Degrassi, FCIR, 269  Kajanto, Cognomina, 63; 226. [German version] …

(Λύκος; Lýkos). Mythology and religion: L. [1-9], historical persons: L. [10-13], rivers: L. [14-19].…