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(Ζεφύριον/ Zephýrion). Name used especially in the eastern Mediterranean region for foothills and the cities near them that are exposed to the west wind (Zephyrus). Kaletsch, Hans (Regensburg) [German version] [1] Cape on the north eastern coast of Crete Cape on the north-eastern coast of Crete (Ptol. 3,17,5), probably modern Cape Agios Ioannis at the north-eastern end of the Gulf of Mirabello. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) [German version] …

(Ἀμ(μ)αθοῦς; Am(m)athoûs). [German version] [1] Fortress to the east of the Jordan A fortress to the east of the Jordan, tell 'ammatā, which towers over the north bank of the wādi raǧib and has control over three roads, one of which runs close beside it on the west towards Pella ( ṭabaqāt faḥil) (Eus. Onom. 22,24) [1; 2]. Ceramics found here have so far shown no evidence of either pre-Hellenistic settlement or Cypriot imports [3. 44; 4. 301]. After 98 BC it was taken by  Alexander Iannaeus from the tyrant Theodorus of Philadelphia and razed to th…

(Σόλοι; Sóloi). [German version] [1] City on the northern coast of Cyprus This item can be found on the following maps: Theatre | Kypros | Diadochi and Epigoni | Education / Culture City on the northern coast of Cyprus at modern Karavostasi with a harbour which was also usable in winter (Scyl. 103; Str. 14,6,3). According to Plut. Solon 26,2 named after Solon [1], who advised the king Philocyprus of Aepeia to relocate his unfavourably situated city to the plain. But according to Str. loc. cit. S. was founded by Phalerus and Ac…

(Κερύνεια; Kerýneia). [German version] [1] Town in Achaea (Arcadian Καρύνεια; Karýneia). Inland town in Achaea (Peloponnese), not originally listed amongst the 12 cities of the Achaean Confederacy in Hdt. 1,145 and Str. 8,7,4. According to Str. 8,7,5, C.'s location was high up in the mountains between Bura and the sea. For a long time, C. was identified with remains found above the village of Rizomylo and the coastal road near the modern Keryneia. Following on from Wilhelm, Meyer suggested to localize the…

[German version] (Πηδάλιον; Pēdálion). The south-eastern cape of the island of Cyprus, today called Kap Greco. According to Str. 14,6,3, it was sacred to Aphrodite (cf. Ptol. 5,14,3). Senff, Reinhard (Bochum) Bibliography E. Oberhummer, s.v. Pedalion (2), RE 19, 18  Id., Die Insel Cypern, vol. 1, 1903, 125f.

(Λευκωσία; Leukōsía). [German version] [3] Island on the Lucanian coast (Mela 2,7,121; Plin. HN 3,83: Leucothea) on the Punta della Licosa, modern Isola Piana. Uggeri, Giovanni (Florence) Bibliography G. Brugnoli, s.v. L., EV 3, 1987, 196f. BTCGI 9, 1991, 5; 14, 1996, 505f. [German version] [1] One of the three post-Homeric Sirens One of the three post-Homeric Sirens, who no longer - as with Homer - appear in a group but as individuals: L. reaches south-west Italy through colonization. Consequently her suicide (she plunges into the sea) is localized on an island south-west of Paestum, where her grave is venerated (Lycoph. 715 with schol.; 728; Str. 6,1,1). When the Odysseus myth was supplanted by the Aeneas legend, L. became a niece of Aeneas (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1,53).…

(Δρέπανον; Drépanon). Name of several foothills; the external shape of the mountain may have given rise to the name D. (‘sickle’). [German version] [1] Vorgebirge an der Nordküste von Westkreta On the north coast of western Crete (Ptol. 3,15,5), known in antiquity and today as D. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Lienau, Cay (Münster) Bibliography M. Guarducci, Inscript. Cret. 2,10. [German version] [2] Nördlichster Vorsprung der Peloponnesos in den Korinth. Golf Northernmost outcrop of the Peloponnese into the Corinthian Gulf, 7 km north-east of Rhion (with which i…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Writing | Kypros | Diadochi and Epigoni | Colonization | Phoenicians, Poeni | Aegean Koine | Education / Culture (Κίτιον; Kítion). Important port city on the south coast of  Cyprus, modern Larnaca. Fortified Mycenaean town with temples and necropoleis [1], destroyed in the 11th cent. BC. On a stele from C., Sargon II claims Assyrian suzerainty in 709 BC.  Colonization emanating from Tyre in the 9th cent. BC established an increasing Phoenician presence, which peak…

[German version] Modern name for an extensive fortified palace site on a hill above the bay of Morphou on the northern coast of Cyprus, about 7 km to the west of Soli [1], probably the residence of one of the Cypriot city kings. Built in c. 500 BC, destroyed in c. 380 BC (it is not known by whom). In the first two phases of building up to the middle of the 5th cent., a site developed with a central peristyle courtyard, around which the residential and representational rooms were grouped, and a storage section in the south-west. In subsequent co…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Kypros | Diadochi and Epigoni | Pompeius (Λάπηθος; Lápēthos). Port on the northern coast of Cyprus [1]. According to Str. 14,6,3, it was founded by Lacones under Praxander (Λάπαθος, Str. l.c.; Λάπηθις Φοινίκων, Scyl. 103). Phoenicians are attested epigraphically and through coins of king Sidqimelek ( c. 440-420 BC) [1]. The last king, Praxippus, was on the side of Antigonus [1] and was deposed by Ptolemy I in 312 BC (Diod. Sic. 19,59,1; 62,6; 79,4). In the Hellenistic period, there is evi…

[German version] Cyprus [3] The island was incorporated into Roman possessions in 58 BC and remained part of the province of Cilicia until 48/47 BC. It was returned to the Ptolemaic kingdom by Caesar and Antony, and came permanently into Roman possession from 30 BC. As a province in its own rights, it was initially administered by a legatus, then from 22 BC by the Senate through an annually appointed procurator; following Diocletian's reorganization of the provinces, it was placed under the administration of the consularis of the dioecesis Oriens in Antioch [1] . After the initial f…

[German version] (Λιμενία; Limenía). City on the north coast of Cyprus [1]. L. also appears under the names Limen and Limnitis in early Christian texts, from which the existence of a harbour is apparent (discussed in [1. 17-20]); this speaks against the inland location suggested by Str. 14,6,3. Remains near the modern Limniti show a short-term settlement as early as the Neolithic [2]. At the mouth of the river is a sanctuary with finds from the Archaic to Hellenistic periods [3]. Senff, Reinhard (Bochum) Bibliography 1 A. Westholm, The Temples of Soloi, 1936 2 E. Gjerstad, Petra tou Limni…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Theatre | Kypros | Phoenicians, Poeni (Κούριον). Town on the southern coast of  Cyprus, according to Hdt. 5,113 and Str. 14,6,3 founded by  Argus [II]. Remains of settlements from the Bronze Age. The first mention of a king is in the time of  Asarhaddon 673/2 BC. At the battle of Salamis in 480 BC, Kin…

This item can be found on the following maps: Sassanids | Writing | Christianity | Zenobia | Kypros | Diadochi and Epigoni | Natural catastrophes | Phoenicians, Poeni | Pompeius | Rome | Rome | Aegean Koine | Education / Culture (Πάφος; Páphos). [German version] I. Old Paphus In antiquity two cities on the southern coast of Cyprus bore the name P.; from the Roman Imperial period, they were differentiated as New P. (Νέα Πάφος/ Néa Páphos, near modern Kato P.) and Old P. (Παλαίπαφος/ Palaípaphos, near modern Kouklia). (Old) P. is first mentioned on the Prism of Asarhaddon (673/2 B…

(Ὄλυμπος/Ólympos). Geography: [1-13]. People: [14-15]. [German version] [1] Home of the ›Olympian‹ gods, highest mountain in Greece (Latin Olympus) (Latin Olympus). Kramolisch, Herwig (Eppelheim) Meyer, Ernst (Zürich) [German version] I. Geography The highest mountain in Greece, regarded as the home of the 'Olympian' gods (twelve (Olympian) gods). Its altitude, overlooking all of its surroundings, creates a powerful impression, as do its massive size and density and its dramatic ascent, especially at the east and west, which …

(Σαλαμίς/ Salamís). [German version] [1] Largest island in the Saronic Gulf This item can be found on the following maps: Dark Ages | Natural catastrophes | Persian Wars | Athenian League (Second) | Education / Culture Largest island (93 km2) in the Saronic Gulf (Saronikos Kolpos), with a deeply punctuated coastline, 0.5 km from the coast of Attica at the nearest point; three main mountainous mas…

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[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Kypros | | Phoenicians, Poeni | Aegean Koine (Ταμασ[σ]ός/ Tamas(s)ós). City in the centre of Cyprus at the eastern fringes of the Troodus Mountains at the modern village of Politiko to the southwest of Nicosia. T. was known in Antiquity for its wealth of copper (Hom. Od. 1,184: Τεμέση; Str. 14,6,5). The settlement can be traced back as far at …

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Kypros (Ἰδάλιον; Idálion). Mentioned in Assyrian inscriptions of 672 BC, a Graeco-Phoenician city in the interior of Cyprus, known to ancient literature as a principal seat of the cult of Aphrodite (Theocr. 15,100; Verg. Aen. 1,681; 692). Inhabited since the late Bronze Age. Ruins close to modern Dhali, between Larnaka and Nicosia, with two acropoleis, a city wall, house remains and necropoleis [1]. In the sanctuaries of Anat-Athena, Rešef-Apollo…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Kypros | Diadochi and Epigoni (Μάριον/ Márion). Capital of a local kingdom on the north-west coast of Cyprus near the modern Polis tis Chrysochou. Some of its coins display the name of the city as well as the name of the dynast [1]. Finds go back to the Geometric period (900-700 BC). The export of copper from the mines of the nearby modern Limniti intensified the contact with Greece, especially with Athens (cf. IG II…