Myriandus
Ancient Phoenician port near Antioch, modern Turkey / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Myriandus (Greek: Μυρίανδος Mūríandos, from Hittite mūri-, "grape cluster", and -anda, a place name suffix; by folk etymology with Greek andr-, "man", also spelled Myriandrus: Μυρίανδρος Mūríandros)[1][2] was an ancient Phoenician[3] port on the Mediterranean Sea's Gulf of Alexandretta. Its ruins are located near the modern city of İskenderun in southern Turkey.
Location | Turkey |
---|---|
Region | Hatay Province |
Coordinates | 36°33′58″N 36°06′39″E |
Herodotus records the entire Gulf of Alexandretta as Marandynian Bay (Ancient Greek: Μυριανδικὸς κόλπος), after Myriandus.[4] (Later classical geographers would subsequently name the bay after nearby Issus.) Stephanus of Byzantium also called it Marandynian gulf.[5]
Xenophon claimed that Myriandus was the border town between Cilicia and Syria. Herodotus, meanwhile, placed the line further south at Ras al-Bassit in what is now Syria. Xenophon also say that it was an Emporium.[4]
In 333 BC, Alexander the Great encamped near the city and intended to attack on the army of Darius III of Persia, but at the night a heavy tempest and storm detained him in his camp. In the end the battle took place near Issus.[6][7]