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Article

Syrian deities  

J. F. Healey

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Near East

Almost all the deities worshipped in Greek and Roman *Syria were Semitic, ancient near eastern in origin. Despite considerable regional differences, a few main types of cult can be distinguished: (i) cults of high places, of waters and springs, of trees and of stones, especially meteorites (these often associated with Arabian cultural contacts); (ii) close associations between some animals and certain anthropomorphic deities—particularly the bull, lion, horse, camel, snake, dove, and fish; (iii) cults of deities in human form. The last type forms the majority and the deities often represent agriculture and fertility, the sky and thunder; they may be family or tribal patrons and protectors, or bringers of military and commercial success; they may represent the sun, moon, or stars. The ‘Lord’ and ‘Lady’, the Ba ῾al and his consort the Ba ῾alat (or El and Elat), formed pairs of deities who originally protected a particular tribe or territory.

Article

Syria, pre-Roman  

Arnold Hugh Martin Jones, Henri Seyrig, Susan Mary Sherwin-White, and J. H. W. G. Liebeschuetz

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Near East
This region was a satrapy (‘Beyond the River’, i.e. the *Euphrates) of the Persian empire (see persia) until it was conquered by *Alexander (3) the Great in 332 bce. On his death (323) it was assigned to the Macedonian Laomedon, who was in 319–18 ejected by *Ptolemy (1) I. Thereafter it was disputed between Ptolemy and *Antigonus (1). After the battle of *Ipsus (301), *Seleucus (1) I gained north Syria (from the Amanus mountains in the north to the river Eleutherus in the south), which he kept, as well as ‘on paper’ Coele (‘Hollow’) Syria (the country behind the Lebanese coastal plain) and the Phoenician cities. However, Ptolemy I was already in occupation, and claimed control, of these last two areas; Seleucus I chose to drop his rights to Coele Syria and Phoenicia, with the southern border dividing off Ptolemaic possessions set at the river Eleutherus. The whole region suffered from repeated wars between the Ptolemies (see Ptolemy (1)) and the *Seleucids in the 3rd cent.

Article

Syria, Roman  

Arnold Hugh Martin Jones, Henri Seyrig, Susan Mary Sherwin-White, and J. H. W. G. Liebeschuetz

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Near East
  2. Roman History and Historiography
The Roman province comprised besides the cities, a few of which were free, the client kingdoms of *Commagene and *Arabia, the ethnarchy of the Jews (*Judaea), the tetrarchy of the Ituraeans (*Ituraea), and many minor tetrarchies in the north. Antony (M. *Antonius (2)) gave to Cleopatra the Ituraean tetrarchy, the coast up to the Eleutherus (except *Tyre and *Sidon), *Damascus and Coele Syria, and parts of the Jewish and *Nabataean kingdoms.Syria (which probably included *Cilicia Pedias from c.44 bce to ce 72) was under the Principate an important military command; its legate (see legati), a consular, had down to ce 70 normally four *legions at his disposal. The client kingdoms were gradually annexed. Commagene was finally incorporated in the province in ce 72, Ituraea partly in 24 bce, partly (*Iulius Agrippa (2) II's kingdom) c.

Article

Taprobane  

Ian C. Glover

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Near East

Taprobane (also Palaesimundu, Salice), ancient names for Sri Lanka (Ceylon). Mentioned by *Onesicritus, *Megasthenes, *Eratosthenes, *Hipparchus(3), and *Ptolemy(4), as a large island south of *India, twenty days' sail from the mouth of the Indus and projecting west almost to Africa. Mantai, perhaps Ptolemy's Moduttu*emporion, was the main port from the mid-1st millennium bce. Trade with the Mediterranean in pearls, tortoiseshell, precious stones, and muslin was well established by the 1st cent. bce (Peripl. M. Rubr. 61. 20) and Indo-Roman Rouletted Ware is known from many sites including Mantai, Kantarodai, and Anuradhapura. *Pliny(1) refers to Ceylonese envoys in Rome and coins of Nero have been found, but after the 1st cent. ce trade with the west declined, to be revived by the Axumites (see axumis) in the 4th–6th cents., when many late Roman coins are known.

Article

Taxiles  

Albert Brian Bosworth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Near East
Taxiles, eponymous ruler of the territory between the Indus and Jhelum dominated by the city of Taxila (Takshashila). He made overtures to *Alexander(3) the Great while the king was engaged in Sogdiana, and was confirmed in his realm when Alexander crossed the Indus (spring 326). He came immediately under the control of a Macedonian satrap (Philippus) and was eclipsed in Alexander's favour by his former enemy, *Porus.

Article

Teucer (3), of Cyzicus, Greek writer, c. mid-1st cent. BCE  

Alexander Hugh McDonald and Kenneth S. Sacks

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Literature
  2. Near East

Wrote several books about the contemporary near east, including coverage of Pompey's settlement in 63–62. His Περὶ χρυσοφόρου γῆς (‘On the Gold-Producing Land’) does not necessarily identify him with *Teucer(4) of Babylon.

Article

Thebes (2), capital of pharaonic Egypt  

Joseph Grafton Milne and Antony Spawforth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Near East
Thebes (2) (ancient Egyptian name Waset, modern Luxor), sometime capital of pharaonic *Egypt, visited by *Herodotus(1) (2.143), and still an important city at the Macedonian conquest, whereafter it was superseded as the administrative centre of the Thebaid by *Ptolemais(2). In Strabo's day it was no more than a group of villages (17.1.46, 815–816 C), having suffered through serving twice (207/206 and 88 bce) as a base for indigenous revolts against the Ptolemies; and in 30 or 29 bceC. *Cornelius Gallus sacked the city following anti-Roman unrest. Even so, Ptolemaic patronage of Egyptian religion extended to the Theban temples. Sporadic building continued under the Principate at least as late as c. 150ce; but the Egyptian cult in the temple of Amon (Karnak) had been abandoned before the late 3rd century, when the complex became a Roman fortress and pharaonic statuary was carefully buried. Long before, the Theban monuments had become a centre for Roman *tourism, above all the colossi of *Memnon and the pharaonic tombs.

Article

Tigranocerta  

Eric William Gray, Susan Mary Sherwin-White, and Josef Wiesehöfer

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Near East
  3. Roman History and Historiography
Tigranocerta, city in *Armenia, in Arzanene; it was founded by *Tigranes (1) II (App. Mith.67) after 80 bce as a city in the Hellenistic style which he was building to be the centre of his new empire. Its precise position is still disputed (Silvan/Martyropolis? Tall Arman? near Arzan?), but its general location intended it to maintain communications between Armenia and Tigranes' southern possessions. He swelled its citizen body by netting the cities of conquered *Cappadocia, *Adiabene, and *Gordyene (Plut.Luc. 25 f.; Strabo 12. 2. 27). Its fortifications were incomplete when L. *Licinius Lucullus(2) defeated Tigranes in 69 and easily secured its capitulation. The captured exiles were sent home, but Tigranocerta was still an important fortified city in ce 50, for example, when the Roman general Cn. *Domitius Corbulo occupied it. In the wars of the *Sasanid king Sapor II, against Rome and Armenia in the 4th cent.

Article

Tigris  

Josef Wiesehöfer

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Near East
Tigris, the more easterly of the two rivers of *Mesopotamia and, together with the *Euphrates, of decisive importance for the geological, cultural, and historical development of Mesopotamia. Rising in the outward eastern *Taurus, it flows south-east through *Assyria (2) (touching *Nineveh (1) and Assur) and *Babylonia.

Article

Tiridates (1), apocryphal Parthian figure  

Eric William Gray and Barbara M. Levick

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Near East

(RE 3), the supposed brother, partner in revolt, and successor in rule of Arsaces I, founder of the Parthian empire (see parthia), is apocryphal.

Article

Tiridates (2), pretender to the Parthian throne, 2nd half of 1st cent. BCE  

Eric William Gray and Barbara Levick

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Near East

Tiridates, a pretender to the Parthian throne (see parthia) in revolt against *Phraates (1) IV shortly before 31 bce and temporarily successful in dislodging him. On Phraates' recovery both contestants sought the support of Octavian (see augustus). In 30/29 bce Octavian let Tiridates stay as a refugee in *Syria, retaining for himself as a hostage a son of Phraates kidnapped by Tiridates, but making no open offer to assist the latter. In 26 and 25 bce Tiridates carried out spring offensives as far as *Babylonia with at least the connivance of Augustus; but Augustus had no further use for Tiridates after his final ejection by Phraates (by May 25 bce), when he made an appeal for help to Augustus in Spain. The failure to eject Phraates through the instrumentality of Tiridates is ignored in Augustus' *Res gestae.

Article

Tiridates (3), Parthian king, 36 CE  

Margaret Stephana Drower and Barbara Levick

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Near East
Tiridates, grandson of *Phraates (1) IV, was sent by *Tiberius to contest the Parthian throne, with the military support of L. *Vitellius, governor of *Syria (Tac. Ann. 6. 32). Expelling *Artabanus II, he was welcomed by the pro-Roman faction in the cities of Mesopotamia, and was crowned at Ctesiphon (ce 36); he was subsequently driven out again by Artabanus.

Article

Tiridates (4), Parthian king of Armenia, 54 CE  

Margaret Stephana Drower and Barbara Levick

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Near East
Tiridates (4), brother of *Vologeses I of Parthia, who set him on the throne of *Armenia (54 ce). He fled before the Romans and was temporarily displaced by *Tigranes (4) V, but was reinstated by Vologeses. By a compromise with Cn. *Domitius Corbulo, Tiridates agreed to journey to Rome and receive the crown of Armenia ceremonially from *Nero (ce 66).

Article

Tissaphernes  

C. J. Tuplin

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Near East
Tissaphernes, son of Hydarnes. Having suppressed Pissuthnes' revolt, he became *satrap of *Sardis (c.413 bce), receiving overall authority in western Anatolia. Instructed to collect tribute from the Greek cities, he interfered in the *Peloponnesian War, but, despite treaty-negotiations, active co-operation with Sparta soon dwindled (some blamed Alcibiades' influence). *Cyrus(2)'s arrival in 407 sidelined Tissaphernes—and the war prospered. He took revenge by accusing Cyrus of plotting against *Artaxerxes (2) II (404), disputing control of Asiatic Greek cities after Cyrus cleared himself and resumed office, and denouncing Cyrus' insurrectionary plans in 401. Prominent at *Cunaxa and in the ensuing weeks (he negotiated with Cyrus' Greek generals and then murdered them at a meeting summoned to clarify and resolve mutual suspicions), he became Cyrus' effective successor in Anatolia. A demand for tribute from Ionia prompted Spartan intervention (400/399).

Article

Tripolis  

Arnold Hugh Martin Jones, Henri Seyrig, and Jean-François Salles

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Near East

Tripolis, Phoenician city, a joint foundation of *Tyre, *Sidon, and *Aradus. Between 104 and 95 bce it obtained its freedom from Antiochus IX (see seleucids), but later fell under a tyrant, who was executed by *Pompey; its autonomy was then restored. Its territory produced a noted wine.

Article

Trogodytae  

Robert G. Morkot

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Near East
Trogodytae were a people of ‘*Ethiopia’, in particular the Eastern Desert of southern Egypt and north Sudan. In MSS of classical authors we frequently find a reading which, by inclusion of the letter ‘l’, gives, or implies, the name Troglodytae, ‘cave-enterers’, ‘cave-dwellers’. This latter name may be applied rightly to people with that name placed by classical writers on the northern side of the *Caucasus, where ‘Troglodytes’ lived in caves because of the cold; to a people in north-western Africa; to a people in the interior of northern Africa; and possibly to peoples on the eastern coast of the *Red Sea. But when the people concerned are located in Egypt and to the south of it, the name Troglodytae must be taken as false, reflecting no doubt a common confusion, the true name, as various MSS and papyri show, being Trogodytae with no reference to caves. Trogodytica included the whole coastline from Suez to the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. There were and are no natural caves in the eastern deserts of Africa; and it is probable that the Trogodytes lived in huts of wickerwork as the Beja do now. Their lands on the Red Sea coast were explored by agents of *Ptolemy (1) II and II.

Article

Troy  

Peter Pavúk

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Literature
  2. Greek Material Culture: Bronze Age
  3. Near East

Major Bronze Age fortified settlement on the West Anatolian coast, south of the Dardanelles, consisting of a citadel and a lower town, changing in size and importance over time. The site, formerly called formerly Hisarlık, has been intermittently excavated for more than a century now, mainly thanks to Heinrich Schliemann’s identification of the site with Homeric Troy. Whereas the Homeric question has become less central over the years, it is clear by now that Troy, thanks to its localisation in the border-zone between Anatolia, the Aegean, and the Balkans, but also thanks to its uninterrupted occupation from c. 2900 bce to the 6th century ce, is an important archaeological site on its own. Troy became a major reference point, with two main cultural peaks: during Troy II/III (c. 2550–2200 bce) and later on during Troy VI Late/VIIa (c. 1400-1180 bce). It must have profited from a fertile surrounding, the trade in raw materials, or its facilitation, and possibly human resources. Situated on the edge of the Near Eastern civilisations, it was still part of the broader Bronze Age world.

Article

Tylos  

Daniel Potts

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Near East
Tylos, the Greek name (cf. Tyros (Strabo 16. 3. 4) Lat. Tyrus (Plin. HN 12. 21. 38)) given to the largest of the Bahrain islands in the *Persian Gulf, probably from Akkadian Tilmun via Aramaic †Tylwos, cf. Syriac. tlwn (attested in a letter written by the Nestorian catholicos Ishoyahb I in 584/5). *Androsthenes' visit in 324 bce effected the collection of detailed botanical data on Tylos, treated by *Theophrastus (Hist. pl. 4. 7. 7–8; 5. 4. 7–8; Caus. pl. 2. 5. 5). *Juba (2) (Plin., HN 6. 28. 147) had precise information on the island's location. Tylos was famed for its pearls (Plin. HN 6. 28. 147). Tylos minor (Plin., HN 12. 22. 39) is the neighbouring island of Muharraq, also called Arados (Strabo 16. 3. 4). The prehistory of Tylos extends back to at least the beginning of the 4th millennium bce, when it was inhabited by a population subsisting on herding, shellfish gathering, and fishing.

Article

Tyre  

Arnold Hugh Martin Jones, Henri Seyrig, Jean-François Salles, and J. F. Healey

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Near East
Tyre, a major city in southern Phoenicia (see phoenicians) with a large territory, built on an island but extending ashore, and equipped with two harbours. It is famed as the main founder of Phoenician colonies to the west (*Cyprus, *Carthage, etc. ), and its international trade from Spain to the *Persian Gulf is evoked in Ezekiel's prophecies (Ezek. 26–8). The Tyrian navy is often mentioned as an ally of the Persians (see navies; persia). In 332 bce it offered an obstinate resistance to *Alexander (3) the Great and was captured only after a famous siege. It made a rapid recovery and became a Ptolemaic possession (see egypt, Ptolemaic) ruled by suffetes. Conquered by the *Seleucids in 200 bce, it became autonomous in 126. It early struck a *foedus with Rome. It was made a colony (see colonization, roman) by *Septimius Severus and the capital of Syria Phoenice.

Article

Ugarit  

Jean-François Salles

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Near East
Ugarit, an important kingdom of N. Syria in the late bronze age, known from the excavations at Ras Shamra (16 km. (10 mi.) north of Lattakie) and the hundreds of texts in Ugaritic (alphabetic)/*cuneiform script found on the site. The city was destroyed in the early 12th cent. bce.