Mastia (or ''Massia of the Tartessians'') is the name of an ancient Iberian settlement, belonging to the
Tartessian confederation, once located in southeastern Spain. It has traditionally been associated with the city of
Cartagena (Spain). The association has been made principally from the analysis of classical sources in the early 20th century by
Adolf Schulten
Adolf Schulten (27 May 1870 – 19 March 1960) was a German historian and archaeologist.
Schulten was born in Elberfeld, Rhine Province, and received a doctorate in geology from the University of Bonn in 1892. He studied in Italy, Africa an ...
. The first description of the city of Mastia appears in a poem entitled ''Ora Maritima'' (''Sea Coasts'') by the Latin poet
Rufius Festus Avienius
Postumius Rufius Festus Avienius (sometimes erroneously Avienus) was a Latin writer of the 4th century AD. He was a native of Volsinii in Etruria, from the distinguished family of the Rufii Festi.
Avienius is not identical with the historian F ...
from the 4th-century AD. The poem claims to contain borrowings from the mythic 6th-century BC
Massiliote Periplus The Massaliote Periplus or Massiliote Periplus is a theoretical reconstruction of a sixth-century BC periplus, or sailing manual, proposed by Adolf Schulten.The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek: The Man Who Discovered Britain (2001), Walk ...
. The description of Avienus reads:
However, there is currently no conclusive evidence that the Mastia of Avienus refers to the same site where Cartagena will be founded. Context and other geographic descriptions that precede and follow these lines suggest that it could refer to the same location. Some scholars locate Mastia somewhere near the ancient city of
Carteia
Carteia ( grc, Καρτηίᾳ) was a Phoenician and Roman town at the head of the Bay of Gibraltar in Spain. It was established at the most northerly point of the bay, next to the town of San Roque, about halfway between the modern cities of Alg ...
(near modern Gibraltar), at the head of the
Bay of Algeciras
The Bay of Gibraltar ( es, Bahía de Algeciras), is a bay at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. It is around long by wide, covering an area of some , with a depth of up to in the centre of the bay. It opens to the south into the Strait ...
.
In addition to the ''Ora Maritima'', there is also a reference to Mastia in the treaty between Rome and Carthage of 348 BC, as ''Μαστια Ταρσειων'' (''Mastia of the Tartessians''), which marked the Roman boundary on the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
.
For
Hecataeus of Miletus
Hecataeus of Miletus (; el, Ἑκαταῖος ὁ Μιλήσιος; c. 550 BC – c. 476 BC), son of Hegesander, was an early Greek historian and geographer.
Biography
Hailing from a very wealthy family, he lived in Miletus, then under Per ...
know that some cities were dependent on or under the influence of Mastia field and mentioned:
* Sixos of the Mastians. The only one that can be confidently identified. It corresponds to the current Sexi (Almuñécar)
* Maniobora of the Mastians.
* Molybdine of the Mastians.
* Syalis of the Mastians.
Its mineral wealth, fisheries, and agriculture was the cause of the Kingdom of Tartessos keeping it in their area of influence.{{Citation needed, date=February 2015
History of Cartagena, Spain
Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula