Myriandus ( el, Μυρίανδος ''Mūríandos'', from Hittite ''mūri-'', "grape cluster", and ''-anda'', a place name suffix; by

folk etymology Folk etymology (also known as popular etymology, analogical reformation, reanalysis, morphological reanalysis or etymological reinterpretation) is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more famili ...

with Greek ''andr-'', "man", also spelled Myriandrus: Μυρίανδρος ''Mūríandros'') was an ancient

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

n port on the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

Gulf of Alexandretta The Gulf of Alexandretta or İskenderun ( tr, İskenderun Körfezi) is a gulf of the eastern Mediterranean or Levantine Sea. It lies beside the southern Turkish provinces of Adana and Hatay. Names The gulf is named for the nearby Turkish city ...

. Its ruins are located near the modern city of

İskenderun İskenderun ( ar, الإسكندرونة, el, Αλεξανδρέττα "Little Alexandria"), historically known as Alexandretta and Scanderoon, is a city in Hatay Province on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Names The city was founded as Ale ...

in southern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...

records the entire Gulf of Alexandretta as Marandynian Bay ( grc, Μυριανδικὸς κόλπος), after Myriandus. (Later classical geographers would subsequently name the bay after nearby Issus.)

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethni ...

also called it Marandynian gulf.

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, wikt:Ξενοφῶν, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Anci ...

claimed that Myriandus was the border town between

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...

and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. (Herodotus, meanwhile, placed the line further south at

Ras al-Bassit Ras al-Bassit ( ar, رأس البسيط), the classical Posidium or Posideium ( grc-gre, Ποσιδήιον and Ποσείδιον, ''Posidḗion''), is a small town in Syria named for a nearby cape. It has been occupied since at least the late B ...

in what is now

. Xenophon also say that it was an Emporium.. In 333 BC,

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

encamped near the city and intended to attack on the army of DariusIII of

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, but at the night a heavy tempest and storm detained him in his camp. In the end the battle took place near Issus."Cambysopolis"
Catholic Encyclopedia

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{Phoenicia-stub Phoenician colonies in Turkey History of Turkey Former populated places in Turkey Geography of Hatay Province History of Hatay Province Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey