Carne (,

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Κάρνη

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephen of Byzantium (; , ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD) was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethnica'' (). Only meagre fragments of the dictionary survive, but the epit ...

, ''Cum annotationibus L. Holsteinii, A. Berkelii et Th. de Pinedo. Vol. I, cum Guilielmi Dindorfii praefatione, cui insunt lectiones libri Vratislav'', Leipzig, 1825, p. 238) or Carnos (

: Κάρνος

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

, ''

Geographica The ''Geographica'' (, ''Geōgraphiká''; or , "Strabo's 17 Books on Geographical Topics") or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Greek in the late 1st century BC, or early 1st cen ...

'', 16.2.12
Greek source
an

) was an ancient Phoenician

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

opposite to the island-city Arados, north of

Tartus Tartus ( / ALA-LC: ''Ṭarṭūs''; known in the County of Tripoli as Tortosa and also transliterated from French language, French Tartous) is a major port city on the Mediterranean coast of Syria. It is the second largest port city in Syria (af ...

. Carne (and not Marath) was the

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

of Arados on the mainland, the only port city of its dependencies. Nothing is known of the history of the city as distinct from that of Aradian Paralia, which included also

, Marath, Enydra,

Balanaea Baniyas ( ') is a Mediterranean coastal city in Tartous Governorate, western Syria, located south of Latakia and north of Tartous. It is known for its citrus fruit orchards and its export of wood. North of the city is an oil refinery, the la ...

and

Paltus :''Paltus may also refer to a Russian Kilo class submarine'' Paltus or Paltos () is a ruined city. It was also a bishopric, a suffragan of Seleucia Pieria in the Roman province of Syria Prima, that, no longer being a residential see, is included i ...

Lycophron Lycophron ( ; ; born about 330–325 BC) was a Hellenistic Greek tragic poet, grammarian, and commentator on comedy, to whom the poem ''Alexandra'' is attributed (perhaps falsely). Life and miscellaneous works He was born at Chalcis in Euboea, a ...

uses the term "" (Carnite hounds) to refer Phoenician

merchants A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

mentions it as one of the Aradian coast cities, in which its seaboard harbour is found.

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

and

mention it as a city in northern Phoenicia. Carne had a

Mint Mint or The Mint may refer to: Plants * Lamiaceae, the mint family ** ''Mentha'', the genus of plants commonly known as "mint" Coins and collectibles * Mint (facility), a facility for manufacturing coins * Mint condition, a state of like-new ...

, in which its Phoenician name and a date in Phoenician numerals, presumably that of Arados, were minted on its

coins A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

. Some of the coins also show the Greek letters with the

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...

and the

Rho Rho (; uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; or ) is the seventeenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician letter resh . Its uppercase form uses the same ...

joined together. Some of them contain a

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae ** List of Arecaceae genera **Palm oil * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music ...

, a common symbol of Phoenicia. The deities who stand out in their appearance on the city's coins are

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

Tyche Tyche (; Ancient Greek: Τύχη ''Túkhē'', 'Luck', , ; Roman mythology, Roman equivalent: Fortuna) was the presiding tutelary deity who governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. In Classical Greek mythology, she is the dau ...

and

Eshmun Eshmun (or Eshmoun, less accurately Esmun or Esmoun; '; ''Yasumunu'') was a Phoenician god of healing and the tutelary god of Sidon. His name, which means "eighth," may reference his status as the eighth son of the god Sydyk. History Eshm ...

Asclepius Asclepius (; ''Asklēpiós'' ; ) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of Apollo), Coronis, or Arsinoe (Greek myth), Ars ...

(sometimes crowned by

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

). The types of the coins are mainly those of Arados, although the Eshmun-Asclepius type points to a special cult of the deity at Carne. The mint produced coins in three periods (all are BC): 226/225–221/220, 188/187–185/184, and 137/136, a year that saw especially a great revival of currency at Arados itself. Nowadays, the city location is called Karnûn or Karnoun, with an ''-oun''

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...

typical for borrowed names from Greek even when they don't end with Greek suffix ''-ον'' (like

Batroun Batroun ( ';, ancient Botrys (), is a coastal city in northern Lebanon and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is the capital city of Batroun District. The main Political Party of this city is the Free patriotic ...

, from Greek Βοτρύς).p. 21
/ref>

References

Further reading