Pseudo-Scylax, Circumnavigation of the Inhabited World 104
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/222
Context
An important treatise from the Late Classical Greek world records sites
and distances in the coastal voyage, or “circumnavigation” (περίπλους), of the Mediterranean
and Black Seas around from Gibraltar. It was written as a geographical survey most likely by
an Athenian scholar in the years immediately before the death of Philip II of Macedon and
the start of Alexander’s eastern campaign. Marcianus of Heracleia, incorrectly attributing
it to the shadowy Late Archaic explorer Scylax of Caryanda, included the work in his
6th-century collection of geographical texts, which survives in a manuscript of the late
13th century at Paris. The section that covers Syria and Phoenicia records the major ports
and natural features from Cilicia to Ascalon, mentioning only Dor before Jaffa. Both
Lipiński and Shipley underline this gap of ca. 70 km without ports to stop-over. We assume
that this gap reflects the non-existence of Strato’s Tower in the late second third of the
4th century B.C., if not also the author’s decision to omit an existing settlement e.g. at
Apollonia (Arsuf).
Text
{Συρίας καὶ Φοινίκη.}
Ἔστι μετὰ Κιλικίαν ἔθνος Σύροι. Ἐν δὲ τῇ Συρίᾳ οἰκοῦσι τὰ παρὰ θάλατταν Φοίνικες ἔθνος, ἐπὶ
στενὸν ἔλαττον ἢ ἐπὶ τετταράκοντα σταδίους ἀπὸ θαλάττης, ἐνιαχῆ δὲ οὐδὲ ἐπὶ σταδίους ιʹ τὸ
πλάτος. Ἀπὸ δὲ Θαψάκου ποταμοῦ ἐστὶ Τρίπολις Φοινίκων, Ἄραδος νῆσος καὶ λιμὴν, βασίλεια
Τύρου καὶ λιμὴν ὅσον ηʹ στάδια ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς. καὶ ἐν τῇ χερρονήσῳ ἑτέρα πόλις Τρίπολις· αὕτη
ἐστὶν Ἀράδου καὶ Τύρου καὶ Σιδῶνος· ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ τρεῖς πόλεις, καὶ περίβολον ἑκάστῃ τοῦ
τείχους ἴδιον ἔχει. καὶ ὄρος Θεοῦ Πρόσωπον, Τριήρης ⟨πόλις⟩ καὶ λιμὴν. Βηρυτὸς πόλις καὶ
λιμὴν Βοστρηνὸς ⟨ποταμός⟩. Πορφυρεὼν πόλις· ⟨Λεόντων πόλις·⟩ Σιδὼν πόλις καὶ λιμὴν κλειστός.
Ὀρνίθων πόλις. Σιδωνίων ἀπὸ Λεόντων πόλεως μέχρι Ὀρνίθων πόλεως. Τυρίων πόλις Σάραπτα.
[ἄλλη] πόλις Τύρος λιμένα ἔχουσα ἐντὸς τείχους· αὕτη δὲ ἡ νῆσος βασίλεια Τυρίων, καὶ ἀπέχει
στάδια ἀπὸ θαλάττης γʹ· Παλαίτυρος πόλις καὶ ποταμὸς διὰ μέσης ῥεῖ. καὶ πόλις Τ[υρίων
Ἐκδίππα] καὶ ποταμός. καὶ Ἄκη πόλις, Ἐξώπη πόλις Τυ[ρίων. Κάρμηλος] ὄρος ἱερὸν Διός. Ἄραδος
πόλις Σιδωνίων. [Μάγδολος πόλις] καὶ ποταμὸς Τυρίων. Δῶρος πόλις Σιδωνίων, κ[αὶ Ἰόππη πόλις·
ἐκτε]θῆναί φασιν ἐνταῦθα τὴν Ἀνδρομ[έδαν τῷ κήτει. Ἀσκά]λων πόλις Τυρίων καὶ βασίλεια.
Ἐνταῦ[θα ὅρος ἐστὶ τῆς Κοίλης] Συρίας. Παράπλους Κοίλης Συρίας [ἀπὸ Θαψάκου ποταμοῦ μέχρι]
Ἀσκάλωνος στάδια ͵βψʹ.
1
Textual Note
Ed. Shipley 2020Discussion Note
Codex Parisinus, supplément grec 443 (Italian, late 13th century)Translation
{Syria and Phoenicia.}
There is after Cilicia the community of the Syroi. And in Syria there live, in the seaward
part, the Phoinikes, a community, on a narrow plain less than up to 40 stades from the sea,
and in some places not even up to 10 stades in width. And past the River Thrapsakos is
Tripolis of the Phoinikes. Arados island with a harbor, a royal seat of Tyros with a harbor
roughly 8 stades from the shore. And on the peninsula is a second city of Tripolis: this
belongs to Arados, Tyros, and Sidon; in the same place are three cities, and each has its
own circuit of the enclosure wall. And a mountain, Theou Prosopon. Trieres, ⟨a city⟩ with a
harbor. Berytos, a city with a harbor. ⟨The river⟩ Bostrenos. Porphyreon, a city. ⟨Leonton
Polis.⟩ Sidon, a city with an enclosed harbor. Ornithon Polis. Belonging to the Sidonioi (is
the area) from Leonton Polis as far as Ornithon Polis. Belonging to the Tyrioi is the city
of Sarapta. The city of Tyros, possessing a harbor within a fort; and this island is a royal
seat of the Tyrioi, and it is 3 stades from the sea. Palaityros, a city, and a river that
flows through the middle. And a city of the Tyrioi, ⟨Ekdippa,⟩ with a river. Αnd Αke, a
city. Exope, a city of the Ty⟨rioi. Karmelos⟩, a mountain sacred to Zeus. Arados, a city of
the Sidonioi. ⟨Magdolos, a city⟩ and river of the Tyrioi. Doros, a city of the Sidonioi.
⟨Ioppe, a city;⟩ they say it was here that Androm⟨eda⟩ was ⟨ex⟩posed ⟨to the sea monster.
Aska⟩lon, a city of the Tyrioi and a royal seat. Her⟨e is the border of Koile⟩ Syria.
Coastal voyage down Koile Syria ⟨from the River Thrapsakos as far as⟩ Askalon: 2,700
stades.
2
Translation Note
Rev. Shipley 2020Discussion Note
Bostrenos is a toponym suggested by Müller (1855, p. cxxxviii) and given by Shipley (2020, pp. 81, 187).Works Cited
- 1 Pseudo-Scylax of Caryanda, Pseudo-Skylax’s Periplous: The Circumnavigation of the Inhabited World. Text, Translation and Commentary, ed. and trans. Graham Shipley, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Liverpool University Press, 2020), p: 80-81, ch: 104.
- 2 Pseudo-Scylax of Caryanda, Pseudo-Skylax’s Periplous: The Circumnavigation of the Inhabited World. Text, Translation and Commentary, ed. and trans. Graham Shipley, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Liverpool University Press, 2020), p: 80-81, ch: 104.
Additional Bibliography
- Pseudo-Scylax of Caryanda and Marcianus of Heraclea, Geographi Graeci minores I, ed. Karl Müller, vol. 1, 2 vols. (Paris: Ambroise-Firmin Didot, 1855)
- Edward Lipiński, Itineraria Phoenicia, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta: Studia Phoenicia, 127:18 (Dudley, MA & Leuven: Peeters, 2003)
How to Cite This Entry
Joseph L. Rife, “Pseudo-Scylax, Circumnavigation of the Inhabited World 104,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/222.
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Bibliography:
Joseph L. Rife, “Pseudo-Scylax, Circumnavigation of the Inhabited World 104.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2023. Entry published June 30, 2023. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/222.About this Entry
Entry Title: Pseudo-Scylax, Circumnavigation of the Inhabited World 104
Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:
- Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
- Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
- David A. Michelson, Daniel L. Schwartz, and William L. Potter, technical editor, “Pseudo-Scylax, Circumnavigation of the Inhabited World 104”
- Joseph L. Rife, entry contributor, “Pseudo-Scylax, Circumnavigation of the Inhabited World 104”
Additional Credit:
- TEI encoding by William L. Potter
- Electronic text added by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife