Abydos (Hellespont)

Abydos
Ἄβυδος (in Ancient Greek)
Macedonian gold stater, Abydos mint. 323–317 or 297 BC.
Abydos is located in Marmara
Abydos
Abydos
Shown within Marmara
LocationÇanakkale, Çanakkale Province, Turkey
RegionMysia
Coordinates40°11′43″N 26°24′18″E / 40.19528°N 26.40500°E / 40.19528; 26.40500
TypeSettlement
History
Foundedc. 670 BC[1]
Abandonedc. 1304-1310/1318[2]
Site notes
Public accessRestricted

Abydos (Ancient Greek: Ἄβυδος, Latin: Abydus) was an ancient city and bishopric in Mysia.[nb 1] It was located at the Nara Burnu promontory on the Asian coast of the Hellespont (the straits of Dardanelles), opposite the ancient city of Sestos, and near the city of Çanakkale in Turkey. Abydos was founded in c. 670 BC at the most narrow point in the straits,[1] and thus was one of the main crossing points between Europe and Asia, until its replacement by the crossing between Lampsacus and Kallipolis in the 13th century,[5] and the abandonment of Abydos in the early 14th century.[2]

In Greek mythology, Abydos is presented in the myth of Hero and Leander as the home of Leander.[6] The city is also mentioned in Rodanthe and Dosikles, a novel written by Theodore Prodromos, a 12th-century writer, in which Dosikles kidnaps Rodanthe at Abydos.[7]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Hansen993 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Leveniotis13-14 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ For Abydos within Mysia, see
    • Grainger (1997), p. 675
    • Allen & Neil (2003), p. 189
    • Bean (1976), p. 5
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Brill was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kazhdan_Kallipolis was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Hopkinson (2012)
  7. ^ Kazhdan & Wharton (1985), p. 202


Cite error: There are <ref group=nb> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see the help page).