Thapsacus
Encyclopedia
Thapsacus meaning ford or passage) was an ancient town along the western bank of the Euphrates
river that would now lie in modern Syria
or Turkey
. Thapsacus was the Greek and Roman name for the town. The town was important and prosperous due to its river crossing, which allowed east-west land traffic to pass through it.
Its exact location is unknown but is said to be 100 miles (160.9 km) north-east of Tadmor
. This is most commonly associated with the modern town of Deir; however the only ford in the region is at Suriyeh where the town is now assumed to have been. Another possible location described by Conder
in Easton's Bible Dictionary of 1897
, however, identifies this place with Khurbet Tafsah, some 6 miles west of Shechem
; this however is unlikely. There is further suggestion that the town may be associated with Carchemish
; however this may be unlikely as the towns referenced as Europus
and Amphipolis
are separate and there is no other indication that the cities could be the same as Thapsacus. Another reference does suggest that the town was near "Jarablos", another name for Carchemish.
The city's identification with Carchemish is supported by its similar role. In neo-Assyrian times the city of Carchemish was the main crossing point on the Euphrates. For many centuries it had been the capital city of the major neo-Hittite kingdom in north-western Syria. Trade between east and west passed through it and because of this its system of weights and measures became a standard that was later adopted by the Assyrians and referred to as the Carchemish standard. This standard in trade with Syria (known as Ebir-nari, "across the river", in cuneiform texts) continued into neo-Babylonian and Persian times as illustrated by a letter from year 9 of Kuraš/Cyrus where this standard was then known as the measure of Tapsuḫu. The continued importance of the city is the reason Eratosthenes choose Thapsakos as one of the reference points for his system of latitude and longitude.
Thapsakos' identification with Europos (the Hellenistic name of Carchemish) finds some support from a corrupt passage in Plinius
' Naturalis Historia. In his description of places along the Euphrates, from source to mouth, he gives the following account of the right bank of the Euphrates between Zeugma and Sura. "And in Syria [it flows past the following] towns: Europus formerly Thapsacus, now Amphipolis, the Tent-Dwelling Arabs. Thus it continues to the place called Sura". The passage reads as if there should be a list of towns and we know from classical references that there were other towns along this strip. In addition it is known that Amphipolis was different from Europus as Stephanos of Byzantine says it was called Tourmeda by the locals. One solution is to read the town list as "Europus formerly Thapsacus, ..., [Tourmeda] now Amphipolis, ..." (where the remaining towns have fallen out of the passage).
A second classical source which supports the identification of Thapsakos with Carchemish is the 401 BC marching itinerary of Cyrus the Younger as given by Xenophon
, in his Anabasis
. Farrell has shown that the march rates support a crossing at Carchemish, then across to the Balikh and then down that river to its junction with the Euphrates. It is the same road outlined in Isidoros of Kharax
' "Parthian Stations", except that there the route started from Zeugma.
The town has also been linked with Dibsi Faraj
. Further it has been linked with the town of Balis in Halab district in Syria.
, both of which are the subject of debate over whether or not they refer to Thapsacus:
Euphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
river that would now lie in modern Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
or Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. Thapsacus was the Greek and Roman name for the town. The town was important and prosperous due to its river crossing, which allowed east-west land traffic to pass through it.
Location
Palmyra
Palmyra was an ancient city in Syria. In the age of antiquity, it was an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert...
. This is most commonly associated with the modern town of Deir; however the only ford in the region is at Suriyeh where the town is now assumed to have been. Another possible location described by Conder
Claude Reignier Conder
Claude Reignier Conder was a British soldier, explorer and antiquarian. He was a great-great-grandson of Louis-François Roubiliac....
in Easton's Bible Dictionary of 1897
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Easton's Bible Dictionary generally refers to the Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, by Matthew George Easton, M.A., D.D. , published in 1897 by Thomas Nelson. Because of its age, it is now a public domain resource. It contains nearly 4,000 entries relating to the Bible, from a 19th...
, however, identifies this place with Khurbet Tafsah, some 6 miles west of Shechem
Shechem
Shechem was a Canaanite city mentioned in the Amarna letters, and is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as an Israelite city of the tribe of Manasseh and the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel...
; this however is unlikely. There is further suggestion that the town may be associated with Carchemish
Carchemish
Carchemish or Kargamış was an important ancient city of the Mitanni, Hittite and Neo Assyrian Empires, now on the frontier between Turkey and Syria. It was the location of an important battle between the Babylonians and Egyptians, mentioned in the Bible...
; however this may be unlikely as the towns referenced as Europus
Carchemish
Carchemish or Kargamış was an important ancient city of the Mitanni, Hittite and Neo Assyrian Empires, now on the frontier between Turkey and Syria. It was the location of an important battle between the Babylonians and Egyptians, mentioned in the Bible...
and Amphipolis
Amphipolis
Amphipolis was an ancient Greek city in the region once inhabited by the Edoni people in the present-day region of Central Macedonia. It was built on a raised plateau overlooking the east bank of the river Strymon where it emerged from Lake Cercinitis, about 3 m. from the Aegean Sea. Founded in...
are separate and there is no other indication that the cities could be the same as Thapsacus. Another reference does suggest that the town was near "Jarablos", another name for Carchemish.
The city's identification with Carchemish is supported by its similar role. In neo-Assyrian times the city of Carchemish was the main crossing point on the Euphrates. For many centuries it had been the capital city of the major neo-Hittite kingdom in north-western Syria. Trade between east and west passed through it and because of this its system of weights and measures became a standard that was later adopted by the Assyrians and referred to as the Carchemish standard. This standard in trade with Syria (known as Ebir-nari, "across the river", in cuneiform texts) continued into neo-Babylonian and Persian times as illustrated by a letter from year 9 of Kuraš/Cyrus where this standard was then known as the measure of Tapsuḫu. The continued importance of the city is the reason Eratosthenes choose Thapsakos as one of the reference points for his system of latitude and longitude.
Thapsakos' identification with Europos (the Hellenistic name of Carchemish) finds some support from a corrupt passage in Plinius
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
' Naturalis Historia. In his description of places along the Euphrates, from source to mouth, he gives the following account of the right bank of the Euphrates between Zeugma and Sura. "And in Syria [it flows past the following] towns: Europus formerly Thapsacus, now Amphipolis, the Tent-Dwelling Arabs. Thus it continues to the place called Sura". The passage reads as if there should be a list of towns and we know from classical references that there were other towns along this strip. In addition it is known that Amphipolis was different from Europus as Stephanos of Byzantine says it was called Tourmeda by the locals. One solution is to read the town list as "Europus formerly Thapsacus, ..., [Tourmeda] now Amphipolis, ..." (where the remaining towns have fallen out of the passage).
A second classical source which supports the identification of Thapsakos with Carchemish is the 401 BC marching itinerary of Cyrus the Younger as given by Xenophon
Xenophon
Xenophon , son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, also known as Xenophon of Athens, was a Greek historian, soldier, mercenary, philosopher and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates...
, in his Anabasis
Anabasis (Xenophon)
Anabasis is the most famous work, in seven books, of the Greek professional soldier and writer Xenophon. The journey it narrates is his best known accomplishment and "one of the great adventures in human history," as Will Durant expressed the common assessment.- The account :Xenophon accompanied...
. Farrell has shown that the march rates support a crossing at Carchemish, then across to the Balikh and then down that river to its junction with the Euphrates. It is the same road outlined in Isidoros of Kharax
Isidore of Charax
Isidorus Characenus , commonly translated Isidore of Charax, was a geographer of the 1st century BC/1st century AD about whom nothing is known but his name and that he wrote at least one work....
' "Parthian Stations", except that there the route started from Zeugma.
The town has also been linked with Dibsi Faraj
Dibsi Faraj
Dibsi Faraj is an archaeological site on the right bank of the Euphrates in Aleppo Governorate . The site was excavated as part of a larger international effort coordinated by UNESCO to excavate as many archaeological sites as possible in the area that would be flooded by the reservoir created by...
. Further it has been linked with the town of Balis in Halab district in Syria.
Classical References
- Thapsacus is mentioned in XenophonXenophonXenophon , son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, also known as Xenophon of Athens, was a Greek historian, soldier, mercenary, philosopher and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates...
's AnabasisAnabasis (Xenophon)Anabasis is the most famous work, in seven books, of the Greek professional soldier and writer Xenophon. The journey it narrates is his best known accomplishment and "one of the great adventures in human history," as Will Durant expressed the common assessment.- The account :Xenophon accompanied...
as the a "large and prosperous city" where Cyrus the YoungerCyrus the YoungerCyrus the Younger, son of Darius II of Persia and Parysatis, was a Persian prince and general. The time of his birth is unknown, but he died in 401 B.C. The history of Cyrus and of the retreat of the Greeks is told by Xenophon in his Anabasis. Another account, probably from Sophaenetus of...
's armies stayed five days and where Cyrus revealed to his generals that they would be marching on BabylonBabylonBabylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
. - ArrianArrianLucius Flavius Arrianus 'Xenophon , known in English as Arrian , and Arrian of Nicomedia, was a Roman historian, public servant, a military commander and a philosopher of the 2nd-century Roman period...
's Anabasis of Alexander mentions that Darius Codomannus "made a forced march toward the city of Thapsacus and the river Euphrates" and later that Alexander arrived there to find two boat-bridges had been erected across the river. Anabasis of Alexander III.6.6 mentions that Alexander "was already starting inland toward Thapsacus and the River Euphrates." - StraboStraboStrabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
's Geographika states that there was a bridge over the Euphrates at Thapsacus, and postulates that the width of Mesopotamia may have been measured from this point to a bridge on the Tigris. - Pliny the ElderPliny the ElderGaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
's Naturalis Historia states that Thapsacus later became known as Amphipolis. In their 1855 translation of this text, John Bostock and H.T. Riley note that Amphipolis' "ruins are to be seen at the ford of El Hamman, near the modern Rakkah."
Biblical References
There are two references to Tiphsah in the BibleBible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, both of which are the subject of debate over whether or not they refer to Thapsacus:
- In 1 Kings 4:24, Tiphsah is mentioned as one of the boundaries of SolomonSolomonSolomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
's dominions. Easton's Bible Dictionary holds that this is probably a reference to Thapsacus, but the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica relates that "it is impossible to determine whether the one phrase 'from Tiphsah to Gaza', where the name seems to occur, is as early as the Persian Period: the Greek text is quite discrepant." - MenahemMenahemMenahem, was a king of the northern Israelite Kingdom of Israel. He was the son of Gadi, and the founder of the dynasty known as the House of Gadi or House of Menahem....
, King of Israel, undertook an expedition and "smote Tiphsah and all that were therein" (2 Kings 15:16). Easton's states that this expedition implied a march of some 300–400 miles from TirzahTirzah (ancient city)Tirzah was a town in the Samarian highlands northeast of Shechem; it is generally identified with Tell el-Farah , NE of modern Nablus.-In the Bible:...
, apparently indicating their belief that this Tiphsah also refers to Thapsacus. They acknowledge, however, that some scholars identify this as a reference to Khurbet Tafsah, six miles west of ShechemShechemShechem was a Canaanite city mentioned in the Amarna letters, and is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as an Israelite city of the tribe of Manasseh and the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel...
. The 1911 Britannica states that this verse "cannot possibly refer to any place on the Euphrates."
Babylonian References
- A town called Tapsuhu is mentioned in two Babylonian clay tablets dating in the reigns of NabonidusNabonidusNabonidus was the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, reigning from 556-539 BCE.-Historiography on Nabonidus:...
and Cyrus the GreatCyrus the GreatCyrus II of Persia , commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much...
. It has been recently argued that it could be identified with Thapsacus.
Modern References
- The 1911 Britannica notes that "after various attempts at identification, it has apparently been correctly identified by J. P. Peters (Nation, May 23, 1889) and B. Moritz (Sitz.-Ber. d. Berl. Akad., July 25, 1889). The name may survive in Kal'at Dibse, "a small ruin 8 m[iles] below Meskene, and 6 m[iles] below the ancient Barbalissus."