Amathus

Amathus (Ancient Greek: Ἀμαθοῦς) was one of the most ancient royal cities of Cyprus, on the southern coast in front of Agios Tychonas, about 24 miles west of Larnaca and 6 miles east of Limassol. Its ancient cult of Aphrodite was the most important, after Paphos, in Cyprus, her homeland, though the ruins of Amathus are less well-preserved than neighboring Kourion.

Pre-history and ancient era

The pre-history of Amathus mixes myth and archaeology. Though there was no Bronze Age city on the site, archaeology has detected human activity that is evident from the earliest Iron Age, c. 1100 BC. The city's legendary founder was Cinyras, linked with the birth of Adonis, who called the city after his mother Amathous. According to a version of the Ariadne legend noted by Plutarch,Theseus abandoned Ariadne at Amathousa, where she died giving birth to her child and was buried in a sacred tomb. According to Plutarch's source, Amathousians called the sacred grove where her shrine was situated the Wood of Aphrodite Ariadne. More purely Hellenic myth would have Amathus settled instead by one of the sons of Heracles, thus accounting for the fact that he was worshiped there.

Emathus

Emathus, Emathius or Amathus (Greek:Ἥμαθος, Ἠμάθιος, Ἄμαθος), was son of Makednos, from whom Emathia (the Homeric name of Lower Macedonia) was believed to have derived its name. The daughters of Pierus, the Pierides, are sometimes called Emathides. The Emathian or Emathius in Latin is a frequently used epithet in Latin poets for Alexander the Great.

Emathus was apparently first called son of Makednos in Marsyas of Pella (c. 330 BC), who made Emathos and Pieros the eponymous founders of these two regions in Ancient Macedonia. According to Solinus (9.10), Emathius was unrelated to and earlier than Makednos. He also says that while the country was still called Emathia, Orestes and Hermione arrived and had a son Orestis there, who founded an empire (also called Orestis) stretching to the Adriatic; this was some time before Makednos.

According to Stephanus of Byzantium, Brusos was a son of Emathius, from whom Brusis, a portion of Macedonia, was believed to have derived its name. Galadrus, another son of Emathius, is likewise credited with giving his name to the city of Galadrai.

Amathus, Palestine

Amathus (Ancient Greek: Ἀμαθοῦς or τὰ Ἀμαθά; in Eusebius, Ἀμμαθοὺς.Hebrew: חמתו‎ or עמתו or חמתן.) was a fortified city in classical Palestine, east of Jordan River.

Location

Its ruins may be those of Tell Ammata in the Jordan Valley or perhaps of Tell Hammeh. Both sites are in Jordan, east of Gerasa and south of Pella. The first is at the mouth of Wadi Rajib, and the second - a little south, on the mouth of Jabbok river. Tell Mghanni up the Jabbok, and Tell el-Hammam near the Dead Sea, have also been suggested.

History

At the beginning of the 1st century BC, Amathus was an important fortress held by Theodorus, son of the tyrant Zeno Kotoulas of Philadelphia. In about 100 BC, Alexander Jannaeus captured but could not retain it, and therefore, a few years later, he razed it. It was possibly the seat of one of the five districts into which Aulus Gabinius divided Palestine a few decades later.

Amathus was part of the Herodian kingdom and then of Judaea Province of the Roman Empire from 44 AD. From 135 to about 390, Amathus belonged to the province of Syria Palaestina, formed after the defeat of the Bar Kokhba Revolt, by a merge of Roman Syria and Judaea. In about 390, it became part of the newly created province of Palaestina Prima, whose capital was Caesarea Maritima.