Al-Rastan

Al-Rastan (Arabic: الرستن‎) is the third largest city in the Homs Governorate, located 25 kilometers (16 mi) north of its administrative capital Homs and 22 kilometers (14 mi) from Hama. Nearby localities include Talbiseh and al-Ghantu to the south, al-Zaafaraniyah and al-Mashrafah to the southeast, Murayj al-Durr to the northeast, Tumin to the north, Deir al-Fardis to the northwest and Kafr Nan and the Houla village cluster to the west. Al-Rastan had a population of nearly 40,000 in 2004.

It occupies the site of the Roman-era city of Arethusa and still contains some of its ancient ruins. It continued to exist as a relatively small, but strategic town throughout the early Islamic and Ottoman eras. Al-Rastan is situated adjacently south of the large bridge linking Homs and Hama. The total land area of the town is 350 hectares. It is the site of the al-Rastan Dam, a major dam on the Orontes River that has a retaining capacity of 225 million m³. The dam is principally used for irrigation. The city also contains one of Syria's principal marlstone quarries.

Arethusa

Arethusa may refer to:

Mythology

Places

Maritime

Arethusa (mythology)

Arethusa (/ˌærᵻˈθjuːzə/; Ancient Greek: Ἀρέθουσα) means "the waterer". In Greek mythology, she was a nymph and daughter of Nereus (making her a Nereid), who fled from her home in Arcadia beneath the sea and came up as a fresh water fountain on the island of Ortygia in Syracuse, Sicily.

The myth of her transformation begins in Arcadia when she came across a clear stream and began bathing, not knowing it was the river god Alpheus, who flowed down from Arcadia through Elis to the sea. He fell in love during their encounter, but she fled after discovering his presence and intentions, as she wished to remain a chaste attendant of Artemis. After a long chase, she prayed to her goddess to ask for protection. Artemis hid her in a cloud, but Alpheus was persistent. She began to perspire profusely from fear, and soon transformed into a stream. Artemis then broke the ground allowing Arethusa another attempt to flee. Her stream traveled under the sea to the island of Ortygia, but Alpheus flowed through the sea to reach her and mingle with her waters. Virgil augurs for Arethusa a salt-free passage beneath the sea on the condition that, before departing, she grant him songs about troubled loves, not those in her own future, but those of Virgil's friend and contemporary, the poet Cornelius Gallus, whom Virgil imagines dying from unrequited love beneath the famous mountains of Arcadia, Maenalus and Lycaeus.

Arethusa (journal)

Arethusa is an academic journal established in 1967. It covers the field of Classics using an interdisciplinary approach incorporating contemporary theoretical perspectives and more traditional approaches to literary and material evidence. It frequently features issues focused on a theme related the classical world. The current Editor in chief of the journal is Martha Malamud (SUNY Buffalo). The journal is named for the mythical nymph Arethusa and published three times each year in January, May, and September by the Johns Hopkins University Press.

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