147:. "And in Syria 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, ..., now Amphipolis, ..." (where the remaining towns have fallen out of the passage).
693:
130:, "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.
58:. 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 precise location is unknown and there are several different locations identified as the site of Thapsacus. One possibility is a location close to
125:
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
109:
through the route along the
Euphrates. This distance is 552 miles (888 km), which conforms to the actual distance of about 558 miles (898 km) between Carchemish and Babylon. Eratosthenes also gives a distance of 2,400 stades for the shortest route to the
322:
Hogg noted 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 below
126:
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
780:"Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, Book V. An Account of Countries, Nations, Seas, Towns, Hevens, Mountains, Rivers, Distances, and Peoples who now exit or formerly existed, Chap. 21—Syria upon the Euphrates"
205:
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.
272:, related 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".
122:
kept the
Euphrates and the Armenian mountains on his left after he crossed the Euphrates at Thapsacus in 331 BC. Engels interprets this as additional support for a location near Carchemish.
282:, 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
82:
Farrell and Engels argue that
Thapsacus was located in the vicinity of Carchemish. There are several classical sources which support this. The oldest source is the 401 BC marching itinerary of
278:, 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
220:
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.
829:
143:. 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
513:
714:
266:
491:
599:
705:
114:
from
Thapsacus. This distance is 276 miles (444 km), which is also the approximate distance as measured with modern techniques.
681:
70:
are the closest modern towns in Turkey and Syria respectively. More recently it has been suggested that
Thapsacus was renamed to
760:
29:
133:
Thapsakos' identification with
Europos (the Hellenistic name of Carchemish) finds some support from a corrupt passage in
824:
467:, Berkeley 2006. Amphipolis has now been identified with Jebel Khalid south of Jerablus. See G.W. Clarke et al. (eds.),
262:
475:
452:
609:
Farrell, W. J. (1961). "A Revised Itinerary of the Route Followed by Cyrus the Younger through Syria, 401 B. C.".
233:
227:
138:
401:
364:
151:
71:
20:
731:
279:
210:
III.6.6 mentions that Alexander "was already starting inland toward Thapsacus and the River Euphrates."
740:
105:, who lived during the third and second century BC, gave a distance of 4,800 stades from Thapsacus to
779:
191:'s armies stayed five days and where Cyrus revealed to his generals that they would be marching on
184:
119:
91:
655:
626:
581:
237:
232:
states that Thapsacus later became known as Amphipolis. In their 1855 translation of this text,
638:
Gawlikowski, Michal (1996). "Thapsacus and Zeugma: The Crossing of the Euphrates in Antiquity".
94:. Farrell calculates that the march rates support a crossing at Carchemish, then across to the
677:
595:
240:
note that Amphipolis' "ruins are to be seen at the ford of El Hamman, near the modern Rakkah."
188:
83:
385:
647:
618:
479:
309:
223:
134:
40:
253:, both of which are the subject of debate over whether or not they refer to Thapsacus:
63:
818:
709:
699:
548:
286:. Hogg claimed that this verse "cannot possibly refer to any place on the Euphrates".
453:
http://www.mediterranee-antique.info/Moyen_Orient/Chapot/Euphrate/EUP_33.htm#_edn71
102:
95:
725:
440:
451:
Ptolemy 5.15 names 9 cities between Zeugma and Sura. For an older discussion see
417:
764:
672:
502:
328:
301:
217:
162:
158:
144:
651:
265:
holds that this is probably a reference to Thapsacus, but Hope W. Hogg in the
99:
59:
718:. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 725–726.
305:
127:
67:
51:
472:
465:
The Hellenistic Settlements in Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa
312:. It has recently been argued that it could be identified with Thapsacus.
180:
87:
594:. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press.
659:
324:
283:
275:
258:
192:
106:
98:
and then down that river to its junction with the Euphrates. The Greek
630:
667:
576:
213:
198:
115:
111:
676:. Vol. 1. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
622:
698:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
257:
In 1 Kings 4:24, Tiphsah is mentioned as one of the boundaries of
250:
55:
724:
469:
Jebel Khalid on the Euphrates. Report on Excavations 1986-1996
799:
429:
34:
150:
Gawlikowsi supports the identification of Thapsacus with
592:
Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Greek Army
62:, which now lies in Turkey, on its border with Syria.
377:
375:
373:
50:) was an ancient town along the western bank of the
741:"Xenophon, Anabasis, Book 1, chapter 4, section 1"
735:. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
74:, which lies further upstream on the Euphrates.
161:. Further it has been linked with the town of
154:, which is further upstream on the Euphrates.
397:
360:
8:
471:, vol. 1, Sydney 2002. For its location see
249:There are two references to Tiphsah in the
187:as the a "large and prosperous city" where
798:Graslin, L.; Lemaire, A. (February 2004).
473:http://car.anu.edu.au/researchsyria.html
348:
341:
413:
381:
670:(1917). Jones, Horace Leonard (ed.).
7:
830:Former populated places in West Asia
559:
536:
524:
157:The town has also been linked with
54:river that would now lie in modern
44:
14:
729:. In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).
691:
611:The Journal of Hellenic Studies
579:(1893). Chinnock, E. J. (ed.).
300:is mentioned in two Babylonian
1:
327:, and 6 m below the ancient
165:in Halab district in Syria.
35:
846:
590:Engels, Donald W. (1980).
549:Graslin and Lemaire (2004)
179:Thapsacus is mentioned in
24:
652:10.1017/S0021088900003223
263:Easton's Bible Dictionary
304:dating in the reigns of
784:Perseus Digital Library
761:"Anabasis of Alexander"
745:Perseus Digital Library
723:Vailhé, Siméon (1909).
715:Encyclopædia Britannica
704:Hogg, Hope W. (1911). "
268:Encyclopædia Britannica
169:References to Thapsacus
152:Seleucia at the Zeugma
72:Seleucia at the Zeugma
800:"Tapsuhu, Thapsaque?"
732:Catholic Encyclopedia
539:, p. 724, fn. 1.
291:Babylonian References
208:Anabasis of Alexander
203:Anabasis of Alexander
174:Classical References
825:Hebrew Bible cities
527:, pp. 725–726.
245:Biblical references
120:Alexander the Great
582:Anabasis Alexandri
478:2009-02-11 at the
238:Henry Thomas Riley
229:Naturalis Historia
140:Naturalis Historia
601:978-0-520-04272-8
463:Getzel M. Cohen,
398:Strabo (penelope)
361:Strabo (penelope)
317:Modern References
189:Cyrus the Younger
84:Cyrus the Younger
33:
837:
811:
810:. achemenet.com.
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118:writes that
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86:as given by
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646:: 123–133.
617:: 153–155.
414:Arrian 1893
384:, pp.
382:Engels 1980
329:Barbalissus
218:Geographika
159:Dibsi Faraj
819:Categories
771:2005-12-27
514:Google Map
336:References
100:geographer
60:Carchemish
789:1 October
750:1 October
706:Thapsacus
673:Geography
560:Hogg 1911
537:Hogg 1911
525:Hogg 1911
503:Reference
430:Achemenet
306:Nabonidus
128:Ebir-nari
90:, in his
68:Jarabulus
52:Euphrates
36:Thapsakos
30:romanized
17:Thapsacus
759:Strabo.
476:Archived
185:Anabasis
181:Xenophon
92:Anabasis
88:Xenophon
78:Location
64:Karkamış
45:תִּפְסַח
712:(ed.).
702::
660:4200424
570:Sources
325:Meskene
298:Tapsuhu
284:Shechem
276:Menahem
259:Solomon
193:Babylon
135:Plinius
107:Babylon
32::
25:Θάψακος
708:". In
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680:
668:Strabo
658:
631:628085
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577:Arrian
402:2.1.38
365:2.1.36
280:Tirzah
214:Strabo
199:Arrian
116:Arrian
112:Tigris
48:Tipsah
41:Hebrew
656:JSTOR
627:JSTOR
251:Bible
163:Balis
56:Syria
804:NABU
791:2018
752:2018
678:ISBN
640:Iraq
596:ISBN
308:and
236:and
145:Sura
66:and
648:doi
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492:map
418:3.7
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