CARYANDA
CARYANDA (
Καρύανδα: Eth.
Καρυανδεύς). Stephanus (s. v.
Καρύανδα) says that Hecataeus, made the accusative singular
Καρύανδαν. He describes it as a city and harbour (
λίμην) near Myndus and Cos. But
λιμήν, in the text of Stephanus, is an emendation or alteration: the MSS. have
λίμνη “lake.” Strabo (p. 658) places Caryanda between Myndus and Bargylia, and he describes it, according to the common text, as “a lake, and island of the same name with it;” and thus the texts of Stephanus, who has got his information from Strabo, agree with the texts of Strabo. Pliny (
5.31) simply mentions the island Caryanda with a town; but he is in that passage only enumerating islands.
In another passage (5.29) he mentions Caryanda as a place on the mainland, and. Mela (1.16) does also. We must suppose, therefore, that there was a town on the island and one on the mainland.
The harbour might lie between. Scylax, supposed to be a native of Caryanda, describes the place as an island, a city, and a port. Tzschucke corrected the text of Strabo, and changed
λίμνη into
λίμην: and the last editor of Stephanus has served him the same way, following two modern critics.
It is true that these words are often confounded in the Greek texts; but if we change
λίμνη into
λίμην in Strabo's text, the word
ταύτἡ, which refers to
λίμνη, must also be altered. (See Groskurd's note,
Transl. Strab. vol. iii. p. 53.)
Leake (
Asia Minor, p. 227) says “there can be little doubt that the large peninsula, towards the westward end of which is the fine harbour called by the Turks
Pasha Limáni, is the ancient island of Caryanda, now joined to the main by a narrow sandy isthmus.” He considers
Pasha Limáni to be the harbour of Caryanda “noticed by Strabo, Scylax, and Stephanus.” But it should not be forgotten that the texts of Strabo and Stephanus speak of a
λίμνη, which may mean a place that communicated with the sea.
The supposition that the island being joined to the main is a remote effect of the alluvium of the Maeander, seems very unlikely.
At any rate, before we admit this, we must know whether there is a current along this coast that runs south from the outlet of the Maeander.
Strabo mentions Scylax “the ancient writer” as a native of Caryanda, and Stephanus has changed him into “the ancient logographus.” Scylax is mentioned by Herodotus (
4.44): he sailed down the Indus under the order of the first Darius king of Persia.
He may have written something; for, if the Scylax, the author of the Periplus, lived some time after Herodotus, as some critics suppose, Strabo would not call him an ancient writer.
[
G.L]
