Adonis of Scylax (p. 52, or p. 123, ed. Gronov.); but that river is mach further N., between Lixus and the Straits. [ P. S. ]
ASBYSTAE (A<re^(rroi, Herod, iv. 170, 171 ;
Lycophr. Alex. 895; 'A<rivrat, Ptol. iv. 4. § 10),
a Libyan tribe, in the inland parts of Cyrenaica, S.
of Gyrene, and W. of the Giligaimnae; distinguished
above the other Libyan tribes for their skill in the
use of four-horsed chariots. (Herod. L c.) Diony-
sius Periegetes (211) names them next to the Na-
samones, inland (/iccr^ircipoi). Pliny also places
them next to the Nasamones, but apparently to the
W. of them (v. 5). Ptolemy's position for them, E.
of the monntuns overhanging the Gardens of the
Hesperides, agrees well enough with that of Hero-
dotus. Stephanns Byzantinus mentions a city of
Libya, nameid Asbysta ('A(r§Arra, Eth. *A<r€^<rrris)f
and quotes the following line from Gallimachus: —
oTt; tc Tptrvpos i^* daa-iy *AjT€v<rTao : -—
where the mention of the Triton is not at all inconsistent with the position of the Asbystae, as determined by the other writers ; for the Triton is frequently placed near the Gardens of the Hesperides, on the W. coast of Cyrenaica. [Triton.] [ P. S. ]
A'SCALON ('AflTiciAwy, 'AffKaXAvtor, Ascalo,
Plin. V. 14. : Eth, 'Ao-icaX»Wn}f, ^AvKoX^wtoSj
fem. *A<rKawiSy Steph. B., Suidas, Hierocles, As-
calona, Ascalonius : ^Askuldn)^ one of the five cities
of the Philistines (Josh. ziii. 3; 1 Sam. vi. 17),
situated on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, be-
tween Gaza and Janmia (Joseph. B. J.iv. 11. § 5),
520 stadia (Josef^. B. J. iii. 2. § 1), or 53 M. P.,
according to the Peutinger Tables, from Jerusalem;
and 16 M. P. from Gaza. (Anton. IHn.. Ptol. v. 16.)
It was taken by the tribe of Judah (Judges, i. 18),
but did not remain long in their possession (Judges,
iii. 3); and during the wars which the Hebrews
waged under Saul and David with the Philistines
Aacal<Hi appears to have continued in the hands of
the native inhabitants. (2 Sam. i. 20.) The prophets
devoted it to destruction (Amos, i. 8; Zeph. ii. 4, 7;
Zech, ix. 5 ; Jer. xxv. 20, xlvii. 5, 7). After the
time of Alexander it shared the fate of Phoenicia
and Judaea, and was sometimes subjected to Aegypt
(Joseph. Antiq. xii. 425), at other times to the
Syrian kings (1 Mac. x. 86; xi. 60; xii. 33.)
Herod the Great, though it was not in his dominions,
adorned the city with fountains, baths, and ocAon-
nades. (Joseph. B. J. i. 12. § 11.) After his
death, Ascalon, which had many Jewish inhabitants
(B.J. iL 18. § 5), was given to his sister Salome
us a residence. (Joseph. Ant. xvii. 11. § 5.) It
suffered much in the Jewish wars with the Romans.
(Joseph. B. J. ii. 18. § 1, iii. 22. § 1.) And its
inliabitants slew 2500 of the Jews who dwelt there.
(Joseph. B. J. ii. 18. § 5.) In very early times it
was the seat of the worship of Derceto (Died. ii. 4),
or Syrian Aphrodite, whose temple was plundered
by tiie Sc}thians (Herod, i. 105). This goddess,
representing the passive principle of nature, was
woi shipped under the form of a fish with a woman's
head. (Comp. Ov. Fast. ii. 4W.) Josephus (B. J.
iii. 2. § 1), speaks of Ascalon as a strongly fortified
place. (Comp. Pomp. Mela. i. 11. § 5.) Strabo
xvi. p. 759) describes it as a small town, and re-
marks that it was famous for the shallot (AlUum
Ascalonicum; French, Echalotte; Italian, 5oa/o^na,
a corruption of Ascalonia). (Comp. Plin. xix. 6 ;
Athen. ii. p. 68; Dioscor. i. 24 ; Columell. xii. 10;
Theophr. PlanL vii. 4.) In the 4th century As-
ASCATANCAS.
calon was the see of a bishop, and remained so till
the middle of the 7th century, when it t?M into ike
hands of the Saracens. AbtU-fedi (Tab. Syr. p. 78)
speaks of it as one of the fiunous stronghcdds of
Islam (Schultens, Index Geog. $. v. Edrisi, par
Jaubert, vol. i. p. 340) ; and the Orientals speak
of it as the Bride'of Syria. The coast is sandy,
and diflScult of access, and therefore it enjoyed but
little advantage from its port It is freqnently
mentioned in the history of the Crusades. Its for-
tifications were at length utterly destroyed by Sultan
Bibars (a. d. 1270), and its port filled up with,
stones thrown into the sea, for fear of further
attempts on the part of the Crusaders. (Wilken, die
Kreuez, vol. vii. p. 58.)
D'Arvieux, who visited it (a. d. 1658), and Von
Troilo, who was there eight years afterwards, de-
scribe the ruins as being very extensive. (Bosen-
miiller, Handbuch der B^L AUerthem. vcH. ii. pt. 2,
p. 383.) Modern travellers represent the atnation
as .strong ; the thick walls, flanked with towers,
were built on the top of a ridge of rock, that en-
circles the town, and terminates at each end in the sea.
The ground within sinks in the manner of an am-
phitheatre. *Askuldn presents now a most mournful
scene of utter desoUtion. (Robinson, PaUstUke, vol.
u. p. 369.) [ E. B. J. ]
ASCA'NIA LACUS or ASCA'NIUS (Awoi'ia:
Isnik), a large lake in Bith^Tua, at the east extav-
mity of which was the city of Nicaea. (Strab. p. 565,
&c.) Apollodorus, quoted by Strabo (p. 681),
says that there was a place called Ascania on the
kke. The lake '* is about 10 miles long and 4 wide,
surrounded on three sides by steep woody slopes,
behind which rise the snowy summits of the Olym-
pus range." (Leake, Ana Minor, p. 7.) Cramer
refers to Aristotle (Mirab. Ausc. c. 54) and Pliny
(xxxi. 10), to show that the waters of this lake are
impregnated with nitre; but Aristotle and Pliny
mean another Ascania. This lake is fresh; a
river flows into it, and runs out into the bay of Cios.
This river is the Ascanius of Pliny (v. 32) and Strabo.
The Ascanius of Homer (FL ii. 862) b supposed
to be about this hike of Strabo (p. 566), who attempts
to explain this passage of the Iliad. The country
around the lake was called Ascania. (Steph. s. v.
'Aamurta.)
The salt lake Ascania, to which Aristotle and
Pliny refer, is a lake of Pisidia, the lake of Bulthtr
or Burdw. The salt lake Ascania of Anion
(Antd>. i. 29) is a different lake [Anaya]. [ G. L. ]
ASCATANCAE ('AffKardyKai), a people of
Scythia intra Imaum, adjacent to the mountain
called AscATANCAS : extending E. of the Tapnri,
as far as M. Imaiis : somewhere about the S£. part
of Independent Tartarg. (PtoLvLl4.§3.) [ P. S. ]
ASCATANCAS ('AtrjcoTcryjcar), a mountain
range of Asia, forming a part of the E. boundaiy
which divided the land of the Sacae from Scythia.
Extending, apparently, NW. and SE., it joined, at
its SE. extremity, the branch of M. Imaiis which
ran N. and S., according to Ptolemy [Imaus], at a
point which he defines as the halting-place (dpftri-
Hiptou) of the caravans on their way to Sera, and
which he places in 140° Ion. and 43° lat. (vi. 13.
§ 1 ). Now, following Ptolemy's latitude, which is
seldom far wrong, and the direction of the roads,
which are pretty well defined by nature where great
mountains have to be crossed, we can hardly be far
wrong in placing Ptolemy's caravanserai at the spot
