Orontes River

The Orontes (; from Ancient Greek Ὀρόντης, Oróntēs) or Nahr al-ʿĀṣī, or simply Asi (Arabic: العاصي, romanized: al-ʿĀṣī, IPA: [alˈʕaːsˤiː]; Turkish: Asi) is a 571 kilometres (355 mi) long river in West Asia that begins in Lebanon, flowing northwards through Syria before entering the Mediterranean Sea near Samandağ in Hatay Province, Turkey.

As the chief river of the northern Levant, the Orontes has been the site of many major battles including the Battle of Kadesh (13th century BCE), and water distribution remains a controversial issue between the countries in the region. Among the most important cities on the river are Homs, Hama, Jisr al-Shughur, Apamea (one of ancient Syrias most prominent cities), and Antakya (the ancient Antioch, which was also known as "Antioch on the Orontes" and was the capital of Syria for 938 years from 301BCE-637CE).

Names

In the 9th century BCE, the ancient Assyrians referred to the river as Arantu, and the nearby Egyptians called it Araunti. The etymology of the name is unknown, yet some sources indicate that it might be derived from Arnt which means "lioness" in Aramaic; others called it Alimas, a water goddess whose name appears in Aramaic. Arantu gradually became "Orontes" in Greek.

In the Greek epic poem Dionysiaca (circa 400 CE), the river is said to have been named after Orontes, an Indian military leader who killed himself and fell into the river after losing a single combat to Dionysus. According to the Greek geographer Strabo (in Geographica, circa 20 CE), the river was originally named Typhon, because it was said that Zeus had struck the dragon Typhon down from the sky with thunder, and the river had formed where Typhon's body had fallen; however, the river was later renamed Orontes when a man named Orontes built a bridge on it.

Macedonian settlers in Apamea named it the Axius, after a Macedonian river god. The Arabic name العاصي (al-‘Āṣī) is derived from the ancient Axius.