'''Abydos''', an ancient city of [[Mysia]], in [[Asia Minor]], situated at Nara Burnu or [[Nagara Point]] on the best harbor on the Asiatic shore of the [[Hellespont]]. Across Abydos lies [[Sestus]] on the European side marking the shortest point in the [[Dardanelles]], scarcely a mile broad. The strategic site has been a prohibited zone in the twentieth century.

Abydos was first mentioned in the catalogue of Trojan allies (''[[Iliad]]'' ii.836). It probably was a [[Thrace|Thracian]] town, as [[Strabo]] has it, but was afterwards colonized by [[Miletus|Milesians]], with the consent of [[Gyges|Gyges, king of Lydia]], around 700 BC. It was occupied by the Persians in [[514 BC]], and [[Darius]] burnt it in [[512 BC|512]]. Here [[Xerxes I|Xerxes]] built two bridges of boats and crossed the strait in [[480 BC]] when he [[Greco-Persian_Wars|invaded Greece]].<ref>[[Herodotus]]. ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'', 7.34.</ref>

Abydos thereafter became a member of the [[Delian League]], until it revolted from Athenian rule in [[411 BC]].<ref>[[Thucydides]]. ''[[History of the Peloponnesian War]]'', [http://classicpersuasion.org/pw/thucydides/jthucbk8rv2.htm 8.61-2].</ref> It allied itself to [[Sparta]], until [[394 BC]]; King [[Agesilaus]] of Sparta crossed here while returning to Greece. Abydos then passed under [[Achaemenid]] rule, until [[334 BC]]. [[Alexander the Great]] threw a spear to Abydos while crossing the straight and claimed Asia as his own.

Abydos is celebrated for the vigorous resistance it made against [[Philip V of Macedon]] in [[200 BC]],<ref>[[Polybius]]. ''[[The Histories (Polybius)|The Histories]]'', [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Polybius/16*.html 16.29-34]</ref> and is famed in myth as the home of [[Hero and Leander|Leander]]. It minted coins from the early fifth century BC to the mid-third century AD.

The town remained until late Byzantine times an important toll and customs station of the Hellespont, its importance thereafter being transferred to the [[Dardanelles]], after the building of the "Old Castles" by Sultan [[Mehmet II]] (c. 1456).

==References==
===Footnotes===
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===Additional sources===
*{{1911}}
*[http://icarus.umkc.edu/sandbox/perseus/pecs/page.14.a.php Richard Stillwell, ed. ''Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites'', 1976:] "Abydos, (Naara Point) Turkey"
[[Category:Thrace]]
[[Category:Milesian colonies]]

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