Aradus
A´RADUS
1.(ἡ Ἄραδος: Eth. Ἀράδιος, Aradius: O. T. Arvad, Arvadite, Gen. 10.18, 1 Chron. 1.16; Ἀράδιοι LXX.: Ruad), an island off the N. coast of Phoenicia, at a distance of 20 stadia from the mainland. (Strab. p. 753.) Pliny (Plin. Nat. 5.17), in estimating this distance at only 200 paces, falls short of the true measurement (perhaps we should read 2,200 paces; see Tzschucke, ad Pomp. Mel. 2.7.6). Strabo (l. c.) describes it as a rock rising from the midst of the waves, 7 stadia in circumference. Modern travellers state that it is of oblong shape, with a slight rise towards the centre and steep on every side. Though a rock rather than an island, it was extremely populous, and, contrary to Oriental custom, the houses had many stories. According to Strabo, it owed its foundation to Sidonian exiles. (Comp. J. AJ.) The city of Aradus was next in importance after Tyre and Sidon. Like other Phoenician cities, it was at first independent, and had its own kings; and it would seem that the strip of land extending from Paltus to Simyra was dependent upon it. In the time of the prophet Ezekiel (27.8, 11) it supplied Tyre with soldiers and sailors. Along with the rest of Phoenicia, it became subject to Persia. Afterwards, during the campaign of Alexander, Gerostratus, king of Aradus, was serving in the Persian fleet under Autophradates, when his son Straton submitted to the conqueror. Gerostratus assisted the Macedonians at the siege of Tyre. (Arrian, Arr. Anab. 1.13, 20.) It fell into the hands; of the family of the Lagidae, when Ptolemy Soter, B.C. 320, seized on Phoenicia and Coele Syria. Its wealth and importance was greatly increased by the rights of asylum they obtained from Seleucus Callinicus, B.C. 242, whom they had supported against Antiochus Hierax; so much so that it was enabled to enter into an alliance with Antiochus the Great. (Plb. 5.68.) Whence it may be inferred that it had previously become independent, probably in the war between Ptolemy Philadelphus and Antiochus Theos. The fact of its autonomy is certain from coins. (See Eckhel, vol. 3. p. 393.) All these. advantages were lost under Antiochus Epiphanes, who, on his return from Aegypt, took possession of the town and district. (Hieronym. in Dan. xi.) In the war between Antiochus Grypus and Antiochus Cyzicenus it declared itself in favour of the, latter; and when he was slain by Seleucus, Antiochus Eusebes, his son, found shelter there, and by its aid, in concert with other cities, maintained himself with varying success, till Syria submitted to: Tigranes king of Armenia, and finally came under; the dominion of Rome. In common with the rest of the province, it was mixed up in the Civil Wars. (Appian, App. BC 4.69, 5.1.) Coins of Aradus, ranging from Domitian to Elagabalus, are enumerated in Eckhel (l. c.). Under Constans, Mú awiyah, the lieutenant of the khalif Omar, destroyed the city, and expelled the inhabitants. (Cedren. Hist. p. 355; Theophan. p. 227.) As the town was. never rebuilt, it is only the island which is mentioned by the historians of the Crusades. Tarsus was said to be a colony from Aradus. (Dion Chrys. Orat. Tarsen. 2. p. 20, ed. Reiske.) A maritime population of about 3,000 souls occupies the seat of this once busy and industrious hive. Portions of the old double Phoenician walls are still found on the NE. and SE. of the island, and the rock is perforated by the cisterns of which Strabo speaks. The same author (see Groskurd's note, p. 754) minutely describes the contrivance by which the inhabitants drew their water from a submarine source. Though the tradition has been lost, the boatmen of Ruad still draw fresh water from the spring Ain Ibrahim in the sea, a few rods from the shore of the opposite coast. Mr. Walpole (The Ansayrii, vol. 3. p. 391): found two of these springs. A few Greek inscriptions, taken from columns of black basalt, which, as there is no trap rock in the island, must have been, brought over from the mainland, are given (in the. Bibliotheca Sacra, New York, vol. 5. p. 252) by the Rev. W. Thomson. (Mignot, Mém. de l'Acad. des Inscript. vol. 34. p. 229; Winer, Real Wört. Buch. s. v. Arvad; Rosenmüller, Hand. Bib. Alt. vol. ii. pt. 1. p. 7, with the Extracts from Maundrell, Shaw, Pococke, and Volney; Chesney, Exped. Euphrat. vol. 1. p. 451.) COIN OF ARADUS.
COIN OF ARADUS.(Arek, Arak, Karek), an island in the Persian gulf. (Steph. B.; Ptol. 6.7.47.) Strabo (p. 766; comp. Groskurd, ad loc.) places it at 10 days' voyage from Teredon, and one from the promontory of Maki. The inhabitants of this island and the neighbouring one Tyrus asserted that they were the founders of the well-known Phoenician cities of the same name. (Comp. Hdt. 1.1; D'Anville, Mém. de l'Acad. des Inscript. vol. 30. p. 147; Gosselin, vol. iii. pp. 103, seq. 122, 124; Niebuhr, Descript. de l'Arabie, p. 277; Chesney, Euphrat. vol.1. p. 647.) [E.B.J]
(Ἄραδος). An island off the coast of Phoenicia, with a flourishing city, reputed to have been founded by exiles from Sidon. Its harbour, on the mainland, was called Antaradus (Herod.vii. 98).
An island 3 km SW of Tartus, which was the Antaradus of antiquity. A powerful Phoenician city that led a federation of mainland cities extending as far as the Orontes valley, Aradus submitted to Alexander, was granted autonomy by the Seleucids, and declined in the Roman era, while Antaradus flourished. After a long period of resistance, it was conquered in A.D. 641 by Moawiya, who laid waste the city.
The island has a perimeter of 1.5 km. According to Strabo, the houses had several stories; Chariton mentions a temple of Aphrodite and a vast agora lined with porticos, but no trace of these has been found. The main ruins are those of a sturdy rampart that encircled the island. A few sections of it, consisting of four or five courses of huge blocks of stone, are still standing on the side of the island facing the open sea. The methods of stone-cutting and joining range from the Persian to the Roman periods. The base of the rampart consists of a berm cut in the living rock. Excavation has uncovered an esplanade, wider to N and S and today partly buried: it had a regular floor and the foundations of huge buildings. The port, which faces the mainland, consists of two coves separated by a natural dike which was raised in antiquity by adding a layer of enormous blocks to make a jetty. There is no trace of quays.
BIBLIOGRAPHYB. Ranan, Mission de Phénicie (1864-74) MPI; J. Weulersie, Les pays des Alaouites (1940) MI; H. Seyrig, “Questions aradiennes,” RN 6 ser., 6 (1964) MI; H. Frost, “Rouad, ses récifs et ses mouillages,” Annales archéologiques de Syrie 14 (1964); id., “The Arwad Plans 1964 . . . ,” ibid. 16 (1966) MPI; id. in L'archéologle subaquatique, une discipline naissante (UNESCO, 1973) MPI; J.P. Rey-Coquais, Arados et sa pérée (1974).
J.P. REY-COQUAIS