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MYSIA

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Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 116 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MYSIA , the See also:

district of N.W. See also:Asia See also:Minor in See also:ancient times inhabited by the Mysi. It was bounded by See also:Lydia and See also:Phrygia on the S., by See also:Bithynia on the N.E., and by the Propontis and See also:Aegean See also:Sea on the N. and W. But its precise limits are difficult to assign, the Phrygian frontier being vague and fluctuating, while in the See also:north-See also:west the See also:Troad was sometimes included in Mysia; sometimes not. Generally speaking, the See also:northern portion was known as Mysia Minor or Hellespontica and the See also:southern as See also:Major or Pergamene. The See also:chief See also:physical features of Mysia (considered apart from that of the Troad) are the two See also:mountain-chains, See also:Olympus (7600 ft.) in the north and Temnus in the See also:south, which for some distance separates Mysia from Lydia, and is afterwards prolonged through Mysia to the neighbourhood of the Gulf of Adramyttium. The only considerable See also:rivers are the Macestus and its tributary the Rhyndacus in the northern See also:part of the See also:province, both of which rise in Phrygia, and, after diverging widely through Mysia, unite their See also:waters below the See also:lake of See also:Apollonia about 15 M. from the Propontis. The Calms in the south rises in Temnus, and from thence flows westward to the Aegean Sea, passing within a few See also:miles of See also:Pergamum. In the northern portion of the province are two considerable lakes, Artynia or Apolloniatis (Abulliont Geul), and Aphnitis (Maniyas Geul), which See also:discharge their waters into the Macestus from the See also:east and west respectively. The most important cities were Pergamum (q.v.) in the valley of the Calcus, and See also:Cyzicus (q.v.) on the Propontis. But the whole sea-See also:coast was studded with See also:Greek towns, several of which were places of considerable importance; thus the northern portion included Parium, See also:Lampsacus and See also:Abydos, and the southern Oi See also:Assus, Adramyttium, and farther south, on the Elaitic Gulf, Elaea, Myrina and Cyme. Ancient writers agree in describing the Mysians as a distinct See also:people, like the Lydians and Phrygians, though they never appear in See also:history as an See also:independent nation.

It appears from See also:

Herodotus and See also:Strabo that they were kindred with the Lydians and Carians, a fact attested by their See also:common participation in the sacred See also:rites at the See also:great See also:temple of See also:Zeus at Labranda, as well as by the statement of the historian See also:Xanthus of Lydia that their See also:language was a mixture of Lydian and Phrygian. Strabo was of See also:opinion that they came originally from See also:Thrace (cf. BITHYNIA), and were a See also:branch of the same people as the Mysians or Moesians (see See also:MoESIA) who dwelt on the See also:Danube—a view not inconsistent with the preceding, as he considered the Phrygians and Lydians also as having migrated from See also:Europe into Asia. According to a Carian tradition reported by Herodotus (i. 171) See also:Lydus and Mysus were See also:brothers of See also:Car—an See also:idea which also points to the belief in a common origin of the three nations. The Mysians appear in the See also:list of the Trojan See also:allies in See also:Homer and are represented as settled in the Caicos valley at the coming of Telephus to Pergamum; but nothing else is known of their See also:early history. The See also:story told by Herodotus (vii. 20) of their having invaded Europe in See also:conjunction with the Teucrians before the Trojan See also:War is probably a fiction; and the first See also:historical fact we learn is their subjugation, together with all the surrounding nations, by Lydian See also:Croesus. After the fall of the Lydian See also:monarchy they remained under the See also:Persian See also:Empire until its overthrow by See also:Alexander. After his See also:death they were annexed to the Syrian monarchy, of which they continued to See also:form a part until the defeat of See also:Antiochus the Great (190 B.C.), after which they were transferred by the See also:Romans to the dominion of Eumenesof Pergamum. After the extinction of the Pergamenian See also:dynasty (130 B.C.) Mysia became a part of the See also:Roman province of Asia, and from this See also:time disappears from history. The inhabitants probably became gradually Hellenized, but none of the towns of the interior, except Pergamum, ever attained to any importance.

See C. Texier, Asie mineure (See also:

Paris, 1839) ; W. J. See also:Hamilton, Researches (See also:London, 1842); J. A. R. See also:Munro in Geogr. See also:Journal (1897, Hellespontica); W. von Diest, Petermanns Mitth. (Erganzungsheft 94; See also:Gotha, 1889; Pergamene). (F. W.

End of Article: MYSIA

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