Ancient Locations

Arsur

alternative name(s):

Arsuf, Apollonia

region:

Go to overview listLevant

section:

Southern Levant

latitude:

32.1951245304 N

longitude:

34.8072133797 E

status:

accurate

data set:

ID: 6663, added: 2012-04-07 18:24:20, last changed: 2012-04-08 03:30:34

info:

The town was settled by Phoenicians in the 6th or 5th century BC, and named Arshuf after Resheph, the Canaanite god of fertility and the underworld. It was then a part of the Persian Empire and governed from Sidon. Phoenicians of Arshuf produced precious purple dye, derived from murex mollusks, which they exported to the Aegean.
During the Hellenistic period it was an anchorage town, ruled by Seleucids and re-named Apollonia, as the Greeks identified Reshef with Apollo.
Under Roman rule, the size of the town increased. It was an important settlement between Jaffa and Caesarea along Via Maris, the coastal road. In 113 AD, Apollonia was destroyed partially by an earthquake, but recovered quickly. The harbor was built, and trade with Italy and North Africa developed.

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32.195125, 34.807213 = 32.195125 N, 34.807213 E = 32°11'42.4" N, 34°48'26.0" E

information source:

Ancient Cities DataBase
A website for collecting general information about cities and towns that were founded before 400 AD