Seleucia at the Zeugma (Greek:Σελεύκεια ἐπὶ τοῦ Ζεύγματος,transliteratedSeleukeia epi tou Zeugmatos) was aHellenistic fortified town in the present Republic ofTurkey on the left (south) bank of the Euphrates, across from ancientSamosata and not far from it.
It is mentioned in isolated incidents:Antiochus III the Great married aPontic princess there in 221 BC; theOxford Classical Dictionary ascribed this toZeugma.Tigranes letCleopatra Selene, the widow ofAntiochus X Eusebes, be killed there.Pompey gave the city and its surroundings toAntiochus I Theos of Commagene;Pliny the Elder nonetheless ascribes it toCoele Syria. The bishopEusebius of Samosata ruled a day's journey from his see, even to Zeugma. The name of the city is confirmed by an inscription from Rhodes, which refers to a man "of Seleucia, of those on the Euphrates".
The location of Seleucia at the Zeugma is uncertain. It had a bridge of boats, like the well-known (and now submerged) city ofZeugma, inOsrohene further downstream; which is too far downstream, and on the wrong side of the river to be the boundary of Eusebius' see. By the same reasoning, it cannot be either of the places calledel Qantara ("bridge") which were just above, and 2 km below, modernSamsat, Turkey, before its old site was also flooded, by theAtatürk Reservoir. The Barrington Atlas conjectures that it was atKillik, Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey37°26′N38°14′E / 37.433°N 38.233°E /37.433; 38.233), on the basis of T. A. Sinclair'sEastern Turkey : an architectural and archaeological survey, which is some 40 km downstream from Samosata, and below the dam.
The reasoning here is unclear. Sinclair shows this Killik (which means "Claypit" in Turkish), on his map at IV 172, but all four of his references to the name in his text are to a Killik at39°23′N37°42′E / 39.383°N 37.700°E /39.383; 37.700, at the headwaters of the Euphrates, nearDivriği.
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