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PAKTOLOS (River) TURKEY
Pactolus (Paktolos), a small river of Lydia, which flows down from Mount Tmolus
in a northern direction, and, after passing on the west of Sardis, empties itself
into the Hermus. (Herod. v. 101; Xenoph. Cyrop. vi. 2. § 1, vii. 3. § 4, Ages.
i. 30; Strab. xii. pp. 554, 521, xiii. p. 625, foll.; Ptol. v. 2. § 6; Plin. v.
30.) In ancient times the Pactolus had carried in its mud, it is said, a great
quantity of small particles of gold-dust, which were carefully collected, and
were believed to have been the source of the immense wealth possessed by Croesus
and his ancestors; but in Strabo's time gold-dust was no longer found in it. The
gold of this river, which was hence called Chrysorrhoas, is often spoken of by
the poets. (Soph. Phil. 392; Dionys. Perieg. 831; Hom. Hymn. in Del. 249; Virg.
Aen. x. 142 ; Horat. Epod. xv. 20; Ov. Met. xi. 85, &c.; Senec. Phoen. 604; Juven.
xiv. 298; Silius It. i. 158.) The little stream, which is only 10 feet in breadth
and scarcely 1 foot deep, still carries along with it a quantity of a reddish
mud, and is now called Sarabat.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
(Paktolos). A small but celebrated river of Lydia, rising on Mount Tmolus, and flowing past Sardis into the Hermus. The golden sands of Pactolus have passed into a proverb, and were one of the sources of the wealth of ancient Lydia.
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