ITANUS
ITANUS (
Ιτανος,
Ptol. 3.17.4;
Steph. B. sub voce: Eth.
Ιτάνιος), a town on the E. coast of Crete, near the promontory which bore the name of Itanum. (
Plin. Nat. 4.12.) In Coronelli's map there is a place called
Itagnia, with a
Paleokastron in the neighbourhood, which is probably the site of Itanus; the position of the headland must be looked for near
Xacro flume (Höck,
Kreta, vol. i. p. 426), unless it be placed further N.
at Capo Salomon, in which case the
Grándes islands would correspond with the
ONISIA and LFUCGE of Pliny (
l.c.; comp.
Mus. Class. Antiq. vol. ii. p. 303).
According to Herodotus (
4.151), the Theraeans, when founding Cyrene, were indebted for their knowledge of the Libyan coast to Corobius, a seller of purple at Itanus. Some of the coins of this city present the type of a woman terminating in the tail of a fish. (Eckhel, vol. ii. p. 314.)
This type, recalling the figure of the Syrian goddess, coupled with the trade in purple, suggests a Phoenician origin.
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| COIN OF ITANUS. |
[
E.B.J]
