Читать книгу The Herodotus Encyclopedia - Группа авторов - Страница 985

JOHANNES ENGELS

University of Cologne and University of Bonn

Ancient Greek and Roman authors often do not precisely differentiate in their nomenclature between several bituminous substances, such as native asphalts or bitumens, petroleums, types of pitch and tar. Bitumen durum in many Latin sources corresponds to Greek asphaltos (or naphtha xeron), bitumen liquidum to Greek naphtha. Herodotus especially mentions the use of hot bitumen (asphaltos) for purposes of ENGINEERING and construction of buildings or WALLS, as well as several places in Mesopotamia and Greece where bituminous natural resources were found and exploited by local people. These substances were also widely appreciated for making ships watertight and for medical or religious purposes. For fear of uncontrollable FIRES bituminous substances were only rarely used in ancient times for heating purposes. Herodotus especially mentions (1.179.2) the famous wall around BABYLON which was made of bricks using hot bitumen for cement. This substance came from the river IS (1.179.4, Hit in modern Arabic), a tributary of the EUPHRATES. After their capture in the PERSIAN WARS during the reign of DARIUS I, the Eretrians were deported to ARDERICCA in Mesopotamia about 210 stades (about 25 miles) away from SUSA (6.119), where local people exploited asphalt, salt, and oil as natural resources. As an example of strange mirabilia, Herodotus also refers (4.195.3) to pitch drawn from the water of a pool in ZACYNTHUS.

SEE ALSO: Medicine; Ships and Sailing; thōmata