CYRESCHATA
CYRESCHATA (
Κυρεσχατα,
Ptol. 6.12.5;
Amm. Marc. 23.6;
τὰ Κύρα, Strab. 11.517; Cyropolis and Cyreschata,
Steph. B. sub voce Cyropolis, Arrian,
Anab. 4.3;
Curt. 7.6), a town of considerable importance, situated on the Jaxartes (now
Sihon) in Sogdiana.
According to Arrian, the river ran through the middle of it. Its foundation was traditionally attributed to Cyrus, and it derived its name from being supposed to be on the extreme limits of that conqueror's empire.
It sustained a memorable siege, which is fully narrated by Arrian and Curtius, when Alexander the Great invaded Sogdiana, and was evidently from their accounts a place of considerable strength.
There can be no doubt that the different names of Cyra, Cyropolis and Cyreschata represent one and the same town. Wilson (
Ariana, p. 165) has not been able to identify any ruins with the site of this city. Berkelius in his notes to Steph. Byz has attempted to show that the name Cyreschata is a corruption of Kyreserta, on the analogy of Tigranocerta and Vologesocerta; but the derivation which Strabo (
l.c.) has given, seems to us the most probable.
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