DEIRE
DEIRE (
Δειρή, Strab. xvi. pp. 769, 773; Ptoi. 4.7.9;
Steph. B. sub voce Berenice Epidires,
Plin. Nat. 6.29. s. 33), or the “Neck,” so called from its position on a headland of the same name, was a town situated on the African shore of the Straits of
Bab-el-Mandeb, at their narrowest part.
The space between Deire and the opposite foreland of Poseidonium on the Arabian shores was about 60 stadia (8 1/2 miles) in width. Deire stood in lat. 11° 3′ N.
It was also called Isidis Portus from a temple of that goddess which overlooked the harbour, and Deire-Berenices from the favourite sister of Ptolemy Philadelphus, who enlarged and granted fresh privileges to the town. (Agathem. p. 8.)
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