View source for Abdera, Spain

{{About|the Carthaginian/Roman city in Spain|the city in Thrace|Abdera, Thrace}}
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{{Infobox ancient site
|name = Abdera
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|map_type = Spain
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|map_size = 250
|location = {{ESP}}
|region = {{flag|Andalusia}}
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[[File:Abdera - As of Tiberius.jpg|thumb|As of Tiberius from Abdera, Spain]]
'''Abdera''' was an ancient [[Carthaginian Empire|Carthaginian]] and [[Roman Empire|Roman]] port on a hill above the modern [[Adra, Spain|Adra]] on the southeastern [[Mediterranean]] coast of [[Spain]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Amorós |first1=Maila García |last2=Papadopoulou |first2=Panagiota |title=Byzantine Studies in Spain. The Specific Case of Granada |date=2021 |url=http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.cejsh-73113654-b728-4523-84b1-237c02c82317 |journal=Konštantínove listy |language=EN |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=178 |doi=10.17846/CL.2021.14.1.177-183 |s2cid=237758834 |issn=1337-8740|doi-access=free }}</ref> It was located between Malaca (now [[Málaga]]) and [[Carthago Nova]] (now [[Cartagena, Spain|Cartagena]]) in the district inhabited by the [[Bastuli]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Abdera (Spain)|display=Abdera|volume=1|page=33}}</ref>
{{anchor|Etymology|Toponymy|Names}}
==Name==
Abdera shares its name with [[Abdera, Thrace|a city in Thrace]] and another in North Africa. Its coins bore the inscription {{sc|ʾbdrt}} ({{langx|xpu|𐤏𐤁𐤃𐤓𐤕}}).{{efn|Coins bearing only the first four letters appear to have been badly struck. A single example attested in 19th-century sources bore the six letters {{sc|ʾbdrʾt}} ({{lang|xpu|𐤀𐤁𐤃𐤓𐤀𐤕}}) but can no longer be found at the [[Cabinet des Médailles]].{{sfnp|Graham|1992|p=45}}}} The first element in the name appears to be the Punic word for "servant" or "slave"; the second element seems shared by the Phoenician names for [[Gadir]] (now Cadiz) and [[Cythera (island)|Cythera]] but of unclear meaning.{{sfnp|Graham|1992|p=45}}
It appears in [[ancient Greek geography|Greek sources]] as ''tà Ábdēra'' ({{langx|grc|τὰ Ἄβδηρα}}) and ''Aúdēra'' ({{lang|grc|Αὔδηρα}}),<ref>[[Strabo]].</ref> ''Ábdara'' ({{lang|grc|Ἄβδαρα}}),<ref>[[Claudius Ptolemy|Ptol.]], [[Ptolemy's Geography|''Geogr.'']]</ref> and ''tò Ábdēron'' ({{lang|grc|τὸ Ἄβδηρον}}).<ref>Ephor. apud [[Stephanus of Byzantium|Steph. B.]]</ref>
==History==
Abdera was founded in the 8th century BCE as a [[Colonies in antiquity|Phoenician colony]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sagona |first=Claudia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qR5TCgAAQBAJ |title=The Archaeology of Malta |date=2015-08-25 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-00669-0 |pages=193 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Howgego |first1=C. J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NloTDAAAQBAJ |title=Coinage and Identity in the Roman Provinces |last2=Heuchert |first2=Volker |last3=Burnett |first3=Andrew M. |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-926526-8 |pages=91 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gitin |first=Seymour (Sy) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I-YfEAAAQBAJ |title=The Phoenicians in Spain: An Archaeological Review of the Eighth-Sixth Centuries B.C.E. -- A Collection of Articles Translated from Spanish |date=2002-06-23 |publisher=Penn State Press |isbn=978-1-57506-529-8 |pages=80 |language=en}}</ref> It became a [[Carthage|Carthaginian]] trading station and, after a period of decline, became one of the more important towns in the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[Roman provinces|province]] of [[Hispania Baetica]].<ref name="EB1911"/> [[Tiberius]] seems to have made the place a [[Roman colonia|Roman colony]].
==Coins==
The most ancient coins bear its name with the head of [[Melqart]] and a [[tuna]]. Coins from the time of Tiberius show the town's main temple with two erect tunas as its columns.<ref name="EB1911"/> Early Roman coins were bilingual with Latin inscriptions on one side stating the name of the emperor and the town and with Punic text on the other side simply stating the name of the town.
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}
===Bibliography===
* {{citation |last=Graham |first=A.J. |title=The Journal of Hellenic Studies |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kFl_DgN73UUC&pg=PA270 |contribution=Abdera and Teos |volume=CXII |date=1992 |pages=44–73 |doi=10.2307/632152 |publisher=Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies |jstor=632152 |s2cid=162718165 }}.
==Further reading==
* {{Cite DGRG|wstitle=Abdera|volume=1|page=2|url=https://archive.org/stream/dictionarygreek01smitgoog#page/n17/mode/1up}}
{{Phoenician cities and colonies navbox|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Phoenician colonies in Spain]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Spain]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Andalusia]]
[[Category:Roman sites in Spain]]