Posidium
Posidium, located on the northern Syrian coast near Cape Bassit, is an ancient town known for its historical significance as a trading hub. Situated south of the river Orontes and approximately thirteen miles from Al Mina, it has been identified as a center of activity from the late Bronze Age through the fourth century BC. Archaeological excavations have unearthed Mycenaean artifacts and evidence of continuous settlement, although there was a notable break around 700 BC. During its height, Posidium served as a marketing center for Greek traders, particularly benefiting merchants from Euboea, who sought gold and other valuable goods for trade with Etruscan markets. By the third century, however, the town had declined in importance, becoming primarily a fortress and witnessing a shift of its population to the nearby Seleucia in Pieria. Despite its decline, ruins of Posidium remained visible well into the nineteenth century, reflecting its historical legacy.
Posidium
Poseidion (Ras-el-Bassit)
A town on the north Syrian coast, beside Cape Bassit (Poseidion is often a Greek name for a cape), south of the river Orontes (Nahr el-Asi)—as Strabo indicates—and some thirteen miles from Al Mina (with which Posidium has been mistakenly identified). Excavations have revealed traces of late Bronze Age settlement, including Mycenaean fragments, and subsequent habitation from the ninth or eighth to the fourth century BC (with a break c 700).
In the early part of this period the place was evidently a marketing center for Greek traders, and in particular, like Al Mina, served the merchants of Chalcis and Eretria in Euboea as an eastern base for the acquisition of gold and other valuables that they could then transport to their Campanian markets (Pithecusae [Ischia], Cumae [Cuma]), to be exchanged with Etruscan copper and iron. By the third century Posidium had diminished into a mere fortress; apart from its garrison, the population may have been transferred to its new neighbor Seleucia in Pieria. The ruins of Posidium were still conspicuous in the nineteenth century of our era.