(Βούσιρις)
ANDREAS SCHWAB
LMU Munich
The Egyptian name “House of Osiris” (Pr‐wsyr) is given to several places containing an OSIRIS sanctuary. One of the most important was in the city of Busiris, which Herodotus locates in the middle of the Nile DELTA (2.59.1), modern Abusir. This city also holds the largest sanctuary of ISIS (= DEMETER, 2.59.2), and its people celebrate her FESTIVAL (2.40). After the SACRIFICE, several thousand men and women beat their breasts in a rite of lamentation (2.61.1, not explicitly in reference to Osiris), which is part of the Egyptian festival of Khoiak. Busiris also gave its name to an Egyptian nome (νομός, administrative district), one of those which contributed to the warrior‐class of the HERMOTYBIES (2.165).
SEE ALSO: Egypt; Religion, Herodotus’ views on; Ritual
FURTHER READING
1 Lloyd, Alan B. 1976. Herodotus: Book II, Commentary 1–98, 276–79. Leiden: Brill.
BUTACIDES (Βουτακίδης, ὁ)
CHRISTOPHER BARON
University of Notre Dame
Patronymic, father of the Olympic victor Philip, from CROTON in ITALY (5.47.1). Nothing more is known of Butacides.
SEE ALSO: Philip son of Butacides
BUTO (Βουτώ)
ANDREAS SCHWAB
LMU Munich
Greek name of several CITIES in Upper and Lower EGYPT, meaning “House of Wadjet” (Eg. Pr‐W˒͗d&c.macrbl;t). The name Buto appears frequently in Book 2 of the Histories and, with one exception (2.75), always refers to the ancient city, into which the twin cities P and Dp merged. Located in the sixth nome (νομός, administrative district) of Lower Egypt, in the northwestern DELTA, its ruins lie at Tell el‐Fara‘in. Herodotus’ claim (2.59.3) that the FESTIVAL at Buto was held in honor of LETO (= Wadjet) might reflect her prominence in the festival of HORUS. The ORACLE of Leto at Buto, the most‐honored oracle in Egypt according to Herodotus (2.83), plays a major role in the historical narrative: it is consulted by the pharaohs PHEROS (2.111.2), MYCERINUS (2.133.1–3), PSAMMETICHUS I (2.152.3), and by the Persian king CAMBYSES (II) (3.64.4). Herodotus gives a detailed account of Buto and its temples of Leto, APOLLO, and ARTEMIS (2.155–56). He also reports (2.67) that the bodies of field mice and hawks are embalmed and taken to Buto.
SEE ALSO: Mummification; Temples and Sanctuaries
FURTHER READING
1 Bonnet, Hans. 2005 [1952]. Lexikon der ägyptischen Religionsgeschichte, 129–30. Hamburg: Nikol.
2 Lloyd, Alan B. 1976. Herodotus: Book II, Commentary 1–98, 270, 303–4. Leiden: Brill.
3 Lloyd, Alan B. 1988. Herodotus: Book II, Commentary 99–182, 139–46. Leiden: Brill.
BYBASSIAN PENINSULA (ἡ Βυβασσίη Χερσόνησος)
CHRISTOPHER BARON
University of Notre Dame
In connection with a story concerning CNIDUS and the first Persian CONQUEST of the Greeks of Asia Minor, Herodotus states (1.174.2) that Cnidian territory “begins from the Bybassian peninsula” (chersonēsos). The Greek here poses difficulties and may be corrupt, and there remains debate over the exact location of the city of Cnidus in the fifth century BCE which affects the interpretation of Herodotus’ language. But most likely, the Bybassian peninsula was the land which stretches south toward RHODES (BA 61 G4; Müller II, 246–51), referred to in most of our ancient sources simply as “Chersonese” (Bean and Cook 1952, 202; Bresson 1999, 104–14), sometimes with the added epithet “Carian” or, later, “Rhodian.” The cities of the area appear on the Athenian Tribute Lists under Chersonnēsioi (IG I3 265.I.18).
SEE ALSO: Caria; Chersonese (Hellespontine); Delian League
REFERENCES
1 Bean, G. E., and J. M. Cook. 1952. “The Cnidia.” ABSA 47: 171–212.
2 Bresson, Alain. 1999. “Cnide à l’époque classique: la cité et ses villes.” REA 101.1–2: 83–114.
BYZANTIUM (Βυζάντιον, τό)
MEHMET FATIH YAVUZ
Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University
Greek POLIS located on a triangular peninsula at the south end of the Thracian BOSPORUS, refounded as Constantinople in 330 CE and now known as İstanbul (BA 52 D2). Byzantium was surrounded by a superb natural HARBOR (the Golden Horn) and the Bosporus in the north, and by the PROPONTIS in the east and south. Thanks to the flow of the Bosporus current, which carried ships and FISH into its harbor, Byzantium commanded the traffic and marine resources of the strait and became more prominent and wealthy than its cross‐channel neighbor CALCHEDON (Polyb. 4.38, 43–44).
Byzantium was founded by MEGARA c. 668 (or 659) BCE, seventeen years after the foundation of Calchedon, a fact that surprised the ancients including the Persian commander MEGABAZUS (Hdt. 4.144; Strabo 7.6.2/C320; Plin. HN 5.149; Tac. Ann. 12.63). During the Scythian campaign of DARIUS I (c. 513), Byzantium submitted to the Persians when they crossed the Bosporus. The Byzantines, led by their TYRANT Ariston, joined the Persian fleet which sailed up to the mouth of the ISTER (Danube) River to meet the Persian army (4.138). When the Scythian campaign failed, Byzantium and several other Greek poleis around the Propontis threw off Persian rule. The Persian commander OTANES (2) reconquered Byzantium, Calchedon, and other rebellious poleis (4.143; 5.26). The Byzantines joined the IONIAN REVOLT (499–493) and expelled the Persians from the city again. But the city was recaptured at the end of the Revolt, and some Byzantines fled to MESEMBRIA (6.33). Byzantium remained under Persian control until 478, and its fleet joined the Persian armada of XERXES in 480 (7.95.2). The city was finally liberated from Persian rule at the end of the PERSIAN WARS by a Greek fleet led by PAUSANIAS (7.106.2; Thuc. 1.94.1–2) and joined the DELIAN LEAGUE.
SEE ALSO: Ariston of Byzantium; Colonization; Euxine Sea; Thrace; Trade
FURTHER READING
1 Gabrielsen, Vincent. 2007. “Trade and Tribute: Byzantion and the Black Sea Straits.” In The Black Sea in Antiquity: Regional and Interregional Economic Exchanges, edited by Vincent Gabrielsen and John Lund, 287–324. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.
2 Isaac, Benjamin. 1986. The Greek Settlements in Thrace until the Macedonian Conquest. Leiden: Brill.
3 Łajtar, Adam. 2000. Die Inschriften von Byzantion. Bonn: Habelt.
4 Merle, Heinrich. 1916. Die Geschichte der Städte Byzantion und Kalchedon: von ihrer
