Meander (Büyük Menderes)

Statue of river god Meander in the Baths of Faustina. Photo Marco Prins.

Statue of river god Meander in the Baths of Faustina, Miletus.

Meander(Μαίανδρος): longest river in western Turkey, well known -already in Antiquity- for its fluvial deposits.

The river Meander is well-known for its many curves ("meanders": cf. this satellite photo) and its large deposits, which have completely changed the region between Priene and Miletus. As this map shows, these towns were situated on opposite shores of a gulf of the Aegean Sea, and the Isle of Lade was a real island, but this is no longer true. The bay between Miletus and Priene is now an alluvial plane, and only Lake Bafa, which is cut off from the sea by the deposits, gives an idea of what it once must have looked like.

Ancient-Warfare.com, the online home of Ancient Warfare magazine


Muddy river	Meander and Mycale	The plain of the Meander	Delta

The upper valley

The muddy Meander, which separates the ancient landscapes of Caria (left bank, south) and Lydia (right bank, north), has its source near Celaenae; after a short distance, the river Marsyas empties itself in the Meander. Other tributaries are the rivers Morsynus, Harpasos, and another Marsyas.

The river god Meander was the son of Oceanus and Tethys, and the father of Cyane, who was, through Miletus, mother of the twins Byblis and Caunus. Among Meander's sons was Marsyas. A statue of the god Meander can be seen in the Baths of Faustina in Miletus.