Pactolus: Difference between revisions

'''Pactolus''' ({{lang-el|Πακτωλός}}), now named '''Sart Çayı''', is a river near the Aegean coast of [[Turkey]]. The river rises from [[Mount Tmolus]], flows through the ruins of the ancient city of [[Sardis]], and empties into the [[Gediz River]], the ancient [[Hermus]]. The Pactolus once contained [[electrum]] that was the basis of the economy of the ancient state of [[Lydia]] which used the naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver to forge the [[History of coins|first coins]] under [[Alyattes|Alyattes of Lydia]].

According to legend, King [[Midas]] divested himself of the golden touch by washing himself in the river.<ref>Ovid, ''Met.'' XI.140-144.</ref> The historian [[Herodotus]] claimed that the gold contained in the sediments carried by the river was the source of the wealth of King [[Croesus]] (Kroisos/ Karun), son of [[Alyattes of Lydia|Alyattes]].