sefi;g:v. - A Kabbalist walks into a bar, and the

SELED
possible indeed that GL~$. only exists through textual corrup.
tion. Sc~i+dpa and ivi+Apa have been suggested (a#.
Schultens, Lex. in LXX [782o] 1146), but neither word exists.
It remained to suggest that 6ri+. may be a Grsxised Hebrew
word ; (see above) might become first Gaodpa and then,
for euphony, Gri$dpa. T. K. C.
SELED (15D ; aAc. cahah, [BI, c. [AI, -EA [LI),
b. Nadab b. Shammai, a Jerahmeelite ; I Ch. 230.
SELEMIAS (Le., Shelemiah). I. (C~AEMIAC [BA])
tppa &&6hoyor K ~ L K~~TTOIJ
of Syria (cp Pol. 558). In I Macc. I18 there is a
reference to the capture of ‘Seleucia which is by the
sea’ by Ptolemy Philometor VI. (146 B.c.). Its
remains are still great. In consequence of the resistance
it made to Tigranes, the Roman Pompeius declared it a
free city, and this was its condition in Paul’s time (Pliny.
NN 518).
Paul, with Barnabas. sailed from Seleucia on his
first missionary enterprise (Actsl34), and to Seleucia in
all probability he returned (Acts. 14 26; for the expression
‘sailed to Antioch’ need not imply a voyage up the
river : cp the expression ‘sailed away from Philippi ’
in Acts206). Probably also Paul’s passage through
Seleucia is implied in such places as Acts1539, and
1530 (with which contrast the land journey summarised
in 153). In this connection it is interesting to note
that two piers of the old harbour bear the names of
Paul and Barnabas, with whose work they are probably
coeval. W, J. W.
SELEUCIDiE
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF KINGS
Alexander 11. (S 17). Antiochus IX. Demetrius 111.
Antiochus
($.22).
Antiochus k(!&). A%?kus X. (S Philippus I. ($ 22).
Antiochus 111. (8 7). 23).
Seleucus I. (S 2).
Antiochus IV. (# g Antiochus XIII. Seleucus 11. (S 5).
Antiochus v. (8 IOk (0 23):
Seleucus 111. (8 6).
Antiochus VI. (13). Demetrius I. (5 Seleucus IV. (S 8).
Antiochus VIL(S15). 11).
Seleucus V. (I 17).
Antiochus VIII. Demetrius 11. ((8 Seleucus VI. (f 20).
(S 18).
12, 14, 16). Tryphou (D 13).
Bibliography (D 242
‘ Seleucidae ’ is the general name applied to the kings
of Syria, who were so called from Seleucus I., the
1. Origin. founder of the monarchy. This empire is
alluded to as ‘ the kingdom of the Greeks ’
in I Macc. 1 IO 8 18. and in the phrase ‘ the diadem of
Asia‘ in I Macc. 1113. The Syrian kings claimed to
rule over the Asiatic portion of, Alexander’s empire,
and to interfere in the affairs of every country from the
Hellespont to India: but the territorial limits were
gradually reduced, the border-lands of India being first
1 Hence the town was called Zehetkrra IItrpb, or ZeAakeia
iv II~cply, to distinguish it from other towns of the same name
Strabo, 749).
7
4347
SELEUCIDA
lost, and then Asia Minor and Egypt effecting their
withdrawal from Seleucid sway. Egypt under the
Ptolemaic dynasty became in fact a standing rival, disputing
with the Seleucidae the possession of Palestine.
The hold of the Seleucidae upon Asia Minor was precarious,
owing to the peculiar characteristics of the
Greek cities there, and the rise of new powers (e.g.,
Pergamos and the Attalid dynasty). Here nothing can
be attempted more than a few general remarks upon
salient features of the monarchy. Syria was its intellectual
centre ; for Seleucus abandoned his capital at
Babylon (which was in truth suitable only for the
undivided world-wide empire dreamed of by Alexander),
and transferred his permanent abode to Antioch on the
I Esd. 934=Eua 1039 SHELEMIAH, 6.
2. (Seletnium) a scribe ; 4 Esd. 14 24, RV Selemia.
SELEUCIA (CEAEYKIA, ActslS4, Ti.WH ; I Macc.
11 8). One of the four chief cities of northern Syria
(the others being Antioch on the Orontes, Apameia,
and Laodiceia) which together were spoken of as the Orontes (see ANTIOCH, 2). This transference also calls
tetrapolis of Seleucis (Strabo, 749). They were the attention to the constant striving, as constantly thwarted,
foundation of Seleucus Nicator (died 280 B.C.). of the Syrian empire, to become, not so much a military,
Seleucia lay on the southern skirts of Mt. Coryphaeus as a naval power. Its wealth, indeed, came froul com-
(the Pieria of Strabo, 751)-a spur of Mt. Amanwl- merce, which partly depended upon command of the sea,
separated from it by a ravine (see description in Pol. and partly also upon keeping open the old trade routes
559). The town extended to the sea, and was sur- leading into inner Asia. The latter condition was
rounded by cliffs, except towards the W., where the found to be more easily realised than the former, for
site was more open ; here lay the mercantile buildings the rise of Egypt and of Rhodes, with other powers,
(