| Lapathus | |
| Native Name: | Λάπαθος, |
| Map Type: | Cyprus |
| Map Size: | 250 |
| Coordinates: | 35.3554°N 33.1979°W |
Lapathus (Phoenician: {{popdf;[1] Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Λάπαθος, Lápathos), also recorded as Lapethus (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Λάπηθος, Lápēthos), Lepethis (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ληπηθίς, Lēpēthís),[2] and Lapithus (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Λάπιθος, Lápithos), was an ancient Cypriot, Phoenician and Greek town near present-day Lampousa and Karavas.
Due to lack of evidence, researchers had not been sure weather the Phoenician name of the city was (with Teth) or (with Taw);[3] [4] recent findings, such as inscriptions and coins with legends, provide the clear reading .[5] The Greek and the Phoenician name record, each in its own way, a phoneme of a language prior to them both.[6]
The foundation of Lapathus was credited to the Phoenician Kitians. Nonnus claimed the name derived from an eponymous Lapathus, a follower of Dionysus.[7] Strabo said that it received a Spartan colony headed by Praxander. He adds that it was situated opposite to the town of Nagidus in Cilicia and possessed a harbour and docks. It was situated in the north of the island, on a river of the same name and in a district called Lapethia (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Λαπηθία, Lapēthía).The coins of the city from the 5th and 4th canturies BC record rulers of the city, in Phoenician: the first,, (shorted name), and the second.[8] The coins of the first two depicted the head of Athena, and the coins of the last two depicted Athena standing and Heracles.[9]
In the war between Ptolemy and Antigonus, Lapathus and its king Praxippus sided with the latter.
The name of the place became synonymous with stupidity.[10]