Myndus
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible [1]
Myndus was a city in Caria at the extremity of the peninsula on which Halicarnassus lay. It was strong enough to resist an assault of Alexander, but played no great part in history. It is mentioned separately in 1Ma 15:23 as one of the places to which, in b.c. 139, the Romans sent messages on behalf of the Jews. Hence it is assumed that it was independent of the Carian confederacy; and its native population seems to have descended from the race of the Leleges, and to have always maintained its independence against the Carians.
A. E. Hillard.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [2]
( Μύνδος ), a town on the coast of Caria,, between Miletus and Halicarnassus, the convenient position of which in regard to trade was probably the reason why we find in 1 Maccabees 15:23 that it was the residence of a Jewish population. Its ships were well, known in very early times (Herod. 5:33), and its harbor is specially mentioned by Strabo (14, 658). It was originally a Dorian colony of Troezene, and was protected by strong walls (Pausan. 2:30, 8), so that it successfully resisted Alexander the Great (Arrian, Alex. 1:21). Its wine was famous as an aid to digestion (Athen. 1:32). Diogenes Laertius (6, 2, 57) records a bon mot of Diogenes, the cynic, of which it is the theme. Seeing, its huge gates, while the city itself was but small, he exclaimed, "Men of Myndus, shut the gates, lest the city walk out of them!" The name still lingers in the modern Mentesche, though the remains of the city are' probably at Gumishlu, where admiral Beaufort found an ancient pier and other ruins (Smith, Dict. of Class. Geog. s.v.).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [3]
min´dus ( Μύνδος , Múndos ): A city of Asia Minor, situated at the extreme western end of a peninsula jutting into the sea (see Caria ). It seems that the city was independent at an early date and that many Jews lived there, for according to 1 Maccabees 15:23 , it was one of the several places to which the Roman senate, in the year 139 BC, sent a letter in their behalf. The place was important only because of the silver mines in its vicinity. The mines were worked from a very early period, even to the Middle Ages, and have therefore given to the place the modern Turkish name, Gumushlu, meaning a silver mine.
