Mastia
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Mastia (or Massia of the Tartessians) is the name of an ancient Iberian settlement, belonging to the
... then the port is Namnatio that from the sea opens its curve near the town of Massienos. And at the bottom of the Gulf rise the high walls of the city of Massia ...
Rufius Festus Avienus, Ora Maritima.
However, there is currently no conclusive evidence that the Mastia of Avienus refers to the same site where Cartagena will be founded. Context and other geographic descriptions that precede and follow these lines suggest that it could refer to the same location. Some scholars[
In addition to the Ora Maritima, there is also a reference to Mastia in the treaty between Rome and Carthage of 348 BC, as Μαστια Ταρσειων (Mastia of the Tartessians), which marked the Roman boundary on the Iberian Peninsula.
For Hecataeus of Miletus know that some cities were dependent on or under the influence of Mastia field and mentioned:
- Sixos of the Mastians. The only one that can be confidently identified. It corresponds to the current Sexi (Almuñécar)
- Maniobora of the Mastians.
- Molybdine of the Mastians.
- Syalis of the Mastians.
Its mineral wealth, fisheries, and agriculture was the cause of the Kingdom of Tartessos keeping it in their area of influence.[citation needed]