(Ἀτταλεία Tisch. and Westcott-Hort’s Greek Testament -ία)
This maritime city of Pamphilia was founded by, and named after, Attalus II. Philadelphus, king of Pergamos (159-138 b.c.), who desired a more convenient haven than Perga (15 miles N.E.) for the commerce of Egypt and Syria. It was picturesquely situated on a line of cliffs, over which the river Catarrhactes rushed in torrents-or cataracts-to the sea. Attalia differed from its rival Perga, a centre of native Anatolian religious feeling, in being a thoroughly Hellenized city, honouring the usual classical deities-Zeus, Athene, and Apollo. Paul and Barnabas sailed from its harbour to Antioch at the close of their first missionary tour (Acts 14:25). Both politically and ecclesiastically it gradually overshadowed Perga, and to-day it is the most flourishing seaport, with the exception of Marsina, on the south coast of Asia Minor. It has a population of 25000, including many Christians and Jews, who occupy separate quarters. The name has been slightly modified into Adalia.
Literature.-W. M. Ramsay, Hist. Geog. of Asia Minor, London, 1890, p. 420; C. Lanckoronski, Villes de la Pamphylie et de la Pisidie, i. [Paris, 1890].
James Strahan.