Ceyhan River Turkiye 900-700 BCE
Europe originally meant the lands along the Danube/Rhine/Anatolian coast trade route between Britain Thames River and Turkiye's Ceyhan river.
Trade Routes Defined Land Divisions
(April 7, 2023) Ancient people divided land differently from today basing their division upon trade routes instead of land masses. The word "Europe" in ancient Greek texts refers to the Celtic and Phoenician trade routes along the Rhine-Danube-Anatolia-Phoenicia axis. In contrast "Libya" is the trade route along the Mediterranean coast from Anatolia to Britain. The Levant and Mesopotamia were "Asia."
The word "Libu" in Akkadian has an unknown meaning suggesting it is some sort of a geographic reference. The closest word to it is "li'bu" meaning disease or "place of disease."
In Homer's Odyssey it's definition is also uncertain. In this qualtiy edition by A.T. Murry (1919) it is translated as "lotus eaters" or "lotus" instead of "Libya." The location the Cyclops is vague in Homer but the later poet Euripides (c. 480 – c. 406 BC) locates the land of the Cyclops on the island of Sicily near Mount Etna which would be out of the way for any normal travel between Troy and Greece.
Book 23 - [310] He began by telling how at the first he overcame the Cicones, and then came to the rich land of the Lotus-eaters, and all that the Cyclops wrought, and how he made him pay the price for his mighty comrades, whom the Cyclops had eaten, and had shown no pity. Then how he came to Aeolus, who received him with a ready heart, [315] (http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng1:23.310-23.343)
Book 9 - [90] two men I chose, sending with them a third as a herald. So they went straightway and mingled with the Lotus-eaters, and the Lotus-eaters did not plan death for my comrades, but gave them of the lotus to taste. And whosoever of them ate of the honey-sweet fruit of the lotus, [95] had no longer any wish to bring back word or to return, but there they were fain to abide among the Lotus-eaters, feeding on the lotus, and forgetful of their homeward way. These men, therefore, I brought back perforce to the ships, weeping, and dragged them beneath the benches and bound them fast in the hollow ships; [100] and I bade the rest of my trusty comrades to embark with speed on the swift ships, lest perchance anyone should eat of the lotus and forget his homeward way. So they went on board straightway and sat down upon the benches, and sitting well in order smote the grey sea with their oars. [105]
Reference
Homer. The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919.
Nur (Amanu's) Mountains
(December 9, 2023) The Ceyhan river's economic region is split by the Amanu's Mountians which today are called the Nur Mountains. One of the two main passes through the mountains is located just west of Zincirli (Ancient Sam'al). The other if further south across from the coastal city of Iskenderunand is called the Belen Pass.
The Syrian valley to the east of the Nur Mountains has not central navigable river. It is fertile land crisscrossed by small streams which eventually empty into the Orontes river to the south in Lebanon.